The Days of Constantine and Modern Church

Reading in Church History has been one of the most beneficial things I have done in 33 years. It has got my wheels turning regarding even our modern church's state. One of the things I've been thinking about lately with the election going on is the ease of Christianity in America compared to the times of Constantine.

Prior to Constantine coming to power and declaring Christianity the national religion (loosely since he also permitted paganism), Christians were persecuted and killed at the hands of emperors. Christians knew that converting meant they would be in danger of loosing their lives for what they believed in. As a result, the church may have been decently small in number, but the passion and zeal of it was mighty. The martyrs were committed to Christ unto death.

Constantine took over the empire and brought an end to years of persecution. He declared Himself Christian and stopped the martyrdom of believers. As a result, throngs of people in the Roman empire "converted" to Christianity. It was the thing to do. It seems as those everyone was doing it. Christianity's cost was diminished due to ease in the Empire. This continued till persecution once again reared it's ugly head. As a result, many recanted their belief and again Christianity was costly. Under persecution, many of our great church fathers were born and led. Their impact goes on till today.

Fast forward to today. Honestly, converting to Christianity is as easy as saying you prayed a prayer and getting dunked in your local baptist church. Rarely are you examined to see if the fruit of the Spirit is evident in your life. Rarely is their much cost to being a Christian in America other than some harassment. As a result, much of modern Christianity is a lifestyle, not a life endangerment. We've adapted Christianity to America, not vice versa. Modern American Christianity cost so little. Even our political candidates proudly assert their Christianity with little fear of backlash. Throngs fill our churches and go through the motions of the lifestyle of Christianity.

I wonder...how full would our churches be if persecution were to rear it's ugly head in America? I mean real persecution...life endangering stuff. Would Saddleback, Willow Creek, Lifechurch, and Thomas Road Baptist still be as full as they are today? Would we focus on seekers or survival and surrender? Would the "giants" of modern Christianity still be considered giants or be seen as feel-good motivational speakers? Are we today, calling people to a life of complete rejection, surrender and rejection? That is the Christianity I know.

When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die...

The Inevitable Sarah Palin Blog

If you check my past blogs, I've not been a fan of McCain. I still believe Obama will pull this one out. That being said, I move on to Palin.

Sarah Palin is the BOMB. This pick is brilliant on so many levels. McCain deserves some credit for it even though I still have no intention of voting for him (or Obamessiah). The nomination of Palin emasculates Biden who will have to debate her and Obama will have to appear as the chaeuvinist (and already has because of him calling her a "beauty queen"). The inexperience card played by the GOP for Obama, now has to be used by Obama for Palin. Palin is pro-life, pro-gun and a conservative GOP...something that McCain is not. She has expertise on energy and ANWR. No one better to tell of the need to drill in ANWR then the one who has been overseeing the plot of land. She specifically refused an abortion when she found out that her youngest would be a Down's Syndrome child which is a "stick it to you" to the pro-choice crowd. Her husband is a dude...the man's man. Her son is going to Iraq (defeating the System of a Down crowd that screams that president's never send their own to war) on September 11.

The beauty of the day of selection- it totally sucked the air out of the great Obamis speech in front of his Roman columns and fake Air Force One. The post-convention boost has literally deflated all by a former beauty queen from Alaska! It doesn't get any better than this! The libs are freaking out right now not knowing what to do!

To add some fuel to the fire, the Dem's are praising the second destruction of Louisiana (Hurricane Gustav) as a sign God hates the GOP. So instead of the GOP continuing their plans to go ahead and wine and dine while Rome is burning, there are plans for the convention to continue, but for Palin and McCain to relocate some of the convention to help Louisiana. BRILLIANT! One- it is needed...the GOP was complained about not helping after Katrina. Two- it portrays the heart of GOP as the ones who are willing to leave the party to help others.

I would be more inclined to vote for Palin than McCain. I wish there was a way I could. Forget the RINO McCain. Palin is what we all want.

Christian Reactionism Part 349,592: Guitar Hero....Christian Version

I knew it would only be a matter of time before this happened since they had it for DDR.
Guitar Praise Site

As usual, I have an opinion. Again, the church seems to react to the secular world. They set the standard, we come up with an alternative. When will we be the one setting the standard and not reacting?
Another thought. I grew up in a teaching that anything secular, no matter how harmless, was evil. I didn't know why. My only grounds for something being evil was that it wasn't made or done by Christians. Living a long time now, there is a lot of junk put out by Christians. We need to teach kids to discern what is good, and how to be in the world, but not of it.
I always remember learning that our three choices with dealing with the world are isolation, integration or infiltration. Isolation is monastic and hard fundamentalism. Integration is just giving in. Infiltration is being able to be among the world and yet still shine brightly the light of Christ.
On a personal note, though I disagree with some of the songs, I love Guitar Hero 3.

Thoughts From My Reading on The Early Church

I just knocked out 10 chapters of Church History reading through about the fourth century. Good stuff. I've really enjoyed it. As I read, a lot is hopping out at me and getting my wheels turning. I'll try and summarize as much as I can.

• There is much to be said of the boldness recorded of the early martyrs. In fact, it appears they were killed, not so much for their religous belief as much as their stubborness with their beliefs. Many of them were eager to die for their faith and considered it a blessing! I loved reading the account of Polycarp's martyrdom. He is brought before the proconsul who repeatedly gives him the option of recanting his faith due to him being 86 years old. His response to them was finally "For 86 years I have served him, and he has done me no evil. How could I curse my king who saved me?" He then asked to be burned and told them they would not need to nail him to the post so he wouldn't jump out of the fire. 
• Whereas church centers on preaching today, the early church had communion as the centerpiece of their time together. Communion wasn't a time of repentance and grief. It was a celebration! Only baptized believers (who had been through three years of discipling) were allowed to partake. They also fasted on Wednesdays and had time of repentance on Friday. There is something about that that fascinates me. We have changed things.
• Creeds were not witty little poems whipped together to make people feel good. They were bold, in your face declarations of beliefs in resistance to cultic sects of the day. These were often used in a persons baptism. I really like that idea! Instead of "Have you received Jesus as Savior?", they catchumen is asked if they believe the different statements in the creed. WOW!
• The early apologists were awesome! I loved reading some of the statements of Justin Martyr, Tatian and Minucius Felix. They were in your face to the philosophers of the day. We need more of that type today.
• The early church understood it would be rejected by society. They knew it so well, they didn't try to make people happy. They stood on truth and refused to be politically correct. The modern church has clearly stopped this. We are concerned about not offending others. We are great at loving people to hell. 

I'm really enjoying reading this stuff. It makes me wonder...what should the church look like? I'm also looking at discipleship in this. Conversion wasn't something lightly taken and to top it, before a person was baptized, they went through teaching of doctrine. This in and of itself is a great divider of aunthentic faith and easy believism. Most of our churches are rushing people into the baptismal pool. Many of them leave the faith. Why the rush?

Concert Review: Rodrigo y Gabriella in Richmond VA

Wow.
I've been waiting to see these guys for about 2 years now. Rodrigo y Gabriella first came to my attention on Youtube. They were on the frontpage. I saw it looked like a Flamenco video so I checked it out. I was blown away with Tamacun. They had me hooked immediately.

The show was at the National Theater in Richmond. Very nice place! Honestly, it looked like a place for Broadway and opera, not rock and roll. When I got there, there had to be only about 50 people there. It was ridiculous. Eventually more people arrived. The opening act was a college kid with an acoustic guitar...a dangerous combo. He was painful.

The setup took forever between sets. They were having problem with the video that was supposed to be on the backdrop. After 35 minutes of waiting, they finally started the show. I was about 4 feet from stage. I normally stay in the back, but I figured I'd give this a try...no moshing.

They were awesome! The crowd was really into everything they played. Honestly, Youtube doesn't do any justice. From the thump of Gab's hand on the guitar, to the speed of her wrists and the skill of Rodrigo...none of it is fully captured. They are great showmen! They got everyone to sing along to Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here." They also goofed around with some old metal tunes (Holy Wars, Battery). They were tight. There albums are short versions of what they played tonight! They would go 6-10 minutes on one song. They closed with Tamacun and Diablo El Rojo. They played to the crowd and the crowd responded big time.

I definitely recommend these guys if you want to catch a show that will be fun. They aren't your typical rock music since they rarely talk, don't sing and they play more of a traditional Mexican style/metal. Pick up their album on Itunes!!!

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Is ROCKIN My World!!!

So I picked up The Cost of Discipleship after hearing a lot about it from my brother Don. I finally picked it up from the library at Liberty. I'm not done Chapter 1 and there are TONS of things in it that are incredible! I love it! Nothing like starting your book with a chapter entitled "Cheap Grace" and going on about those who get people to pray the prayer and baptized, but don't encourage the whole idea of discipleship and growth. He wrote this during WW2, yet it is SO TRUE of so many megachurches and churches today. Some quotes:

• Cheap grace means the justification of the sin without the justification of the sinner.
• The only man who has the right to say that he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ.
• Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
• (Grace) is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life.
  

Documentary Review: Frontline: The Mormons

Just got done watching four hours about Mormonism on a special that PBS Frontline created. It was done very well. Though it doesn't get into the theological or Scriptural flaws of Mormonism, I think it is a fair presentation of the religion. From the history, to the roots, to the controversies, it covered it all. I do have several thoughts as a Protestant after watching. We'll start with the positives.

• The Mormons sense of joy, hope and family are to be admired. The family is very close and at the center of your life. Outside of Mormonism, we tend to be more focused on individuals rather than the family as a unit. Granted this is partly because they believe us to be eternal beings and that the family ties will continue into the afterlife. 
• I have always admired the emphasis of mission work with the Mormons. Two years of complete devotion to sharing your faith is more than we require of our own youths who sadly, barely understand what they believe. The tactics they use still seem to be what I criticize with Christianity- hit and run street evangelism and door to door. Even in the video of the Mormon missionaries, you see the largely ineffectiveness of a busy society and 1950 tactics. I believe Christians should tap in to the idea of missionary service for all youth.
• There is a high level of devotion to each other as Mormons. Granted there are denominations even in Mormonism, but their is a proud heritage and bond between members.

The negatives:

• The fact that the Mormon leadership will not deal with any desenting thoughts or questions is troubling. This is especially true even when there is NO historical evidence to any of Joseph Smith's claims in the Book of Mormon. There is no archeological, linguistical or historical evidence about the Nephites and Lamenites. The gold plates were very suspicious. The changing of Joseph Smith's positions and then the following changes in racial issues, polygamy, and baptism of the dead are a sign of a religion that is constantly changing and not sure of itself.
• The focus on America was something I never contemplated before. This is without a doubt, a very ethnocentric belief system. The American mentality is large in Mormonism. this is seen in the belief that Zion will be in Independence, Missouri, that the Garden of Eden was in Missouri, and the fact that Jesus had to appear to the early Americans after his death, yet he didn't appear anywhere else. In a sense, this only fronts the idea that America is the center of God's kingdom, not Israel.
• If we are all God, there is no need for Jesus! He was just like us. If we are Gods, we're are in trouble.
• The Mountain Meadows massacre seems to point directly to the leader of Mormon faith- Brigham Young. Christianity had its own flaws with crusades, yet there were far removed from the time of Christ. We know He would never have approved of them. Brigham gave the thumbs up for the massacre of innocent Arkansasians.
• I think polygamy may very well be a dead horse. It does seem unfair to accuse the LDS of approving of it when the normal convicts of it are offshoots of the LDS. 
• Baptism of the dead is unbiblical...period. It is also a joke. If it is true, there is no need to convert to Mormonism because I'll get a second chance to accept or reject it after I die.
• If Joseph Smith saw God the Father and came away alive, he has done something that not even Moses could do. Moses only saw his glory and it physically changed his face. Joseph is then indeed greater than even the greatest prophets who are recorded in the Bible. Given his disrespect for law officials...that is saying something

There are a lot of other thoughts I had as I watched. However, these are sufficient for now. My heart goes out to people who are trying hard, yet are imprisoned by complete obedience to a church that is theologically messed up and its own history is flawed and false.