No Excuses From a Arm Chair Theologian

With the US election coming next year and the search for the republican candidate  in full swing , the issue concerning Mitt Romney and his Mormonism has played out. The issue whether or not a Evangelical Christian should vote for a Mormon and even further whether it is within the scope of the Christian faith.So the light has been shining on this belief system.

So many talk shows and news related items have been popping up. recently the famous smiling , tickle your ears Pastor , Joel Osteen , has been asked to comment about Romney and Mormon belief . I do not care about his responses concerning Romney as a candidate but it was his comments about Mormon beliefs that was so maddening. More or less he didn't take Mormon doctrine out of the flow of the Christian truth and all his answers where so , weak. Then he excused himself in a way saying he hasn't gone to seminary. 

Give me a break . First is his head in the sand that he doesn't have the time in a week to read a chapter from Walter Martin's Kingdom of the Cults and see how Mormonism and historic Christianity have no relationship at all. That the terms they use like Jesus ,God etc.. their teaching concerning sin , the virgin birth , well the list could go on and on are foreign to classic Christian teaching. To think this man has sold millions of books , attracts 20000 people each week and he uses an excuse , he never attended a seminary.

 In no time in history have Christians been so blessed to have excess to so much solid material. From solid christian histories by Phillip Schaff , John Calvin's Institutes , Luther works, Spurgeons sermons to more contemporary writers like Sproul, Horton , White , MacArthur to websites like Ligoinier ,White Horse Inn , Alpha and Omega Ministries , well I could keep going but you get my point. The resources are amazing.

Now I consider myself a arm chair theologian. I have amassed a decent library and have books about pretty much every major doctrine from the Trinity to the atonement. Along with numerous commentaries and study bibles , if asked whether  Mormonism is Christian  , I would answer clearly no and could give a basic over view why this is so . Guess what Joel , I have never set foot within a seminary. Fathom that !

In my opinion , no one who calls himself a pastor and shepherd of the flock and cannot discern falsehood , is fit to call themselves a pastor of Christ Church.

Osteen needs to step up or step down. He is simple embarrassing and is the poster boy of the type of person Paul says people will want for he tickles ears and feeds the masses what they want to hear. This is also why doctrine and teaching is crucial. But with all the resources out there , Osteen and anyone like him who thinks Mormonism is Christian in any way , are without excuse.Nuff said.

Continuing Luther's 95 Theses

Amazing what happened with a hammer and a nail .One note I would like to make . Luther at this time still held to the reality of purgatory , so keep this in mind as you read through his 95 theses . However as the reformation took hold and Luther made his complete break from Catholicism and allow scripture to be the standard of truth not a Pope or Magisterial board , by around 1530 , he had totally rejected purgatory . Luther said that not one passage from the word of God could be used to teach this doctrine .


25. The power which the pope has, in a general way, over purgatory, is just like the power which any bishop or curate has, in a special way, within his own diocese or parish.
26. The pope does well when he grants remission to souls [in purgatory], not by the power of the keys (which he does not possess), but by way of intercession.
27. They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory].
28. It is certain that when the penny jingles into the money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone.
29. Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be bought out of it, as in the legend of Sts. Severinus and Paschal.
30. No one is sure that his own contrition is sincere; much less that he has attained full remission.
31. Rare as is the man that is truly penitent, so rare is also the man who truly buys indulgences, i.e., such men are most rare.
32. They will be condemned eternally, together with their teachers, who believe themselves sure of their salvation because they have letters of pardon.
33. Men must be on their guard against those who say that the pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to Him;
34. For these "graces of pardon" concern only the penalties of sacramental satisfaction, and these are appointed by man.
35. They preach no Christian doctrine who teach that contrition is not necessary in those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessionalia.
36. Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon.
37. Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has part in all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without letters of pardon.

Let the Word Speak

The main task of the pastor is to preach. To proclaim the word of God and expound on its truths and meaning to the congregation each Lord's day. It is a lofty and serious task to open the word of God for with doing so comes great responsibility  . One has the eternal nurture of the flocks souls. The pastor is called to feed the sheep . Just as any shepherd needs to care for his sheep , the pastor must fulfill this role with due diligence.

As a pastor he is called to do primarily three things with the text. To use hermeneutics , exegesis and exposition of the text. Hermeneutics is the science of interpretation , exegesis the examination of the text and its meaning in context and exposition is the applying what one has learned and preaching out the meaning for application to congregation. However first and foremost , one is preaching for God's glory and to Him , therefore how one handles the word should be done with the utmost reverence and seriousness to get it right.

The pastor is to hold to sound doctrine ( Titus 1:9) and be able to handle the word of God rightly ( 2 Tim 2:15). A pastor should not be carried away with trends and novelty nor apply his own thoughts or thinking over the clear teaching of scripture just to try and make a point . If he twist the scripture and wrestles it out of context to say something it really doesn't  , he is misrepresenting the word and by doing so , God . When a pastor does this it is called , eisegesis. Unlike exegesis , which seeks to draw out the meaning of the text , eisegesis is the reading into the text ones own interpretation  , doing violence to the word of God.

I have heard over the years many abuses like this and wonder why or how it could happen . I realize certain teachings we will encounter slight differences of opinion but if the pastor at least tries to handle the text honestly , no problem. But recently I heard what was one of the worse I have eve heard .

The text handled was the story form 2 Kings concerning the Prophet Elisha . It was just after Elijah had anointed Elisha as his successor as Prophet of the Lord . Elijah then is taken up into heaven by the Lord's chariot and Elisha shortly after performs two miracles .Using Elijah's cloak , he parts the river Jordan and crosses over . Then he heals the water near Jericho that was bad and not safe . So he shows himself confirmed to be the Lord's prophet.

The main part of the text that was so misused was the next part of the story . As Elisha is approaching Bethel , a mob of youth or young boys begins to taunt him and call out to him , "Go up , Baldhead , Go Up , Baldhead ". Now first we must understand Bethal was in a apostate way as one can read about in 1  Kings 12 . So to have this mob of youth show disrespect to the Lord's prophet is nothing more than an extension of Bethel's apostasy.  Plus to show contempt or disrespect to God's prophet is to disrespect God Himself , since the prophet is the representative of God.

So this mob of youth , numbering probably over 50 and we can conclude with some certainly , Elisah might have been in real danger knowing the the situation of Bethel , Elisha curses them and 2 female bears come out and 42 are mauled to death. God honored Elisha's cry and sent judgement upon them justly. The basic premise is , do not mock God's anointed or prophet . It is a theme that runs through Kings.

But what was said had something to do with cursing the next generation of youth who will be the leaders of the Church . Elisha it seems should have blessed these apostate , menacing youth and even though he was given a double portion of blessing , he failed to use it to pass the torch to these youth . May we not curse our youth but pray they do more then us . WHAT????

Do you see the problem . The text does not in any way go there . It was a just judgement towards a mob of hostile youth against God and His prophet.  But when one wants to make a point and allows there own agenda take over , the word of God becomes puddy in a one mouth to say what one wants it to say.

Is that rightly handling the word ? No it is not. We must be careful and understand that we have no right to inject a meaning into any text just to suit our own schemes or plans . Just like many who cheery pick scripture , which does violence to the context and meaning. I ask that we be like the Bereans who it is said of ,  "Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
(Acts 17:11 ESV)

May we follow their example and listen , read and examine to see if what is being preached and written truly honors God's word and is sound in its interpretation and application.Nuff said.

Some Context Concerning the 95 Theses by Luther

In This short but insightful interview , Dr. Carl Trueman , Professor of Historical Theology and Church History, and Academic Dean, at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia , flushes out a bit  info concerning Luther and the posting of the 95 Theses. Hope its insightful as we move towards Reformation day . 

Luther’s 95 Theses: An Interview with Carl Trueman

How Love Wins (Thief) by Steven Curtis Chapman

Amazing song featuring Steven Curtis Chapman from the album entitled Music Inspired by the Story. A stellar album that weaves the narrative of the Bible. It features Chapman,Mac Powell, Bart Millard , Chris Tomlin,Jeremy Camp etc.. a who's who of Christian music. Excellent album worth getting .

Is it not amazing how the Lord loves us in that while we were still sinners , He died for us . That is how love wins .

Counting Down to Reformation Day

Today we will continue with Luther's 95 Theses . I had a interesting conversation about Luther at Church last week concerning some of his later writings concerning Jews . I won't comment yet but all I will say is all of us hold a better theology than how we live up to that theology.

Anyway we continue.

Martin Luther 95 Theses

11. This changing of the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory is quite evidently one of the tares that were sown while the bishops slept.
12. In former times the canonical penalties were imposed not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition.
13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties; they are already dead to canonical rules, and have a right to be released from them.
14. The imperfect health [of soul], that is to say, the imperfect love, of the dying brings with it, of necessity, great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater is the fear.
15. This fear and horror is sufficient of itself alone (to say nothing of other things) to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair.
16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ as do despair, almost-despair, and the assurance of safety.
17. With souls in purgatory it seems necessary that horror should grow less and love increase.
18. It seems unproved, either by reason or Scripture, that they are outside the state of merit, that is to say, of increasing love.
19. Again, it seems unproved that they, or at least that all of them, are certain or assured of their own blessedness, though we may be quite certain of it.
20. Therefore by "full remission of all penalties" the pope means not actually "of all," but only of those imposed by himself.
21. Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the pope's indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved;
22. Whereas he remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to the canons, they would have had to pay in this life.
23. If it is at all possible to grant to any one the remission of all penalties whatsoever, it is certain that this remission can be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to the very fewest.
24. It must needs be, therefore, that the greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and highsounding promise of release from penalty.

So Where Would Jesus Go?

When one reads the gospels , you are confronted with the people Jesus interacted with. He is one who associated with the outcast,the sinners , the losers , the poor and the hurting. Those who thought they had it all together or the religious He didn't shun but had His most intense language with.

But Jesus growing up in Nazareth would have been very aware of being poor and considered a outcast. Often its said that Joseph was a carpenter and in today's world , those of us who know a carpenter knows very well from the homes many have , the cars they drive , they are not poor. But in Jesus day a carpenter was just a worker with his hands. Maybe he made chairs,common tools etc... but it had no status or economic advantage. Even the town of Nazareth was insulted , for it seemed to have a bit of a reputation.Much like we would think of a trailer park today.

I often wonder if the Church in the west have lost the understanding the gospel is for all . Not just the upper middle class white families living in fancy subdivisions. The blame for this can be laid at the Church growth movement who began to target certain groups of people. Lets face it , no one is going to be able to build a fancy Church by targeting the poorer sections of a town or city. But I guarantee you , those are the areas that Jesus would be preaching.

I'm not saying that the gospel should have barriers , in fact it should be preached and shared with all . The rich,the poor,the weak,the hurting,the arrogant etc.. We have done a big disservice to the gospel when we break it done to target groups in order to build a Church. I don't see Jesus doing that throughout the Gospels. Nor do I see it in the rest of the New Testament by Paul , Peter , James , John . In fact by succumbing to target groups and programs we show our lack of faith in proclaiming the gospel of Christ.

Jesus often takes us to places we don't like or want to go but know this , we never walk alone. So if He had no blinders on His eyes but preached without prejudice to the poor , the needy which we all are in reality , may we do the same . For do we  follow an amazing Lord.