Tower Of Babel

         Genesis chapter 10 tells of the attempt to build the Tower of Babel. These were the generations from the sons of Noah. They were in full rebellion to God. You know the story, they were going to build a tower "whose top is in the heavens." God did not permit it. Their "one language" was confused. Their unity was broken. They separated.
          Various members of the global elite have held to the "one world principle" for quite some time. The G-20 meetings being held in London right now are a good example of how a few dissenters (Sarkozy for one) can prohibit implementation of a plan. On the other hand, if you have "unity" the sky is the limit.
          Most everyone has heard, and many have snickered, at the "Mark of the Beast" described in the 13th chapter of Revelation; He causes all, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." Now, theologians are greatly divided on the meaning of this. I think that we all can agree that this verse was economic in nature. I think we can all agree that this is a principle that is used to solidify power.
          Globalization may not have gotten us into this situation but it is binding us from getting out of it. We are so tied to each other, even our enemies, that we will be tempted with compromising our principles, our beliefs and our traditions which would also compromise our security, to get us out. We cannot immediately break from global trade nor should we want to. We can stop all movement towards increasing the global concept and slowly back away from it to where it does not prohibit us from making our own economic decisions. If we are to move forward with globalization, and if they are ultimately to be successful, it will have to be through subterfuge and deception. They will want affirmative decisions to be made fast. We need to keep this in mind to give the American public enough time to examine and debate.

Techie Culture

         Down a lonely hall at my work, hanging on the wall between two cork partitions to help limit noise, is a telephone. I don't think that I have seen anyone use it in ten years. I remember the outside telephone booths I would use as a teen. The only possible use would be calling a girl. Why in the world would I call a friend to talk.
          As I grew older and was in the army, I recall waiting to make calls from the the long silver lines of telephones at various airports. The phone receiver that I used (once) to call home from the other side of the world came out of a box and you had to say over at the end of your statement and wait for the other party to repeat over after they had responded.
          The back of our television was always off as we had to pull the tubes and take them to the hardware store for testing when problems arose, which was often. My music came from a record player, a table radio or a new and exciting Flavor Radio transistor from Radio Shack that you could take anywhere with you. Not that we were without high tech games as the little football players vibrated along the field until touched by an opposing vibrating player.
          I remember being amazed by the curved screen in the Cineramic film How The West Was Won in 1962. Bowling was my passion. Whether in my younger days in Buffalo, New York or my teens in Pittsburgh, I would walk miles with my ball to the alleys. I walked into a bowling alley twice recently just to look it over and was disappointed. We put men on the moon, send cameras through the bloodstream and constructed Nancy Pelosi with such intricacy that you cannot even see the battery pack in her back or the wires giving her movement and speech, but we have gone downhill in recording a score at a bowling alley. The alley I was in last week had a television screen right up with the overhead scores.
           Did President Obama order televisions everywhere so he could communicate instructions and I didn't hear about it? Worst of all the score only went five frames back. More than five frames back must be unreliable ancient history in this postmodern culture. And when you took pictures with your camera, you were reasonably certain they would be there for future generations to see. Today, I check the news or research a question on my Iphone at least 40 times a day. I talk back to my GPS. I'd rather forget my wallet than my XM satellite radio on vacation. And I'm a Luddite. Where are we going? Londoners are photographed 400 times a day on their streets on average. The ultra rich are taking short vacations to space. I saw a picture of Al Gore in an overcoat. Things are going crazy. You can vote almost anywhere, anytime you want, "I'll take a Big Mac Meal and cast a vote for Obama in 2012." "Would you like to "biggie size" that, it comes with two votes?" The "C" virus is due in two days. My computer may crash, all computers in the world may crash. No more teleprompter for Barack Obama, no more Wall Street, no more instructions sent from bin Laden, no more hearing the guy at the next table telling tell his buddy how much he has to pay for child support. Ah...wishful thinking.

On a serious note, The Conficker C virus that may activate on April 1st is disconcerting in many ways. It may seriously damage computers and even extend into the internet. The fact that the most knowledgable computer experts in the world, and law enforcement agencies, have so far been ineffective in finding the originators is more disturbing than the virus itself.

Sundays

         I had read a few books on the history of "Sunday" in Western culture, and they were good, but the information was becoming redundant. I finally got around to reading yet another, a Christmas present, The Peculiar Life Of Sundays by Stephen Miller, Harvard University Press and was pleasantly surprised. Miller has walked his readers through the history of England and America through the eyes of literary figures using their writings and letters.
         The overall complaint by these many people was the "gloominess" of the day when Sabbatarians were in power. There was a distinct correlation between those that either rejected Christianity, doubted its legitimacy or were outright pagans and their desire to experience the wonders of nature and the joys of recreation on the day. The second correlation was the general health of the nation when it respected the Lord's Day and the disarray and general decline when it rejected God's commandment. In both cases, the church declined as its honoring of the Lord's Day did. According to Miller, William Wilberforce had two goals in life, to rid England of slavery and to see the improvement of manners which Miller said included a return to honoring the Lord's Day.
         Time and time again, over the years, the issue would come to a head. Miller describes the situation in 1858; "The sabbatarians did not get what they wanted. Their clamor for change provoked a backlash. Twice in June and July 1858 more than 150,000 people demonstrated in London against a bill that would curtail Sunday trade and further restrict the hours that pubs could be open on Sunday. Karl Marx, who was present at the first demonstration, was ecstatic. The "English Revolution" had begun, he said."
         As a sign of the times, in 1932 the English were finally given the right to play soccer on Sunday. Adolph Hitler came to power a year later. Our NFL football moved to Sunday play in 1933. My elementary and high school education was filled with glorifying accomplished writers from American history that discredited Christianity in their writings and certainly were opposed to the Christian concept of the Lord's Day. Ralph Waldo Emerson, speaking to Harvard divinity students, told them "On Sundays, it seems wicked to go to church" and advised them to "dare to love God without mediator or veil." Walt Whitman was a Pantheist that read scripture. He admitted that he was not Christian but applied it when he thought it would sooth others. Henry David Thoreau, of Walden Pond fame, was a Pantheist and a Pagan. Quoting Miller on Thoreau "Christianity, he says, turns people into neurotic souls who worry that an angry God will punish them for being idle, and for not observing the Sabbath." Writing with his typical satire, Mark Twain, in Extracts From Adam's Diary (from the Garden of Eden,) has Adam write "I believe I see what the week is for: it is to give me time to rest from the weariness of Sunday." I'm certainly not for legislation in this area. Even the church has found the perfect agenda of worship in the morning, sports in the afternoon and a good television special in the evening.
         No, this is an individual thing. God laid out His design and we have conducted our revisions of it. Unfortunately, not only were, and are, Sundays gloomy to unbelievers, they are to many Christians. My personal experience is that when Christ is preached in all His glory and majesty, I am being rejuvenated and the day prepares me for the following week. When Christ is not preached, I also see it as gloomy; not that the scriptural application coming from the pulpit is not good and needed, nor that meeting with others who are Christian is not what we should do, but rather that the main course was bypassed.

Existence Of Evil

       I was not able to publish a post on Saturday. I'm trying to make a conscious effort to keep affairs of the world out of my mind on the Lord's Day (today). I can though, make a few comments from a Christian perspective on the terrorism that threatens to consume the world. British philosopher Anthony Flew was the foremost atheist in the world...up until 2004, when he announced that he had changed his mind, there had to be a God. I just finished his book on this "change of mind" called There Is A God, How the world's most notorious atheist changed his mind, written with Roy Abraham Varghese) As of the writing of the book, he has not accepted a "personal God" but admits that the question is still open with him. It's compelling reading.
          I want to mention just one issue that helped keep him from belief in God. That issue was the existence of evil. One of the reasons Professor Flew came to theism was the dazzling and the complete interdependence of theories of physics with each other. There simply had to be a Creator! Certainly, the same complete interdependence was fashioned by God in His greatest creation, man. If there is good, there has to be evil or the design would be incomplete. How would one know love with the absence of an alternative. How would you know good if there was never bad? Just as the universe was magnificently complete, so was God's creation of man! The ability to love demanded the ability to hate or it would not be love. Man also has the capability to be indifferent, to neither love nor hate. Man can terrorize and take life, and he can oppose terror and defend life...and he can be indifferent. The church of Laodicea was neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm and God said He would "spit them out of my mouth." We cannot be lukewarm on terror or God's hand will surely depart and we will be consumed, both as individuals and a nation. There is no evil in heaven, nor will there be any when we are there, but we will know what it was. We will know God's love and His goodness.

America..&...Ephesus

         Charles was an evangelist, according to the media anyway. Formerly he was a pastor of a 12,000 member Baptist church in Dallas, Texas. He started a radio ministry that moved to television and then to his own cable network. He preached hellfire, authored books and had Presidents seek his friendship. Then while driving to New Orleans to speak at a conference titled Grace Without Works Is Dead, he was searching the radio dial and tuned in to a broadcast of a small Louisiana preacher that had 15 minutes to proclaim the gospel on Saturday mornings. Charles listened and was compelled to pull off the road. He buried his head in the steering wheel and cried. This country preacher, who could not even pronounce Biblical names correctly, had brought a message of grace that Charles had fought his whole life. He went to the conference and preached "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves." Barely a hand was offered to him as he left the podium and returned to Dallas.
         In the ensuing years, he kept a low profile, then emerged preaching a message of law and gospel. Thinking his fame was over, and welcoming the loss of that dung heap, he found himself called everywhere to preach. The media was likening him to the 18th century English preacher George Whitefield. Some fundamentalists did not appreciate him for he heavily preached grace. The evangelicals were not thrilled with him for he called people out of a world, they were calling people to join and change. He travelled mostly from one small church to another, that bore all the signs of failure to the world but did not have the hindrance of seeking success the larger churches had. The churches overflowed when he preached. He moved to auditoriums and then stadiums, with no advance work, or advertising. The people searched him out and came to hear him preach Christ and Him crucified. He had preached in Miami's Dolphin Stadium, Denver's Invesco Field and Atlanta's Georgia Dome to tens of thousands with a message that was not sitting well with the owners. He called for Christians to "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."
         The media, predictably, criticized and ridiculed him for this, but quite remarkably many people listened. The New England Patriot's American Football Conference playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers had ten thousand empty seats. Pittsburgh won that game. Coincidentally, the conference title game was in Pittsburgh where Charles was preaching at their Mellon Arena. Now you don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit into the wind and you don't mess with Steeler football fans in Pittsburgh. The venders, the bar owners, the media, the city council, even the churches were in an uproar. Charles was speaking the Saturday night before the big game. A crowd estimated at thirty thousand people gathered to demonstrate against his appearance. He was preaching Christ, but they saw only "Sundays."
         Two of Charles friends and associates arrived at the arena and were encircled by the people. They were jostled and cursed. For two hours a pep rally had taken place forcing cancellation of Charles preaching. He wanted to go anyway but the police chief advised him that they could not guarantee his, or others safety. Pittsburgh Mayor Smith was called to the arena and he spoke on the right of this evangelist to preach, that he had done nothing wrong. One rabble rouser had stood up and yelled that the NFL was in financial trouble and it was getting worse because of this man's preaching. The mayor responded with "The Steeler game was going on Sunday anyway and the stadium will be full and the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl!" The crowd chanted "Here we go Steelers, here we go!" This little story is loosely based on Paul's experience with Demetrius and the artisans that made idols to Diana at Ephesus (Acts 19). Any message that is perceived to threaten the objects of our hearts desire will be renounced. I don't have this particular problem with sports on the Lord's Day but I have my own idols and can be as equally sensitive to have them questioned. We need a healthy dose of introspection in America and I pray that it would start with me first.

Chess Opening

         The trend towards a one world governmental system has always run into a stumbling block with the United States. Even when we elect a liberal Democrat, we are essentially a traditional, conservative and religious people and this is not a good recipe for paradigm changes. Barack Obama is in the White House, his agenda is radical to say the absolute least, and thus he faces the same problem. Something is not kosher in the rhetoric of the administration.
         You cannot build up this kind of national debt without it taking on the characteristics of a chess opening. It seems that every day a new idea is waved before the public for reaction. From replacing the dollar, to White House power grabs, to mandatory youth service, to searching for new tax revenues, to giving newspapers financial help, the administration acts as if it is positioning pieces on a chess board. Why not present a carefree attitude about the economy if an emergency, and taxation expansion are not part of an endgame resulting in a socialist society?
          Congresswoman Michele Bachman's (MN) repeated questioning of Timothy Geithner on whether the Constitution permits such governmental power was refreshing. A plan seems to be in the works and it is not one described in press conferences. The first two bailouts were passed by a simple scare tactic of "Pass it now, without debate, or disaster!". President Obama made a comment in his news conference that concerned me. He mentioned accomplishing a goal by the end of his first term! I would not have liked a slip of overconfidence like that from George Bush. There is a heightened need for vigilance and examination in the rhetoric of Washington D. C. today.

Sphere of Influence

         As the stock market figures began to dive last fall, so did the value of 401Ks. Tens of thousands of dollars, even hundreds of thousands were lost by average people across this country. We had a problem before that. What is the future going to look like when a large percentage of the population are building up their savings plans and an equally large lower income group have no retirement or pension plans? It was sort of poetic justice that the economic decline hurt the 401s most. Should there be a complete economic collapse accompanied by inflation, the lower income group will bear the brunt of the pain.
         President Obama wants a redistribution of wealth. If his attempts go unhindered, the rich will have fewer millions, the middle class will have lower 401s and the lower income group will have even less money. It's not "redistribution of wealth" that we need, it is a "readjustment of our desires." I don't envy those who receive millions of dollars in bonuses, I feel sorry for them. Look around you. Has a college education lowered the percentages of divorces? Does an expensive house in a gated community guarantee happiness? Are those in the more lucrative professions immune from violence and cultural decay? Does a large bank account change the headlines in the newspaper? We all want the best for our children and security for our families, to be treated fairly, to live in a nice community and to have a decent job. So, how can we help bring about change in our society? We all have a sphere of influence, some wide but most modest. Respecting our laws, constitution and unwritten ethical codes in all our dealings and staying vigilant as to the empty promises of materialism would be a good start.

China

         Imagine looking at the world from the perspective of China's leadership. A secluded society of the largest population in the world, Communist China had weathered its own internal problems during the Cultural Revolution with the outside world knowing little of what was going on. Mao passed away and the potential economic power of its people was luring them into flirting with capitalism. Before long they were an economic behemoth, the third largest economy in the world with their former enemy, the United States, their biggest customer. Multitudes were moving into the urban areas to work.
         Their initial misgivings of opening their people's mind's to the West were coming to fruition. Liberty was taking hold. Christianity had grown under repression, would liberty do likewise? Nonetheless, they placed great importance on the success of the Olympics, and succeeded. Then the unexpected happened. Part of their being lured into a capitalist economy was the genius of those who had lorded their wealth over them for so long. They didn't factor in human greed. The people that moved to the urban areas for jobs, may soon be without employment, seeds of rebellion, and the Chinese blogosphere is humming. A weak dollar hurts tourism and the Chinese economy in general.
          Today, China brought up the idea of a new world currency to replace the dollar, a notion Russia had previously mentioned. Coincidence? China has bought enough of our securitized debt to bankrupt us if they wanted to, only it would do the same to them. They let us know that they were not happy with the economic developments and demanded guarantees of their investments. On the bright side, China has plenty of money in reserve. They still have vast areas that have not joined into the producing/consuming cycle and their banks are relatively safe. On the negative side, they have to maintain their rate of growth which is very high. Even what would be good figures to us can be bad for them. They need increased personal consumption and the Chinese people tend to save. They will not yield with Tibet whom they have dominated since 1950, nor Taiwan. They are strengthening their navy and continuing to build economic "ties" throughout the world. They get offended very easily. Why they continue to flex there military muscles from time to time is confusing, unless, like the Chinese people themselves, they know that economic benefits are not guaranteed so they fall back on the strengths of their early years, just in case.

Puzzles and Mysteries

         Today, my wife was reading a section of the Sunday newspaper and looked over to me and said "Here's a math puzzle. Do you want to see if you can figure it out?" I just looked at her. We have been married 32 years...she knows me, of course I want to try to figure it out! She gave me the short problem and said there are four possible answers. I stopped her right there, you can luck out with the answer on a multiple choice. What fun is that? Both my wife and son know that if they give me a puzzle like that, I will probably never want the answer if I cannot figure it out, which is often.
          Our son was home for break from law school last week and we pulled out the chess board for a very infrequent game. We played for maybe 90 minutes and had to retire for the evening. We never got back to the game but it did not matter to me. There was no winner or loser, and to me that is good. I think that I related a Peanuts comic before, Linus had run up to Charlie Brown and said "Charlie Brown, you missed it. It was the greatest game. The lead went back and forth and when it was over the winning team jumped all over the place and hugged each other celebrating the win!" Charlie looked at Linus and said "And what did the losing team do?" I love competition, I just don't like the end. The fun for me in the chess game was in thinking through it.
          About a year ago, our son was studying for his LSAT tests for law school. He gave me a sample question. It had something to do with 15 pool balls, their weights and a scale. Now, they probably have about 15 minutes to answer each question. I worked on this for about a week when he said to me "There's no real answer to this question, they just want to see how you go about working it." "Oh."
          It was maybe 25 years ago and a friend of my wife's came over for the evening. the conversation came around to religion. She, an atheist, said "You really should read Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not A Christian. I was able to walk over to the bookshelf and pull the book out, saying "You mean this?" One of the issues Russell had was the concept of Hell, which he said that wasn't talked about much at that time. It was 1927. As with other theological issues,
          I've thought about Hell often. I know that there is probably no literal answer in explaining it, so it does not bother me as it might some, but I still try to conceptualize it. I might start with the things that I do know. There is a judgement and some go left and some go right. I know that there is no time in eternity, as we know it, so the concept of billions of years of judgement does not come into the equation. I know that the Trinity is Biblical truth and it is a mystery. I know that we cannot do works for our salvation and that God chooses to have mercy on whom He chooses to have mercy, another mystery. I know some other things, I know that my intellect is not near that of Marilyn vos Savant's from where the first problem came, it's probably closer to Marilyn Monroe's, but compared to our Creator's intellect, we are merely two peas in a pod. Consequently, I know that these questions that come from truths of the scriptures will be answered, perfectly, and to my complete acquiescence of the wisdom in our not needing to know them now. Scripture says that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. To demand the surroundings, the ambient temperature and what senses will directly be effected in causing weeping and gnashing of teeth is not necessary. If the concept of Hell is giving you pause in your spiritual quest, you might want to put it on the back burner for a while. It will never be fully explained but the logic and reasoning behind its necessity will become evident, and in eternity we will see the glorious Trinity and why God could have mercy on someone such as myself.

Remembering 9/11

          The cover of People Magazine on September 24, 2001 showed the skyline of New York City. The south tower of the World Trade Center was spewing smoke and at first glance the photo looks like and industrial smoke stack. The second plane is in view as it begins to turn on its way to flying into the north tower. The special issue was 136 pages of pain and tears, shock, destruction and blood.
          Why did they plan for years to inflict such monstrous horror on us? Was it, like some have said, because we are "good?" I don't believe that for a second. Was it because we have supported Israel? I'm sure that there is some truth there. It's more likely the result of two very powerful forces, one irresistible unless God intervenes and the other irresistible when God intervenes. One begins to die when law departs, the other begins to live when law departs. When freedom discards law anything goes. People begin to, as scripture tells us, "call evil good and good evil." Thus, same-sex marriage is good and...say...homeschooling is bad.
          As the concept of law is deemed less and less important, we now reach for everything within our grasp. Capitalism picks up on this like Newsweek Magazine on an unflattering picture of Sarah Palin...if there is one. Before you know it, Madonna videos are selling in Tehran. Our enemies don't like this because their sales of beheadings on video fall off. The other force is unleashed when man finds out that he cannot keep laws to find redemption with God.
          When Christianity enters the lands of our enemies, they may not know how but they know that it will change people, it will grow in numbers and will eventually release people from their bondage. President Obama's overtures of friendship with the Iranian people will have some effect on some people but it will have no effect on terrorists. It is worth trying, but only if we do not forget what the group that it will not effect is capable of, and by no means letting up on them or letting our guard down. Unfortunately, this is what the President is doing. Remembering what happened on that dreadful day, September 11, 2001, keeps us from forgetting what can happen again, and worse. To the Christian, God has lifted the burden of our past sin enough that we can function, more than function, we can live joyfully in the grace extended, but as long as we live in this world, we are capable of returning. I don't want to wear that burden, but I don't want to forget it either.

Generations

         Pittsburgh was known for its steel mills but tucked away in a valley next to those mills was another major industrial enterprise. George Westinghouse invented the airbrake and followed that with the Westinghouse Electric Company. Nikola Tesla worked for Westinghouse whose chief competitor was Thomas Edison's General Electric. Above the Westinghouse plant was the Bessemer Terrace and just over the hill was Braddock Pennsylvania where General Braddock was killed while one of his young officers, George Washington survived to greater fame. It is a historic and industrially historic area.
         Poland, England, Ireland and Scotland contributed to the making of two families that were my grandparents. The Westinghouse Electric Corporation supplied them with employment. Both Grandfathers, my father and numerous uncles retired from Westinghouse which took them through the Great Depression. Although not as bad as described in The Grapes of Wrath, there was no money to spare. My grandfather worked away in the basement for a toy cradle or doll that was added to an orange for a Christmas present. I have visited my mother and father's childhood homes on occasion, looked over the same hill where my mother and her friends climbed down a ways to smoke a cigarette. I visited the hospital building that my mother worked at a switchboard where my father would visit to talk after returning home from the Pacific, badly burned from a Kamikaze attack on his transport ship.
         What might my son be able to say of me? He visited the modest apartments where my mother and I lived, the all boys high school where I wore a tie and sports coat, The storefront's that I hung around and ballfields where my time was spent or the university my wife and I graduated from. He can talk about a trip to Europe, Greece and Turkey and numerous vacations up and down the East Coast as well as Civil War battlefields and Disney World. He can talk about nightly conversations on the Christian faith, life and politics. Lord willing and only through God's grace, should He grant it, what will his son or daughter say of him?
         The challenges of this generation will be enormous. They will be fighting for the very existence of America. They will have to ward off the long tentacles of Postmodernism. Will they see a Reformation, much needed in the church? Or will they be the generation that witnesses the climatic events the Bible tells of when Jesus Christ returns. Maybe, should the Lord tarry, something like this will make a good fiction trilogy. I wasted much of my youth. I contributed little. Maybe that is why I am trying to make up for lost time as the society that I helped corrupt through my narcissism and inattention begins to completely unravel. I do have the opportunity to give advice to a younger generation through the painful wisdom of past mistakes. God extended His grace and blessing to me, which should encourage anyone. If you have read some of my previous posts, you may think that I am a pessimist. I consider myself a complete optimist, for I know that the bleaker the situation, the more wonderful His rescue would be, and it surely would come about should He will it. And if He does not will it, then that is equally part of His plan that will bring Him glory and that is the only thing of real importance.

The Elderly

         Quite a number of years ago, a very old lady and a good friend died. She was in her 90s and never married. She had lived in a farmhouse her whole life, maybe the last fifty years taking care of her sister who had the mind of a child. In her younger days, she had gone to a small fundamentalist Bible college. We took her back for a reunion of sorts a few years before she died.
         She was a poet. On occasion, someone would print one of her poems and she published a small book of them. Every year or so I return to the book to read through her poetry. She was a Christian women whose conversation invariably turned to the Lord. She was also a bit cantankerous. It is not just her that I am bringing up in this post, it is all the elderly Christian people that I have known. When I meet someone at an advanced age, who has travelled a long road, and they are a Christian, it is more than encouraging. They had gone through their youth, through middle age, and through the beginnings of their senior life into what surely is nearness to seeing the Lord and they have had faith for all those years and through what would most surely be, many trials. Most are feeble, wrinkled, their voice is no longer powerful. They may have to think a moment or two before answering a question, but there is no athletic endeavor, no celebration at a game ending horn, no award that even comes close to a person who has walked this earth eighty or more years and gives testimony to a faithful Lord who will call them home when it is time.
           I'm just beginning to realize that I am not as young as I once was and I do not know what a single day will bring. I ran a marathon, once. I may have related this before, it took me so long to finish that a mounted policeman looked at me as if I was keeping him from supper. An elderly couple crossed the finish line just before me, a small crowd cheering for them. As much as elderly Christians encourages me, the elderly who who have no faith and are satisfied are a source of particular sadness. Should the Lord tarry in His return, my generation (the boomers) will be no more. Try an experiment, sit an look at the minute hand on your watch for a while. you can actually see it moving. Nothing stops time. Scripture says "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." It is my belief that the Book of Hebrews was a sermon, and that it is a model for every sermon. If you are looking for a place to start in reading the Bible, this would be a good choice.

7 Letters to 7 Churches

           The Book of Revelation is a vision given to the Apostle John while he was on the island of Patmos. The 2nd chapter begins seven letters to seven churches in Asia Minor. Were these seven literal churches? Yes, but they may have been more than just literal churches in Asia Minor. Some believe that they were also seven church periods where each church represented the entire church in a period of time. I don't think so. Others believe that they are seven types of churches in every period of time. It sure seems that way. The first church is Ephesus. It defended doctrinal truth but had left its "first love." A few of these churches are addressing me but none as particularly, as I perceive it, Ephesus. Have I lost my "first love" as a Christian. Has doctrine taken over so much that I cannot express the love of Christ?
         The second church is Smyrna. There is no criticism for this church. It suffered tribulation and poverty (which I do not.) The third church is Pergamos. This was a compromising church where idolatry and immorality had entered in. Certainly it speaks to me. The fourth church is Thyatira. The notes of the New Geneva Study Bible label it the "corrupt" church. Many were following a false teacher, some were not. The fifth church was Sardis. They had the reputation of a church that was "alive" but in reality it was a "dead" church. The sixth church was Philadelphia. As with Smyrna, there is no criticism. Smyrna was being persecuted and remained faithful while Philadelphia's attacks were apparently on the truths they held on to.
         The seventh church was Laodicea. They were not merely labeled "dead" as was Sardis. They were worse, they simply did not care. They said of themselves "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing." God said quite the opposite "You are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked." If you are not familiar with these first three chapters in Revelation, please read them for yourself. Apocalyptic (hidden) scripture like this is more than difficult in determining an exact meaning, maybe even impossible. But then, we are told in chapter 1 verse 3 "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophesy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
         Much of scripture needed to be codified by the church. Others had the gift of doing this but everyone has the ability of understanding the results. Much of scripture, as R. C. Sproul likes say, has perspicuity, in that its meaning is clear even to the unlearned. I highly recommend Sproul's classic book Knowing Scripture. I am confident when I write on the essential beliefs of the Christian faith. On non-essentials, my confidence goes no further than my own mind. I write as to those who are searching or are new in the faith. My advice is to research and study on your own, don't burn bridges until you are sure and have a handle on why some doctrine is false and how easily it is to believe in it. You will come to know the difference between non-essentials and heretical doctrine. Christianity is not esoteric, its truths are not for a few Christians. I will say this, as far as my mortal mind can have confidence, the rewards for the effort are everything. We should continually examine ourselves. We can make two mistakes on choosing a church We can, through pride, refuse to even look into the evidence that we may have made a mistake. We would have to "start all over," to admit to friends that we were wrong, and to put the effort in when we thought we already had. Or, we can remain, all of our days, never satisfied, either because we think we know it all and cannot find that church, or because we doubt our decision making, too much.

Remembrance

          September 11, 2001 is permanently etched in my mind. I was eating breakfast at a local restaurant when the horror started. I came home and just happened to turn on the television and saw what was happening. I cannot imagine the terror of the passengers as they saw the planes fast approaching the Towers, or as they flew low into the Pentagon and certainly not the brave attempt of the passengers in the plane that crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. That plane's flight path would have passed over close to our home. I can't forget the pictures of the people forced to jump from the towering infernos.
         The attack was worse than Pearl Harbor. The Japanese Ambassador was in Washington for peace talks on December 7, 1941. Japan had attempted to notify the United States of the impending attack immediately before it occurred to assuage the dishonor of a sneak attack. The message did not arrive in time anyway. The immediate aftermath of both attacks were similar as the American Government and its people responded with determination.
         I remember the scene of President Bush addressing the Congress. We were truly united as a nation. It did not last long, because we are humans. We live in the culture as fish live in water. An American Creed had united us for over 200 years, a creed that saw us as a "special people," brought from all quarters of the earth to a land that had this amazing Constitutional Republic government. We had our colonial beginnings, our Founding Fathers, numerous names of heroes of war, government, invention and sacrifice. And we had one God. Our schools reminded us of these things. If it was not our fathers who went off to war to protect our freedoms, it was our grandfathers.
         My travels have taken me to Europe, Asia and South America and I was always proud to be an American. The Stars and Stripes is a beautiful flag. When I was a youth, television would stop broadcasting about 1 A.M and it would sign off with the flag flying as the National Anthem played. I remember watching the sign off with the comfort of thinking that my country was strong. I often visit Civil War battlefields. I remember hundreds of long lines of white crosses in a cemetery in Belgium, Americans who gave everything to stop the evil of that day. There will never be a Ho Chi Minh City to me. It will always be Saigon and I take special pride in calling the Vietnamese that immigrated here, fellow Americans, fellow citizens.
          The image of Iraqis raising a finger purple with the ink of voting is also etched in my mind. Our soldiers (a term for all of our military) have served us bravely and superbly. If I were in the presence of George W. Bush today, there would be no remembrance of economic decisions nor any other decisions he made that I disagreed with. I would stand at attention in respect for what he endured and for what he did in defending us. As a people, we have slipped badly. We no longer realize what we had or what we are losing. The American Creed is waning fast, as is E Pluribus Unun (Out of Many One) in favor of E Unum Pluribus. We are a nation of groups wrestling for our own group rights. God already knows what is in store for America but His design, in a very mysterious way, brings us into the equation through prayer. Why would we pray for a need that we do not know exists? Why would we humble ourselves if we do not see the catastrophe our pride is delivering.

Theologically/Politically Conservative

         I may have to cut back on my posts. The neighbors are asking my wife if I've moved out from not seeing me. I'm starting to talk to the newspaper, and the television is jealous. I'm making up jokes. Here's one: An Eskimo is fishing for Walleye on Lake Erie. A school of noisy Muskie swim by stirring the water and the Eskimo jumps up and yells "Hush you Muskies, Hush!" Here's another one for the Blondie comic strip. Dagwood is driving to work with three friends. They enter a tunnel and one starts screaming. Dagwood says "It's alright, he has Carpool Tunnel Syndrome." When I sign my name to a retail credit card purchase, I look for the spell check and publish buttons. I have daydreams where they ask me to write op-ed pieces for the Washington Post, the problem is I don't want to live in D. C..
         I have two recurring nightmares. One is where I add a counter and no one has ever stopped by. The other is where I look at my 100 posts and it is one sentence over and over again "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country." So, you see my problem. More seriously, there is a lot of criticism by "theologically conservative Christians", towards whom they see only as "politically conservative Christians." They deride Christians entering into culture wars. They present a good argument but invariably have few answers of their own to give. Consider two men rowing across a lake. They are halfway across and the boat springs a leak. The one man starts bailing and the rower says "Your crazy bailing. This boat will need a whole new hull. " The one bailing responds "Just keep rowing while I bail and we just might get to the other side and save this boat." There is, what I perceive to be, a serious problem that inhabits many very good people. They won't attempt something because they may make a mistake and subject themselves to the resulting criticism. There is a touch of idolatry here, protecting the revered reputation. On the other hand, our mistakes reflect upon our belief. I'm a part of both of these groups. The first is more important, the second is, at the very least, a personal right. We need to both row and bail.

.Hoping For Failure?

         The Democratic National Committee and the mainstream media have a set plan to deflect attention from the Obama administration and it centers on Rush Limbaugh. It's a page out of the devious methods book that they used to put Barack Obama into the Oval Office. I rarely get to listen to Limbaugh and do not know what he said about "hoping that Obama fails" but I'll tell you how I feel and "I betcha" that it's similar. Barack Obama wants a socialist America. He wants the government to be your Primary Care Provider in everything. He wants America to be more like our adversaries, thereby appeasing them. He views God as a monarch that is no longer needed but cannot be rid of, so a "figurehead" is the answer. He wants to redistribute the wealth through legislation purportedly made for economic recovery. He wants to pay back the myriad of special interest groups that put him in office. He wants an unimposing military. He wants a postmodern interpretation of the constitution. I want him to fail in all of these endeavors. If he succeeds "in these endeavors,", America fails. Do I want him to fail as a President? No, but the power of the DNC and the mainstream media ends with rhetoric and this type of power can't help Wall Street or distract international terrorism and certainly will not dissuade God from judging us.

Atheism in America

         The English Commonwealth existed for a short time. Far from perfect, it did enable the church to preach the gospel. Unexpectedly, Oliver Cromwell had died. The Commonwealth lasted only a few mores years without Cromwell's leadership. Charles II had taken the throne and the Restoration had begun. The Puritans were out of power and the English revelled in their new freedom to live without the boorish strictures of the Puritan "interpretation" of the Bible. Almost 2000 pastors were kicked out of their pulpits for refusing to preach the way the King demanded them to. Cromwell's body was dug up and "posthumously executed." His head was stuck on a pole outside Westminster Hall. The year was 1661.
         The frivolity did not last long. The Great Plague of London hit in 1665 with 100,000 deaths including 1/3 of London. As the plague began to decline, the Great Fire of London ignited on September 2, 1666. 80% of central London would be destroyed including 13,000 houses. In America, we have just seen a rash of "anti-God" bestsellers, all happily publicized by the media. Richard Dawkins The God Delusion and God Is Not Great, How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens are two of the top offerings. Bill Maher's film Religulous is clear in its message. PBS has presented "scholarly" documentaries on the foolishness of believing in God. Religion is fodder for comedians. The NEA wants to ween children away from belief and higher education wants to snuff out smoldering embers.
         President Obama was sworn in on Abraham Lincoln's Bible but the words of the oath were mixed up. He was sworn in again a few days later, this time with no Bible. The new term of acceptance is "People of faith." Is there a connection between such a large portion of America seizing the atheistic moment and the collapse of our economy and threat to the foundations of America. David Wilkerson is the pastor of Times Square Church in New York City. He was the young pastor that went to confront the gangs of the city with the love of Christ. The Cross And The Switchblade was the ensuing book and movie of that title. This week he says that God showed him a vision of catastrophes in New York City and America. I don't know if the nation's atheistic fervor is a portent of disasters or not, and even if they occur, I do not believe that Reverend Wilkerson's visions are necessarily from God. I do believe though, that when a nation rejects God whom it once honored, and proudly boasts of its wisdom in such rejection, that God's hand will likely be taken completely away...at least for a time.

Extreme Soberness

         England's Prime Minister Gordon Brown wants the world's biggest economic countries (G20) to give the International Monetary Fund monies for a "World Stimulus." The United States isn't happy with Europe for not following their lead with their own huge stimulus packages. Germany does not have a huge real estate or banking problem and is hesitant to move much at all. The Czech Republic's Vaclav Klaus made headlines recently on a trip to America. In a Wall Street Journal interview he said "coming from, first Europe, and, second, from a former communist country where I spent most of my life I almost don't believe my eyes to see how much you believe in government and how much you don't believe in the market. This is for me a shocking experience." His comments are reminiscent of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's speech at Harvard in 1978 where he admonished the West in not defending it's traditions and embracing excessive materialism.
         Quite a number of years ago I received a mailing from a "ministry" that sent Christian youth to foreign countries to evangelize. The photos showed American teenagers in "white face" and clown outfits. The audience were rural African villagers. The teens where playing out a skit of the gospel. It was not surprising to hear an African pastor at that time say that maybe it was the United States that needed evangelized. The turbulence, volatility and confusion in the world today call for extreme soberness.

.Religion Survey

         Most news outlets are reporting the latest results from the American Religious Identification Survey of 2008. The previous report was 18 years ago. Some of the highlights were: 15% of Americans now claim no religion at all which was up from 8%, Paganism increased, and mainlines dropped. Those calling themselves "evangelical" or "born again" stayed proportionally the same at about one-third of the population. One interesting tidbit was that mega-church attendance rose from about 200,000 to 8,000,000. The news media focuses primarily on the fact that more people are "coming out" as having no religion.
          These surveys never ask the questions that I would want to hear. It would take some doctrinal questions to do that, but I would like to make some comments. I don't think that more than 10% of the population are Christian. Our churches are literally filled with people who do not show signs of having been born anew, from above. I'm not talking about how they live, or how often they go to church, or wearing a cross, or answers to a survey. Although I, or anyone else, cannot and would not want to judge any individual, there are two categories of people that seem to fall into this 35%. The first does not seem to be overwhelmed by what has happened to them. Some can study the Bible regularly but the topics would fit well in many religious cults, social gospel adherents, liberation, ethnic or feminist theology. There are ministers, elders and deacons everywhere that would utterly fail any understanding of the gospel and actually deny Biblical truth. These folks would still be represented in the 35% evangelical area. The other category are in various denominations. They may hold to unsound non-essential doctrines. They can be pious and non-political or loud and political, but when you talk to them for any period of time,you know that they truly have a Savior, they know when they sin and they weep for it. They know that scripture is God's very breathed Word to us. I can't believe that this group exceeds 10% of the population.
         The survey does give valuable information. The northeast and northwest lead the way in disdain for religion. The Bible belt still exists, these poor folks who still cling to their God. Actually, the survey gives us a group that it does not name, and that is God-fearing Americans. These are the folks who do believe in God, they want to serve Him and think that they are but this is not the definition of a redeemed soul. The church has evolved in such a way that it fails to proclaim what John Bunyan would describe as a burden of sin that must be shed and a gate that must be walked through, nor what Johnathon Edwards would describe as Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God who could very easily release us to fall into eternal punishment. Hell is passe' in today's church. These "God-fearing" people can affect God's mercy on America as the Ninevite's repentance did in Jonah's day. Most importantly, the survey should cause our heads to drop as so few have come to believe. We need to address those who believe in God with the gospel that others gave to us. We also need to address those who do not believe with the confidence in knowing that it is God who opens eyes. We need not be discouraged in this.

100th blog

        I've been waiting for the 100th blog in order to reminisce a little bit on why I am doing this. I'm speaking to myself tonight, as well as you. I knew that our troubles were not going to pass easily or quickly toward the end of the Presidential campaign. The economy was collapsing fast and we were going the bailout route. A President had been elected whose credentials were a state senate, a short time as a U. S. Senator, mostly spent running for President, dubious friends and associates, socialism in his blood and Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barney Frank and Joe Biden to advise and work with him...and of course Hillary in the wings.
          Our adversaries were chomping at the bit. Americans had voted their pocket books with Bill Clinton in "92" and had voted their Netflix membership card in this one. If you could find a church that preached Christ, you were extraordinarily lucky. Christians participation in politics was one of isolation. They commanded a large block but were unable to persuade. Three months later and it is unbelievably worse as monumental pork/stimulus bills have mortgaged the future and Hillary Clinton is in charge of foreign policy.
         Harry Blamires had written a book that has become a Christian classic in The Christian Mind. He was lamenting the loss of such a mind. I'm lamenting the absence of the "Christian Citizen." We need to take a fundamentally different tact. When "you" approach another person with the purpose of debating an issue, you are at an immediate disadvantage. Your opponent has the luxury of calmly answering while you excitedly reel off statistics or admonitions. It is psychological in that since you have initiated the conversation, you must be the aggressor. Your opponent can show confidence instead of aggression, calmness instead of agitation.
          It is generally perceived that Sarah Palin did not do well in her interview with Katie Couric. Why is this? She should have had the advantage of calmly taking the aggressive questions and giving "food for thought" instead of trying to appease Couric. Reagan was a master. He calmly deflected antagonistic questions. When he was on the attack, it was in a forum where he was in charge, such as his speech at the Berlin Wall where he adamantly said "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Dick Cheney was good in an interview, President Bush was not. A Republican Senator recently strongly inferred that the issue of Barack Obama's eligibility was settled as the voters decided the issue in the primaries. A simple response to this can be unsettling to the Senator, as it should be. We simply contact him with a short note that says something like this "Senator, we are not a nation where popular opinion decides a constitutional issue. That is something for the Supreme Court to decide. Your lack of discernment demonstrates why we need a new breed of Republicans in the Senate."
          In these posts I wanted to give a synopsis on how to dialogue with those who disagree with us. I wanted to be an example of a Christian witness in that we are not short on proclaiming our belief in God but we cannot forget that we are still sinners. Theological error does not help. Modern Evangelicalism is Arminian in that it believes that all have a choice, and they have made the choice to believe. It will say that only by God's grace can this happen but ultimately "we" made the decision and so should others. God's Word says something different. We never would have come to belief because even though we have free will, we have something else and that is a fallen nature that will dominate the free will. I spent about half of my Christian walk as an Arminian and since then as a Biblical Christian on this issue, or "Calvinist" as it is nicknamed. I know the subtle difference this makes in looking at ourselves and non-believers.
         When we speak about how America has rejected the God whose mercies alone account for our existence, we should make every effort to make it clear that we all have failed. Lastly, I wanted to show myself in two very distinct ways. The politics of America dominate much of my day, for six days of the week, for our children's future will be bleak if we do not discern the times, but it does not enter into Sunday, which is the Lord's Day. God has devised it this way and we have rejected His design. Consequently, we lack discernment in secular affairs because we are not attentive on the day that He distributes wisdom.
         I particularly want to address the topic of talking politics in one moment and God in the next. It is here that we need modification. Consequently, when the talk of politics turns to Jesus, we wind up walking away feeling anything but having expressed the love of Christ. I don't feel that way when I write on the War on Terror one day and Christianity the next. I struggled with this for a long while. Should my personality change? I tried it and it doesn't work. We have become a bit schizophrenic on this. My final determination, weak though it may be, is that we are not people of this world who leave it to go to church on one day. We are pilgrims who leave the confines of the Lord's Day for six days in Vanity Fair. I'm sure, that when a soldier leaves his base to patrol the streets of an Iraqi town, there is a sense of heightened awareness. When I give my thoughts on the War on Terror, I had better remember, as the soldier in Iraq does, that the enemy employs effective weapons, he is trained and I am on his territory.

I wrote this on Friday but could not post it or work on Saturday's and Sundays' so this is for all three days.

Year Of Change

         It was February of 1989, a group of about 20 Christians and I were about to depart to Asuncion, Paraguay on a short term mission trip. The news reported that a coup had taken place and President Stroessner was replaced by General Rodriguez. As we rode from the airport to the Assemblies of God mission we passed government buildings damaged by artillery fire. This was the beginning of a momentous year in many governments of the world. The following is a list of how much of the world was changed:

February- Boris Yeltsin wins the first free election in the Soviet Union.
May 8- Milosevic elected president of Serbia
May 8- First deaths in the Chinese siege of Tienanmen Square.
June 3- Ayatollah Khomeini dies
June 4- First semi-free election in Poland in 40 years.
June 19- Burma renamed Myanmar
June 30- The Sudan elects an Iranian style government with Sharia Law.
July 5- Seinfeld begins broadcasting (It took me about eight years to see an episode.)
July 8- Carlos Menem elected in Argentina. First democratic change of power in 6 decades.
July 14- Western leaders "celebrate" the French Revolution
August 4- Iran swears in President Rafsanjani
September 2- Violeta Chammorro begins successful presidential campaign in Nicaragua.
Sept 20- F. W. de Klerk sworn in as President of South Africa. Beginning of end for Apartheid.
September- Israel outlaws Hamas as a terrorist organization.
October 7- The Communist party in Hungary rejects Marxism for democratic socialism.
October 23- Hungary ends Communist rule.
November 9- Berlin Wall opens.
November 17 - The Velvet Revolution " begins in Czechoslovakia.
November- Regular fighting begins in Kashmir.
December 1- Mikhail Gorbachev meets with Pope John Paul II.
December 7- East Germany's former leaders arrested.
December 15- Uprising begins that will lead to Romania's ouster of Nicolai Ceausescu.

        This is just a partial list and the following year was even more remarkable. It was not just coincidental that movements began in so many diverse places. Important news is broadcast and known on the other side of the world before the day is done. People's emotions spread like The Wave at a sports stadium. This is pertinent to today. The economic crisis around the world has stirred up ambitions of globalists and socialists everywhere. War and revolution can catch the fever. This is one reason why we have to stand back and examine major legislation and paradigm shifts in government policy before we enact them. As in a chess game, we have to look beyond the next few moves. This, we have not been doing.

"Useful Idiots"

         For you conservatives, how do these names sound for blurbs on the back of a book, William Kristol, William F. Buckley Jr., Robert H. Bork, William J. Bennett and Jeane Kirkpatrick? Mona Charen's Useful Idiots, How Liberals Got It Wrong In The Cold War And Still Blame America First is a must read if you are concerned enough about today's political issues to put some reading time in. It's out in paperback (isbn 0060579412) and retails at $13.95.
          The term was used by Vladimir Lenin concerning reporters and others who visited Russia, bought into the propaganda of the Bolsheviks and returned to America with their enthusiasm. Jane Fonda in North Vietnam and Michael Moore in Hollywood are two of the more high profile examples of those who fit this term but not every instance of making poor decisions that work in favor of our enemies are as discernible.
          President Bush considered is necessary to plan a missile defense for Europe, one of the reasons given was the potential of missiles from Iran. President Obama wants to resolve the Iranian problem and has made overtures to Vladimir Putin concerning dropping the shield for Russia's help in stopping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Poland and other East European countries will be left out in the cold. Iran would delay, delay, delay until it has the weapons it wants. The United States would save some money, and Russia (should it agree) gets what it wants. Israel. Israel will then take matters into their own hands.
          Such is the extent of difficult situations we face that demands Americans attention. It has been my observation that many people, when the subject of God comes up, are very stubborn in their willingness to just wait and find out what is in store for them. There is only one person in this equation and it is them, chances are there is plenty of time before this question will be answered and they, quite simply, have the determination to wait. Most people have children, or at least loved ones, that should be added to the equation. I try to bring this up in conversations on the gospel. I'll say something like this; "You know that your lack of interest will lead your children in the same direction? Are you really that confident?" I'm not looking for an answer for I know the gist of what it would be. I just want that concept in their mind.
          The same principle exists here. Many are saying that America is on the precipice. It can devolve into something that we would not want our children to experience. I believe this principle but I also believe that it can be used deceptively to pressure someone in any circumstance. It's that powerful of a concept for people who love their children. So I just put the issue before you. There are Republicans, Democrats, Christians and non-believers alike who do not take lightly the economic and terrorism issues confronting us, and are not willing to let short term goals obscure long term disasters. My scenario may not be right but there is more than enough evidence to identify and reject the path President Obama is pursuing.

Compromise?

         My wife and I have gone on a Sunday walk for many years. We just started to incorporate a stop at Starbucks. Today, we were sitting next to a young women and I noticed that she was reading C. S. Lewis. I started up a conversation and she is a teacher at one of the local colleges. She brought another book out of her bag by Lewis and I eventually asked what else she had in the bag. Another book was on the Emergent Church which gave me an opportunity to bring up the magazine Modern Reformation which she has at her college library. I know because we put it there for a number of years. Modern Reformation is published by the men at The White Horse which is sort of a Christian "think tank." http://www.whitehorseinn.org/ I'm happy. She is new to the area. The flagship radio program The White Horse Inn comes on in two hours and this young women might tune in. This is just the way that I do things. I only want to be a messenger. I love conversations and can hardly think of anything more enjoyable.
         Concerning the gospel, my "method" of trying to convey it has changed over the years. I believe that it comes from a strong belief that we cannot argue people into the kingdom. The advice that I have given my son is that one does not have to "win" a debate. Winning it will not win anyone. People tend to do their real thinking on a conversation long after the fact, when personalities are not in the equation. I want to put a concept in people's minds for their later perusal. That's what I want to do with these posts. I don't see it as a forum for debate. If a person truly wants to find answers, first, the desire will come from God and second, they will put in the time.
         I'd like to bring up here a "mystery," to me anyway. I'll lay my thoughts before you and it might resonate, and it may not. It is in the formation of the "invisible church," that is all those who have been reconciled and adopted into God's family, as opposed to the "visible church" which holds all people who claim to be Christian. We agree on essentials of the Faith, on who Christ is, what He has done and how we are shown forgiveness through grace. We also disagree on many non-essential doctrines such as baptism, the Lord's Supper and worship. Now here is the "mystery" to me. Did we go off on our separate ways, or did God envision it? I have to believe that it is according to God's plan, but that does not make one's belief less wrong than another, thus the mystery. Even if one sound denomination was dominant. we would destroy the harmony in no time.
         It also has to be considered that there are degrees of error within the community. I was Pentecostal in my early years of the Faith. I believed in a Baptism of the Holy Spirit subsequent to salvation, and with speaking in tongues. Now, I believe this to be incorrect. This doctrinal mistake has various repercussions. I'll talk at length on it if necessary, but I will not elevate myself over these folks because of it. The disagreements will, remain, one side will be right. The issue has to be contested and compromising truth for harmony is not the answer.
         After all is said and done, we (both sides) go on with our own Pilgrim's Progress fully aware that the dangers that attend to us in this life demands that we see ourselves as brothers and sisters on the same path. I would not recommend that they lay down their particular beliefs (incorrect though they be) for the much worse doctrine of believing that truth is relative. The Emergent Church Movement has gone down this slippery slope of relative truth. Now let's take the Word Faith Movement, again a Christian theology but with much more compromising doctrine that can and does enter into the essentials of the faith. The debate is far more intense than paedobaptism vs adult baptism upon profession of faith.
          It is not easy to address these issues that I have brought up. The tendency, particularly in the new Christian, is to become so depressed with apparent disagreeableness that the search for truth is given up. We have to take this problem into account without, once again, compromise. So. the mystery is there for me but one thing is very clear, dedication to find God's way is a must, with humility. It's hard at times but we go on. There is no legitimate alternative, there is no other way. I am sure that there are non-essential issues that I hold now that are incorrect. If I see such, I'll (Lord willing) do what I have done in the past and that is change and go on.