A biblical defense for denominations?

For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. 

(1 Corinthians 11:18-19 ESV)

I think I understand what this verse is talking about.  Within the context, Paul is rebuking the Corinthians for eating and drinking without waiting for their brothers and sisters that "have nothing".  Paul dislikes this enough to say that when they come together and eat it is not the Lord's supper that they are eating.  So then, how does the above verse fit into Paul's argument?

I read something today that got me thinking about it.  It comes from The Institute for Nouthetic Studies blog.  Here is the main snip that got my wheels turning:

... And, even when there’s a better reason, some of that sort of thing can get mixed in and confuse people. But there is one fundamental reason for the problem. Paul explained in 1 Corinthians 11:19:

. . . there must be factions among you so that it may appear who is approved among you.

In that passage, he was dealing with factions within a congregation, but the principle applies to broader factions as well.... He wasn’t commending the Corinthians for their factious spirit—rather he condemned it. But, at the same time, he made it clear that, sometimes, something wrong can be necessary to produce something right.

I started thinking about it.  Big surprise there since I am such a big fan of denominations and I jump at every opportunity to quote a well respected teacher/author/church leader who gives a biblical case in defense of them.  Okay, that was sarcasm, I dislike division in the church with fervent zeal but I highly respect Jay Adams and I take in what he says with a high level of humility.  That is why his post today made me do a double-take.

I don't think Paul was at all saying that "something wrong can be necessary to produce something right".  In fact, if I understand this passage correctly, the very divisions among them reveal the ones who aren't genuine.  In contrast, Dr. Adams seems to imply that Paul gives us a principle that lays the groundwork for denominations thereby making denominations a bad thing with a good reason to exist.  As if Paul meant that the heretics and the sexually immoral and the greedy and the swindlers could go and form their own faction of the body of Christ and the righteous, obedient believers who walk in the Spirit and have correct doctrine can have their own faction of the body of Christ.  That way it would be evident to everyone who the true believers are.

Christ said he did not come to bring peace, but a sword but he was not bringing this sword to sever the limbs from his bride.  Through Christ's death and resurrection, all the ways of the old man are put away.  Division, rivalries, dissension and all the other works of the flesh were crucified with Christ.  Now Jew and Gentile are one body.  There is no place for division in the body of Christ.  The only distinction granted is that which distinguishes between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit.  In this way, factions are necessary, and discipline is to follow with the hope of repentance and reconciliation with the unity of the body as the desired result.

Denominations are not good, not biblical, and I will boldly say that in my opinion dividing into denominations is one of those "acceptable sins" that is an evident work of the flesh.  I'm disappointed to read this from Dr. Adams.  I praise God for discernment.  I welcome any corrections.

Have I completely gone bonkers????  Or am I one of the few voices blessed enough to believe that humpty dumpty can be put back together again?

Normal Christian?

The first book I decided to read on my Kindle is The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee. So far I love the book.  He has helped me to understand and see things in a way I had never though of before.  For instance he writes:

We shall see that the Blood deals with what we have done, whereas the Cross deals with what we are.  The Blood disposes of our sins, while the Cross strikes at the root of our capacity for sin.

I had never before read or heard anyone make a distinction between the blood of Christ and the cross of Christ.  But why this distinction?  What is Nee getting at?

The heart, God says, is “desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9), and He must do something more fundamental than cleanse it:  He must give us a new one. We do not wash and iron clothing that we are going to throw away.  As we shall shortly see, the ‘flesh’ is too bad to be cleansed; it must be crucified.  The work of God within us must be something wholly new.  “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you” (Ezekiel 36:26). No, I do not find it stated that the Blood cleanses our hearts. 

Yes, we need a new heart, the old one won't do.  But then he said what?  The blood doesn't cleanse our hearts?  What on earth is he talking about?

We need the Blood for forgiveness; we need also the Cross for deliverance. 

and here we go again with this blood/cross distinction.  So what is the difference between forgiveness and deliverance...why the distinction between the two?

The Blood can wash away my sins, but it cannot wash away my ‘old man’.  It needs the Cross to crucify me.  The Blood deals with the sins, but the Cross must deal with the sinner....We shall see that the Blood deals with what we have done, whereas the Cross deals with what we are.  The Blood disposes of our sins, while the Cross strikes at the root of our capacity for sin

So then the blood is for God to see.  God is satisfied with the blood to cover our sin.  But what about the sin factory that is our heart?  It is crucified with Christ!  When was our flesh, our old man, ourself who was a slave to sin crucified?  With Christ!  We died with Him!

Let me tell you, You have died!  You are done with!  You are ruled out!  The self you loathe is on the Cross in Christ.  And “he that is dead is freed from sin” (Romans 6:7, A.V.).  This is the Gospel for Christians.This is a remarkable revelation for every one who is in Christ!

This is what he calls the normal Christian life?  It doesn't seem normal to me.  My entire life I understood a normal Christian to be someone who regularly "examines themselves to make sure of their election", becoming ever-increasingly aware of our capacity for sin.  Yet, according to Romans 6 there is no room for examining the flesh of the dead man.  That man is dead.  The normal Christian, according to Nee, does not look upon himself and see a forgiven sinner who needs to improve, he sees himself as a forgiven sinner that has died already with Christ.  Now (to the normal Christian according to Nee) were are alive in Christ as we abide in Him.

What does this do to all the believers who focus on self improvement and the most effective methods of fighting against the flesh?  It is as absurd as dressing up a dead man just to beat him up.

This is all new for me and that means I must check it all out like a good  Berean would.

What do you think?

Purpose in the midst of suffering.

        I've requested my next book for review from  the blogging for books program.  I have decided on this one:

The Goodness of God Assurance of Purpose in the Midst of Suffering Written by Randy Alcorn

Here is a teaser from the publisher:

For those times when we’re wounded by broken trust, assaulted by disease, or victimized by evil—or when we’re crushed to see such things happen to people we love—Randy Alcorn offers something solid to hold onto. 

In this specially focused condensation of Alcorn’s If God Is Good…: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil, we’re continually guided into a deeper glimpse of God’s loving ways and higher purposes—the very things we’re often most blinded to whenever we battle pain and anguish.

Alcorn avoids superficial or sentimental responses, and instead presses forward boldly to explore all the troubling doubts and questions that agitate within us when we confront suffering and evil.

The issues are far from simple, the answers far from easy—but Alcorn shows how the way of suffering—a path that Jesus himself followed more than anyone else—can ultimately become a journey into wholeness and even logic-defying joy.

bbc spoof on modern tech (blackberry and apple)

This video is sure to get a chuckle if you know anything at all about modern technology.

community via nativity

On the weekend before Christmas, my neighbors and my family got together and did a live nativity in our front yard.  It was all my wifey's idea and she gets all the credit for recruiting and organizing.  She is very gifted in that area.  My wife can get things done that completely blow my mind.  That said, this endeavor was a bit over her head.  The idea came to her just a few weeks prior and there were a lot of pieces she wanted in place in a very short time.  She immediately began asking our neighbors in the community (the same ones that we have been encouraging to meet with us on Sundays) if they would participate.  She also began asking every church in our community if they had any costumes we could borrow for the weekend.  The results were amazing!

After much coercion, all the roles were filled.  The week before the event the Primitive Baptist church across the street had a Christmas play that they invited us to attend.  We did and the ended up giving us some of the props they were using for the scenery.  After a bit of re-engineering, the pieces were transformed into a stable in our front yard.  That saved us a lot of time and money on materials and construction.  But that was just the beginning of God's amazing work.  Soon we had boxes of authentic looking costumes from another local drama that just had their last night.  Everyone was on board and all the pieces were falling into place.  That is when the flu hit...

The day before the nativity we received a call from an entire family of participants that were home bound for the weekend with a horrible virus.  Now we were short and angel, a wise man, and a shepherd.  My clever and determined wife decided to dress as a magi and paint on a beard in order to give us three.  We were just going to settle and be without an angel and one shepherd.  Then at the last minute...and I mean last minute, literally one minute before 7pm (our scheduled start) a little girl we had never met before got permission from her parents and donned our angel costume.  She was well behaved and did a great job!  The entire production was a huge success.  We even made the local news at 11 where Jessica did a great job during an interview of talking about bringing the community together to focus on Jesus.  Painted on beard and all!  A cross dressing wise guy :-)

When it was all said and done I was most amazed at how not only our neighbors but the local churches came together and chipped in to make the nativity a success.  It was the talk of our community.  Pastors called wanting to know how they and their families could get involved.  Everyone seemed to have a great time and although we have yet to meet altogether with these families for a gathering of the church, we did come together and impact our community for Christ.  I'm still prayerful and hopeful that God will continue working to bring us together for much more and most importantly bring us together as the body of Christ in practice.  As we continue looking and listening for ways God wants us to minister in our neighborhood I am also hopeful that the local churches will be equally as generous and supportive.  Time will tell because God is faithful.

Sun Stand Still: A Review

Many people think that becoming a follower of Christ means that you have to leave behind everything fun and exciting that life has to offer and become a part of a boring, religious group of homebodies who get their kicks by talking about how everyone except them is messing up their lives and needs Jesus.  The Christian life is perceived as being nothing more than a schedule of rituals and a list of do's and don'ts.  Christians in general are satisfied with the status quo (rituals and rules) as the sum of our religion and we aren't inclined to seek out the miraculous power of Almighty God at work in the world around us, let alone through us.  Business as usual is the mantra, week in week out, same old same old until we go up into glory.

Stephen Furtick hopes to spur us on to something greater in his book Sun Stand Still.  In this work Stephen challenges all of us to ask God for the impossible.  We should not be satisfied with the mundane, ritualistic, and boring Christian religious events that we fill our weeks and months with.  We should be seeking to do great things for the glory of God by the power of God.  We can dream impossible dreams because nothing is impossible with God and know that He wants to do extraordinary things in and through us because He wants to display His greatness to all creation.  Stephen calls for something far beyond boring and mundane.  He calls us to the audacious faith that the God fearing men and women of scripture demonstrate for us.  To pray like Joshua for the sun to stand still in the sky until he could defeat his enemies.

The author gives numerous examples both from the scripture and from his own experiences that inspired me to seek the vision God has for my life and act on it.  He also did a good job of dealing with the tough issue of unanswered prayer and how these challenges to our faith don't mean that we weren't faithful enough or that God isn't great enough but instead reveals that God had something better in mind and we should continue to trust, especially when things don't go as we plan.  He paints God in a way that displays Him as the daddy who wants to give the whole world to His children if we would only ask.

What I disliked about the book is the over use of certain vocabulary and terms that he coined like "Sun Stand Still prayer", audacious faith, and page 23 vision.  I also was disappointed that Christ did not take more of a central position in his reasonings as to why God hears and answers our prayers and shapes the things we should be praying for.  Someone who enjoys reading Joel Osteen and the word of faith clan would really dig this book.  There is not alot of talk of man's sin condition and only a few light hints regarding our need of the power of God for salvation.  I know that this wasn't the subject matter for the book but I don't think we can skip through all the blood and death of Christ Jesus and jump to the right standing with God with new life and power.  He totally dropped the ball as far as providing a solid foundation for the audacious faith he calls for.  A stronger focus on the gospel would have greatly strengthened his encouragements to the saints and challenged those who already think of God as a cosmic slot machine.

I would recommend this book.  It has elevated my expectations for God to do what is impossible for me and rekindled my prayer life to ask for things I know only Almighty God can do.  I think we can all use that kind of encouragement.  As long as we are seeking to diplay Christ more fully to a dying world we can be sure that the Spirit of God will empower us for that work.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

but receiving can be really good

I wasn't hoping to receive anything this Christmas.  Usually I don't even have a wish list.  This utterly frustrates my wife because she doesn't know what I want.  What I want every year is for everyone to be enthralled with the love God has shown by taking on sinful flesh and laying his life down to bring us back to himself.

This year I was pleasantly surprised.  My lovely wife and best friend bought me two gift I didn't know I wanted. A Kindle and a ticket to the Ligonier Conference next March in Orlando!  She even purchased books from some of the speakers that will be at the conference and had them pre-loaded on the Kindle!  I have a lot of reading to do!  The list is as follows:

Feed My Sheep:  A passionate plea for preaching by R. Albert Mohler

Doctrine:  What Christians Should Believe by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears

The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee

Prophetic Ministry by T. Austin Sparks

The ESV Study Bible (Kindle edition)

(soon to come) Think by John Piper

I just finished Sun Stand Still and I will be posting a review of it soon.  I also received my booksneeze book for review this week.  Not to mention wifey bought me another T. Austin Sparks paperback book entitled God's Spiritual House.

I'll be busy for a while.  Merry Christmas everyone!!!

better to give than to receive

Today is Christmas and like never before I have experienced this year that it is much better to give than it is to receive.  The Lord has truly blessed us in the most remarkable ways this year. In recent months my wifey has been selling fudge like crazy.  It started as an experiment to see if she could raise some extra spending money.  It turned into the cup that runneth over.

With money from the fudge sales, our usual money we set aside for giving, and recent side jobs that have exploded all over my calender this past month we have been able to provide trees, decorations, gifts, clothing, meals, and toys to several families that otherwise would have gone without.  Looking back I am amazed at what God accomplished.  I still have a hard time believing it.

It has given us the opportunity to participate in what Christmas is all about.  Christmas is about the incarnation of God to accomplish what we could not accomplish for ourselves.  Our family hasn't done anything that compares to that monumental work for the salvation of sinners but what we have done is glorified God by providing for those He has placed in our lives this season.  It has been a tremendous blessing to experience the joy that comes through serving Christ Jesus, especially during this season as we reflect on the humility He displayed by becoming like us in order to save us.

How has God used you to display His glory during this season?

new book for review: Jesus Inquest

Thanks to Alan for the heads up, I have also signed up to review books for BookSneeze .  They will send me free books for doing reviews for the books.  Nice!

The first book I chose is The Jesus Inquest The Case For and Against the Resurrection of the Christ by Charles Foster.  It kinda looks like Lee Stroebel's A Case for Christ but it is all about the resurrection and sounds like it may be more exhaustive in that area.  I like apologetics and so I think I will enjoy this very much.  Here is the rundown from Booksneeze:

An unbiased examination and compelling courtroom presentation revealing the undeniable facts of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Intelligent, fair, and remarkably compelling, The Jesus Inquest argues the case both for and against the resurrection of Christ. Point-by-point, Foster, in turn as both barrister X and Y, leaves no theological stone or dissenter's rock unturned as he digs for answers and the truth. In the end he is more convinced that Jesus is real, that He did rise again, and that He lives to offer forgiveness and hope to all who come to Him."

I like the fact that the author will present the case from both sides.  More often than not, when making arguments we (or at least I) tend to present a strong case for our own argument and put it up against a strawman from the other side.  This should be good.

the way to the promised land: faith

So I signed up for the Blogging for Books program about a week ago and my first book for review has arrived. I began reading it last night and it has turned out to be much more than I bargained for. Let me explain.

I didn't give the title much thought as I picked it. It was the authors teaser that caught my interest. Now that I have read the beginning and I see how the title fits with the teaser, God's providence has been displayed for me personally in the most marvelous way.

Here's how: lately I have written about my thoughts and struggles as I left the "Egypt" of the traditional church and entered into the "wilderness" of a time between that and entering into the "promised land" of a more organic assembly of believers. Right now I am in the wilderness. In the book Stephen Furtick inspires audacious faith by using Joshua as our example. You see, after Moses died, Joshua was determined to lead Israel into the promised land and one of the prayers He made to God to accomplish this monumental task was he asked God to make the sun stand still in the sky while he defeated his enemies. God answered his prayer, they entered into the promised land and the rest is history.

Do you see why I am so excited about the potential impact of this book? Acting on audacious faith to enter into the promised land, that is precisely what I needed to hear! What wonderful good news! I am very eager to finish the book and when I do I'll post my review. Same bat time, same bat channel.