Lifestyle of Peace | Christian Living, Faith & Discipleship: August 2016

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

The Crying of the Wolf at Midnight

There is a crying in the night. A quiet lament of the soul. You can sense it at three in the morning, and the hour of the wolf is upon you. All the thoughts of life and the daily parade rumble through like a freight train.

Looking out the window, all is dark. But something compels you to head out into the darkness to discover the source of this insipid wailing. You don a coat and slippers and your feet hit the cold pavement. A flash of light and your down an alley. It sounds like a dying animal. But as you turn the corner you realize the sound has internalized itself. It's not coming from outside you, but from within.

You look up at the stars and the moon in the uncertain skies. And you wonder, more than wonder you yearn, desperate to know: Just what does it all mean? What is this sadness in my soul? Why does everything fall off short? What idea unites all these dispirit pieces? How can I silence the howling of the soul, as I search the streets? The hooting owl is within me, the howling wolf is my unknowing, and God is present in the dark.

I have been many things in my life, but one thing I did quite often was to lay awake at night wondering what it all meant. I couldn't brush it aside like everyone else. I couldn't pretend it didn't matter. I couldn't chase capricious pleasures and call it a day. I had to know. I was curious. I needed answers.

Metaphorically, and literally I did this many times: I left my bed, put on my shoes and my jacket and hat and walked the streets for hours. I did this hundreds of times, thousands of times. It was the only pleasure I could pull from life, for years. Everything else seemed empty and pointless. But these walks at night seemed to beam with a divine presence. As my body wandered so did my mind.

These are the questions we always ask, aren't they? Why am I here? What is my purpose? What is the meaning of life? What made the universe? What should I do with my life? What undercurrents all of reality?

I fondly recall those walks today, as events of seeking taking place in my mind and soul. I was after what was real. For years those walks exposed me to beauties not often realized in the fast paced modern world. How often do we really walk in silence and look upon the natural world anymore in our society? Not often, is the answer to that question. Technology has taken us away from the beauty of open roads, bristling forests and star filled skies.

I lament it actually from time to time. I've gotten far into it myself, and often wish I could escape it. I yearn and envy those who live on farms or in wooded areas where they spend the bulk of their day in manual labor. I've at times gone on sabbaticals into such lifestyles and the simplicity and freedom is quite appealing. Not to mention the wisdom quite appealing, quite appealing indeed. The trees are real, they speak the truth, the fields of grass are real, the sky is real and there is no illusion to them, as much as reality itself may be the dream of God. God's dreams are quite real. Just like yourself. Your real. A real dream of God. Don't you think?

I could not come to the apprehension of the suggestion that reality supposedly bends and contorts to my own preferences. That had never been my experience after all. Much more so it seems that reality does not bend to my preferences, and that is the whole situation humanity find's itself in. We try to bend reality to fit us, we try to remake the truth in our own image, and we find awe struck that our own reimagination of the truth is false and fails to sustain itself in the realness of reality. No, I could not take that suggestion from modern philosophers that I ought simply do whatever I felt like, and that would be my truth. That is not true, it's not true for you and it's not true for me. It's universally false. Though I suppose there is one for whom reality does bend to it's will, and that one would be God. God being perfect, this does not prove a danger to us. Man being limited and dangerously cynical and self centered, this reality is best left to God. Thank goodness for that.

On the road no one could lie to me and keep me shackled. The screens are full of lies of course. Some truth is making it through, more so than usual, but still it's mostly lies. The road, the trees, the grasses, the fields, and the stars don't lie to me. They speak volumes of the reality of something greater than holds all things together. The one I would come to call God. Staring at the natural world so often, and so thoroughly is bound to make believers of just about anyone. The beauty, complexity and symmetry is quite provocative. One could call it eventually, absolutely astounding. The more one looks, the more one realizes it. And its no illusion. It's not a 3 minute video on YouTube, it's there and it's in front of you and it's real. And your in awe. Because many of us seem to live in a state of acceptance of reality only because perhaps we are expecting to wake up. But once you realize how real and unflinching it is, and also how beauty and harmonious, well, you begin to realize your already awake. And once this thought has finally thoroughly traumatized you, it begins to awake your mind to the necessity for a sustaining force which allows for such a reality's existence. That being... God.

The weeping soul can't help but walk out into empty places hoping to discover something that might mend the soul. The interesting thing is all humanity is born with troubled souls, and wanders about often either willfully blind, ignorant, or in search of something greater.

The crying of the wolf in the night is the call to the adventure of the pilgrim on his search for the eternal city. Today we might call the pilgrim the seeker. The seeker knows there is something missing. The seeker knows there is a God out there, a unifying force, an ultimate reality, and he or she seeks after it. There is a deep conviction, a sensation of one's own lostness. And there is a yearning to know. So the pilgrim, you and I, set out to discover who can free the soul from the burdens it carries. Through, trial, tribulation, joy and sorrow, we may just find the one who can relieve us, the God who loves us, and the eternal city for those who have received his grace.

Along the road we encounter many struggles and tragedies. We deal with many hardships. But each of them seems to build us up in odd ways ,and make us stronger. Then at the height of the hill we discover the cross of Jesus Christ. Finally, the burden falls from our backs, the agony is broken, and the wolf is rested, at ease, and willing to go the distance. But this is not the end of the journey, but only the beginning! The seeker has become Christian, and Christian must make his way through all manner of struggles, trials, and persecutions to reach the holy eternal city.

The wolf still cries, but these are cries bedded in fundamental victory dealing with temporary suffering, all be it, intense suffering at times. This suffering is a trademark of Christian life. Suffering is all part of life. No drug, no pill, no sexual encounter and no philosophy can take away the struggle of life. But the fundamental shift is from despair as a lifestyle, to peace and joy as a lifestyle through many trials and tribulations.

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Wednesday, August 24, 2016

God of Love, God of Justice: A Future Heaven, a Future Hell

Source via Flickr by rabesphoto

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

God's works are many in the world and of particular beauty. Yet there is also the proclivity of man toward evil. God allows for free will, which opens the doors to almost any possibility. Which explains why the world is so messed up. Humanity decided to turn from God, and play God.

Life is best lived with God at the center of all things. We can tend to treat God as an auxiliary to our plans and desires. That is not the way it is suppose to be. God should be the very center. If life is the road and we're the car, God should be the engine. If your life is a city, God ought be the center square, the city hall, the centerpiece of all operations.

Too often we, myself included tend to relegate God to errand boy status. Or watcher status. Or perhaps advisor status. Or order taker status. God is much greater than that. He runs the whole show. Our job is to seek out His will, in a very real and practical sense. What is my calling Lord? What do you want me to do with my life? What goals would you have me pursue? These should be our daily questions to our Maker.

He leads us, subtly at times. And more forcefully at other times. A friend of mine told me of how he had been a duplicitous cheat, liar, and raving alcoholic for many years. He told me something peculiar. He said God gave him a vision of hell, which prompted large changes in his life. Normally I would be quite skeptical of such an account. Yet I was surprised and impressed by his simple sincerity. He told me he found himself in total darkness. He tried to blink his eyes, but all he saw was darkness. He told me it wasn't really like he was seeing it, it was like he couldn't see. He tried to look down at his body and saw only blackness. He felt distant. He tried to cry out but he couldn't speak a word. He tried to breathe but their was no air. It was so terrible he was awfully scared, tried to weep, tried to scream, but nothing would come out. Then he came to again. He looked around stunned. And later he came to the conclusion that this had been a vision from God of what hell would be like.

Now we've all heard of the bestselling books and accounts of hell, and people have described seeing demons torturing them and such things. Of course that isn't biblical, demons aren't in any positions of authority in hell, they are simple prisoners of this place, which is a place of the lack of the presence of God. We think of burning fires, red lit tunnels and dark rocks, and devils in red spandex suits, but those things aren't really biblical. What is biblical is that this "hell" is a place of disconnection from God; A place completely outside the sovereign presence of God.

This account got me thinking. And it brought back several memories of mine from before I was saved. I realized that I'd had a similar experience about ten years ago. I had been sitting in my room, and I'm not sure if I had been napping or what, but I had just that kind of experience. Everything was dark, and I couldn't talk, I couldn't scream, I couldn't cry though I desperately wanted to. I felt the agony of this emptiness, of being totally alone. I remember trying to life my hand up to eyes to tree to see. But there was nothing there. I had no hand, just a phantom attempt at movement. It went on for I don't know how long and then I came out of it. I didn't react with a change of heart and life like my friend did, but the experience matched near identically.

It's been on my mind ever since. Let me say immediately that I trust the word of God and the word of God only. Visions, dreams, and experiences like these should be viewed skeptically. But if these experiences do line up with scripture, then they can at least be discussed and taken into account.

It's something to consider. We often don't like talking about hell. Maybe we're afraid that we'll be considered "fear mongers" and so on and so forth. I do believe the love of God and the grace of Christ are primary motivators toward reception of the gospel. But I think equally so is a healthy reverent fear of God, and a knowledge of hell. Hell is after all, completely real if we take the OT and NT to be the inspired word of God. And I do. The Bible is 100% inerrant and true.

What a fate indeed for many to find themselves eternally disconnected from God! It is a fearful, shocking thing indeed. Yet God is in charge. God is sovereign over all things. We have to remember that. Yet he also allows for free choices, all the way back to the first free choices made by perfect man and woman.

This free choice began in a perfect world, in a perfect garden. There were hundreds of fruit trees in the garden of Eden. There was only one that was forbidden to be eaten from. All Adam and Eve had to do was avoid that one tree. And they failed to do so. Now today we are in a converse inversion of that scenario; we are surrounded by hundreds of trees that should not be eaten from, and only one, the Christ tree will save us. This Christ-fruit is oft hidden from many and sometimes quite hard to find. But to those who truly seek after it, they find the Christ-tree. And they eat from this tree and find eternal life.

Reality will be renewed again, the universe and the Earth, after the door to salvation is closed. Some will join God almighty in the eternal kingdom at the city of New Jerusalem. If your like me, a born again believer and follower of the King of Kings, the Lord Jesus Christ then we have the most wonderful possible future awaiting us. It is so incredible, so wonderful, so perfect that it's written that “No eye has seen, no ear has heard and no one’s heart has imagined all the things that God has prepared for those who love him” (2 Cor 2:9 CJB). For those who have rejected the son and turned their hearts and minds from the obviousness of the existence of God in nature and life, they will be removed permanently from the presence of God. They will be sent from the presence of God, to eternal darkness.

Hell, if that is what my friend and I experienced, is a terrible, terrible place to end up. It is a place where the presence of God is missing. But isn't God just to send those who hated him and ignored him their entire lives to a place where he is not?

If your husband were abusive, rebellious and hateful would you not divorce him and escape from His presence? And the same with your wife? Or a friend, boss, or coworker? And what about the corrupt reign of nations like North Korea or China? Wouldn't those peoples give almost anything to escape from the presence of such hate and evil? Of course they would. They would flee and never return. And so it is just that God removes from his presence those who refuse his love and spit in his face hatefully, disobeying all his laws, that are meant to bless them, and harming his other children through their perverse actions.

It isn't an easy reality to swallow. It offends our modern sensibilities. But the truth is we're all happy when justice wins out. God is a God of love firstly. But God is also a God of justice. I'm glad that God is so good that he protects us, and will set things right from this world gone mad.

Many in the media would probably say this is a "dark outlook" on life. Or that this is "negative." Yet the facts show that this is in fact a very dark and corrupt world. Even in America, we see it everyday. So we must accept God's justice along with his love, if we really want to live in a better world.

In closing I want to say this, to those who are still outside the cross of Jesus Christ: One day the door to eternal life is going to be closed permanently. God is giving a great deal of time for as many as possible to come and receive cleansing through Jesus Christ the savior he has provided. But the clock is ticking. God will bring into judgment the human race for the many wrong doings that have caused so much poverty, struggle, and chaos on Earth. Join a church now, today, gain access to the savior through the word of God. Don't wait, begin that journey today. Jesus is open to any and all. Call out to him!

Many are saying the end is quite near. The weirdos on the outskirts have been saying that for many, many years. But more so than ever I'm noticing people I highly respect are beginning to say the same thing. They could be right, I don't know for certain. The point is, we don't know. But we do know the return of Christ will be sudden. We do know we've awaited his return for almost 2,000 years now. My request is that you make sure you are ready for that day. For the elect, dig in deep, make your fox holes deep and strong. Stay awake by remaining thoroughly active in the various ministries of the Christian faith, the practice of daily prayer, and the constant study of the word of God. If you are yet unsaved, don't delay, join a good church and set off on that journey to meet Christ. The window of opportunity will only be open so long, then it will close forever. God is good. He is love. He is just. May he be praised forever, amen.

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Wednesday, August 17, 2016

How to Pray Authentically: The Four Position Prayer

When I first became a part of the family of Christ I was pretty clueless. I had no idea what it meant to be a Christian, I had no idea how to study the Bible, and I didn't really know how to pray.

I've read several books about prayer. And often times I find myself, after reading hundreds of paging, coming out still knowing virtually nothing about prayer. So let's just cut right to the chase. I did all this study, learned very little, so I decided that I needed to come up with my own method of prayer.

Prayer is insanely important to the Christian life. If you aren't praying at least once a day it's hard to say that your even a Christian. Prayer is like breathing to a Christian. If you aren't praying, your suffocating or dead. Plain and simple. No excuses. It's true.

In the mornings I do two quick devotional readings. A devotional is just a book with a reading for every day of the year. There are tons of them out there. I like Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. And I also do Taking Time to Be Holy by Samuel Logan Brengle (Salvation Army devotional). A great devotional is called Our Daily Bread, I always read that one at my nursing home Bible study. It's free.

I also do a short prayer in the mornings after my two devotionals. Mornings are not my favorite thing. I have trouble walking, eating, and breathing in the mornings. I am not a morning person, and the world is run by morning people. Very sad. Anyway, I keep it short and sweet in the morning.

My big prayer is at night right before I go to bed. I call it the four position prayer. Here's how it works:

First step, take out your hymn book. I have a Salvation Army song book. You could use a Baptist hymn book, a Catholic hymn book, or any number of song books from various denominations. If you don't have one, head over to a Goodwill or thrift store, you'll probably be able to find one. Also, there are tons of hymns available including the Salvation Army hymn book available via apps and such.

Leave your night light on for this part. And you pick 1-3 hymns and simply pray them to God, reading them over and projecting them as praise toward heaven. Very simply, very effective. I'm usually sitting on the floor Indian-style when I do this one.

Step two, take out your Bible. If you don't have a Bible, well, your in worse shape then I thought. Take out your Bible, and open it to the psalms. Pick 1-3 psalms and pray them to God. Use them as praise to heaven. I usually go to psalms, but you can pray many parts of the Bible. Experiment with what works for you. Leave the night light on for this part, or the Bible might be hard to read. You can kneel as you pray in an upright kneeling position with the Bible on the floor in front of you.

Step three, turn off the night light and in total darkness go on your knees and place your head an inch or two from the ground. From this position pray to God the "Our Father" prayer. Do not just "say" the Our Father. Slowly go through it, line by line, emphasizing the various aspects of the prayer. Make sure your expressing the meaning in your soul and mind as you pray it. I was raised Catholic, and we would say it so often, it wasn't really a prayer, just a monotonous mumbling of sorts. Really pray it.

After the "Our Father" then pray the Serenity prayer. I pray the short version, but if you want you can pray the long version. The short is: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can't change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Google for the longer version, both are great. After the serenity prayer I tend to pray a quick prayer for tomorrow: "God grant me the serenity to love their best and never fear their worst." This prayer is good when you may have to deal with difficult coworkers, or obnoxious customers or family members that rub you the wrong way.

Step three concludes with some thank yous, usually just "thank you for this day." And "thank you for your love." And "thank you for something nice that happened today." Or "thank you for the struggles today, because I know they're maturing me into the man you want me to be."

Step four. Move from the kneeling position and lay flat on your back, on the floor, and place your hands folded over your chest/stomach. Position four is your confessional time. This is when you really talk real to God. Be totally honest about how your feeling and what's going on in your life. It's best to do this in total darkness. Confess your struggles. Make your requests to God in this position. If your angry, yell and scream. If your upset, cry. If your questioning, ask God some questions. But always conclude your statements with "Never the less Lord, your will be done and not mine." And if your having a real struggle and your really suffering then pray "God, you give and you take away, but never the less, blessed and holy is your name." This is a way of saying "Lord I don't understand what's going on with all this, but I trust you and I refuse to blame you and I refuse to suggest that you might be doing something wrong, because you are always holy." Job did the same. Pray for your family. Pray for your friends. Pray for the lost. Pray for the world.

[Optional Step 5] Sometimes I will also include the five finger prayer either while I'm laying on my back, or I will sit up back in an indian style sitting position on the floor. And I'll do the five finger prayer. If you'd like to include that in your prayer, it's a very nifty prayer. It's kind of hard for me to lose my hand. It tends to always be there. So I look at my hand:

Thumb: Pray for those closest to you, like family and close friends.

Pointer finger: Pray for your spiritual leaders. So pray for your pastors, pray for your counselors and pray for anyone who mentors you.

Middle finger: It's the tallest finger, so pray for those in authority. This would be prayers for political leaders, for local governmental leaders, for Congress, the Supreme Court, and the President.

Ring finger: This is your weakest finger: Use this finger to pray for the weak and the struggling. I usually pray for drug addicts, alcoholics, the depressed, the disabled, the lost and the sick.

Pinkie: Lastly, pray for yourself and your needs.

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Dear Emily: About Life, Death, Depression and Euthanasia

Dear Emily,

Hi. I'm Justin. I read about your story on the internet. And I'm quite interested. I tried to find you online so I could try to talk to you. On social media and such. But I wasn't able to do so. I'm writing this blog post in the hope that perhaps somehow you'll see it.

I'm quite interested in your case, and your desire to die, because you see... I've had much the same problem. In fact I've tried to kill myself several times in the past.

I've fought depression my entire life you see. I'm not sure why. It just always seemed to be there. I've been hospitalized several times in connection to this. I've seen dozens of counselors. I've gone through treatment programs, in patient, outpatient, blah blah blah. For years this went on. My life kept getting worse and worse.

I used to lay in roads to kill myself. For some reason no car would ever come. I stood in the highway once. A car almost hit me.

I've been to the darkest places imaginable, inside my own mind. And I've felt the horror of the unending battle. And the day filled with gloom. The gray scale life, day in and day out, never ending.

Today I still battle the depression. But life is good today. And I'd like to tell you about what changed my life.

You said that it felt as though there were a monster inside your rib cage. And it was always there. What I'm about to tell you won't remove the monster. But it will put that monster in a cage.

Do you believe in God Emily? Have you ever explored down that eminent road? No counselor will tell you about it. They never told me. No mental hospital will hand you a Bible. No doctor will suggest a spiritual road. Why? I suppose perhaps they can't or their profession comes from a different worldview. But ultimately the question must be asked: Is God real?

Don't you see Emily, if there is no God, and you and I are simply evolved pond scum then it would be entirely reasonable to have a needle stuck in your arm and have your life ended? If we're just accidentally here, on Earth, then it doesn't really matter. But if there is actually life after death, then it does matter. Everything matters, every choice matters.

If there is nothing, just the great blank darkness, then I can fully understand euthanasia. But the truth is, there is hope. There is life after the grave. God is real.

Much of the western world has turned from such beliefs. Why? I'm not sure really. But I grew being trained in religious faith, in the United States, but I rejected it.

I watched the documentary about you, and you were asked about death. And you said, "I'm not religious." And you said that you think of death as something to do with personal peace, related to your personal experience of peace. My blog is called a lifestyle of peace. I recall at that moment in the documentary, the sky went from overcast, to sunny, and light shined down on you.

You said "I'm not religious." Why not try this Christian road? That's what happened to me. My family was praying for me. I was all kinds of lost. Got involved in drugs. All sorts of terrible things. And they were praying for me. I started carrying a Bible around with me, reading from it. I thought, maybe there is hope here. Many say there is. Could they all be wrong?

If God is really real. And he has revealed himself through Jesus Christ, and his word, then it's exactly what your missing. If we need Jesus to cause us to be born again, and we're broken and empty until that happens, then Jesus is exactly who you need. A living Jesus.

So Emily, could you give it a try? Could you begin a spiritual journey and ask God: Are you real? Jesus are you really alive, are you really who you say you are in the Bible? Jesus would you reveal yourself to me?

You've tried everything else, right? You've even applied and been accepted to be euthanized. But something kept you from it. Something inside stopped you. I believe that something that stopped you is God. Begin that journey. Try it out at least. There is nothing left to lose, when you've already lost everything. Right? I know. I did lose it all. And I went to rock bottom. It was there I realized something.

I realized: Maybe, just maybe Jesus Christ can help me. I've done all the drugs. I've tried all the medications. I've been to the hospitals, seen the counselors, read the books. But maybe, just maybe God is real. And he's really out there. And he really cares about me. I recall at rock bottom, in the opaque darkness I cried out, cried out with all my might, in tears, in bitterness, in despair: JESUS HELP ME JESUS SAVE ME PLEASE, please.. please.. please. And my life changed. The monster got locked in a cage. The battle wasn't over. But suddenly, joy was possible. I could feel again. And I was alive. The darkness no longer had me. I had come into the light.

Could it change you too Emily? Could it mend up your broken heart? Could Jesus really be the light to ignite in your darkness? I'm betting He could. There is nothing left to lose. There is nowhere else to go my friend. You might as well seek him. Ask him to reveal himself to you. Carry a Bible around with you and read from it. Do as I did. Call out to Jesus.

I'll be praying for you. As my family prayed for me. I hope I will get a chance to talk to you about these things. Take care my friend. I know how you feel. I've been where you've been.

Sincerely,

Justin Steckbauer

Sunday, August 14, 2016

25 Powerful Quotes on Why Christianity is actually Real

If Christianity is just a lie, then it doesn't really matter at all. Then again, if Christianity is actually true then it matters more than anything else in life.

I was very skeptical about Jesus and the Bible at first. I thought it was stupid. I thought it was just a bunch of silly legends. I couldn't believe how average everyday people could believe such incredible nonsense! Were they all crazy? Were they completely bonkers? Or did they just do it for show? So they could feel good about themselves? Those were the thoughts I had about Christianity and religion in general. It seemed ridiculous.

Little did I know, I'd been fed stereotypes and false caricatures by a media and culture that despised organized religion. Only later on did I discover quotes like these describing a Christianity I had never encountered before: a deep, coherent, and reasonable Christianity. Enjoy.

(Please feel free to share these images, save them, and distribute them on social media)

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Saturday, August 6, 2016

Dear Salvation Army, Taking on Controversial Issues

The views on this blog do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the Salvation Army, it's employees, or partners.

The Salvation Army takes a stand on a lot of key issues, from human trafficking to poverty. The Army challenges the issues of the day with the voice of truth, under-girded by love. The Salvation Army has always been on the cutting edge of world issues. But it seems to me that we're missing some of the most important issues.

The Salvation Army has spoken out loudly on human trafficking, and as well we should. Human trafficking is an abomination. It is pure evil. But why not also address a topic that leads to much of this human trafficking? The issue of pornography. We could take a greater stance on pornography, and target it for scrutiny. Our position statement on pornography is rock solid, that's a great start. But how can we advocate against it? How can we raise awareness? Pornography is denigrating to humanity. Pornography causes men and women to see each other as non-human objects. Pornography is a scourge upon humanity, it must be challenged. I believe we'll find our voice on this issue.

Next is an incredibly vital issue, it is the issue of abortion. This is a controversial topic. This topic is not politically correct and it is not a liberal-approved cause. But it is as important as life itself. Literally. Abortion is nothing less than modern day child sacrifice. The church must stand against abortion in the strongest terms possible. This issue is of concern in the Salvation Army. While in the United States and most Salvation Army territories the TSA position statement remains very pro-life; unfortunately the international position statement is not. The IHQ position statement could actually be described as pro-abortion in some respects. Abortion is never OK. Taking forceps and cutting apart a living child within the belly of his or her mother is madness. Sucking the brain out of a living child inside his or her mother with a sort of vacuum like device, is not Christian. It isn't even humane. There can be no exceptions, not even for incest or rape, because it still requires taking one life for the convenience of another. The only question that matters is: "Is the unborn child a human life?" If the answer is yes, then that life can't be snuffed out for the emotional convenience of the mother.

The Salvation Army has historically spoken out on issues of social justice and political reform. The Salvation Army should be hosting pro-life rallies, lobbying governments, and speaking out in the media to end the horrible tragedy of abortion. The silence is deafening on this issue and we need to speak up. Today. Lives hang in the balance. To read more about abortion click here.

Next let's talk about marriage. The only biblical position in marriage is that of being between one man and one woman. Any other position is outside the Bible. Scripture is as clear as crystal about this issue (1st Corinthians 6:9-11, Romans 1:26-28, 1st Timothy 1:10, Matthew 19:4-6). The issue of gay marriage has in less than 20 years radically transformed society not only in the United States, but across Europe and the world. Many churches have spoken out, and many organizations are taking a stand against the radical redefinition of marriage; and more recently the redefinition of gender itself. These redefinitions are harmful to society, harmful to young people, and most harmful to children who are being raised up into a society that is telling them anything goes.
The Salvation Army can take a stand on this issue. We need to hold closely to the biblical definition of marriage. And some in the Army are concerned that leadership might move to the left on this issue. Historically it's been shown that when major organizations move away from their core founding principles, they quickly fall apart and dissolve. It begins with a mass exodus of the front-line leaders who still hold to the core principles. Then goes the rest. I don't want to see that happen. If you look on the Salvation Army IHQ website, at the position statements, marriage is unlisted. In fact the army has bent over backwards to reach out to and support the "LGBT community" while making little mention of the biblical position. Some corps have taken to even participating in gay pride parades, which is quite suspect and sends all the wrong messages to a confused culture. It's a concern. But I'm of firm belief that strong, biblical leaders are the vast majority within the Salvation Army and once mobilized will quickly put an end to any nefarious endeavors to step outside the scriptures. The spirit of 1865 will win out.

Recently the Salvation Army international has taken to boldly supporting the invocation of tens of thousands of Muslim refugees into Europe. IHQ even posted a petition request to lobby the United Nations to bring in even more refugees. In reality, since Europe has taken in these refugees, unchecked and unvetted, there have been a string of violent terrorist attacks in countries like France, Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and others. Unfortunately ISIS terrorists did in fact seed themselves within the ranks of the refugee population and used the opportunity to wage terror.

This is a difficult issue. I'm all for helping out refugees, and setting up camps to feed and clothes those affected by regional instability, but perhaps it should've been done in a more wise manner. Maybe the Salvation Army needs to be encouraging safety and security more so than misguided compassion that leaves the door open to terrorist violence.

Another important issue relates to the genocide of Christians in the middle east. Did you know the number one persecuted minority in the world is Christianity? The media doesn't talk about it much unfortunately. It doesn't fit their narrative of colonial Christian oppression in the west. But it's true. It doesn't get much air time sadly. Which is why the church needs to speak up on this issue. How can the Salvation Army begin to stand for the persecuted Christians in the middle east?

According to the International Society for Human Rights, an estimated 80% of acts of discrimination against religion in the world are against Christians. Much of the violence has been perpetrated against Christians in Iraq, with hundreds of thousands being forced to flee the country. The symbol related to what is being called the Christian genocide is this, maybe you've seen it pop up on social media:

To learn more about the Christian genocide and how to take action click here. Matthew 5:10 (ESV) says "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

And finally, the issue of religious liberty is front and center on the national stage in the United States. More and more so in Canada and Europe, religious liberty is already a thing of the past. If pastors or Christians share biblical views on marriage, or speak the truth about radical Islam, they can be charged with hate crimes, fined, or even imprisoned. Many nations already persecute and minimize religious groups, most notably China, Iran, and North Korea. But in the last ten years Europe has begun to restrict speech and so has Canada. Very recently Russia made evangelizing illegal across their entire nation. In the United States the war is raging for religious liberty. How can we as the Salvation Army take a stand for our freedom of speech and freedom of conscience?

Should Christian business owners be required to cater gay marriage ceremonies? Should Christian churches be required to marry LGBT couples or be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars? Should Little Sisters of the Poor be required to perform abortions? Should Christian businesses be required to pay for their employee's abortions? These legal battles are taking place. These moral issues are being discussed hotly today in our culture. How can we in the Salvation Army advocate for religious freedom and for the freedom to preach the Bible in all areas of life? Take a stand, because our culture is swiftly changing and moving toward dangerous areas.

There are several great organizations where you can learn more about the issue of religious liberty. Some of them include:

The American Family Association

Alliance Defending Freedom

The Heritage Foundation

The Family Research Council

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Council

EWTN Religious Liberties Organization

Liberty Counsel

In conclusion, the Salvation Army has always been edgy. The Salvation Army has always taken a stand on controversial issues of the day. That's what kept the Army at the forefront of culture, society, and world concerns. And many times it meant being arrested, pelted with rocks, hated, or criticized in the media. Sometimes that's what it takes to be relevant in a troubled world. We in the Salvation Army take a stand on many key issues of our day, we stand strong on poverty, homelessness, hunger, human trafficking, domestic violence, education, alcoholism/drug addiction, and disaster relief. Now let's take a stand on issues like abortion, pornography, marriage, gender, persecution, and political corruption. Take care and God bless.

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Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Post-modernism is Dead, Jesus is Alive

“These are exciting times. When I finished the Epilogue to Darwin on Trial in 1993, I compared evolutionary naturalism to a great battleship afloat on the Ocean of Reality. The ship's sides are heavily armored with philosophical and legal barriers to criticism, and its decks are stacked with 16-inch rhetorical guns to intimidate would-be attackers. In appearance, it is as impregnable as the Soviet Union seemed a few years ago. But the ship has sprung a metaphysical leak, and that leak widens as more and more people understand it and draw attention to the conflict between empirical science and materialist philosophy. The more perceptive of the ship's officers know that the ship is doomed if the leak cannot be plugged. The struggle to save the ship will go on for a while, and meanwhile there will even be academic wine-and-cheese parties on the deck. In the end, the ship's great firepower and ponderous armor will only help drag it to the bottom. Reality will win.” –Phillip E. Johnson in an article, “How to Sink a Battleship: A call to separate materialist philosophy from empirical science.”

I could never accept the curious suggestion by modern philosophers that the meaning of life breaks down to my own personal preference. That's never how life has been. Reality has never transformed to my preferences. In fact life is quite particular, it doesn't listen to me, about what I want from it, instead it is quite absolute in it's constants. It's quite unchanging, despite my random emotions and thoughts. So I knew instinctively from the very outset that the meaning of life would have to be in relation to an absolute, or set of absolutes.

Post-modernism asserted that there was no truth, no objectivity, and no meaning in life. Deconstruction was central to post-modernism, pulling apart ideologies and belief systems to address presuppositions. Deconstructionism led to a movement in architecture to build building with intentional fragmentation, distortions, and random flaws. Of course in the construction of those buildings, do you think they could scramble the foundation? No. Otherwise the building would collapse. Much is the same with post-modernism. In ripping apart everything and declaring it's meaninglessness it destroyed itself.

You see, when one asserts that there is no truth, all one need do is reply, "Really? Is that true?" (Road-runner tactic) You see, they've destroyed their own foundation and contradicted themselves. Should we take their word for it? Is everything meaningless except for their writing on the subject? You see, this worldview is systemically contradictory. It goes nowhere. It makes no sense. Whenever the post-modernist writes on a topic, they temporarily elevate themselves above their own philosophy of meaninglessness to describe truth statements about a truthless worldview... Contradictory in the extreme.

I knew instinctively that absolutes were necessary. But not just necessary, but that absolutes existed everywhere, they existed in math, in science, in the natural world, in society, in the solar system, in my backyard, in history, they existed everywhere! So how could I believe pop-relativism?

Eventually that led me to the idea of the existence of God. It led me to look at the vast complexity of the universe, space, time, and the Earth. I found myself quite amazed by the harmonious complexity. This search for God eventually led me to the cross, to Christianity. Because again if absolutes exist, standards, systems, complexity, then there must be a supreme designer of those systems.

“The temptation to believe that the universe is the product of some sort of design, a manifestation of subtle aesthetic and mathematical judgment, is overwhelming. The belief that there is “something behind it all” is one that I personally share with, I suspect, a majority of physicists.” –Paul Davies, internationally known British astrophysicist and author

As a noted commentator Norm Geisler said, "History is absolute, archaeology is absolute, math is absolute, your bank account is absolute, scientific laws are absolute, why then would philosophy and religion suddenly have to be relative?" Of course this should occur to any school child instantly. Unfortunately in the west we seem to have educated ourselves into imbecility. But I've begun to wonder if there is not a psychological issue at hand with post-modernism and relativism. Perhaps it is really quite simple: "If there is no God and no moral accountability then I can sleep with whomever I want. I can do whatever I want. I can take advantage of anyone I want. I can make life all about me. I don't want God to exist, therefore he does not exist." Could it really be so simple? Perhaps it could. The anger and vitriol toward a God so many say doesn't exist speaks.

“Religion used to be the opium of the people. To those suffering humiliation, pain, illness, and serfdom, religion promised the reward of an after life. But now, we are witnessing a transformation, a true opium of the people is the belief in nothingness after death, the huge solace, the huge comfort of thinking that for our betrayals, our greed, our cowardice, our murders, we are not going to be judged.” –Czeslaw Milosz, "Discreet Charm of Nihilism" (The New York Review of Books, November 19, 1998)

The mental instability in our society is quite perplexing. There is this growing movement to redefine all things. There is this growing effort to mandate government hostility toward religion. And on the television and in Hollywood Christianity is openly mocked. Bill Nye is free to speak, on public dollars to children everyday on PBS, indoctrinating them into naturalism. But Ken Ham is harassed and smeared for his organization's views on creationism. Hateful commentator Dan Savage, a man who once went after a Christian congressional campaign, infiltrating their headquarters trying to get everyone their sick with the flu, has his own show on ABC. Millions watch shows like the Young Turks bash Christianity and religious folks. Others watch Bill Maher on HBO trash Christianity regularly. In academia religion departments are shut down and post-modernism and Darwinism reign supreme. It's really amazing how our society has turned against Christianity. In other words, the foundation is being subverted. And the results are terrible.

Even basics like marriage and gender are now thrown into question. A child knows that a boy is a boy and a girl is a girl. In fact every cell in the body of a male is distinctively male, and every cell in the body of a female is distinctively female. But after public school, gender studies courses, crossed with political correctness and emotional bullying, well, you get gender identity, the organized normalization of mental instability. Sometimes the truth is difficult to swallow, but it remains the truth.

Reality does not conform to my desires. I wish it did sometimes. Though as humans we are often our own worst enemies, don't you think? Why do women stay with physically abusive husbands? Why do men stay with girls who cheat on them? It's because we're a confused, and troubled race. We're fallen, as Christianity asserts. But that truth is violently resisted. In fact most tend to think people are basically good. I suppose all the wars, genocides, corruption, and poverty don't register on an emotional level when considering self species appraisal. But Christianity tells us a hard truth when it asserts that humanist is corrupted and in need of a savior. Or as noted British journalist Malcom Muggeridge said, "The depravity of man is at once the most empirically verifiable fact, while at the same time being the most intellectually resisted."

Given these raw facts, the contradictions, and the general move away from these views, it is reasonable to conclude: Relativism is dead. Post-modernism is dead. They have been exposed and debunked as the empty philosophies of those set on subverting Christian civilization. They are the required entailments of naturalist philosophy, garbed in half-baked Darwinian scientism. And they've been found not only wanting, but unlivable, and illogical. They are contrary to everything we observe in life, philosophy, and reality.

Is it better to believe something that is false? Just to escape the God question? Is it better to believe contradictions than in Jesus? Those are the big questions. We cannot escape the God question, it surrounds us. It speaks to us day and night as much as we try to avoid it. The ultimate question of the meaning of life and of our shared purpose as humans must be addressed. We then embrace moral accountability and the radically different way of Jesus Christ, as revealed in the gospels and in the word of God. It means leaving behind my old way of life, and embracing a difficult one. Maybe that's why it's easier to just say "nothing matters, everything is relative, now let's party."

"Looking at the doctrine of Darwinism, which undergirded my atheism for so many years, it didn’t take me long to conclude that it was simply too far-fetched to be credible. I realized that if I were to embrace Darwinism and its underlying premise of naturalism, I would have to believe that: 1. Nothing produces everything 2. Non-life produces life 3. Randomness produces fine-tuning 4. Chaos produces information 5. Unconsciousness produces consciousness 6. Non-reason produces reason....The central pillars of evolutionary theory quickly rotted away when exposed to scrutiny." –Lee Strobel, The Case for a Creator, 277.