Foundation

The foundation of Faith cannot be cracked,
only abandoned.
Roots sink deeper than reason can fathom,
The silence shattering chaos of personal experience can leave mind frame tattered,
Typhoon wind of mass influence can make one wonder if the spiritual is what's really matterin'.
Persevere,
The House is only settling.
Your Spirit is still forming under God's hand,
Whittling away until the day when you become one
with the Foundation
and nothing can pull you apart or away.....

Ahhh, Yeah.....

Everyone.
Please meet Carrie.
Carrie,
meet everyone.

P.S.
I love you; Namaste!
(And yes, we are on a first name basis now...the future is looking bright... details to come!)

Tomorrow's Church

I thought of it as a type of a summit. Well, except that we all consider ourselves less than extraordinary. Summits consist of "important" people deciding on "important" issues. That's not us...well, not as a collective whole. Some here are church pastors; Some are music leaders (haha Gibson); Some are engaged in "frontline" holistic ministry; All are lovers of humanity. It was nice to refresh and reconnect with these men of God (especially in San Diego....pity us!). These are some faces of men whom will usher in the church in this 21st century. We all came from different parents, theological presuppositions, denominations, and lifestyles. We all have different visions, different theories on how to reach the new generation, and different calls in life. Yet, there were some tight threads that bind us all together. A love for the Lord, a love for His inerrant (yes, that's right postmoderns...I said inerrant) Word, a love for ALL people, and a love for the church......oh, and a general distaste for our President....wow, had to throw in that didn't I !?!? Praise God for friends.

I Was Predestined To Write This

I kinda gave up on theology after Seminary. That's not to say that I do not like studying God, but dwelling on dispensational/covenant, post/a/pre millenial, post/pre trib. rapture wore me out. I do think it is important to study and search Scriptures regarding any type of theology but not at the expense of your own personal walk, and that is what started happening to me. Instead, I have enjoyed the last year or so of strictly focusing on personal application of the Word (how it is speaking to me; in today's world, not necessarily looking through the lens of the author and/or audience) and resting in simplistic ideas of the Bible, such as His love, grace, etc. It has been so rewarding and fruitful for me.

But now I am back in the theology fold....well, a little bit. God has placed some awesome people in my life and some unique circumstances that has required me to dig deep into God's essence again. Recently, God has put numerous people in my life asking me my opinion on predestination/free will. Some of these people are new to this idea so my words have had to be delicate. Yet, as most of you know I am very opinionated...having said that though, I am not very dogmatic in a lot of my opinions. For instance, regarding eschatology, I am not set on my beliefs. I am open to new ideas and God's leading. So, back to predestination/free will. I will state in this entry my viewpoint on it, however, because of space issues I will not be able to go very in-depth with it. If someone wants to ask me something, just email me. But I would also recommend inquiring of people like John Lynch, John DelHousaye, Brett Berger, Josh Johnson, etc. etc. for different viewpoints and/or better knowledge altogether.

Here it is:

"God's predetermination is in accord with His foreknowledge. 1 Peter 1:2 declares that we are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God. That is to say, there is no chronological or logical priority of election and foreknowledge. As a simple being, God's attributes are one with His indivisible essence. Hence, both foreknowledge and predetermination are one in God. Thus, whatever God knows He determines, and whatever He determines He knows. (God knowingly determining and determingly knowing from all eternity everything that happens, including all free acts.) 1 Peter 1:2 teaches not the logical order of election in relation to foreknowledge, but the fact that they are coextensive. In other words, all aspects of the eternal purpose of God are equally timeless. For if God is an eternal being, then His thoughts must be coordinate and unified."

Or, simply put... haha

"Whatever He forechooses cannot be based on what He foreknows. Nor can what He foreknows be based upon what He forechooses. Both must be simultaneous and coordinate acts of God. Thus God knowingly determined, and determingly knew from all eternity everything that would come to pass, including all free acts. Hence, there are truly free actions and God determined they would be such. God then, is totally sovereign in the sense of actually determining what occurs and yet humans are completely free and responsible for what they choose."

This is called Thomism. It makes sense to me. It reconciles Scriptures that talk about God's election of those who follow Him and Scripture that tells us He wishes all would come to know Him and His love for the whole world. This idea is hard to fathom, mostly because our finite minds cannot wrap around an infinite God, but if it could we would be God. I like the mystery.

To Go Or Not To Go: The DaVinci Dilemma

Should a Believer go to "The DaVinci Code"? I have been asked this question by a lot of people lately. Not that I am any authority to answer this question, but I will give you my opinion anyway.

No. I do not feel a Believer should attend this movie. Many will say that we should go see it so we know what it is about and thus be prepared to answer questions coming our way. Though I can see the validity of this position, I do not feel it is the correct one. Most people know what the movie is about. And if you don't, here is the main premise of the film. Jesus "knew" (the biblical term for, ah, knowing someone...ummm...intimately....ah, yeah...ok...they had sex) Mary Magdalene and she had His son. Thus, in DaVinci's painting of the "Last Supper" the "effeminate" persona depicted is not the beloved disciple John, but rather Mary herself. Basically its heresy. The book (and thus probably the movie) goes into the Vatican's cover-up of a secret only known to an elite group. The rest of the book is the adventure to uncover this secret.

Ok...So, basically its about the Savior of the world having a woman and a son. That is exactly the reason why we should not see this movie. We all should be able to formulate a defense for this heresy without seeing the movie itself. If one feels they need to know more they can go on the world wide web and find just about anything concerning the movie. The fact is that probably no one is going to ask you any questions about the Vatican, or the Knights Templar, or Priory of Sion, but rather if Jesus did in fact do these things.

When someone uses the Lord's name in vain on TV, or a show uses Jesus' name to describe some one as a "holy roller", or when something I see is just blatantly against God's essence on TV, I try not to watch it. I feel the same way about this. A Believer should not spend $10 to watch a movie that portrays Jesus' life this way, we should turn away, just like we would turn the TV channel if God was being badgered.

I would love to hear feedback on this.

Adoniram Judson

"Suffering and success go together. If you are succeeding without suffering, it is because others before you have suffered. If you are suffering without succeeding, it is so that others after you may succeed."

Some people don't know who this man is. Adoniram Judson was a man perfectly comfortable is his faithlessness. Well, until a life-changing night at an inn that he haphazardly fell upon during his travels. There was one room left, but the innkeeper forewarned the tired Judson of the implications of taking that room. Next door a man lie, in excruciating pain, dying, and a good night's sleep would be out of the question. Judson took the room anyway. In bed that night Judson listened to the "gasps of breath and grimacing cries" of his neighbor. The night "woke" Judson up. The next morning he found out his neighbor passed. He asked the innkeeper what his name was. Jacob Eames was his name. He would learn that this was the same Jacob Eames that was one of the most brash atheists in his class at Brown University. Judson went reeling for answers.

Within a year, his life was the Lord's. He heard a sermon named "The Star in the East", a message about the gospel's impact in India. Through this sermon and long meditation in Scripture, Judson realized he was being called to the Far East. Keep in mind, this was a time when there were no boards to send out people, no contacts to reach home, no game plans, and yet Judson was willing to take the challenge. A challenge is exactly what it would become.

Three of his children would die from disease. When war broke out between the British and the Burmese, Judson would be tagged as a British spy and for this he would pay a hefty price. He would be chained by the ankles to a bamboo pole that was lifted above his head at night, driven barefoot for miles through fiery sands that caused blistering of the skin, starved to emaciation, and tortured daily.

Somehow, God gave him strength--even during his 18 months of cruel confinement--to continue and finally complete his translation of the entire Bible in the Burmese language. And though his wife would died much too young from tropical illness, he dealt with his grief by returning to his work--leading more than 7,000 to Christ, establishing churches, and blazing the trail as the first American missionary on foreign soil.

That was Adoniram Judson. What's your story?

Tami and Christa

I have been a Christian since junior high. I have grown up around believers and a great church. I have went to Seminary. I have promised my life to God's work. Yet, the Lord has reasoned to place in my life two amazing individuals that have taught me more about faith and about Him then anything else in the last couple critical months of my life.

Tami and Christa. Both somewhat "new" believers. But both with a faith and fire that I can only imagine makes Satan shudder at the thought. I can just picture him now....it makes me smile. You see, these women have known Jesus for much shorter of a time than I have, however they have both made me realize the majesty of our Lord. They remind me of my initial transformation, when God, after I had nothing of worth left, thought enough of me to bring me back to Him (thanks Christa for reminding me of this). The ruler of the universe who undoubtedly had a million better things to be doing at the time, like hearing prayer from His faithful, bothered with this degenerate, pathological sinner and worker of iniquity.

You see, its easy to begin to think you have it all together. You know your calling, you are educated, you love God. And within that paradigm you lose sight of the One that is doing all the work, the One who saved you and counted you worthy when you could do nothing but run back to your own vomit and eat. Thank you Tami and Christa for enlightening my life, for showing me once more what life is all about, for making real the unparalleled Word of God, which tells us, "We must be like children....."