The nature of miracles

This is inspired by a conversation I had recently.

I'd never realized this before, but every miracle is preceded by a disaster.

Demons are driven out, well you need demon possessed people for that.
The sick and dying are healed, you need sick and dying people.
The waves are calmed, there has to be storm.
My son has returned to me, he must have left you.
This man lives a redeemed life now, well at some point he must have a lead a reprobate life.

I'd say one definition of a miracle is God working despite the current conditions and situations. You say things look hopeless, God doesn't. You can't do anything, God can. You've given up, God hasn't. You see we are in terrible shape when we let our circumstances dictate our lives (though we do it all the time). And so you have one man stand up to hundreds and emerge victorious, you see people thrown into all sorts of dangers and traps and come out unscathed. Miracles, but all preceded by hard situations. When things are going well, we don't need miracles.

What I look for in a girl part 2

The sequel to the first question "what makes you cry?" is "what keeps you up at night?" and many others like it (what makes you angry?, etc), but that's an important one I think.

On Marriage and other thoughts

1 Tim 4:1-3
1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3 They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.

I realize I talk about a lot of things here, some of which I probably have no right to talk about. This is another one of those issues. I was reading up on the news and I read an article who's title says "California bans 'bride' 'groom'". (to read the full article Click Here Sept 9th entry)

"Brides" and "grooms" are no longer allowed to marry in the State of California.

That privilege is only extended to individuals who allow themselves to be called "Party A" and "Party B" on marriage licenses...

The couple had written the words "bride" and "groom" next to "Party A" and "Party B" because they wanted to be legally recognized as husband and wife.

However, the Placer County marriage license was denied.

EDIT:: In recent news, I believe the law was repealed.

Ok, so what's the problem with this? Is there something important in the names used to describe the people in a wedding? Perhaps not, but this issue goes much deeper and the real question we need to ask is, what is a marriage? On a side not, I believe we don't have a clear understanding of what a marriage is and that's one of the reasons the divorce rate is so high. If it's a legal binding between two people that comes with certain economic and social perks, then fine, yeah the names you use don't matter.

But what if it's more than that...

If you're a Christian, when a man and a woman come together in marriage, it's supposed to be a binding of two people. The two become one! WHAT?!?! haha it's a mystery Paul says, and I don't know how it works, but there is this God induced combination that happens through it. It's supposed to be something that lasts as long as you are alive because in Heaven you will neither be married or be given in marriage. To be separated after God puts you together it seems is going directly against the will of God. Does God separate you from the one He brought you together with? That doesn't seem right.

Although, I'm not sure what is right anymore. I personally think we're very very screwed at this point. Maybe God is bringing economic downturn to us so that we will turn back to Him. I heard a pastor once say, that if God needs to bring us to breadlines He will. If our cars will rust because we have no oil, God will do it. God have mercy on us.

Live for the journey

I was told I seem like the kind of person that lives for the journey. I like that and I think that's right. I think if God wanted, He could take us all away to heaven or the kingdom of God or what have you. Fine. But you would still be who you are. I've heard it said that life is just a dressing room for eternity. Well, then what happens to you in life prepares you for eternity. That's your destination, that's all of our destinations, eternity. Undeniably, it has such an enormous importance, yet there is something you miss if you just focus on that.

The Journey there.

How will you enter eternity? Will it be with much rejoicing because of the life you lived? Or will you be filled with regret at a life wasted? Each choice we make leads us down a different path in life, which ultimately lead to more choices. If indeed you choose the narrow path, you may not walk on it your whole life. You may stagger off and on and pursue other paths for a time, but you will still be aiming at the narrow path and what it leads to. But what of the life we live? Don't you know that God is going to prepare us so we can face eternity? How? Life.

You suffer, you hate, you forgive, you overcome. You end up a different person than when you started. You tell me four years of college didn't change you (five in my case). Maybe you were aiming to get a degree, that was your goal, but to get it you go through so much. (maybe it doesn't change everyone, but I'd argue that if you're not perfect, and no one is, then you still have a lot of room to grow)

You fight, you win, you lose, you cry, you get back up. I always say, to understand a person, you need to walk with them. Go through the journey with them, see how they walk through life. Life is a journey. It ends in the same place for all of us. Death? No, eternity. Death is just a gateway to the eternal. Life influences our eternity as well. Just like the choices you make in life have their consequences whether good or bad, our lives have consequences.

To live a life without any regrets... I wonder, if I will cry in Heaven because of all the time I wasted on this earth. Time I could have spent loving people, praying for people, worshiping God. The Bible says God will wipe away all the tears, well, if you haven't been crying there are no tears to wipe away. It makes me sad. What keeps me going? The journey keeps me going. One day though, the journey will be over, and I'll be done.

There are no goals in Heaven. Nothing to work for, to strive for, nothing to fight against (at least nothing that the Bible says, unless we tend Eden like in the beginning). And if by that time, God isn't what keeps me going, then I'll be very unhappy being with Him. In the end, I don't know, and I feel like I'll be in this place for a while.

What I look for in a girl

I was posed this question tonight. And the answer I came to was her heart. I don't think I did a good job in explaining it earlier, but I think I have a good way right now. Earlier, I started talking about beliefs about who God is and theology, but I think that doesn't fully capture the idea of what makes up someone's heart. This one question however, I think does the job pretty well.

What makes you cry?

Inextricably linked to this question is why do you cry? It's a simple question yet the answer tells us so much about a person. The last time I cried was at a Chicago Tabernacle Prayer meeting. The pastor had just read Exodus 40 about how God's glory comes down and fills the temple and the last coherent thought I had was "where is God's glory today?" and then I started to cry. What makes you weep? Does the thought of people going to hell bring you to tears? Does the idea of God's glory coming down move you? Do you weep over the fallen state of the church? Are you grieved by the ruin of Joseph?

Cryings is so interesting. You see, we cry when we're happy, when we're frustrated, when we're sad, when we laugh to much, when we're angry, it's like an overflow of any kind of emotion brings us to tears. I think these things show us what we have in our hearts. Jesus says that the overflow of our hearts manifests itself in our actions and if our action is weeping, then what is in our hearts determines why. Do you weep over the same things that Jesus wept over? And if you don't, can you really say that you know His heart?

To me, that's the most important thing. Maybe I'll have the most inspiring conversations, or have the most fun, or even share the same passions, but if the heart isn't there, then I can't see something working out. I mean obviously if God has taken care of providing someone, I'm not going to argue because He can change someone's heart. To really walk the same path means sharing in a lot of things. It's easy to share joy, harder perhaps to share in someone's anger or hurt, but I believe someone I can share my grief with is amazing and rare. I think that goes for our relationship with God too. Has God shown you His grief? Again, it's easy to be happy when others are happy, and perhaps the things that hurt our friends hurt us, but when someone cries over the same things you cry about, whatever the emotion may be, I think that shows a connection of heart.

You would have thought I would mention love somewhere in here. It fits somewhere in here, but I'm not sure where haha. To love someone, perhaps that in itself assumes something of a sharing of heart, but perhaps not in the same way that I'm talking about. Yeah, definitely not in the same way I'm talking about. As usual, this pondering is nothing more than that, thoughts and musings. I still believe I'm not ready for a relationship and it's not God's will right now however much I may want one.

Self Defeating? What the book says about the book

It may be strange to read what the Bible, has to say about the Bible, but remember, at the time the Bible was being written, there were no bibles. In the time of Noah, Abraham, David, Daniel, they did not have Bibles. At most, they had scrolls of history or perhaps some of the scrolls of prophets (The only reference I can think of is when Daniel reads the scroll of Jeremiah). Then you look at the Gospels and the epistles, all written before 100 CE, but Bibles weren't compiled until 300 CE or something. So the New Testament references to "scriptures" (graphe in Greek, which means holy writ) it probably refers to the Old Testament, which was compiled by then. I believe there is a future (future for back then) meaning though, which prophetically refers to the Bible as a whole. It's not a new concept that the Bible has contemporary for its time as well as future significance.

And so is that weird? The bible talks about itself, and says things about itself. Well, if you don't believe in the Bible or God, then you read things like

4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
-Romans 15:4

or

5 "Every word of God is flawless;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
6 Do not add to his words,
or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.
Prov 30:5-6

and you say, the Word of God isn't flawless or it doesn't encourage me because I don't believe in it, which is perfectly logical. I don't think it's self defeating though. I've seen in a number of books, in the forward or introduction, where the author does some explaining of the book itself. That's pretty usual, something like "This book is not meant to be ..." or "You should read this book in this way..." and that's fine. The one who wrote the book knows what he was thinking at the time and then addresses some misconceptions people may have when reading the book.

Well, I believe the Bible does the exact same thing. God, who inspires the Word of God, says this is how you should approach scripture. If we have questions about any book, who better to ask then the one who wrote it? And who wrote the Bible? Well... God. Sure, maybe those verses aren't good for convincing someone of the Bible's truth, but for people who already believe or are open to it, it's a way for them to see what God was thinking when He wrote this book. Not only that, we get an insight into the lives of past people and see their reactions to this Word. If Paul says, this Word is good for teaching and correcting and we're not using the Bible for those things, then we better examine how we're doing things because Paul is one of the pinnacles of an example of a Christian.

I think another question we have to ask ourselves is do we even know what God says about the Bible? More than anything we learn about God through reading the Word and to know Him is more valuable than any teaching or rule. It is like a friend who writes you a letter to tell you about something he did. Well, you learn about what he did, but you also see his reactions to it and you get insight into who he is through that letter. And that perhaps is the most important thing.

Reference for an upcoming post

Joel 2
12 "Even now," declares the LORD,
"return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning."

13 Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.

Isaiah 22
12 The Lord, the LORD Almighty,
called you on that day
to weep and to wail,
to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth.

13 But see, there is joy and revelry,
slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,
eating of meat and drinking of wine!
"Let us eat and drink," you say,
"for tomorrow we die!"

Isaiah 58
1 "Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the house of Jacob their sins.

2 For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?

6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Jeremiah 7
9 " 'Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, "We are safe"—safe to do all these detestable things? 11 Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.

Amos 6
4 You lie on beds inlaid with ivory
and lounge on your couches.
You dine on choice lambs
and fattened calves.

5 You strum away on your harps like David
and improvise on musical instruments.

6 You drink wine by the bowlful
and use the finest lotions,
but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.

7 Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile;
your feasting and lounging will end.

Rev 2
1 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

The nature of sin: What is sin pt 2

The other post got long so I decided to split it up into two posts each addressing different ideas.

I think Christians these days don't understand what sin is. Not that we don't know when we do it or when others do it. (I think sometimes we're too quick to always point out other people's failings) Rather we don't understand it. I've heard people talk about how much of a sinner they are, and they're laughing and smiling and they talk about a good movie they watched in the same way and I wonder if they really know the nature of sin. I think it's amazing what Hosea says in the 4th and 5th chapters respectively about sin and more specifically idolatry.

They consult a wooden idol
and are answered by a stick of wood.
A spirit of prostitution leads them astray;
they are unfaithful to their God.

Their deeds do not permit them
to return to their God.
A spirit of prostitution is in their heart;
they do not acknowledge the LORD.

Look at that, a spirit of prostitution. Now can you imagine a man going around saying look at me I had sex with all sorts of women last night... oh wait... we do that all the time don't we... in fact that's something we put on a pedestal and esteem... Okay bad example, but imagine this, a man going around saying with a smile, man I cheated on my wife last night or I just cheated on my girlfriend, and he doesn't feel a thing and he talks about it casually. You'd say that man is heartless, cruel even. Well now, you talk about sin that breaks the heart of God and you casually talk about it and you say it like it's a trivial matter. You have the spirit of prostitution! You've been prostituting yourself to this world and I think if we realized the grievance we've caused God, we could not ever talk about it so lightly.

To say I am a sinner is not a light statement. With that comes everything that the Bible states about sin, you've grieved God, you deserve death, hell even, you've spit in God's face and worse yet, you've prostituted yourself in front of Him. And because we don't understand sin, we don't understand the true grace of forgiveness. It's become a cheap word these days that we throw around without understanding it. Paul is a man who understands grace, a man who says this "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst." (1 Tim 1:15) Well, no wonder he had such an awesome understanding of Jesus' mercy and grace. I bet he had tears in his eyes when he was writing that.

I think the more mature we get in Christ, the more we see ourselves for how God sees us, both the potential and the failing. Listen to a man like Paul Washer talk about his past life. You'll see what I mean.

The nature of sin: What is sin pt 1

I think one of the greatest failings in the church today is that we don't know what sin is anymore. It's probably one of the most bastardized words in modern Christianity. That and love, we don't know much about either. I don't claim to be an expert, and these are just my thoughts, but I believe sinning is an action, which includes action and non-action. When we do evil, we're sinning, but when we don't do good, we're also sinning. (Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins. James 4:17) You've given up all sorts of things for God, you don't drink, don't party, don't smoke, fine, but then what do you do with your time? One question I think everyone should ask themselves is how does your tv/internet/video game/shopping/hobby time compare to your prayer time? We're more serious about sports these days than we are about the Word of God. Ask a man to name statistics and history of teams and players and that's easy, but ask them to recite scripture and suddenly there's a blank.

I heard a preacher say "anything you love more than Jesus is an idol. Don't care what it is." You see if we treated our wives or husbands or boy and girlfriends like we treated God... well maybe we do actually, since the divorce rate in Christian homes is just as bad as the one in secular homes. And on the other side you have people replacing God with their spouses or significant others. I believe that that's the same sin as homosexuality, when you put a man or woman in the place of God, don't care what gender you are, but for some reason, this issue has taken the forefront whereas the idea behind it has not been addressed. You see we don't understand sin, we read the Bible and go fine, that's the way it is, which is right, but we don't take the time to examine it. The pharisees didn't either.

The rich young ruler did all the right things, but he knew not the Lord. More than these lists of good deeds Jesus says to him to first sell his belongings and give to the poor and then "follow me" but the rich man left sadly. Isn't it amazing how this man who follows the word of God so closely was not willing (at this point in time) to let go of his worldy riches to follow Jesus. Anything you love more than Jesus is an idol, don't care what it is. He calls Jesus a good teacher. How many of you know people that say Jesus was a good man or a prophet or a teacher, but Jesus doesn't let us think that. "Why do you call me good?"

We do all these things, but we don't understand them. We say, I don't drink alcohol because I'm a Christian. Well, what does that have to do with Christianity?
We say: Because it's a bad witness. Well so is your bad temper, or the way you treat people, or things you say, or your gossiping or... etc. How come you've only given up drinking?
or maybe we say: The bible says we shouldn't be drunk. Well the Bible says a lot of other things like you should pray all the time, love each other like yourself, forgive people, obey our parents, how come you're not doing those things as well?
or maybe we say something like: I know I don't think about God when I'm drinking. Well, do you think about God when you're playing sports, or video games, or in entertainment or watching tv?

The reasons we don't do certain things are much deeper than the actions themselves, but are indicative of a mindset of sin. If we examined everything, in light of the scriptures, and if we took the time to understand God's motives, we would live very different lifestyles.

Luck, is there such a thing?

I've thought that wishing someone luck was pointless for a Christian. You're about to take a hard test and someone wishes you luck. Well, if God's in control, there really isn't such a thing as luck. I wonder though, if God controls even those kinds of things. The question of whether luck exists or not is somewhat inconsequential but it begs a deeper one, just how much control does God have? You say God predestines everything, well within that, is it just the end result is the same, but are there multiple paths toward that? Does God really control what college we go to, what job we have, perhaps even small things like what we eat for breakfast? Is breakfast too small a thing, but then at what point do we draw the line? You say it's common sense, I say a meal changed the course of history when Esau sold his birthright for some food. If we have different standards for how we treat different things, what defines that? College is a huge thing so God must control that. Is it really? I hear a study done that people who made it in life (had lots of money) had more in common in their character than in the schools they went to.

We pray and we agonize over large decisions, but in the short term, the seemingly unimportant stuff, we do whatever we want (and everyone's definition of large and unimportant is different). I think it would do me lots of good, every hour, if I asked God, "God, how should I spend this next hour?" I think that in itself will solve a lot of our problems in the Christian walk. But is that what God expects of us? When we give our lives to Jesus, that means not just our soul and our material things, but our time as well, what we spend it doing. Perhaps, being constantly in prayer is how you pull something like that off. If you're in constant contact with the Father, then you'll always be connected to His mind and heart for you and people.

Regardless, wishing someone luck is kinda a dumb thing when you could say "Go with God" or "God be with you" or "praying for you." I guess those things are weird to say sometimes... Perhaps people think that it's not such a big deal that it needs prayer. I've got that reaction before when people are like "I'm okay, you don't have to pray for me" kinda thing. Are there some issues that are too small to pray about? The more I think about this, the more I say no because we don't know how things are gonna turn out. You eat one wrong thing and that gets you sick, which sets off a whole chain of events that you have no idea how it'll turn out (Maybe God uses it for good, but you don't want to get into bad situations just for that). All in all, perhaps better to just bless people instead of wishing luck. Can't go wrong with the former.

Test Case
Me: What's up man?
Friend: Got a crazy hard test today.
Me: aww man good luck on that.
Friend: thanks I'll need it

Me: What's up man?
Friend: Got a crazy hard test today.
Me: aww man... Go with God
Friend: thanks I'll... wait what did you say?

or something like that? haha regardless, maybe I'll start saying that anyway.

Why I think "The Message" is a bad translation

(Psalm 23:1-4)

King James Version

1. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

New International Version

1. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
3. He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

The Message Bible

1. God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing.
2. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from.
3. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.
4. Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I'm not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd's crook makes me feel secure.

Verse 3: You exchange restoration of the soul, paths of righteousness, and for His names sake for Your word is true, catching breath, and sending in the right direction. I believe the Hebrew word for soul can also mean a breathing animal so I'm assuming restore soul = catch breath, but I think there is something profound that you lose when you change it. Both infer rest, but the restoration of soul goes beyond just the physical. It implies a spiritual restoration as well. Paths of righteousness = right direction. Righteousness implies something very specific, that is, the association with that word are the upright and the ones who please God and live by faith. You lose that connotation when you just say the right direction. God doesn't just direct us in the right direction, He does, but it's more than that. Righteousness implies a moral uprightness that is in direct contrast to sin and that those who are righteous are on the other end of the spectrum of sinners. Right direction doesn't say that. For His name's sake = True to your word? The Hebrew I looked up says that those words mean something like "on account of His honor" but that seems to be more true to the For His name's sake. It changes the meaning too, why does God restore us? Not because of us, but because of Him.

Verse 4: I will fear no evil = I'm not afraid. I think it's very significant what you're fearing and to leave out the fear of evil changes the meaning a lot. We can fear many things, I mean we're supposed to fear God, but it's a very different fear than fearing evil. One shows faith while the other shows lack of faith and that distinction is lost in the Message translation. Also, it clearly leaves out the rod (which was used to hit the sheep) and only includes the staff or crook that was the more gentle form of getting the sheep to do stuff. It waters down the nature of God, yes we have gentle God forgiving and loving to the thousandth generation, but wait, what about God who strikes out against injustice and oppression? The God who's anger flares out against sin, who's wrath no one can stand.

(Psalm 24:3-4)

New International Version

3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ?
Who may stand in his holy place?

4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false. [or swear falsely]

The Message Bible

3-4 Who can climb Mount God?
Who can scale the holy north-face?
Only the clean-handed,
only the pure-hearted;
Men who won't cheat,
women who won't seduce.

Verse 4: The idea of lifting up your heart to an idol is very different from not cheating or seducing. Are both of those forms of idol worship? I'd say they can be, but the thing is, we can forgo cheating and seducing, but still worship idols. This translation leaves out a lot and you lose so much in these changes.

One more thing, I've not seen a Message Bible that includes the footnotes that Bibles normally include, such that all the references to the Old Testament disappear and those are key for the context of the quotation being used. These are just a few examples of what I think is probably a trend throughout its texts (more examples will be examined in later posts)

The thing about the Message is that it does a lot of the interpretation for us already, which I think is dangerous in its own right. Don't get me wrong, I think there are a lot of parts of The Message that are good accurate translation and do a good job of displaying the message in contemporary language, but you lose too much for me to ever consider using it for any kind of Bible study. In fact, the things that do a good job most of the time are the hardest to point out as being bad. But it's in those details, which turn things from truth into lies. Because a partial truth is no truth at all.

Thankfulness

Why am I so blessed? When I think about people that are thankful to me, I am always amazed. I don't think there is any feeling like gratitude to you. I don't think there is any feeling like being indebted to someone. But it amazes me, when people are thankful to me. It's not like I don't expect people to be thankful, but just not for things I've done or who I am. I don't think I've ever done anything really large for anyone and perhaps the things that I feel like people should thank me for, no one has, but the things which I pass off as meaningless have been the most meaningful.

Put simply, I don't feel worthy of it.

I think it makes me feel guilty. Of what though? I don't do much... Shane Claiborne says that to start making the world better, we do small acts with a lot of love. I don't feel like I have a lot of love. Perhaps that's what they mean when they say the love of God is reflected in you whether you like it or not haha. People used to say that I cheered them up without meaning to. I guess that kind of things still happens a lot haha.

I gave a cheeseburger to a man lying in a pile of trash and then prayed for him. He also prayed and thanked God for me and when I opened my eyes, I saw tears in his. Guilt... I see what I did, and then I see what I could have done... what Jesus would have done and I see the vast difference. I see so much potential in my friends. I think one reason for guilt is that I've never been able to be honest with a lot of that. I believe in them so much and I feel like I've never been able to express that correctly. haha but maybe because I believe in them, it comes out in my actions. Jesus was right when He said the overflow of the heart is our actions. Perhaps more than just our actions, but the way we're perceived is affected by it too.

I'm thankful to so many people. I'm a bit embarrassed about some of it because I think it's such a small thing that I would be so grateful for. Perhaps I should let them know more often. I wish I could help people more. I can't, but God can. I wish I trusted in God enough to tell people with confidence that He is the way. If God can't do it, then there's no hope. If my God can't do it, then I need to get a new God, the Christian God who can. Will I ever understand how much He's done for me? Thankfulness. To be thankful at all times.

I've come to the conclusion (mentally) that I should be dead right now. You see many cases of God striking down someone for doing one sin. Uzziah putting his hand on the Ark, Ananias and Sephira lying to Peter, Aaron's sons offering false fire on the altar, Judas betraying Christ (although I wonder if these acts were just a culmination of bad living). The wages of sin truly are death and if that's how it is, I should have been struck down long ago. 22 years of borrowed time, time that I shouldn't have lived. Am I in debt? Or should I be thankful? Right now I feel a bit of both, but knowing I've received mercy is something good.

Thankfulness. I think it's a good reminder that people rely on me, but also when I am thankful to God, it reminds me that I rely on Him. I wish people wouldn't thank me, but thank God instead. He's the reason I am who I am. I wish I had the courage to say that more often. When I hear people say that sometimes, it comes off really fake sounding (but perhaps that says more about my heart than the other person). Every second I live is a gift, something I don't consider very often. I'm thankful that people are thankful to me and for other people. I'm thankful for what God has done for me. That's a good place to start.

The Beginning of the Universe

When I think about it, I've always been fascinated by astronomy. Space, the great unknown, the last frontier. It's marvelous, it's awe inspiring, it's big beyond anything else. The universe. The earth spinning around the sun with nothing to support it. Well the Bible tells you that the earth hangs on nothing (see Job 26) haha, we didn't have to go out into space to figure that one out. There are so many mysteries with space, so many unknowns. What's up there? What's beyond the observable universe? Heaven perhaps? Another dimension? (is that Biblical?)

An interesting article I looked up on google talks about what Astronomers say about the beginning of the universe. The interesting thing is scientists don't have an answer to what happened before then. Or rather they don't have an answer that science can prove.

But what happened before the Big Bang? That stops Astronomy Chair Craig
Hogan dead in his tracks. "What, you're not greedy or anything, are you?," he asks with incredulity that anyone would not be satisfied to know what happened over 13.7 billion years after the Big Bang.

And then he pauses, thoughtfully: "What happened before?," he muses. "No one could really know. All memory of that time is lost, everything from then is forgotten. That was a period of such catastrophic instability that it just doesn't remember what came before it. We probably could never find out, either. There just isn't any information left over from it."

Margon has addressed this question, too. As he told the Washington Post last
year, "One would think that if someone has trouble reconciling religion with physics,
they would like the Big Bang. It has beautiful elements of ultimate mystery."

What happened before the Big Bang is a very good question, even an important question. But because there’s no possibility of physical evidence from this period, it’s not a question that science can address.

I've always said two people can look at the exact same thing and walk away with totally different conclusions. I'm sure there are people that say the big bang either supports or disproves religion. Talk to me about sentience, how is it that we come to think, to speak, to live. You gather up all the different elements that make up the human body, compose flesh, even organs perhaps, but how do you make it live? Life breeds life, humans can't create life from death, but God can. The interesting thing is where science doesn't have an answer, religion does. It may not be an answer that satisfies all, but it still answers the question.

Where did everything come from? God made it.
Where do life, sentience, and living come from? God breaths life into people.
Where did God come from? He was always there.
That doesn't make sense, something had to create God. Well no, He isn't restricted by the rules of this existence. Things like conservation of energy and mass, gravity, life, death, nature, etc. He exists, but not as we know existence. (what's interesting is that in the man Jesus, God subjected Himself to His own creation, it boggles my mind to think about that).

It may be a question that I'll never have the answer to. At least not on this side of eternity. Eternity is a really long time. In fact it's forever. It makes me wonder, why are things the way they are now? The child starving in the streets doesn't have time to ponder these things. He's concerned about surviving. The soldier fighting a war doesn't have time to ponder these things. He's concerned about surviving. The man on his deathbed, perhaps wishes he had pondered these things earlier in life and had lived according to eternity.

In a billion years, a lot of things won't matter. Money... Fame... Popularity... Positions... Grades... Jobs... Pleasure... Pain... Friends... What will last? Treasures in Heaven? What does that mean? One thing, I know God keeps in Heaven, the prayers of the saints. He doesn't keep your church attendance, He doesn't keep your preaching, He doesn't even keep your good deeds. (He keeps record of these things though). What causes a celebration in heaven? It's not when we get our dream job, or donate millions to charity or missions, or even when we overcome our sin. When the lost are found, when the dead come to life, that causes Heaven to celebrate. Even then, this life shouldn't be focused on evangelism, but on knowing the Father's heart, which leads to evangelism, but the latter without the former is powerless and meaningless.

A billion years is a long time... Eternity is even longer... It's really scary actually. I'm betting my eternity on this Christianity thing, no, on Jesus Christ. I've gone all in for Jesus, but at the same time, I hold back in this life. What is it to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul. We'll settle for little pieces of the world in exchange for our soul. Is it worth it? If we could see in light of eternity would we make a different choice?

Evangelism

It's a hard thing to do. God knows, I've never been able to do it right. All my non-christian friends still aren't Christian. I feel like I've driven people away from Christ more often than helped them find Him attractive. My life doesn't exemplify what I believe it means to have faith. In my discouragement, sometimes I'm too quick to give up on people, and worse yet to give up on God. It's something I need to work on, not just in the reaching out aspect.

Will God do it? I think that's the wrong question to ask. At least with the heart that says, if no, then I won't bother with them, or if yes, then I don't need to do anything more.
Can God do it? And if the answer is yes, then we can never give up. If the answer is no, then you need to find a new God who is capable of saving people. Find the Christian God, the one Jesus talked about.

You see in America our God is about a foot tall. And you look around and you have friend that are 5'2, 5'6, 6'0. Our Tv's are 27 inches our computers are 19 inches. What kind of metaphor am I trying to make? How about this? We make people bigger than God, we make entertainment bigger than God. The worst thing is we make the devil bigger than God. We're so scared of failing and messing up and getting sick and getting hurt... forget it. When are we going to realize how big God is? The apostles had a decent sized God. They turned the Middle East around in a matter of years. They didn't have money, publicity, big name speakers or musicians, but they had God. We have all the rest, but we don't have God. I heard a pastor once say "If you know God, you don't need to know anyone else. If you don't know God, then you need to know everyone else."

I like one of our IV staff workers because he has a good sized God. He quotes this passage in talking about God.

Isaiah 42 reads:
13 The LORD will march out like a mighty man,
like a warrior he will stir up his zeal;
with a shout he will raise the battle cry
and will triumph over his enemies.

14 "For a long time I have kept silent,
I have been quiet and held myself back.
But now, like a woman in childbirth,
I cry out, I gasp and pant.

15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills
and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn rivers into islands
and dry up the pools.

I wish I believed the Bible more. What does it say changes the heart of a man? Us? God? Both of us working together? Miracles will make a person look twice, but love will change their hearts. If Christians loved others like we've never loved before, then people would take us seriously, then we'd be taking God and His Word seriously. I think the nature of evangelism has to be love.
We love the people we evangelize.
We evangelize by loving people.
We do it because we love God and to serve Him.

I may not know how people change, or at what point they change, but I can't stop trying, I can't stop praying. When we give up, nothing will happen. But in some sense we need to give up trying to do it ourselves because nothing will happen then either. It seems that love goes into everything. Or at least you need love to do everything right. That's probably a good place to start from.

Love More.

Thoughts on Love

1 Corinthians 13

In this day and age we need power. We have too many words, too much preaching, too many arguments, we need power. The early church always operated with power and that power came from God. It didn’t come from money, it didn’t come from support networks or any kind of program. There was no 7 steps to salvation, 4 steps to heaven, 3 steps to whatever you want because somehow religion today is all about you. They lived humble lives, but you knew there was power in their living.

I see two types of power, there are more, but for simplicity, I see two. The first is the miraculous. The second is love. We don’t know much about either of them. The miraculous goes beyond our wildest dreams, dead men rising, lame people walking, blind people seeing. It defies the very nature of physics and science. I looked up the chemical composition of water once. Then I looked up the chemical composition of wine. They were nothing alike. But this type of power is evident throughout the Old Testament and new, and I believe it’s of God and He wants to restore that power to us because through it we get a new glimpse of who God is. You see power isn’t for us. It’s for us in the sense that we use it, but the end goal has to be God and His glory. There’s another name for when you use miraculous powers for your own gain. Witchcraft. Sorcery. I don’t believe these come from God, but one’s anointing may still remain even if you fall out of the will of God. Think back to Matthew 7 (Lord Lord didn’t we cast out demons and perform many miracles in your name?) But beloved, God does not change. If He can do those things through men 2000 years ago, He can do it now.

The focus of this talk, however, is not on the miraculous because there is a greater power. Greater than the gifts of tongues and prophecy, greater than martyrdom, greater even than faith. What is it about love that makes it so powerful? You see faith can let you speak in tongues, but love will let you speak with healing. Faith will allow you to prophecy, yet without love, it becomes like witchcraft or sorcery. Faith will let you move mountains, but love will move hardened hearts. James says faith without works is dead, I say faith without love is dead. Because there are those who have faith in Jesus because they don’t want to go to hell or they want to live a good life. At best, it’s pragmatism, at worst selfishness. Pragmatism says “this is the most logical way,” selfishness says “this is what’s best for me,” love says “I will do this even at the cost of myself, even if I don’t get anything because I love You.” Don’t you see the difference?

How do you know if you love someone? Test yourself. Are you patient, are you kind, are you rude, do you keep a record of wrongs? Do you always protect, trust, hope persevere? The nature of love is at first adjectives and then actions. Isn’t it interesting in those verses, that the verb form of love is never used. It’s always agapay which is the noun form. I do not mean to say that love is only an action because there is a feeling associated when you think about someone you love. It however isn’t the fast heartbeat swooning fuzzies. I think there is a lot of joy and peace. Comfort. You want to do things for them regardless of whether you’re thanked or not. I’m talking in human terms, but this also applies to God. These verses 4-7 blow my mind. And we can ask ourselves what does it mean to be patient? What does it mean to be kind, or rude or self seeking? That person talks too much and takes too long to do this, and if you’re impatient, it probably means you don’t love them. Love protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres. If you don’t trust someone, then you can’t say that you love them. So they betrayed your confidence. Well if you can’t trust them you can’t love them, why? Because if you had truly forgiven them, if you truly kept no record of wrongs and weren’t self seeking and were kind and persevered, you would trust them. What if trusting them would hurt others as well? I don’t think we should blindly trust everyone. We are called to point people out in their sin and engage people who are living incorrectly. The easier thing is to not associate with them, but the harder is to start asking questions and see what’s going on.

I’ve read verse 8 many times, but this time it’s new to me. Love never fails. Let me say it again, love never fails. Prophecies cease, tongues stilled, knowledge passes away, but love never fails.

And this next part that says when I became a man. Well, when did you become a man? Or are you still in spiritual infancy? It seems that one of the prerequisites of spiritual maturity or manhood is the realization and the actualization of love.

Love greater than faith, greater than hope, the power available to all of us. I may not be able to out argue people, or even debate at a high level, but because of what God’s done for me, I can love people. And we can love people. Who cares if you can’t win an argument? Love all the more. We have too many words, too many arguments, too much preaching. We need power. And that power is love.

Chariots of Fire: Interlude - The Question

I'm taking a break from my Elijah study to ask a very important question, one that I think we should ask ourselves frequently and take time to really ponder it.

Why do you believe what you believe?

I want to argue that everything is a faith issue. It's easy to say things like religion and politics, those are beliefs. But I want to go farther and say things like science and history are belief issues also. To organize my thinking about this, I want to first talk about world views. We all have them, and they are what shape the way we process information. Two people looking at the same event interpret it totally differently, why? Because the lenses through which they view the event are different. Ok that's it for world views.

In the Japanese history books, they downplay many of the atrocities they committed during World War II. And they believe that to be truth. But we say, that's not true, how could they believe that? Turn it around, how do we justify our history books? What proves our books are any more valid than anyone else's? How can you prove that an event happened? You say we have evidence, but you need to believe in the evidence also. I could easily claim that this computer has magical gunshot protection properties because I've never been shot since buying this laptop (it's a logical fallacy... or is it? The truth is I've never been shot, maybe it does have some kind of powers). Regardless, even the "evidence" is biased and we also look at it through our world views.

The thing about history is that history changes. Archaeologists unearthed some new find and suddenly what we believed to be true becomes false and this new history takes its place. We knew something was true, it was a fact, but then it's not anymore. How can that happen? Beliefs change, what's true doesn't. Perhaps, I should define what I mean by truth quickly.

Truth is.

If a man walked on the moon, then he walked on the moon regardless of whether people believe it, if it was recorded, if anyone else saw it. If it happened, it happened. What I mean by this is that the definition of truth I'm using doesn't rely on human perception or interaction. And so history changes. What actually happened doesn't, but what we think happened does.

Let me talk about science for a bit. The thing about science, is that science disproves itself. I read an article the other day in the NY Times that say how Scientists are going to revamp some gravitational equation to account for the rapidly expanding universe (how do we really know the universe is rapidly expanding? We believe people when they say it is, but we've never done the research or seen it ourselves or at least I haven't). Regardless, what was once held to be a fact, is going to be changed. For a time we believed it to be truth, but then we found it false and changed what we believed.

If we applied the same scrutiny to our beliefs that we do to others' I think we'd be surprised at how our own beliefs stand. But we say, what we believe is based on logic, while what everyone else believes is because of circumstance or what other people say. It's never that simple because it's never just one thing, it's always a combination of things that shape us. That and logic itself is based on assumptions and is prone to bias as well.

Whether it be in God, in a friend, in the news, in what you read, in what the weatherman says, I visit the question again, why do you believe what you believe?

The spirit of the antichrist part 2: Joel Osteen

The annoying thing about this project, is that everything is so nuanced. A lot of it sounds good. Just a slight change of wording, leaving a few words out of a Bible passage, can totally warp the meaning of the text. Leave out a little bit here and add a little bit there. Sometimes it's hard because there is only truth being said, but the error comes in what was not said or what the focus of the truth was applied to. Without further ado, here is the 2nd installment of the antichrist project:

Joel Osteen says in his new book "Becoming a Better you":

What does it mean to become a better you? First, you understand that God wants you to become all that He created you to be. Second, it is imperative that you realize that God will do His part, but you must do your part as well. To become a better you, you must:
1. Keep pressing forward.
2. Be positive toward yourself.
3. Develop better relationships.
4. Form better habits.
5. Embrace the place where you are.
6. Develop your inner life.
7. Stay passionate about life.
Joel Osteen, Becoming a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day (New York: Free Press, 2007),

What the Bible says:
Joshua 1:8
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

1 Timothy 2:1-2
I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

Psalm 24:3-4
Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ?
Who may stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false.

What I say:
If you take out the introduction and just look at the table of contents, there is no way you'd be able to tell that there is anything Christian about the book. To become a better you according to the Christian faith is being more like Jesus. There is no mention of Bible Study, God's law, righteousness, prayer, staying away from idols, etc. If you look at what the chapters focus on, it's all about you. Christianity says it's all about God.
Become a better you? Meditate on this Book of law day and night.
Become a better you? Pray, intercede, and give thanksgiving for everyone.
Become a better you? Worship only God and be true.
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The Scripture says, 'Our faith is made effectual when we acknowledge everything good in us.' Think about this: Our faith is not effective when we acknowledge all our hurts and pains. It's not effective when we stay focused on our shortcomings or our weaknesses. Our faith is most effective when we acknowledge the good things that are in us.
Ibid., 129.

The reference in the book says Philemon 1:6
I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.

2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

What I say:
Osteen's paraphrasing is off. When you look at the actual Bible verse, it's actually saying that the communion of our faith deepens our understanding of every good thing for the sake of Christ. It doesn't say that acknowledging good things makes our faith effective. What makes our faith effective then? I may not have the best answers, but how about believing God is who He says He is. That includes everything He says about what He's done too. The Bible says He's made you a new creation, you're dead to sin, you walk in the Spirit if you are of Him.

Osteen says "Our faith is not effective when we acknowledge all our hurts and pains. It's not effective when we stay focused on our shortcomings or our weaknesses," yet Paul says he boasts about his weaknesses and God's power is made perfect in that. Forgiveness finds its meaning in our shortcomings and weakness. How can we accept forgiveness, when we don't see anything we need to be forgiven for?
----------------------

He's not keeping a list of your shortcomings. God is not looking at everything you've done wrong over your entire life or your disobedience last week. He's looking at what you're doing right. He's looking at the fact that you have made a conscious decision to be better, to live right, and to trust Him. He is pleased that you are kind and courteous to people.
Ibid., 103.

What the Bible says:
Hosea 9:9
They have sunk deep into corruption,
as in the days of Gibeah.
God will remember their wickedness
and punish them for their sins.

Deuteronomy 8:5
Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

Joel 1:13
[ A Call to Repentance ] Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.

1 Timothy 2:2b-3
that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior

What I say:
Well, God actually is looking at what you are doing wrong and He reacts to your sin according to who He is. To say He doesn't look at what you do wrong is ignoring an aspect of who God is. Since He loves you, He'll discipline you for sin, but you miss out on that aspect of love with a God that only focuses on your good. Osteen talks nothing about repentance in light of the bad things you've done. A conscious choice to live better talks nothing of turning from sin and being truly sorry that you've done those things. What pleases God? Living in Godliness and holiness not "being kind and courteous." Are these good things to be? Yes, but you miss the gospel if you stop there.

I want to also say that Jesus says for every word we will be judged, and at the judgment, we will be held accountable for every word and action. God doesn't keep record of what we've done wrong, He keeps record of everything!
----------------------

Stop dwelling on everything that's wrong with you and taking an inventory of what you're not. The Scripture says in Hebrews, 'To look away from everything that distracts.'"
Ibid., 104.

The reference in the book says Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

What I say:
Again, Osteen misquotes this verse. He leaves out the most important parts and phrases it in a really watered down way. It's not just throwing off distractions, it's throwing off sin and things that hinder you from fixing your eyes on Jesus.
----------------------

God "is waiting for your obedience so He can release more of His favor and blessings in your life...My question to you is: How high do you want to rise? Do you want to continue to increase? Do you want to see more of God's blessings and favor?
Ibid., 302.

What the Bible says:
John 3:30
He must become greater; I must become less.

What I say:
I don't think it's a bad thing to say "God you have blessed people greatly and because you have, I know you can do it for me too because that's who You are." As always it's always about the heart issue more than what people are doing. Sure maybe you become rich and powerful, but who do you use those riches for? Are you spending money building fountains and stained glass windows or to help the poor and widows?

The problem with the way this is phrased is that this is all about God's blessing, but not about knowing God. You obey God why? Osteen says so "He can release more of His favor and blessings in YOUR life." Let me put it this way, if you had a friend who was only your friend because of what you did for him, that's no friend at all. There is no love there. You obey God because you love Him and want to bless Him, not because of what you can get out of Him. Anything short of that is not love and if you do not love, you do not know God. I'm not saying it has to be perfect, but that has to be the heart of things.
----------------------

I know I'm not perfect, but I also know this: My conscience is clear before God. I know that I'm doing my best to please Him. That's why I can sleep well at night. That's why I can lie down in peace. That's why I have a smile on my face.
Ibid., 316.

What the Bible says:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1-2

What I say:
If you are reading this and are a Christian, I ask you, what clears our conscience before God? Is it not the blood of Jesus? Was it not His sacrifice that atoned for our sin and lifted the yoke from us? You see doing our best isn't enough (we don't even do our best for God). There needs to be an awakening in the Spirit and God has to do something in us.

I believe there is a literal lifting of weight that occurs when someone gets saved because how many of you know that lifting feeling of when burdens are taken from you? I believe a Godly man is a tragic man. He is torn between the joy of knowing God and the pain he has from seeing a world in sin. Sometimes when you really know the heart of God, you won't find peace, but agony. Look at David, he fasted for 3 weeks over Israel's sin, look at Nehemiah and Ezra, look at all the prophets, they were all men familiar with travail. What does the Bible say about Jesus? He was a man of sorrows! Don't you want to be like Jesus?

Excerpts from "Become a Better" you taken from:
http://www.whitehorseinn.org/osteenreview.pdf

About the spirit of the antichrist project

My goal here isn't to nitpick over every little word that people say. I've seen a lot of people condemn pastors for things they've said taken out of context, my hope is that I'm not doing that rather, I hope the things that I examine are more indicative of people's major viewpoints rather than one slip up. God knows I've said some things which have been totally not right (and I've repented shortly thereafter), and so yeah, everyone makes mistakes. Not everyone realizes it and turns away from them. And then there are those who encourage others to follow in their erroneous ways.

I exhort everyone of you, please! Don't just follow a pastor because his name is big or he has a huge following. The name factor makes it about people and not God. I sound dumb saying this but READ THE BIBLE! SERIOUSLY. I cannot stress how important that is and how so many are deceived because some megachurch pastor comes and makes some weird stuff up and it sounds good to people who have no knowledge of scripture and they're deceived. Worse yet, they are kept from the truth, which brings life. What does the Bible say?

1 John 4:1
[ Test the Spirits ] Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine 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?

This includes everything I say. Don't listen to me, listen to God!

The Spirit of the antichrist part 1: Rick Warren

What is the Spirit of the antichrist?
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.
- 1 John 2:18-19, 22

What I want to do here is I compare what people say to the Word of God. To put as little of my own interpretation as possible, and let the Bible speak for itself. The thing about the antichrist spirit is that it poses as Christianity, yet there are things about it that deny Jesus Christ. It's so subtle sometimes and maybe 95% is right, but it's that 5% that changes truth to heresy.



What Rick Warren says:
"What it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ is to say I give as much of myself as I understand to as much of Jesus Christ as I understand at that moment and I keep growing in it"
- Rick Warren interview with Fox News on what we need to do to get to Heaven
(link to video and source of verses)

Compare it to the Bible:
John 6:28-29
Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

Acts 2:37-39
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.

What I say:
Look at the responses in the Bible to the question asked, never is there anything that says "give as much of yourself as you understand to as much as Jesus as you understand." It's not Biblical and it doesn't make much sense. Salvation has always come through faith, which is preceded by and produces repentance.

----------------------
What Rick Warren says:

It's the five things Jesus did when He was here on earth. What did Jesus do when He was here on earth?

The first thing He did was He planted a church...

The second thing He did is He equipped leaders. He spent three years training these disciples.

The third thing He did is He cared for the poor. In fact, in his very first sermon, he says, "I am here to preach the gospel–the good news–to the poor”... He cared about the poor.

Fourth, He healed the sick...one-third of His ministry was a health ministry.

And then the fifth thing was He taught... He was an educator... And particularly He cared about the next generation. And He said, “Let the little children come unto Me for such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Source)

What does the Bible say?

Why He came
John 17:2-3
For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

Titus 2:12-14
while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

His real first sermon
Mark 1:14-15
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!"

What I say:
So in all the five things that Pastor Warren says that Jesus did on earth, he never once talks about salvation, bringing people from death to life, or even knowing God. Look at where his focus is. It's not on God. Why did Jesus come? To plant churches? To equip leaders? Are those really the first things you think of when you ask about what Jesus did on this earth?

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Rick Warren Says:

partnerships between government and industry can't succeed in solving social problems unless they include faith groups, with their large volunteer forces and their worldwide networks.

"People are so worried churches are going to be about conversion," he said, "but everyone has a motive. Everyone has a world view. Christianity is a world view. . . . I don't care why you do good as long as you do good." (source)

What does the Bible say?

What is good?
Micah 6:8
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Just a worldview?
John 6:47
I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.

John 14:6
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

What I say:
Christianity is just another worldview?! I dare you to say that to God and see what He does to you. Christianity is truth or it's nothing! This is everlasting life, a peace that transcends all understanding, this is the knowledge of the one true God. And what does Micah say about what is good? To act just, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. How can you walk with someone you don't know? What is good, but things that are pleasing to God? You can't please God if you don't believe He exists.

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Rick Warren Says:

"Billions of people live without Jesus Christ. Billions of people don't know God has a purpose for their life," he said. (source)

What does the Bible say?

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 17:3
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

Ephesians 2:4-5
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

What I say:
Billions of people don't know God has a purpose for them... How about a billion people are going to die and go to hell. A billion people are slaves to sin and they don't know it. A billion people don't know a love that transcends anything this world offers. A billion people dishonor and deny their creator. Sure they don't know about God's purpose for them, but that is so far off from the things that are really important.

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Rick Warren Says:

"Most of the problems in our world would be solved right now if we had leaders who thought more about others than about themselves," Warren said. "The problem is a severe shortage of servant leaders -- leaders who lead like Jesus." (source)

What does the Bible say?

Isaiah 2:22
Stop trusting in man,
who has but a breath in his nostrils.
Of what account is he?

Jeremiah 17:5-7
This is what the LORD says:
"Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who depends on flesh for his strength
and whose heart turns away from the LORD.

He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.

What I say:
What we lack isn't a shortage of leaders. What we lack is a knowledge of God. Most of the problems in the world would be solved if we had Christians who knew God. Pastor Warren focuses on the people and not on God. Sure we want leaders like Jesus, how do we get there? When we get God into the people, they will become like Jesus.

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Rick Warren Says:

Warren told Wolfson his interest is in helping all houses of worship, not in converting Jews. He said there are more than enough Christian souls to deal with for starters. (source)

What does the Bible say?

Luke 19:10
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

John 12:47
"As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.

What I say:
Interested in helping all houses of worship. Christianity is a theology that says if you don't have Jesus, you don't know God. When you help other houses of worship, you are keeping people away from God. Not interested in converting Jews? Then what are you interested in? Sending them to hell? Keeping them dead in their transgressions? Keeping them away from a joy that surpasses all knowledge?