“The Naked Gospel” February 9, 2010

“Jesus spoke truth to every audience he encountered.  [But]We often attempt to apply directly to our lives every word Jesus said, without considering his audience and purpose.  Jesus was born under the law.  His audience was under the law, and they needed deliverance from it.  Jesus exposed the futility of life under the law.

He exclaimed, “Gouge out your eye” and “cut off your hand” if you truly want to keep the law (Matthew 5:29-30), so that his Jewish listeners would reach a crossroad.  They would decide to try harder or to give up.  Once they gave up, they could consider a radical new way.
Jesus’ impossible teachings of “sell everything, sever body parts if necessary, be perfect like God, and surpass the Pharisees with your righteousness” are not honestly compatible with salvation as a gift from God.
Couldn’t we resolve all of this by realizing the dividing line in human history?  Peter, James, John, and Paul wrote epistles about life under the New Covenant.  Years earlier, Jesus was teaching hopelessness under the Old.  The audience wasn’t the same.  The covenant wasn’t the same.  And the teachings aren’t the same.

Jesus’ harsh teaching aimed at the religious kill you every time.  One thing about distinguishing the Old from the New – it always liberates.
Jesus was born under the law.  As Hebrews tells us, the Old wasn’t replaced by the New until Jesus’ death.
Trying to mix Jesus’ teachings directed to Pharisees and zealous Jews with the epistles will inevitably result in confusion.

Buy “The Naked Gospel” HERE.

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- My Review:

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Yet another great addition to my library.  I thought I’d pretty much read enough about grace, freedom from law, freedom from  religion, and living daily in Christ.
I was wrong.
With all the ground that has been covered by previous readings, this book managed to cover new ground.  It really helps show how religion has added so much to the gospel that the true gospel is considered heresy by much of the “church.”  It’s amazing how far we’ve fallen from truth.
One of my favorite sections is called “Crossing The Line.”  It, alone is worth the price of the book.  It discussed how the dividing line of time, and covenants, was not Christ’s  birth, but his death and resurrection.  I, of course, knew this, but I hadn’t considered the full ramifications; especially concerning the teachings of Jesus under the Old Covenant.
There are some areas that are at opposition with my personal beliefs.  Andrew believes, like many, that Father-Son briefly lost fellowship at the cross. Despite what Jesus felt on the cross, the Father didn’t turn His back on Jesus.  God cannot turn God’s back on God’s self.  (For a great understanding of this, read “He Loves Me” by Wayne Jacobsen.)
But, reading a book like this, and disagreeing with one or two points is no big deal.  I will add this to the short  list of books that I will give away multiple copies of.

I can see why earlier versions of this type of material were banned and burned by organized religion, and why the promoters of said material were tortured and killed.  Of course, Jesus was tortured and killed for pretty much the same reasons.   Anyway, thank you, Andrew Farley.

– dave
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Here are more excerpts from “The Naked Gospel,” by Andrew Farley

Buy “The Naked Gospel” HERE.

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“There is no greater test as to whether a man is really preaching the New Testament gospel of salvation than this, that some people might misunderstand it and misinterpret it to mean that it really amounts to this, that because you are saved by grace alone it does not matter at all what you do; you can go on sinning as much as you like because it will redound all the more to the glory of grace.  If my preaching and presentation does not expose it to that misunderstanding, then it is not the gospel…There is this kind of dangerous element about the true presentation of the doctrine of salvation.” – D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. -
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One hindrance to understanding the real gospel as life restoration is an obsession with “book knowledge.”  The life of Jesus in us is what matters most.  We shouldn’t equate “Bible smarts” with spiritual maturity.  They’re certainly not one and the same.  As in Jesus’ day, it’s often those who are puffed up about their good handle on what the Scriptures say (not what they mean!) who resist the counsel of the Holy Spirit.
(Jonh 5:39-40).

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Buy “The Naked Gospel” HERE.
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Adam and Eve didn’t eat from a “tree of evil.”  They ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  They weren’t pursuing sin as we normally think of it.  They were pursuing a form of godliness.  God never intended for humanity to take upon itself the burden of developing and following a code of ethics.  Adam and Eve reconsidered their confidence in God’s way and opted for morality instead.
Today, we can be deceived by the same offer.  We may find ourselves pursuing the knowledge of good instead of listening to our heartfelt yearning for an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
Fulfilling the law is something that God did in Christ.  Its fulfillment isn’t an ongoing event in the lives of believers today.  God set us free from the law, so that we’re not under it or supervised by it (Galatians 3:25).
The Holy Spirit isn’t motivating us to keep the Mosaic law, nor do I think we should consult the law as our guide in daily living.  This is why we have the Holy Spirit in us instead:  “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (Galatians 5:18).  Furthermore, if God were motivating us to adhere to the law, it would be the entire law, not just part of it (James 2:10). [By the way, God did write His laws on our hearts, not the law of Moses.  God's law, according to Jesus, is "love God, love people."]
I believe it’s quite clear that believers should have no relationship with the law.  Romans 7 explains that we’ve died to the law, and we’re now married to Another.  God views a return to law-based living as spiritual adultery.  Living by rules is cheating on Jesus!
Christianity was never rooted in the Law, not even in the Ten Commandments.  The commandments aren’t intended to supervise Christians (Galatians 2:19).   In fact, the law causes more sinning (Romans 7:5,8).
Paul warns that if we add even a pinch of law to our life in Christ, He’ll be of no value to us (Galatians 5:2-3).  It’s preposterous for Christians to adopt portions of the law of Moses as our guide for living.  We’re presuming that God grades on a curve.  But the law is completely incompatible with our attempt to “do our best.”  Law is a pass-fail system.  And one strike means you’re out.  The law only breeds two things: defeat if you’re honest and hypocrisy if you’re not.

[I've always heard people say "I know we can't keep the law, but we should try and do our best."  WHAT?!?!?  Scripture never says "Try to keep the law."  It never says "Do your best."  It says "Keep it all.  Period."  The very scriptures they quote completely negate their proposal.  Neither do the Scriptures teach that we do what we can and Jesus does the rest.  God didn't say that to make us try harder, but to raise the bar so high, we can never do it.  Thank God, Jesus did it for us.]
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Buy “The Naked Gospel” HERE.
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Christ is the end of the law (Romans 10:4).
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Buy “The Naked Gospel” HERE.
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Sure, the flesh is delighted to coerce us toward obvious evil.  But the flesh is equally satisfied to initiate religious or moral living admired by others!
Don’t believe for a minute that the flesh is limited in its scope to producing ugly behavior.  The flesh will build any kind of identity, as long as it gains love, attention, and acceptance from someone.
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The Sabbath:  The reality is Christ, and a genuine Sabbath-rest is found in Him; ceasing from the dead works we thought would gain us favor with God.
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The Tithe:  The same law that mandates a tithe doesn’t allow the pastor to own a home, own property, or own possessions.
(Also read “Tithing and Clergy Salaries.”  Click HERE.)
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Buy “The Naked Gospel” HERE.

The First Day Of Spring February 5, 2010

The first day of spring is barely more than 40 days away!
That means it’s almost time for the Spring Issue of Plain Truth Magazine.

Have you signed up for your FREE One-Year Subscription to Plain Truth Magazine yet?
That’s right, I said FREE!

The Spring issue will include an article co-authored by Bert Gary and myself.  Bert Gary & I have both written for Plain Truth Ministries before, but this is the first time we’ve teamed up.  You wouldn’t want to miss that, now would you?!?!?  (Did I mention, it’s free?)

Plain Truth Magazine, and Plain Truth Ministries online has lots and lots of good, grace-based, reading.
(And NO, it’s no longer about or associated with “Armstrongism.”  You can get more on that story at the PTM website.)

So, go ahead.  Sign up.  (And oh, yeah, it’s free!)
Click: http://www.ptm.org/ptMag_fS.htm



(Also, buy Bert Gary’s “Jesus Unplugged” here: http://astore.amazon.com/lifewalk_store-20/detail/1932902546)

Dirty Secret January 28, 2010

Some Excerpts from “A New Kind Of Christian” by Brian McLaren

To buy “A New Kind Of Christian,” click HERE.

You can’t talk about this sort of thing with just anybody.  People worry about you.  They may think you’re changing sides, turning traitor.  They may talk about you as if you came down with some communicable disease.  So you keep this sort of thing like a dirty secret, this doubt that is not really a doubt about God or Jesus or faith, but about our take on God, our version of Jesus, our way of faith.
Maybe there’s a better way.  Maybe there’s a new way of being a Christian.  Not a new Spirit, but a new spirituality.  Not a new Christ, but a new Christian.

To buy “A New Kind Of Christian,” click HERE.

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Conservative Christians in the United States just 150 years ago used the Bible to defend slavery.  How can you be sure that some of your ironclad interpretations today aren’t similarly fueling injustice?

If you have an infallible text, but all your interpretations of it are admittedly fallible, then you at least have to always be open to being corrected about your interpretations.

So the authoritative text is never what I say about the text or even what I understand the text to say but rather what God means the text to say.  So The real authority does not reside in the text itself, which is always open to misinterpretation.  The real authority lies in God, who is there behind the text or beyond it or above it.  Our interpretations reveal less about God or the Bible than they do about ourselves.  They reveal what we want to defend, what we want to attach, what we want to ignore, what we’re willing to question.  Conservatives look at the Bible the same way medieval Catholics looked at the church and pope: infallible, inerrant, absolutely authoritative.  What if the issue isn’t a book that we can misinterpret with amazing creativity but rather the will of God, the intent of God, the desire of God, the wisdom of God – maybe we could say the kingdom of God.

The whole notion of authority as so many people conceive it is thoroughly modern.  Second Timothy doesn’t say, ‘All scripture is inspired by God and is authoritative.’  It says that scripture is inspired and useful.  That’s a very different job description than we want to give it.  We want it to be God’s encyclopedia, God’s rule book, God’s answer book, God’s scientific text, God’s easy-steps instruction book, God’s little book of morals for all occasions.  The only people in Jesus’ day who would have had anything close to these expectations of the Bible would have been the scribes and Pharisees.

When we let go of the Bible as God’s answer book, we get it back as something so much better.  It becomes the family story; a cosmic history, a book that tells us who we are and what story we find ourselves in so that we know what to do and how to live.

Think of a math book.  Is it valuable because it has the answers in the back?  No, it’s valuable because by working through it , by doing the problems, by struggling with it, you become a wiser person.

To buy “A New Kind Of Christian,” click HERE.
Here’s a little more.

“…LET’S SAY

[we] send you back into the fifteenth century.  Nobody could possibly believe that you could be Christians…

If you told them you didn’t believe in the pope and you didn’t accept that kings ruled by divine right and you didn’t believe that God created a universe consisting of concentric spheres of ascending perfection, and if you let it slip that you agreed with Copernicus that the earth rotated around the sun, you would surely be tried as heretics and perhaps burned at the stake…

To the Christian culture of medieval Europe, none of you today could be considered real Christians.   True, you might say that you believe in Jesus and that you follow the Bible — but that would sound like nonsense to them if at the same time you denied what to them was essential for any reasonable person to accept:  the medieval worldview, which was the context for their faith.

That brings me to an important question for you to think about:  Is it possible that we as moderns have similarly intertwined a different but equally contingent worldview with our eternal faith?  And another question:  What if we live at the end of the modern period, at a time when out modern worldview is crumbling, just as the medieval one began to do in the sixteenth century?”

– Brian McLaren in “A New Kind Of Christian”

To buy “A New Kind Of Christian,” click HERE.

A Must Read For Those Who Love Jesus? January 16, 2010

“If you really love Jesus, forward this email to everyone in your address book.”  “If you’re not ashamed of Jesus, post this message on your blog.”  “Everyone who loves God must see this presentation.”  “If you’re a true Christian…blah blah blah…”

Is anyone else sick and tired of this ungodly garbage?  Sure, you can forward all the email you want.  You can direct people to videos, recommend blog posts, and whatever you like.  BUT if ANYONE connects such actions to your “salvation,” or your love of Jesus, you can rest assured, they ARE NOT speaking for God.  This is plain old religious manipulation and control through intimidation.  Don’t think for a moment that represents the gospel one iota.

I am a Christian, I’m not ashamed of God, and I do love Jesus.  That’s why when I get that kind of an email,
I DELETE THAT CRAP!

Mr. Young Visits The Fort January 14, 2010

I’ve finally obtained some copies of the speech that William P. Young gave when he was here in Fort Wayne.  As the host pastor said, the speech was “Powerful.”  I’m amazed at the insights this man has into the heart of God.

He, of course, discusses his book, “The Shack,” and all the God-things that fell into place causing it to be the phenomenon it is.  He talks about some of the many testimonies of how this book has touched people, brought them closer to Father, and led people to Christ.  None of this is done in a “bragging” fashion, but truly shows how God has brought it all together.
He then takes audience questions (mine is about the 3^rd one), and also addresses some of the criticisms about his novel.

Finally, he journeys into some very personal territory with the testimony about his failed and restored marriage, which has some strong similarities to the story of my wife and myself.
All in all, a funny, touching, uplifting, and insightful experience, leading to a deeper understanding of God’s love and amazing grace.

As I said, I have extra copies of this recording.  If you’re interested is listening to them, let me know.

– dave

Buy “The Shack” HERE.

Why I Don’t Go To Church Anymore January 11, 2010

This very important article, by Wayne Jacobsen, has been posted on the Re-Union site for some time.  I thought it would be good to draw attention to it from this blog, as well.

Click:  OUTSIDE THE WALLS

My Review of “Raised By Wolves” January 10, 2010

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“Raised By Wolves:  The Story Of Christian Rock & Roll”
by John J Thompson

I’ve been listening to “Jesus music” for about 35 years, and this book has brought back many memories.  It’s also brought to light many new (to me) stories.  This is the most complete coverage of “Christian” music and its history I can imagine.

Everybody is here:  From Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill, Andre Crouch, and Barry McGuire (who was very encouraging during my participation in the “2009 Aids Walk”), to Petra and Rez, to Amy Grant and M.W. Smith, to DC Talk, Daniel Amos, and Steve Taylor (who loved making “hamburger out of sacred cows” and guided the music and careers of The Newsboys, Sixpence, and others), to Keith Green and Rich Mullins, to Alice Cooper, Sixpence None the Richer, and Creed, to Delirious? and Sonic Flood, and Lauren Hill.

Lots of stories, behind the scenes insights, and inside information.  But more than just the artists and music, this book comments on the “Christian music industry,” various attitudes and expectations, and the age-old story of religion always fighting what God is doing.  It also comments on the down side of the “Christian” marketplace:

“The Christian community had nearly completed its total retreat from mainstream society.  It even had its own television networks.  Many Christians were able to live in a world within a world, one that would protect them from ever brushing up against non-Christians.  And the ghetto was large enough that many people made millions of dollars selling Christian CDS to Christians, Christian books to Christians, and even Christian toys, paintings, videos, and clothes to Christians.  A handful of artists, however, wanted nothing to do with that ghetto.”

In many ways, the “CCM Industry” serves to further the illusion of the separation and compartmentalization of the Christian life into secular and sacred.  But, wheat and weeds have always grown together, and will continue to do so.  There’s a lot of great music out there by people of faith.  This book, at many points, shows how the industry tried to ignore it (or lambast it), while the “church” tried, first, to destroy it, and then to control it.

There are a lot of true “success” stories chronicled here as well; Petra, Lost Dogs, and Sixpence None The Richer being among them.

This book is already about 10 years old, so the last decade is, of course, not covered.  But, I can’t think of an abundance of landmark happenings in CCM during that period anyway.  Except maybe for Stryper getting back together.  Oh, and the release of Re-Union’s “Inside Out.”

If you’re a long-time devotee, this book will provide a nostalgic trip down memory lane.  If you’re relatively new to the scene, you will be brought “up to speed.”  In either case, you’ll find a fun, informative, and challenging time with “Raised By Wolves.”

Spousosexual January 6, 2010

Spousosexual:
when a person is primarily attracted to persons of the same sex but have found that affection and love for their opposite-sex spouse engenders sexual attraction to that one person of the opposite sex.

Here’s the article, and resulting comments (including mine), that brought this term to my attention:

http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2008/05/11/1990

A Quote From C.S. Lewis January 2, 2010

“There are people in other religions who are being led by God’s secret influence to concentrate on those parts of their religion which are in agreement with Christianity, and who thus belong to Christ without knowing it. For example, a Buddhist of good will may be led to concentrate more and more on the Buddhist teaching about mercy and to leave in the background (though he might still say he believed) the Buddhist teaching on certain other points. Many of the good Pagans long before Christ’s birth may have been in this position. And always, of course, there are a great many people who are just confused in mind and have a lot of inconsistent beliefs all jumbled up together. Consequently, it is not much use trying to make judgments about Christians and non-Christians in the mass.” — C.S. Lewis

That sounds rather unorthodox from the teaching of most churches today, but I never hear anyone criticize Lewis as a heretic, or any other cynical label.

People today would also have problems with Deitrich Bonhoeffer and Karl Barth for what they say on religionless Christianity and bibliolatry (the Bible as idolatry). If people have problems with your theology, there’s a good chance you’re in Divine company.

(Passed on from Nathan Mahlum)

My (brief) review of AVATAR January 1, 2010

I saw AVATAR today.
If you see it, you really need to get to the theater. It is, for sure, a big screen experience. The cinematography is truly beautiful.
The performance-capture technology is really amazing.
At the same time, don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s all about special effects. It is an engaging, wonderfully told story.
I only got teary-eyed a couple of times, so I did pretty good.
It’s anti-war message, and “green politics” are in your face (I’m not saying that’s a bad thing), but it
also works as a love story, and an action movie.
My wife also enjoyed it, even though she didn’t really expect much going in.
With commercials and previews, we spent about 3 hours in our seats. It was, however, time well spent.