Archive for the ‘Community’ Category

God’s Global Purposes – A message for “good” Christians

Monday, March 15th, 2010

I thoroughly enjoyed this week’s message at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA but more importantly, I realized that the intended audience was people like me….people that have been so focused on God’s personal and moral law that we have been distracted from understanding and participating in God’s global purposes.  The message is a call to “good Christians”….great, you are living right….but what about the Ninevites?

Recording of the White Flag sermon – links directly to Part 3

I have embedded the video above from Northpointonline.tv  If you don’t see it then the link is no longer valid…your best bet will be to go to http://www.northpoint.org/messages and look for the White Flag Series.  It’s worth your time…I highly recommend the whole series but I was particularly impacted by part 3.

Blessings, BoB

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Christmas – Why our family participates (despite the pagan influences)

Friday, December 18th, 2009

GrinchThis post is in response to Drew’s recent post called “Pagan Christmas” but you should also read my previous post on Halloween before you read this post if you want a complete perspective.

I agreed with most everything Drew said in the first paragraph.  There are, of course, many variations on the history depending on the source you reference but I didn’t see anything in Drew’s first section that I hadn’t read before and I have no additional comments.  It’s the paragraph that starts with “I have a few friends” that I would like to comment on:

(Drew’s words are in red and mine are in green)

I have a few friends that don’t celebrate Halloween in regards to its pagan nature and see no value in it. Even though Halloween brings communities together, makes kids laugh, multiplies candy, belittles evil, and is fun, celebrating such a holiday appears to question their moral Christian principles.

My wife and I are some of those friends and yes, we see no value in Halloween.  I address each of the reasons Drew gives as “even though”s in my Halloween post so I am not going to redo that here.  Halloween does not make me question “moral Christian Principles”, it just provides an excellent opportunity to practice them.  ;-)   Please read my Halloween post for a full explanation.

I wonder if the Church had decided to incorporate Samhain (pagan holiday) and Christ’s birth if some Christians would be more apt to celebrate the holiday of Halloween.

The church has already done that…its called “All Saints Day”.  The answer is no, it didn’t make me more apt to celebrate Halloween.  Just because the church sanctions an event doesn’t mean it is worth celebrating or not worth celebrating.  We have to decide for ourselves what we should participate in.  Many churches now celebrate Halloween…in fact, all of the churches I went to growing up celebrated Halloween in some form or another.  I decided to stop ‘celebrating’ because I thought the issues through for myself and my conclusion is fully explained in my Halloween post.

Note: In my Halloween post I don’t mention ‘pagan origins’ as one of the five reasons why I don’t participate….”I am not nearly as interested in the history of Halloween as in what it means today” – the same applies to Christmas symbols and traditions.

It does seem that Christmas (probably due to its commercial push and the multitude of Christian sheep corralled into the stalls of justification) is viewed primarily as a Christian Holiday, and therefore most Christians can celebrate the holiday without a sered conscious.

A sad ChristmasI have to confess (regarding the seared conscience), my wife and I have struggled with whether or not to celebrate Christmas for several years.  Christmas has become such a commercial enterprise and Santa has nearly completely replaced Christ as the focus of Christmas, at least in the malls, public school plays, and around the office.  Christmas was not celebrated by the early church and many of the symbols of Christmas can be traced back to pagan rituals.  To be honest, my wife and I are still sorting this out and don’t feel like we have reached closure (mostly because we don’t agree yet…usually means I’m wrong but rationalizing in my mind so I don’t have to see things the way they really are or the way God sees them).  We actually got rid of the Christmas tree a couple years ago and didn’t celebrate Christmas, at least not in the traditional way.  We simply read the Christmas story and tried to focus on helping others (like the original Saint Nicholas).   My family still enjoyed Christmas and it was nice focusing on others but I felt like there wasn’t as much joy and happiness in my home as previous years.  I decided the following year to start celebrating Christmas again for the inverse reasons of why I don’t celebrate Halloween.

I started off my post about Halloween by explaining that even if I didn’t have religious reasons I would still not celebrate the holiday.  The opposite is true of Christmas.  Even if I wasn’t a Christian, I would still see the value in a holiday that celebrates love, family, giving, friends, happiness, beauty, etc.  The whole tone of Christmas is nearly the opposite of Halloween.  I wish I had a picture of some houses in my neighborhood from earlier this year.  One in particular was covered in symbols of evil – demons, zombies, decapitations, blood, and ghosts.  Now, just months later, that house is not decorated at all, but the house next door is decorated with beautiful lights, a smiling Santa Claus, and other symbols of friendship, love, and happiness.

NewPerspectiveDon’t get me wrong, I don’t agree with the materialism, deifying a magical Santa, or other facets of ‘X-mas’ that draw our attention away from Christ.  However, the reason I decided to continue celebrating Christmas and the reason we have put up a Christmas tree this year is because for me personally, Christmas draws my attention back to Christ.  When I see a Christmas tree I think of Christ.  When I sing the famous Christmas carols I think of Christ.  When my family gathers and shares gifts with each other I think of Christ.  I think we each have to ask ourselves:

1.  What are our motivations for the things we do?

2.  What is valuable and worth supporting?

3.  Do we believe what we plan to do will glorify God.

For this reason, I am not upset when someone else chooses to celebrate Halloween, or Christmas, or Hanukkah, or whatever.  If they believe their motivations are right, that there is value in observing the holiday, and that observing it edifies God, then who am I to disagree…it is between them and God.  For me, I can celebrate the birth of Christ (labeled as Christmas) confidently with those 3 questions in mind…I can not do the same for Halloween.

I suppose (once again) it’s all the Church’s fault.

We are the church.  It’s our fault as individuals.  We have encouraged the whole process all along by singing about Santa, buying gifts beyond our means and with wrong motivations, and submitting to the political correctness of the media and the marketing schemes to promote consumerism.  No worries though…the bible doesn’t forbid or require us to celebrate Christmas so there is nothing to lose.  If Christmas is eventually completely lost in materialism and emptiness it doesn’t change the reality of Christ. If we lose Christmas we have lost nothing.  If we lose Christ we have lost everything.

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace and goodwill towards men.”

Merry Christmas, BoB


Merry Christmas

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Constructive Discussions about Truth

Friday, November 6th, 2009
Constructring our "worldview"

Putting together the pieces of our "world view"

I had a conversation with a dear friend of mine the other night…a friend that is struggling in his pursuit of truth.   I value his opinion and his passion for  truth but I frequently find myself worried about him and what conclusions he will come to as he redefines his world view.  I am worried because I know the importance of our worldviews in determining the decisions we make and the outcomes we experience.

So what does that have to do with “constructive discussions about truth”?   Everything!!

Currently “Our Search for Truth” is slanted heavily towards a Christian worldview because  the current participating authors happen to be various varieties of Christians.  However, the goal of this site is not to sit around talking in Christianese.  The goal of this site is pursuing truth by sharing our different perspectives and worldviews.  It is my belief that when multiple people’s perspectives rub against each other the friction that is created by their differences exposes misperceptions and the truth is ultimately revealed.  The Truth is what remains when all options are explored and all lies are exposed.

As a Christian I am frequently a witness to conversations where fellow Christians seem threatened or irritated by a non-Christian’s disbelief or their differing world view.  Instead of responding with understanding and patience they judge, belittle, preach, or otherwise offend the nonbeliever.

Now before the “anti-Christians” get too excited about pointing their fingers in agreement with my last statement they need to be honest with themselves and admit that they are often just as guilty of destroying any opportunity for rational discussion.

Constructive Discussion?

What do you mean you think Halloween is evil?

For example, go to YouTube and find a “Christian” or an “Atheist” video.  You won’t have to look far before you find an Atheist writing horrible, aggressive expletives meant to demean and ridicule the Christian.  Then, right above or below their comment will be the immature Christian saying something like “You’ll burn in hell for that” or maybe something slightly nicer like “Repent and God may have mercy on your soul” (as if they know God is on their side in the discussion) – here are 32,000 examples.

For Christians:

ixoye_fishWhere does God stand on this issue?  The Bible says that God did not send his son into this world to condemn the world but to save the world through Him.  The Bible also says that God loved us while we were yet sinners….meaning God loved us before we liked Him, acted like Him, or thought like Him.  The Bible portrays a Jesus that hung out with sinners, went to social events with “non-believers”, encouraged prostitutes to start over and give life another try, and as someone who always befriended the poor, down-trodden, and even the people that most everyone hated (like tax collectors).  Where are the Christians that serve that Jesus?  Where are the Christians that welcome uncomfortable conversations filled with opposing truth claims?

For non-Christians:

newatheismsymbolBut what if you are an atheist or agnostic (or a believer in some other religion) and don’t really care what the Bible says or what Jesus was like?  Does that give you free liberty to purposely offend (or avoid) Christians every chance you get?  Now I can’t speak to “non-believers” on any particular moral grounds since, as some would argue, they have no moral system to leverage as a foundation.  But, from what I understand of the “new atheists” they believe that there are intrinsic universal values (that have nothing to do with a creator) that tell us right from wrong and that form the basis for a humanistic code of ethics.  Does your personal code of ethics (or conscience) lead you to believe it is better to try to understand others or does it lead you to believe you should drown out all ideas contrary to your own?

For everyone:

I am assuming that most people that have taken the time to read this far would agree with the 5th habit of Steven Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”:

Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood

He calls this concept the Principle of Mutual Understanding.  Here is the summary provided by Wikipedia for Habit 5:

7habitsofhighlyeffectivepeopleHabit 5 – Principle of Mutual Understanding: Covey warns that giving out advice before having empathetically understood a person and their situation will likely result in that advice being rejected. Thoroughly listening to another person’s concerns instead of reading out your own autobiography is purported to increase the chance of establishing a working communication.

The mission of OS4T is to “provide an open forum to share and discuss truth”.  The prerequisite for an effective forum is “working communication”.  I am hoping that as this site matures it will attract people with vast differences in beliefs that all share these four traits in common:

  • A commitment to seek first to understand before you try to be understood
  • Respect for others even when you vehemently disagree (and a willingness to agree to disagree)
  • A commitment to share and discuss with intellectual and emotional honesty.
  • A desire to pursue the truth even if it isn’t leading you where you thought it would

Back to my friend:

What does all this have to do with my friend?  Here is what is going on in my mind that has me concerned:

  1. I believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God that equips us for good works and abundant living and that its message of salvation is true.
  2. Most Christians that my friend interacts with are not open to brutally honest dialog with someone who is struggling  with tough questions about God and purpose.
  3. This is good for the Atheists and, if they are right, it helps prevent my friend from wasting time on a non-existent God….but, if the Christian worldview is true, my friend will miss out on an opportunity to experience that truth.  If I am right about the Bible being true, how will my friend arrive at the same conclusion if he comes to despise the hypocrisy, unauthenticness, and defensiveness of Christians?

For Christians:

ixoye_fishGod is not afraid of a lack of faith….He loved us while we were yet sinners….before we had faith.  God “draws us to repentance by His kindness”.  The only hope I have for my friend at this point is that he will experience the kindness of God even if he doesn’t experience the kindness of God’s people.  I am begging you, if you are a Christian reading this post, please respond with gentleness to any anger, bitterness, loneliness, frustration or confusion a person may have that lacks your same faith.  Before you “preach”…listen.  Before you judge…love.  Before you condemn….forgive.  Before you slander…pray.  Before you speak, think.  Think about who you were the moment before you submitted your life to Christ.  Think about the grace and love you experienced from God and from the person who led you to Truth.  Pass that same Grace, and Love, and Truth on to someone else…not by nagging and judging but through understanding and kindness.

We are commanded by Christ to love our enemies and to do good to those who hate us.  We don’t have to feel threatened or get defensive when someone thinks or feels differently than us. The Truth is the Truth.  The truth is not afraid of being “found”.  If you are so confident that you know the truth then why not share with others by first hearing them out and understanding them.  Once you understand them you will be better prepared to explain why you think differently (if you still do after hearing them out).

For non-Christians:

newatheismsymbolThe same goes for the Atheist…just for different reasons.  You may not be motivated by devotion to Christ to love your enemies and to respond to them with kindness but if you truly believe you are right then it seems like you would want to share the reasons why you think Atheism is the truth.  If Christians are ignorant and disillusioned in their beliefs then only rational dialog (tempered with kindness) will persuade them to see things your way.  There can’t both be a God and not be a God.  Someone is wrong and someone is right but, no matter who is right, there is no reason we can’t treat each other with respect and agree to disagree as we both pursue the same thing – TRUTH.

Blessings, BoB

PS – This post focuses on Christians and Atheists but the same thing holds true for agnostics, Muslims, Buddists, Hindus, etc.  We can share our experiences and thoughts with respect and understanding….even if we never persuade each other to our way of thinking.

LET THE CONSTRUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT TRUTH BEGIN

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One Hypocrite, Coming Right Up!

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Fatburger

(Disclaimer:  For the purposes of this post, I will be making an analogy between a vegetarian hypocrite and a Christian hypocrite.  I in no way mean to imply that vegetarianism equates to Christianity, or that carnivores are carnal.  I am merely trying to draw a parallel between those who are inconsistent in beliefs and behavior.)

I heard about a new kind of sandwich the other day that truly intrigues me.  It is served by a burger joint called “Fatburgers”, and  is apparently a frequently requested order by some of the regulars.  The main two components of the sandwich are a veggie-based burger and . . .  bacon.  That’s right, bacon! It is no wonder the sandwich is affectionately dubbed “The Hypocrite” by all who order it.

Upon hearing about this new concoction in the burger world, I was incredulous!  Why would someone bother ordering a meatless burger patty if they were going to ultimately top it with greasy bacon?  It seemed to me that if one were planning on consuming pork strips anyway, why not go ahead and order a fat-laden red meat burger to go under them?   “The “Hypocrite” burger was obviously being marketed specifically to vegetarians with an identity crisis.   And then it dawned on me that this is how God must see our “hypocrite” souls as well.  Allow me to elaborate.

According to the dictionary, a hypocrite is a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion, or a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.    The way I see it,  the vegetarian who orders  bacon on top of their meatless burger is probably doing so for one of two reasons.  One, he is not fully decided or committed to vegetarianism because he or she is not fully convinced that it is the best way to live.  Or two, the person absolutely believes that vegetarianism is the best way to live and is having a temporary lapse of  resolve.  As odd as ordering a bacon-topped veggie burger may seem, it is not all that different from the Christian hypocrite – that is,  professors of Christ with who have an identity crisis much like the bacon-ordering vegetarian.  We as Christians proclaim this and that, declaring all manner of standards and guidelines publicly, only to fall seriously short of those standards in our private thoughts and actions.   This inconsistency is repulsive to our Lord in several ways.

The first kind of inconsistency is more about the person that has trouble making up their mind about the right way to live.  (i.e. the person who hasn’t decided if they want to fully embrace vegetarianism or not. . . not unlike the man who has not fully made up his mind about the path to be taken).  This reminds me of  a couple of passages from scripture.  The first one speaks of the double-minded man:

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does (James 1:2-8).

So the double-minded man is one who can not make up his mind or fully commit with all of his heart.   Hmmm . . . Bacon or no bacon?  Do I really want to be a vegetarian?  Or, similarly, should I  fully commit to Christ  and live accordingly or not?  The double- minded man is  a doubter who struggles with full-blown commitment and will often appear inconsistent to those around him.  God has a special category for these types of followers.  These type of people are the “Lukewarm Fence Straddlers”:

15I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou were cold or hot.

16So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16)

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24

Because the double-minded man is indecisive, he tries to have one foot on God’s side of the fence while keeping one foot grounded in the carnal world.  Or, to keep the analogy going, he orders bacon on his veggieburger

The second kind of inconsistency is the darker of the two, in my opinion.  This kind of  wavering is specifically about the person who wholly knows the right thing to do, and often tells others, while secretly not following through on their own convictions. (i.e. the person who has unreservedly decided to declare vegetarianism as law, and loudly proclaim it to all, but orders bacon on their veggie-burger when they think no one who knows them is watching).

God wants us to be people of integrity – people whose private thoughts and actions must be congruent with what we are teaching and preaching to others.  Jesus’ main beef  (isn’t that a convenient twist on words?)  with the Pharisees was the gap between who they claimed to be and who they actually were.  The key here is that the Pharisees were condemning others of shortcomings while privately sinning themselves:

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5 KJV)

The purpose of this post is not to scream “Hypocrite!” at any of you.  Nor is it to convince anyone to become a vegetarian (which I am not).  When I heard about “The Hypocrite” burger at “Fatburgers” it called my attention to the meaning of the word itself and caused me to reflect on the areas of hypocrisy that rule my life.  I encourage each of you to do the same.  Are there any areas in your life that you are double-minded or straddling the fence about?  Or, are there areas that you are completely decided about and yet willfully violating God’s word and commandments in your life?

5Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? (2 Corinthians 13:5)

31(AG) But if we judged[h] ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32But when we are judged by the Lord,(AH) we are disciplined[i] so that we may not be(AI) condemned along with the world. (1 Corinthians 11:31-32)

As for Fatburgers, I predict no trouble with double-mindedness on my next visit.  I have already decided what my order will be.  No veggie burgers with sprouts for me. Give me an extra juicy  double cheeseburger.  With bacon, please!


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Halloween – Why Our Family Doesn’t Participate…

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
Sick of Halloween?

Sick of Halloween?

I enjoyed reading the post by Kyle and I enjoyed Drew’s response as well – both found here.  However, I have a different perspective that I feel compelled to explain.

My perspective has little to do with religion or my Christian faith….although I do have a different perspective than Kyle and Drew for religious reasons as well which I will include in “part 2″ of this post.

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Part 1 – My Non-Religious Perspective:

My perspective is that of a human-being and of a parent.

(more…)

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Ten Suggestions from David Warren

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

I received this in an email from my mom this morning.  I am not Catholic but I thought it had a lot of good takeaways:

*Ten Suggestions*

Because I am a bit of an anomaly in the Canadian “mainstream media” — because I am, to put no finer point upon it, not only rather conservative in my political outlook, but what is called a “social conservative”; and as one of my critics once patiently explained, “not just conservative, but Christian; and not just Christian, but Catholic ” — because of this I get many e-mails.

Many of them are just rude; some offer criticism that borders on the constructive; but a surprising number show agreement, amity, encouragement , even praise. And not a few ask me very difficult questions, which I regret I can seldom answer adequately, or at all. Among the most frequent are those who ask Lenin’s old question, namely, “What is to be done?” Or as one inquirer this week put it, “What can ‘normal’ people do to fight stuff like political correctness, and help win back a little order, decency, freedom and sanity in our society?”
I do actually think about this a lot, and today I propose to give 10 suggestions in reply to all such questions. Note that not one of them requires political action.  These are 10 things I think a “normal” person could pursue in a practical way (I have always aspired to be normal myself, not always with success), and indeed, I am convinced that they are “categorical imperatives.” That is to say, if these suggestions were followed, diligently, by any number of people in our society, our world would actually become a better and more civilized place.


  1. The first is, absolutely refuse to give obeisance to the various idols that the “politically correct” specially define and demand that we worship, such as “equality,” “fairness,” “human rights,” and the other specious abstractions to which they attribute a gnostic and mystical power. And symmetrically, refuse to worship in the temples of the gods of money and power and coolness.
  2. Second, make conscious, reverent references to God — even to God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — an audible part of our lives in the world, and love God in our hearts. Conversely, carefully avoid speaking of any divine thing in a cute or irreverent way.
  3. Third, unfailingly attend Mass, each Sunday, and daily where we can; and let the Mass do its work upon our souls. (Non-Catholics should likewise be punctilious in their own religious observances.) Let the enemy see our churches filled. Observe and participate in all other sacraments, which includes, for Catholic Christians, the crucial one of making a good confession, frequently. In any event, prayerfully ask God’s forgiveness when we fail.
  4. Fourth, defend our families, by keeping as aloof as possible from the bureaucracies of Nanny State. Do not neglect the needs of our parents in their time of sickness and old age; do not fail to instill in our children, by our own upright and sincere behaviour, the respect they owe to us as their parents.
  5. Fifth, do not participate in any way in what the last Pope so eloquently described as “the culture of death.” Do everything in our power to streetproof ourselves and our children against its demands, and do not hesitate to spell out the basic facts of life, behind all life issues. Be sure our children understand them, and that they grasp the sanctity of all human life.
  6. Sixth, reject sexual liberation in all its insidious forms. Do not even think about fornication and adultery. Truly respect and accommodate the opposite sex.
  7. Seventh, be consistently honest and honourable in all business and social transactions, with everyone, regardless of race colour or creed, even when it must be at some cost to ourselves. Do not play with temptations to corruption, even on the office pencil scale. Yet assiduously avoid being “holier than thou.”
  8. Eighth, be truthful in speech, fair and even charitable in speaking of other people, and look constantly for whatever good we can find in them. Be encouraging rather than discouraging by habit, and most important, do not spread personal gossip and lies, even against our worst enemies, and even when we think they deserve it.
  9. Ninth, be content with what we have in our family and religious life, make ourselves happy with the homes we have to return to, and do not loo k covetously upon the Joneses. Accept with humility our station in life; have ambitions, but make them unselfish.
  10. Tenth, be content with our fate more generally, and trust in God to deliver His justice in the fullness of Eternity: “Thy will be done.” Take only what comes our way, including all knocks, and use what we have been given, including all talents and skills, generously. Indeed, give, according to our means, a little recklessly. See and sympathize with need.  And rejoice, always, in the life we are given, and in the knowledge that what we leave upon the face of time can only be our example.

David Warren
Ottawa Citizen

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