| | I have thought long and hard about this. I have prayed a lot. After all of that, and some conversations with my wife and some good friends, I have decided to stop posting my stuff here. It only succeeds in bringing out the worst in myself and others. There is just something about being referred to as a "dumbass" for being against the death penalty and an assumed hypocrite regarding how my thoughts on military intervention have changed that really isn't edifying to anyone. And it is discouraging to me.
I remember about a year-ish ago, when I was working on my Sr. Seminar paper on environmentalism within the emerging church, being attacked as someone who was denying the truth of the Gospel. I remember people assuming that because I didn't want to be called a "Calvinist" anymore that it meant I was denouncing the faith. These things should not be. In that time I was kicked off a message board for not removing an emerging blogring fast enough from this site. Who was/is edified by things like that? How does that glorify God? How do statements to the effect of, "What are your credentials to be leading youth?" really build up the body of Christ?
How do personal attacks and name-calling really help anyone? We throw around labels like "apostate" and "heretic" like they are nothing. But these are big things. An apostate, according to Webster's, is, "One who has forsaken the church, sect or profession to which he before adhered; one who has abandoned his religion."
So, let me clarify something. Let me tell you all, in as clear terms as I can find, what I believe.
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ,
His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy [universal] church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.
If that is apostasy and if that is heresy, then let me be damned, for "If in this life only [I] have hoped in Christ, [I am] of all people most to be pitied" (1 Corinthians 15:19 ESV). I don't deny Jesus. I have never once denied Jesus. I have never denied anything about Him. And if it makes me a heretic to believe that He came to do more than just die on a cross for humanity's sin, then I will proudly wear that badge. But if it is true, and it is right...then why am I judged by my fellow Christians?
As far as the emerging church goes, why don't we just leave it alone and stop wasting time, money, and trees trying to refute it? If it is wrong, it will pass like a fad. But if they are on to something...if they are really truly with all their hearts seeking to serve Jesus...then get out of the way.
Did you know, that in Billy Graham's early days, he and the people who were working with him and doing the work of the ministry at that time were also criticized? They were labeled "The New Evangelicals" and were accused of all sorts of things. If you look at the history, you find that they were accused of the same things that "emergents" are accused of today. And when Mr. Graham started, he wasn't much older than those leading in "emerging" churches.
Different generations express the faith differently. I am willing to place money on it that the way that Calvin and Luther did things was not widely accepted by those who came before. And when Billy Graham came on the scene, modernity was condemned as a slippery slope to atheism. Now, we have embraced modernity and we raise the same arguments against post-modernity. Maybe we should just let it go.
I say all of this to say, again, that I am done posting on xanga. I have given you plenty of links to my MySpace and WordPress pages. I will continue posting there. And if you want to comment, go ahead. But be warned: anything rude, obnoxious, or disrespectful will be deleted.
I have surely been the one in the wrong at times, and for that I am sorry. I regret any time that I have been a bad example of what Jesus would be like, and from the bottom of my heart, I apologize.
So, until God sees fit (if He does) to put us all back in contact again, this is goodbye. May God richly bless you in all that you seek to do as you strive to do His will.
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| | Posted 4/4/2007 12:24 PM - 85 Views - 18 eProps - 10 comments
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