“Help, God yells, I’ve been ROBBED!”

Posted on August 13, 2015 by seegod1

In June, the Kingston Whig Standard received and published a piece by Stephen Skyvington (you can see it here), to which the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada asked us (I work for Bethel Church Kingston) to publish a reply. We did, but probably a little too late to appear in the Whig so they didn’t publish it. However, I can always publish it right here in my own blog, for those who may be interested. Here it is.

“In his piece on June 15th (“Embracing Atheism), Stephen Skyvington says that “the time has come to do something about the root cause of all this evil.”

While I certainly agree with him that evil is present among us, unfortunately, he, as an atheist, cannot make that argument. By denying the existence of God, atheism must also deny the notion of objective morality (that is, the notion that there exist universal rights and wrongs, rooted beyond our own internal subjective opinions). For Mr. Skyvington, as an atheist, we regret to say that there can be no such thing as objective morality, and therefore, no such thing as evil, only his opinion. With respect, and to quote the title of a recent book by Frank Turek, by saying religion is “evil”, he’s “Stealing from God”, an interesting position to hold when one thinks there is no God in the first place. Objective moral laws can only exist because of an objective moral lawgiver.

Mr. Skyvington also suggests that “only a fool believes everything he or she reads.” Again, I can only agree with him, and certainly far too many people are guilty of simple “blind faith”, i.e. not really knowing what they believe or why they believe it. However my own walk as a follower of Christ (as someone who originally trained as a lawyer) began with a careful investigation of the evidence for the historical nature of Christianity, both using outside historical sources (documentary and archaeological) and the “internal” historical documents which now form the book we call the Bible. Since he states that the Bible is only a “story”, I certainly hope his conclusion is based on that same kind of investigation. If not, may I recommend “Cold Case Christianity (A Homicide Detective investigates the Claims of the Gospels)” by J. Warner Wallace, the product of Mr. Wallace’s own investigation as a specialist in Cold Case investigations and the conclusions he reached?

Furthermore if Mr. Skyvington is going to bring up the Bible, then he must deal with one of the central characters of that book – the man Jesus Christ, who most (reasonable) scholars will acknowledge certainly existed. The challenge here is that this particular man made some absolutely remarkable claims about himself: to be blunt, he called himself God.

Now most people today love to hedge their bets by playing the “great moral teacher” card with Jesus. Unfortunately, to quote C.S. Lewis in “Mere Christianity”, we really should have none of that “patronizing nonsense”: “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.” This is the Law of Non-Contradiction: Jesus cannot be a Great Moral Teacher and be lying about who he is at the same time, and in the same way.

Finally, Mr. Skyvington suggests that people are “too bloody stupid to think for ourselves”, all while suggesting that we are also to be the ones to fix the problem. Now that is a contradiction. But for the Christian, no such contradiction exists: we know we are the problem, and we know that there is only one solution, Jesus Christ, who can fix it. And while we agree that there are those who do evil things in the name of religion, at least where Christianity is concerned, the only way to willingly do evil is to ignore the plain teachings of our founder, Jesus Christ.

I think one of the marks of a good thinker is being willing to begin with an open mind – maybe there is a God, and maybe there isn’t. But if what you begin with is a “materialistic” worldview (i.e. the universe is all there is – that’s another objective claim by the way), then there will be only one possible conclusion – there is no God.

Respectfully, I think this is what Mr. Skyvington has done and would suggest that he take a step back and begin his investigations anew. Like I was many years ago, he may be shocked at what he finds.

Carmen Gauvin-O’Donnell”

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Generational curses, man…

Posted on December 7, 2013 by seegod1

So I’ve been studying the book of Ezekiel for the last few weeks (a.k.a. one of the “That’s-IT-I’m-not-messing-around-anymore-signed-God” books… see Chapter 7 if you wonder what I mean by that.) 🙂

Aaaaaaanyhoo (yes, I know it’s misspelled… I just like use that expression all the time!), in Chapter 18, we read about an old Jewish proverb,

“The fathers eat sour grapes,
But the children’s teeth are set on edge.” (NASB, Eze. 18:2)

This brought up something that has annoyed me for years, hence the blog post.

That verse is often used to argue the notion of “generational curses”, along with Deuteronomy 5:9-10:

“You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

“A “generational curse” means that you are cursed and judged by God because of sins your ancestors committed. For instance, your great-grandfather was a racist who was a member of the KKK and so you are punished for it now… no matter that you are a forgiven follower of Christ, you can’t seem to “become a better you”, ya know? I’ve even seen it suggested that parents who adopt children make sure they take steps to rebuke these generational demons that may have come along from their child’s past.

However, there’s a problem with that whole notion… and since I firmly believe that the Bible is our sole rule of faith, I think we should pay attention to what it has to say.

Firstly, it seems clear to me, that scripture will never contradict scripture, right… and yet, what do we see in Deuteronomy, 24:16?

“Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin.”

That verse is as clear as it can be. Another hermeneutical (interpretation) principle is the fact that the clear always trumps the unclear. If you read on in Ezekiel 18, you will see that God was repeating just that, in v.30:

“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct,” declares the Lord GOD. “Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you.”

Now the above is a particularly clear example of why it’s so important that Christians learn to “never read a Bible verse”, in Greg Koukl’s words. Our desire for Truth demands that we read a paragraph or a chapter (if necessary, a whole book!), to ensure we understand any given verse in its proper context.

Secondly, what annoys me in this particular case, is that all one had to do to know whether this verse was being correctly interpreted or not was to read the very next sentence:

“As I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “you are surely not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore.”

Why, then, would any reasonable Christian think that this passage has any application today?

Finally, so what WAS God talking about when he talked about “visiting iniquity” on the following generations? Well, I think that it helps to start by… actually reading the whole verse! 🙂 Go back and look at what I bolded… so who is cursed? “[T]hose who hate Me.”

And that’s just common sense, kids: our God of perfect justice can no more curse the man who repents and follows Him than he could create a square circle.

Now some will ask, “okay but what about families where you see alcoholism or abuse go from generation to generation?” Well you’ll get no argument from me that behaviour will have consequences on those around us. When all you’ve seen and known is alcoholism or violence…, no curses or demons are needed, man, you will tend to “go there” yourself, having had no other example. Believe me when I say I know what I’m talking about here. I come from MEGA-dysfunction. 🙂

But in Christ, you can take steps to change it… how appropriate to remind us all of that in this Advent Season, since we await the birth of the only One who could fix it all. Amen!

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I have a dirty little secret… and a solution!

Posted on April 6, 2013 by seegod1

“PSSSST! I have a dirty little secret”, whispered Carmen to her (Tiny! But I love you all! :-0 ) blog audience, looking carefully from side to side to ensure she is nowhere near anyone who a) teaches… or b) loves… literature.

Keep this one to yourself, but (she looks around sheepishly again), I CANNOT read Charles Dickens… ANY of it, except for A Christmas Carol, which I read every Christmas. Any other Dickens, however, bores me to death. I cannot get into them, and I have tried, even trying my friend’s trick of skipping the first 50 pages so that I jump over any boring long-winded setup scenes and come into the middle of the action.

Now, that having been said, this has occasioned in me much G&G (grief ‘n guilt!)… I somehow think I really SHOULD enjoy Dickens, and certainly, as a reader I understand his impact even in our everyday spoken world (to wit, “don’t be such a scrooge!” (A Christmas Carol) or “When the guy at Starbucks handed me my five dollar coffee in a thimble, I felt like saying, ‘Please sir, I want some more.’ ” (Oliver Twist).

So what does one do when faced with such a conundrum? This is where a spectacular solution has presented itself over the years: one finds someone willing to tell the tale in a fun, captivating and full-theatrical way.

May I introduce you all to Focus on the Family Radio Theatre? For many years now, this ministry of Focus on the Family has produced some of the finest audio theatre productions of classic works that I have ever heard. No cheesy Christian stuff here (no offense intended… you all know what I mean, right? And I AM a Christian!). These folks have won  a Peabody and Audie Awards for excellence in broadcasting for what they do. They use the best sound, orchestral soundtracks and voice talent, including well-known actors.

I have a whole bunch of their stuff, and was gratified to see that they are now starting to make it available for purchase by download as well, so some cash savings there compared to purchasing a CD version (not that they’re that expensive or anything, but hey, all discounts are GOOD discounts, she said, thinking like SCROOGE…! 🙂 )

Do you want to know how good they are, in my opinion? Well, I’ve had to travel over the last couple of days and have only just bought… yes, you guessed it, their new production of OLIVER TWIST. So at 6 am on Thursday, I leave my driveway and get onto the 401…

NO WORD OF A LIE, ladies and gents, within 10-15 minutes, I am yelling at the radio, “You lying OLD CROW, you!” 🙂 as I hear Mrs. Mann (the owner of the orphanage where Oliver begins his life), tell Mr. Bumble the Parish Beadle that of course she buys elixir, even if it is very expensive, when “the poor little ones” are sick (needless to say, she does nothing of the kind).

And I have been mumbling and interacting with this (yes, captivating!) story every since… I’m about halfway through…

Don’t believe me? Well, they broadcast weekly in half-hour segments, and you can go online and listen to some past episodes of theirs here.

They have done such classics as Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, ALL the Chronicles of Narnia, Bonhoeffer, Amazing Grace (William Wilberforce, John Newton and Olaudah Equiano), Ben Hur, the Legend of Squanto, The Secret Garden, Silas Marner, The Hiding Place, Anne of Green Gables, Les Miserables, the Gospel of Luke… I could go on! Oh and they also have their own exclusive mystery series about a former police-officer-turned-Anglican-Priest, The Father Gilbert Mysteries.

I’ll say no more about this. Go off and enjoy! And let me know what you think! And meanwhile, smile inwardly when you hear me saying to someone, “Oh yes… Oliver Twist… I particularly enjoyed that story of Dickens’…” 😉

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December 2012: Christmas – Origins and Traditions

Posted on December 10, 2012 by seegod1

(This is from a class I taught our Junior High students at Church this past Sunday morning!)

1. WHY IS CHRISTMAS CELEBRATED? WHEN?

It’s a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

So what year was he born? We’re actually not sure!  But probably around 5 B.C. ( I know, I know… it looks like he was born before himself! That’s because the monk who created the BC/AD calendar that we use, in the Middle Ages, made a mistake to begin with! We’ve just left it alone.) The reason we think it’s about 5 B.C. is because the gospels tell us that Herod was still alive, and we know that he died in 4 B.C.

What date was Jesus born? Not on December 25th! The winters are generally too cold for shepherds to be out at night with their sheep (as the gospels relate) – he was probably born in the Spring or Fall.

So why do we use December 25th? Because the Romans had a festival celebrating “Sol Invictus” (The Unconquerable Sun, their sun god). To give new believers something better to celebrate on that date, we decided to celebrate the birth of our own Unconquerable Son, as it were! So we didn’t do it to adopt paganism, as some suggest, but to compete with, and replace, it.

2. WHAT IS ADVENT?

It’s the four-week preparation-time leading up to Christmas.

It was first proposed by Perpetuus, Bishop of Tours (France) in 490 A.D. He suggested that people fast on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Apparently, Perpetuus was no party animal.

By the 11th century,  the practice mirrored Lent: it was actually a very somber time of fasting, no weddings, no marital relations, no recreational travel… no fun at all! 🙂 To explain why we no longer really think of it that somberly, I asked the students what they would have thought if their parents had announced the impending birth of a new brother or sister by saying “Aren’t you excited?! To celebrate, you can’t play anymore and we won’t eat three days a week…” They all agreed with me that they are glad times have changed! 🙂

It’s now a more joyful time of preparation that begins on the  Sunday closest to St. Andrew’s Day (Nov. 30th)

3. WHERE WAS JESUS BORN… IN A CAVE? IN A HOUSE?

Again, we are not sure. Although the Bethlehem area does have various small caves and grottoes that were known to be used to shelter animals, it’s also known that most Israelite houses had two levels – the second level had the living quarters, but the first level had storage, a cooking area and a stable where animals could be kept in safety. Jesus may very well have been born in one of these stables, provided because the family had no more room upstairs (after all, the town was busy – there was a census going on and everyone had come back to their family’s city as commanded by Rome).

However, there may be a hint given to us by the existence of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, built by the Emperor Justinian in the 5th century. The reason he built it where it is located, is because of a long-held tradition that it was the location of Jesus’ birthplace. In it, at the back under the altar, you go down some steps to a grotto, said to be the actual birthplace. This grotto would have been behind someone’s house way back when.

But, as I’ve already said… we are not quite sure.

4. WHAT ABOUT THE STAR OVER BETHLEHEM?

Yet again, it’s another thing we’re not quite sure of! We know it happened, but it could have been several things:

– A single star created miraculously by God for that sole purpose (after all, this isn’t a problem when you’ve created the universe!)

– A conjunction of two or three planets (Jupiter, Saturn and Mars) which occurred around 6 BC), although some admit that they wouldn’t really have been close enough to look like one star

– A comet: the Chinese (who kept meticulous records of these things) indicate that Comet #52 passed through the region around March or April of 5 BC

– A supernova (an exploding star, which the Chinese also called a “tail-less comet”). The last one we could see with the naked eye happened in the 17th century and records indicate that it was so bright that it could be seen during the day

4. WHAT ABOUT ADVENT WREATHS?

You’ve seen them, those horizontal circles of evergreens with 4 or 5 candles sticking out of them?

Well, like a lot of other traditions, Christianity probably took them from paganism and made them its own.

The circle of evergreen, of course, indicates everlasting life.

The candles have separate meanings depending on their colours: Purple/Blue (1st, 2nd and 4th weeks) indicate repentance/hope, Pink (3rd week) is the colour of rejoicing (the third Sunday is “Gaudete” (pr. gow-day-tay) Sunday, latin for “rejoice”) and white, of course (the last one lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day) signifies the birth of Christ, the pure light of the world.

5. CHRISTMAS TREES

Again, they were probably used before Christian times, because evergreens signified ongoing life, even in the winter.

However, as an item associated with, and decorated for, the celebration of Christmas, they were developed in Germany in the 18th/19th centuries and from there, they spread across Europe.

In keeping with that the first Christmas trees in Canada were put up by German soldiers stationed in Quebec in 1781 to protect against American attack. The General commanding them and his wife had a Christmas tree which was much admired and so the custom took off from there.

6. BUT SOME PEOPLE SAY WE SHOULDN’T HAVE CHRISTMAS TREES… THEY’RE PAGAN!

They accuse Christians of doing precisely what the prophet Jeremiah accused Israel of doing in Jeremiah 10:2-4:

“For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.”

HMM… at first blush, that seems to be describing Christmas trees, doesn’t it…? OR MAYBE IT DOESN’T… why don’t we go look at the next verse:

“Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their IDOLS cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk.”

That’s right folks… what Jeremiah is talking about there is trees they would cut and trim to bring into their houses to worship as IDOLS (gods). This has nothing to do with Christmas trees.

And THAT is my one theological lesson today: NEVER READ A BIBLE VERSE. This is how people try to mislead us… they grab one verse out of context and… BAM!… they think they have us. But not if we read the context: read the verses before, the verses after, the chapter or even the whole book if necessary!

As a great teacher I know once said, “those who claim to read between the lines… should try reading the lines themselves.” 🙂

7. CONCLUSION:

Much is still unknown to us: the date, the circumstances of the nativity, how many wise men there were, how the star appeared etc. etc.

Here, however, is what we DO know:

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of woman, born under the law in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.” (Galatians 4:4-5)

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the greatest gift EVER.

Merry Christmas to all… may the light of Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, shine in your hearts and in your homes this season!

PS. If you’re interested in learning more about this, may I recommend, “In the Fullness of Time – A Historian Looks at Christmas, Easter and the Early Church” by historian (and terrific writer and story-teller!) Paul Maier? I can also commend the terrific Christian History magazine, available for subscription by donation. C.

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NOVEMBER 2012: Very briefly… I just read an interesting blog post…

Posted on November 13, 2012 by seegod1

… about Stamp Collecting, one of my hobbies. In this excellent article written for non-stamp collectors, the gentleman explains the origins of stamp collecting, why it waned and why it’s back on the rise again…

It’s called: Stamp Collecting – The Rise and Fall and Rebirth of the World’s Greatest Hobby.

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NOVEMBER 2012: About those pesky “denominations”!

Posted on November 12, 2012 by seegod1

No, I’m not talking about the new plastic Canadian bills, folks! 🙂 I’m actually talking about a critique that comes up quite a bit against us Protestant believers, to wit:

“Oh you guys can’t even agree among yourselves! Anglicans, Congregationalists, Baptists… At least we, the (–>insert so-called “monolithic” religion’s name here) all agree!”

Let’s get this one cleared up once for all time, shall we? But first, the Ground Rules: we shall not refer to anything that may have happened in the Ignorant Past, all-righty? YES, there was a time when protestant denominations were quick to yell “Die, Heretic!” (to paraphrase a joke my pastor told at church the other Sunday…) to other protestant denominations. Get over it. We realize it was bad and have, for the most part, stopped doing it. I’ll explain why later as it’s the main reason for my post this month.

So why then, you ask, are there still denominations?

Because I firmly believe in the God of Diversity and Liberty. Christ died for sins, and with that death came freedom to worship Him with a free conscience and in our cultural milieu.

What does this mean? Well we all have different subjective tastes, don’t we? Some of us love being in the Big Cathedral with its awesome grandeur and time-honoured traditions and rituals, “smells and bells”, as I like to call ’em! 😉

In fact, one of the fondest memories of my teenage years was going to St. Michael’s Cathedral right in downtown Brussels for Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve… a symphony orchestra, a huge choir, thousands of people with all of us standing because there were no actual seats, in a cathedral so old (about a thousand years off and on) that there were nets high overhead to catch the occasional falling piece of stone! I was heartbroken the day my mother told me that she had read that the cathedral had burned to the ground and the decision was made not to rebuild it…

Then others of us also like a simpler “Protestant” service: uplifting worship music (contemporary or traditional), a rousing sermon and and prayer and communion once a month or so. That’s the kind of church I attend now, and I LOVE it as well! Go Bethel!

Then there are those who have opted to return to a basic “Book of Acts” model: they meet in someone’s home and all take turns in participating in the preparation for worship.

Finally there are those among us who meet in someone’s home in secret, because if knowledge of their beliefs gets out, well… they’re dead. Pray for these suffering, secret believers. They are still very much among us, it pains me to say.

Now, what do we all have in common, though? What do we all believe “for salvation”? Let me quote old Paul here:

“For I determined to know nothing among you

except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” (1 Co 2:2, NASB).

So now, let’s ask the question:

– do Anglicans believe in Christ, and Him crucified? YES.

– do Congregationalists believe in Christ and Him crucified? YES.

– do Baptists believe in Christ and Him crucified? YES.

Does the fact that some of us are into smells and bells (and some of us aren’t) REALLY matter? NO, because that’s not where our salvation comes from, but that is where a lot of denominations part ways. So what, I ask?

In my own Bible Study group, I have had Anglican, Roman Catholic, Dutch Reformed and Congregational believers (and probably others I don’t even know about!) over the years. Do you know what we had, and continue to have, in common? JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED. And THAT, people, makes us sisters in Christ, period.

Now, some caveats though, before I get accused of being… gasp!… liberal and seeing salvation everywhere (those who know me are probably laughing out loud as we speak, but hey…):

– does this mean that there aren’t some legitimate divisive issues between some denominations? Absolutely… but we are learning that as sisters and brothers in Christ, it’s okay for “iron to sharpen iron” (Prov. 27:17) without fundamentally dividing on the issue of Christ’s death and resurrection. For example, everyone knows that I personally have some huge issues with Roman Catholic theology, but what I’ve decided to do is to take my Christians one at a time: one is no more more “not” a Christian because they’re RC than one is “automatically” a Christian just because they’re Protestant, ya know? Being a member of a denomination, and agreeing with everything that denomination says, are two different things.

– “Diversity” does NOT mean universalism, period. Not all will be saved, be clear on that piece of doctrine. If you have a problem with that, please take it up with Jesus Christ. I’m just the messenger, and he spoke more about eternal separation from God (i.e. Hell) than anything else, probably because he didn’t want us to go there! It’s become popular in recent years to try to repeal the doctrine of hell. Silliness, really.

– Diversity also does not mean “syncretism” (“a conscious combining of two or more religions over a short period of time, or a process of absorption by one religion of elements of another over a long period of time” – Harper’s Bible Dictionary). A disturbing example of this which is surfacing in our time is the so-called “Chrislam” movement: trying to appeal to Muslims to convert to Christianity… all while telling them it’s okay to continue to read the Qur’an and attend the Mosque.  Some Christians have even created a translation of the Bible that removes any reference to Jesus as the Son of God, because it’s so offensive to Muslim sensibilities (e.g. when Jesus gets baptized, God says “This is my Messiah, in whom I am well pleased.”) WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, people! Christ is either the son of God, or he is not. We do not “change” his family status just so we won’t offend. May I quote Jesus on this one?

“But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him

before My Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 10:33, NASB).

(Notice his use of the term Father there too!)

Finally, in the “other people’s wild ignorance” by the way, I have news for you if you think that Protestants are the only ones with this so-called issue:

ROMAN CATHOLICISM:

– Everybody knows the actor Mel Gibson. He, and many others like him belong to a branch of Roman Catholicism that simply rejects anything having to do with Vatican 2 –  they still practice a traditional High Mass in Latin.

– There are nuns and priests in Roman Catholicism who have been fighting for years for the right to marry, without success until now. But their fight goes on.

– there is also a theological battle ongoing between those who would have Mary declared “Co-Redeemer with Christ” and those who would not –  this is especially a problem in South America where the cult of Mary actually surpasses the cult of Christ in some cases (“We don’t need Christ… we have his mother!”) By the way, should this ever pass, get out: your church is no longer Christian.

ISLAM:

– this is pretty simple, I give you Shia and Sunni Islam, a division which occurred at the death of Mohamed and which rages today (and they don’t hesitate to kill one another over it, I might add).

BUDDHISM:

– some Buddhists believe Buddha should be worshiped as a god (which I find mildly humorous since Buddha was an atheist…), and others do not.

I could go on, but we all have things to do (case in point, actually: tomorrow, I, a Congregationalist, am heading over to the local Salvation Army where I volunteer in their emergency pantry… shocking! 🙂

Now… we’ll hear no more of this “denominations” nonsense, right?

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OCTOBER 2012: So the Vatican has declared…

Posted on October 9, 2012 by seegod1

…  a Year of Faith, and in the press release states the following:

“During the Year of Faith, which will last from 11 October 2012 to 24 November 2013, Plenary Indulgence for the temporal punishment of sins, imparted by the mercy of God and applicable also to the souls of deceased faithful, may be obtained by all faithful who, truly penitent, take Sacramental Confession and the Eucharist and pray in accordance with the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff.”

There are then laid out 4 circumstances where the plenary indulgence applies, such as hearing certain sermons, or attending certain religious places and so forth.

Now, (and I say this to my Roman Catholic friends with all the love in my heart because you know I count many of you as my brothers and sisters in Christ), why on earth is this “indulgence” stuff still going on? Why on earth does the Vatican still think it has the power to dictate to God whose sins are forgiven (and who comes out of purgatory… if it exists, that is… I thought you guys were pretty much agreed that there is no biblical foundation for this? So you’re saying that this indulgence may be efficacious to remove “deceased faithful” from a place which may not exist…?)

By doing this, the Vatican is simply saying that “YES, there are ways to WORK yourself into God’s good graces… just do one of these things…”

And yet, there it is, clear as day in Romans 3:38… “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.” And again in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

So it seems to me that the “free gift” of salvation and redemption can only come in one way, at the foot of the cross, by repenting of the sins for which Christ died. That’s a FREE gift by the way.

That is why Martin Luther began his reformation, and that is why I continue to stand as a Protestant.

Simply put, I protest.

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JMG, God and the Dog

Posted on March 21, 2011 by seegod1

So the other day at work, during our staff meeting, we had a discussion about three ideas that help define God’s goodness – the concepts of “Justice”, “Mercy” and “Grace” (that’s the “JMG” of this posting’s title!)

So just to remind folks of the definition of each:

– JUSTICE = getting what you deserve (like when a judge convicts you for a crime you actually committed)

– MERCY = NOT getting what you deserve (the judge convicts you, but suspends the sentence)

– GRACE = getting what you DON’T deserve (the judge doesn’t convict you at all, even though you are guilty)

As you can see, while “Mercy” and “Grace” may sound alike, grace is actually mercy taken to a new level.

Now where does the “Dog” of the posting title come in? Well, this weekend I picked up a second book by Duane “Dog” Chapman. Some of you probably know him better as “Dog the Bounty Hunter”, star of a reality TV show on A&E. I had already read his story (You Can Run But You Can’t Hide – crudity warning, by the way: this was a great story, but Mr. Chapman, although a follower of Christ, does tend to be a little crude, so the reading may not be suitable for all sensibilities and is definitely for adults). Well, I saw that he has now written a second book, Where Mercy is Shown, Mercy is Given (interesting title, yes?) which I immediately picked up.

To sum it up, “Dog” Chapman, now recognized pretty much as the world’s best bounty hunter, is so good at it because he thinks like them, having lived a life of crime that culminated in a 5-year jail sentence for being in the wrong place at the wrong time during a murder years ago (i.e. he didn’t commit the murder, but he was with the gang that did).

However, he turned his life around upon leaving jail and now has a very lucrative bounty-hunting and bail-bonds business (along with his wife, a renowned bounty hunter in her own right, and a few of his adult children) in Hawaii (and all over the place now actually because he’s the guy you call when you want someone found), which is the subject, as mentioned earlier, of a TV show on A&E.

Well, in spite of my “crudity” warning of a couple of paragraphs ago, I have mentioned that Mr. Chapman is indeed a Christ follower, all too human and prone to make mistakes like the rest of us, but a brother in Christ is he. How do I know this? Because Jesus said that we would know them by their fruit, and Dog has borne fruit.

“Now, Carmen,” you ask, a little testily because I seem to be going on a bit today… “what does this have to do with justice, mercy and grace?!” Well, I was looking for a perfect example of all three to give you (beyond just the “judge” illustration above) and suddenly remembered, as I’m reading this new book, an episode of Dog the Bounty Hunter I saw once, where Dog displayed all three for the world to see:

Dog and his wife Beth had just found and arrested a woman, a cocaine addict  who had jumped bail and run away (by the way, on a funny note, Beth is the one people are afraid of, not him. I mean it, do not mess with this woman. You might as well walk into a cave and try to walk out with a bear cub in front of his mother! Smile with tongue out).

Here’s what I noted about the woman’s arrest:

– they arrested her for being a fugitive and jumping bail (that’s JUSTICE).

– they allowed her to empty out her own pockets before the police searched her. Dog explained to her that she might as well do it because he would throw away whatever he found, but if the police found it, that would probably be an extra 10 years on her sentence for carrying drugs, because of her record. Sure enough, she took a small packet of cocaine from her pocket. Dog emptied it and ground it into the sidewalk with his boot (that’s MERCY).

– then, he sat her in his SUV with him and his wife, and had a talk with her before turning her into the police. He told her that if she ever wanted to be the mother to her child that she could be (she had a little boy who lived with his grandmother because she simply couldn’t care for him), she had to take what was coming, do her time, and turn herself around and let God help her because He was the only one who could. She tearfully acknowledged that, of course she needed help but didn’t know what to do. Dog told her that he knew people and would help her get the drug treatment she needed if she wanted it. He would also appear in court on her behalf to let the judge know that she was taking these steps and was deserving of a second chance. Finally, he gave her his cell phone and allowed her to call and speak to her little boy, something she would not get to do for a while.

Wow. That, folks, is GRACE.

All this woman deserved was a pair of handcuffs and a ten-to-twenty year sentence for her life of crime. Instead, the very man who arrested her ensured she would get a lighter sentence (by throwing away the cocaine), and then got her the help she needed but did not deserve.

And through it all, they treated her with respect, even giving her a hug and reassuring her everything would be okay before bringing her into the police station. Dog mentions the importance of treating people – all people –  with respect in his current book: he always tries to remember what, in life, it was that led to the shell of a human being in front of him. After all, people don’t set out to become cocaine addicts or criminals. He always tries to remember his own journey and how God has been good to him through it all: when mercy is shown, mercy is given. I would go even further and add that when GRACE is shown GRACE is given.

Jesus, Himself an innocent, sinless man, the Creator of the Universe, died for us and for our sin, showering the ultimate grace upon us.

How then, as believers, can we not shower grace upon others?

So he may be crude and lack the social graces, but Dog, my brother, you keep up the good work… it’s obvious to me that Jesus is completing the good work He has begun in you (Philippians 1:6). And thanks for giving me a great example to help illustrate my blog posting!

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Hello world!

Posted on January 31, 2011 by seegod1

Well, I guess this is yet another sign that Antichrist approaches… Microsoft has taken my blog over to WordPress…

By the way, that Antichrist comment was a JOKE. Anyone who knows me and my theology knows that I do not believe in any single one person who will be the Antichrist.

Just thought I’d say that.

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When you want God, He’ll show Himself.

Posted on November 29, 2010 by seegod1

I’ve just started my study of John’s Gospel, and in Chapter 4 we find what has become one of my favourite stories in the Bible, all because of a brief role played by an actress!

I’m referring to Nancy Palk, who played the role of the Samaritan “woman at the well” in the movie The Visual Bible: The Gospel of John, a literal enactment of the Good News Bible version.

This lady brought the character to life… the look on her face as Jesus tells her that he can give her living water such that she will never thirst again… well, she conveys the look of one who has found what she is looking for!

And that’s my point today: it kind of goes back to that question of why God doesn’t just simply tell everyone He’s there. Because He wants you to want Him. And that’s precisely what happens here… first Jesus tells this woman about her (broken!) life… then she tells Him that she’s awaiting Messiah (v.25)… she is a believer, as broken as she is.

So what does Jesus do in this case? Quite simply: “I who speak to you am He.”

You see? If you want Him, He won’t hide from you! If you don’t want Him (see His interactions with the Pharisees, some great examples of blaspheming the Holy Spirit if ever I saw some!), He keeps quiet… and so honours your choice.

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