It was finished!

I was in a stickam chatroom last night, and the same, tired, old question was asked by an atheist. It goes something like this:

“Since Matthew 5 has Jesus saying that he did not come to change the law and that not one letter or iota shall be struck from the law, why do Christians ignore Old Testament law like that which requires stoning homosexuals to death?”

Certainly, this is a good question, but it ignores the entirety of Matthew 5:17-18.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished., emphasis mine

When Jesus died on the cross, everything was accomplished. The fulfillment had come.

John 19:28-30, “Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

Does this mean we throw out the law? Certainly not. BUT, many of the Levitical rules lose their application because the Word, itself, has come alive on earth in the form of Jesus.

My Pastor, Dana, expressed it once to me like this, when I asked about Levitical law (specifically the stoning of the disobedient)… some of the Levitical law was directed specifically at God’s people of Israel in order to preserve the line of David so that there would be no impediment of the line that led to the Messiah, Jesus, being born.

When all was finished, these more severe laws, necessary for the preservation of the line of David were no longer necessary.

This brings up another question.

Then, why the law at all? If God is all-knowing, he would’ve known we would fail. Why would God allow this to happen?

Well, Paul tells us that there is a purpose to the law. Certainly, we are to try and live up to the law… but we will always fail.

So, why the law at all?

Paul says:

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. Romans 3:19-20

Amen.

From the Inside Out #2,3

Two questions on the agenda for me to catch up to…

Look closely at your own face. Especially around your eyes and the corners of your mouth. What do you see?

I notice more wrinkles than I remember around the eyes… hope those are “smile marks.” My mouth has a tendency to move down in a frown position when relaxed, but I *THINK* that’s more genetic than an indication that in my general life, I frown a lot. Hmmmm… wonder what Marie thinks?

What are reasons people give for not thinking there is a God? Which argument is the strongest?

I still think the fact that we can’t “see” God with our eyes is a strong argument. The argument that if God were real, He would figure out a way to make Himself visible to our naked eyes.

The strongest argument, for me, is not an argument against the existence of God… but the existence of the Christian God.

Specifically, the idea of an eternal, PAINFUL punishment for what appear to be, with our eyes and with our logical thinking, finite crimes.

What works for me in refutation of any thought against the idea of “God,” in general, is the wonder of the universe. The fact that it has a beginning. The fact that the Bible points to a “beginning” in the very first sentence, comporting with scientific knowledge we have about the issue of our existence. And, most specifically, the fact that everything we see with our naked eye had a designer or was created in some fashion.

The atheist retort to this is: “Who created God?”

This, to me, is not a divisive argument, but a minor quibble on labeling because, generally, an atheist will concede that something must have always existed. How does a Big Bang generate so much stuff otherwise?

The atheist calls this “eternal” entity a “something.” I call it God.

Aha! Common ground! We’re almost there.

On the issue of a Christian God, the historicity of Jesus and — most persuasively — of the Apostle Paul are what led me to open the door to Christ.

What about you>?

My most important class

I have a personality type of being very “stream of consciousness” in my discussions and thoughts in online life, but I think I still have a relatively decent filter.

The result is that I am generally a tactful guy who usually is quick on my feet, who sometimes says more than I should, but who is generally not particularly offensive.

The reason for this personality type is probably because I’m that jack of all trades, master of none type who has many irons in the fire because my interests are so many, and so varied. Time is not on my side.

Thank God my wife, Marie, can deal.

The reason I mention this is that I am already uncomfortable with question #1 because I had to sit and think about this. So, it wasn’t something that I had an immediate or near-immediate answer to.

In fact, I am still sitting here typing, some ten minutes later, and I still don’t have a particularly great answer, I don’t think…

My answer: The most important class I ever took was a class I never signed up before and got stuck in by God’s grace. Exploratory French and Spanish. 8th Grade. Mr. Rella.

The reason?

On the very first day of class — I can still see her in my mind’s eye — in front of me, across the classroom in the first row, sat a very beautiful (and very talkative), cute, 14-year old Filipina girl.

Her name was Marie.

It was the first time I laid eyes on the woman I would marry some 11 years later.

That’s the only answer I could come up with. The reality with my schooling is that I can’t recall any class that really just blew me away. I’ve had some great teachers… but class was mostly a drag for me.

From the Inside Out

I am participating in my Pastor’s life study on discipleship. I use the term “life study” because I am not sure what else to call it to describe it for the readers here.

Essentially, the idea is to use Jesus as the model for discipleship and work that process into our church, working from the inside out to create leaders who will model for other disciples… leading, ultimately, to a church that reaches out to the community as a natural function rather than something that feels or seems “forced.”

This latter explanation is my own feeling on the subject. I’m prepared for my model of discipleship to correct me on the assessment.

In any event, a part of this program will involve daily thinking on various issues through the summer.

The first subject, which I will tackle in the next blog entry, is: what is the most important class you have taken and why was it so key?

http://howtobeachristianwithoutbeingajerk.posterous.com/to-begin-again

YouTube Christian Collab, Project 1: Worldvision Sponsorship

Recent activity among the YouTube Christian community has been filled with judgmental, hate-filled commentary against fellow Christians as “not being saved,” etc.

In an effort to divert the attention of the YouTube Christian Community into something positive… let’s try this!

Only Christians sugarcoat?

Well-known YouTube atheist Brett Keane wonders why Christians won’t let their little children watch Passion of the Christ, or why they won’t talk about the harsher side of the Old Testament.

Well, Brett… why do YOU sugarcoat?  We ALL sugarcoat things for our kids…

Continuing the OUTFLOW for fellow YouTube Christians

So many preaching to the choir… so little time…

YouTube Day of Prayer 03-09-2009

Playertrack.com gets an update…

For you fantasy baseball geeks, I added the Fielding Independent Pitching statistic (FIP). I’m not sold on the stat just yet, but it is definitely a provocative method of analysis.

Check it out at playertrack.com.

When the tolerant are intolerant…

There has been so much talk of religious intolerance by ultra-left-wing-liberals who espouse that Christians are intolerant. But, sadly, many of these folks just don’t practice what they preach.

Yesterday, perhaps the single greatest symbol of change and tolerance in the United States — Barack Obama — did an amazing thing. He valiantly symbolized the call for “tolerance” in a truly wonderful way, making me even more proud of my Obama vote.

He asked Pastor Rick Warren to do the invocation at his inauguration.

This is the same Rick Warren, author of “The Purpose Driven Life” and founder of Saddleback Church in conservative Orange County, CA… the same Rick Warren who hosted the Obama-McCain religious discussion in August, which put Obama on “hostile ground”… the same Rick Warren who aggressively opposes same sex marriage and abortion rights as a good Christian conservative should.

And, the bastions of tolerance — the Liberals’ — response?

People for the American Way says: “It is a grave disappointment to learn that pastor Rick Warren will give the invocation at the inauguration of Barack Obama.”

A commenter at swamppolitics.com says: “Rick Warren? Are you freaking kidding me?

Why in the name of, well … God, would Obama choose someone whose outspoken beliefs are substantively no different from the James Dobson’s of the world? There’s a thriving progressive religious community in every faith, and many believe the religious left is ascendant.”

I could find a plethora of examples of the “tolerant” being intolerant.

The next time I hear about conservative Christian hypocrisy from an ultra-left liberal, I am going to give a very loud, very belly-based laugh (and, be assured, I have a nice big belly working).