Does Having a Personal God Matter?

I believe that there is only one true God that is the uncreated and uncaused being. Everything that has been created or will be created has and will be created by God. God is a transcendent being meaning that God exists outside of and beyond creation. However, this does not mean that God only exists outside of creation—God is personally involved within creation and does in fact draw near.

Genesis 3 speaks of God dealing on a very personal level with Adam and Eve. While there might be those that wish to dismiss this story as mythological in nature (of which I am not one), it still speaks to the truth about how God has taken a personal interest in humanity and has decided to deal with humanity on a personal level. While God may not speak to us in the same way depicted in the Garden of Eden as well as other places in the Bible, it is clear that we see this same level of personal involvement through Jesus Christ.

Rather, what it means to say that God is transcendent is that we as human beings, restricted to living within creation, cannot in this lifetime fully know everything there is to know about God. Paul states in 1 Corinthians 13:12 that we do not see everything fully which also relates to God. Part of our not seeing God fully is due to our sinfulness but it is also due to God being beyond our full comprehension. Our knowledge of God is limited to what God has revealed to us.

But living life as if God is a personal God that has drawn near can be very difficult. I find that I don’t always consider that God is personally involved in my life. My angry reaction this morning to the guy that cut me off did not take into account that God may be watching. I was in my car. He can’t actually see me in there can he? He doesn’t actually notice when I pretend not to see someone in need does he?

I would guess that not fully living life considering that we have a personal God is largely responsible for leaving people in hunger and need. It is responsible for wars and conflict. God may be a personal God but he has also allowed us to chart our own path. We are personal beings and we need to consider how we relate to other personal beings in light of having a personal God. Jesus told a parable about this very thing in Matthew 25:42-45. He related how we treat others to how we treat God:

“For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?” Then he will answer them, saying, “Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”

While I am not always as good at that as I should be it does provide an excellent area of continued growth.

Amy Hall has an interesting blog post on the notion of God being a personal God.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

What Makes A Christian Band a Christian Band?

Needtobreathe is quickly becoming one of my favorite bands. Their song Lay ‘Em Down was playing somewhere and, as I do with songs that I like but are not familiar with, I “SoundHounded” it. About a month later I was going through the songs in my SoundHound history and came across it. Often I will listen to a song and wonder why I had decided that I needed to know what song was playing. With Lay ‘Em Down there was no question that it was a song that I wanted to buy. So I have bought a few of Needtobreathe’s songs and have really enjoyed listening to them.

Just a few days ago I was listening to Shine.Fm through their iPhone app. (There are no radio stations in Chicago that actually play any Christian music that I want to listen to on a regular basis.) The DJ (Should it be CDJ or even MP3J?) read a bit of an interview with Needtobreath lead singer Bear Rinehart on whether or not Needtobreathe is a Christian band and if they ran into any conflict between faith and art.

Rinehart said:

The way we approach it with the media, I say, you know if I were a truck driver from the south, definitely that would affect my music. And so me being a Christian, that definitely affects my music. We make really honest music, and this time more honest than the last. So that means this time, it’s more Christian than the last. It’s more overt in that way. I think fans really like that, secular or Christian. I think a lot is made out of that in the media, but I just don’t think that people really do care. I mean, we play a club one night and maybe on a Christian tour the next. You can turn the dial and hear our song on the Christian station and then hear it on the secular station next. I hope that we send a positive message regardless. We definitely don’t try to fill someone’s agenda.

It is an interesting thought. I wonder if he is on to something in that we can sometimes be more concerned with the labels we attach to something rather than whether or not the shoes fit. Is Needtobreathe a Christian band because of the songs that they sing or are they a Christian band because the members are Christians? Do I believe certain things and live my life a certain way because I wear the label Christian or is the label Christian attached to me because I believe certain things and live my life a certain way? It is a chicken and the egg type of question.

Paul states in Colossians 1:9-10:

And so from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

Paul is saying that Christians are to be filled with the knowledge and understanding of God and it is to affect how we live our lives on a daily basis. That in turn is to help increase the fruit we bear and increases our knowledge of God. So on one hand when I attach the label Christian to myself it should affect how I live my life. But the way I live my life should also cause people to recognize that I am a Christian.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Intersection of Revelation and Apple Pie

A Credo is a statement of faith and is Latin for "I Believe." The last big assignment in seminary was to write our own personal Credo. It was quite the daunting task. The combination of putting your belief in writing along with the peer and instructor review process was both intimidating and fun at the same time.

While it is a statement of faith it needs to be so much more than that. It is not just head knowledge but it is also foot knowledge. It should shape how I live my life. And what turned out to be even more difficult than putting my beliefs in writing in order to go through the review process was when I came across something that I realized just did not make it down to my feet often enough. It was always a very good reminder that I am still a work in progress. The end of seminary is not the end of the journey. It is merely one step along the way.

As I was going through the process of writing my Credo I found it quite helpful to research how others - both individual people as well as organizations - formatted their Statements of Faith. It was interesting to figure out what others thought was important to include and in what order they organized the information.

A lot that I came across started with some form of epistemology - or how we know what we know. In terms of Christianity this usually takes the form of Revelation. Revelation is how God reveals himself to humanity and we tend to understand the concept of revelation almost instinctively. We can know something about another person in one of three basic ways.

For example, let’s say you wanted to get to know something about me. One way often the most direct way is when I tell you about myself. Let’s say that you are trying to figure out my favorite dessert. I can simply tell you that it is apple pie. Another way you could learn what my favorite dessert is would be for my wife to tell you. She knows me very well and could accurately tell you my preference. The third way is if you observe that whenever given the choice of desserts, my overwhelming choice would be to take a nice sized slice of apple pie. I will refer to this as the “Apple Pie Method.”

God does the same thing. The first two examples in the "Apple Pie Method" (my wife or me telling you) tend to fall in what is called Special Revelation. Special Revelation is when God spoke directly to people and we read about it in the Bible. This gives us a very direct knowledge about God.

The third example in the "Apple Pie Method" (you watching me eat apple pie) is when we see evidence for God in nature which is called Natural Revelation. There are things in nature that teach us about God but they tend to be limited. We do need to include both Natural Revelation and Special Revelation in order to get a full understanding of God. Yet it is Special Revelation - as in the Christian Bible - where we find the fullest knowledge of God. It is also where most of the information for my Credo comes from.

Over the next few weeks - as I start getting back into writing on a regular basis - I will share some of those things that I felt were important to include in my Credo and how those things should shape how I live my life. Be assured that they don't always do so as I want them to but that it is something that I continue to struggle with. Now to go and find some apple pie.

For further reading on revelation and how God speaks consider Tim Challies article on Revelation, Inspiration and Illumination and Greg Koukl's article on Hearing God's Voice.

For further information on the reliability of Scripture as revelation consider Lee Strobel's videos on the Reliability of the Gospels, The Case for Christ and Dr. Peter William's video on New Evidences the Gospels Were Based on Eyewitness Accounts.

Are there different levels of sin?

Written by me but originally posted here.

This question came from the youth group pickle box. Yes I know that pickles don’t come in boxes but we didn’t have a jar so we had to substitute a box, therefore we have a pickle box. This is one of those questions that have a yes and no answer. Let me start with a bit of simplified background.

The Catholic tradition teaches that there are two different types of sin, venial and mortal. Venial sins are those sins that can be forgiven and do not prevent someone from entering heaven. Mortal sins cannot be forgiven and there are three conditions that must be met in order for a sin to be considered a mortal sin. The conditions are: full knowledge of wrong doing; deliberate consent of the action; and the sin must be of grave matter. These mortal sins separate us from the saving grace of God. This separation is why we need the saving power of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

However, as Protestants, what do we believe the Bible teaches about sin?
Romans 3:23 states “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 6:23 states “for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” So at this point I think that we agree with the Catholic tradition, we have all sinned and when we commit a sin we are separated from God. But if we back up in Romans a couple of chapters we read in 2:12 that “all who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.” Paul is stating that even if we do not know God’s law that we are still guilty when we break the law. Compare it to driving down a road at 55 mph not knowing that the speed limit is 45 mph. If you get pulled over by a police officer he can still write you a ticket even though you could honestly say that you did not know the speed limit and did not intend to break the law.

Paul goes even further in Romans 2:14 & 15 and takes away our ignorance argument. He states, “Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.” Paul is stating that we know when we are doing something wrong even when we may not necessarily have heard that doing it is wrong. James 2:10 states that “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” He goes on to say in 3:2 that “We all stumble in many ways.” Between Paul and James, I think that they sufficiently state that we all commit sin and that just telling a small white lie is the same as committing murder.
Well, they are the same at least as far as separating us from God. No matter what we do wrong, it is enough to separate us from a perfect God. So from this perspective the answer to the original question is no, there are not different levels of sin.

Now, that does not mean that different sins do not have different consequences here on earth. If you tell that little white lie (“Yes I did all of my homework”) is not going to get you into nearly as much trouble if you do commit murder. We even have different levels of punishment for murder based upon a number of different circumstances. So from the earthly consequences perspective the answer to the original question is yes, there are different levels of sin.

I think that we should not over worry about trying to remember each and every sin that we commit. The ones that we can remember will keep us busy enough. What is important is to realize that each and every sin is enough to separate us from God and should not be treated too lightly.

Who's Giving?

From George Barna (emphasis added):

Tithing in 2007

Whether they believe in the principle of tithing or not, few Americans give away that much money. In 2007, the research revealed that just 5% of adults tithed.

Not surprisingly, some population groups were more likely than others to have given away at least ten percent of their income. Among the most generous segments were evangelicals (24% of whom tithed); conservatives (12%); people who had prayed, read the Bible and attended a church service during the past week (12%); charismatic or Pentecostal Christians (11%); and registered Republicans (10%).

Several groups also stood out as highly unlikely to tithe: people under the age of 25, atheists and agnostics, single adults who have never been married, liberals, and downscale adults. One percent or less of the people in each of those segments tithed in 2007.

Among all born again adults, 9% contributed one-tenth or more of their income.

The study also showed that Protestants were four times as likely to tithe as were Catholics (8% versus 2%, respectively).

I find that a very interesting in your face to all those liberal Democrats that want to claim that conservative Republicans are cold and calloused when it comes to helping out the poor. We just tend to think that the church might be a bit better at helping than the government.

A Psalm of Lament

Of Michael. A Lament.

¹ Father, you have walked before me, with me, and you will walk after me.

² You have been the constant and consistent presence in my life.

³ You have been the one who walks on the dangerous side of the path for my protection.

⁴ To this end I will glorify you forever and ever; I will sing to your praise day and night.

⁵ The path that I am now walking down is filled with new trials and struggles.

⁶ My inclination to try and traverse the trail alone is great; do not forsake me to a lonely journey.

⁷ I know that thieves and robbers are awaiting me on this path and that they will try and steal my heart away from you.

⁸ Father, you are my guide that shows me the steps to take.

⁹ Whenever I have relied on you in the past, you make sure that my footing is secure and stable.

¹⁰ You have given me the wisdom to avoid the cliff falls and endless pits in the past.

¹¹ You have given me the insight and ability to help others as well as myself, anything I have accomplished is only because of you.

¹² To this end I will glorify you forever and ever; I will sing to your praise day and night.

¹³ Father, this is the path that you have set before me.

¹⁴ Do not allow me to stumble upon it.

¹⁵ Father, these are the thieves and robbers that you have allowed upon this path. They will try to destroy me and others. They will try and rob you of your glory.

¹⁶ Do not give me over to them.

¹⁷ This path is greater than any I have ever before traveled; this path is filled with more cliff falls and endless pits than any I have ever before encountered.

¹⁸ Do not let me fall into them, for I alone cannot see them. It is only you that can help me to avoid them.

¹⁹ You will forever be my guide and I will continue to rely upon you to lead me.

²⁰ I know that you will hear and deliver those that call upon you and trust in you.

²¹ To this end I will glorify you forever and ever; I will sing to your praise day and night.

²² You sent your son to die for my sins to provide salvation so that I would not be lost upon my journey.

²³ To this end I will glorify you forever and ever; I will sing to your glory day and night.

²⁴ I know that you will never forsake me; you will not stop molding me and shaping me until I am the finished product.

²⁵ To this end I will glorify you forever and ever; I will sing to your glory day and night.

²⁶ You have healed my heart and you have made my soul whole.

²⁷ To this end I will glorify you forever and ever; I will sing to your glory day and night.

²⁸ When I follow you, I do not see harm no matter how tough the trails we have traveled.

²⁹ When I have not followed you, you have restored me when I called upon you name. You have been the faithful one, you have been the strong one, and you have been the merciful one even when I have not deserved your grace.

³⁰ To this end I will glorify you forever and ever; I will sing to your glory day and night.