Eeek! It's the Annual Attack of the Christmas Legalists!

Happy Holidays! Oops--I can't say that without offending an army of more-righteous-than-me saints who demand that everyone says "Merry Christmas". This seasonal indignation has been a tradition since the days when we used to hear "Satan Claus" hissed because old Nick was "replacing" the Christ of Christmas. The new bugaboo is replacing the word "Christmas" with "Holiday".

The American Family Association sent me an email about what store to boycott because they said "family tree" instead of Christmas tree (that was a stupid marketing decision, Lowes), as well as a very very important very urgent bulletin informing the public that Petsmart didn't mention "Christmas" in their flyers. And AFA also warned me about a wicked, wicked hotel chain that removed Gideon Bibles from their rooms. Look, I believe in boycotts (when a company blatantly promotes evil--see my Illustration and Application post), but I don't believe in forcing the world to act like devout Christians when they're not. Do you get angry at taxicabs that don't have Bibles? Does the world see us as uptight prunefaces with Taliban tendencies?

Thanks, Coral Ridge Ministries, but don't send me a "Merry Christmas lapel pin" designed to push back the wicked powers of the Happy-Holidays devils.

Instead of being hostile, we ought to be thankful that millions of sinners everywhere celebrate Jesus' birth! Imagine hearing Gospel-packed songs like Joy To The World on secular radio at any other time.

I always prefer to say "Merry Christmas", but if a Buddhist or a Muslim or an atheist wishes me "Happy Holidays", I say, "Thank you, you too!"

Neglected Solution For Sin

Confession time: For much of my life, including many years after my new birth in Christ, I was enslaved to a sinful habit. I hated it, but my flesh loved it. Pastoral counseling, deliverance ministry, accountability, and even fasting and prayer seemed to do little to free me. However, it may be that the fasting and prayer eventually led me on the path to the increased victory that I now enjoy.* I have found that God really corrects and perfects his children through suffering. For example, King David, a man profoundly aware of the filthiness of sin (Ps 51), saw pain, turmoil, and humiliation as coming from the Lord to chasten him (2 Sam 16:9-12). When you and I start to believe in and seek divine discipline, and when we see the connection ("maybe I'm going through this because I did that"), we have
--more incentive to do right
--deep awareness of God's holiness, and
--the fear of God that's the beginning of wisdom.
It was during the aforementioned times of fasting and prayer that I started to follow the lead of my pastor at that time. He learned to pray, with Paul, for "the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering" (Phil 3:10). It was then, as I repeatedly prayed this verse with faith, determination, and dread, that not only did I experience suffering of various kinds, but I was able to receive it as from God. "God disciplines us as sons" (Heb 12:7). "Being punished isn't enjoyable while it's happening--it hurts! But afterwards we can see the result, a quiet growth in grace and character" (Heb 12:11, LB). I have learned, with Peter and James, how to allow hard times to bring me closer to the holiness that the Lord desires (James 1:2-4; 1 Pet 1:6,7).

*The guilt of my besetting sin for so many years was like a hundred-pound weight on my back. I say I have "increased victory", but I'm certainly not perfect yet. Nevertheless, a five-pound weight is much easier to carry as I run the race (Heb 12:1). May I never accept that the smaller 'weight' is small enough, and may the Lord continue to patiently work with me.

"God Wants You To Always Be Happy At Work!" : )

Normally I say "Amen" to any & every thing that flows from the charming drawl of James Dobson, but he said something that was just flat wrong today. It reflects what I perceive to be an emerging mantra of Evangelical Christianity. He and his guest were insisting that we probably ought to leave careers that we don't find fulfilling, and they implied that stress on the job is bad for you. As someone in a career that is entirely unfulfilling, as well as often very stressful, I am confident that God has me exactly where he wants me. The influence that I can have on my co-workers has the potential to be very fulfilling, and the stress can be very useful in shaping my character (see Neglected Solution for Sin).
How many of the persecuted prophets found their jobs stress-free and fulfilling?

Religion

Every definition listed in the Webster's Collegiate Dictionary for the word religion covers belief, manifestation of belief, devotion, or a system of devotion. Every use of the word in Scripture validates these definitions. Yet many in the Church act as if religion means lifelessness, or Phariseeism, or anti-Biblical traditions of men. I've heard this thundered by several preachers over the years: "God hates religion!" A popular worship song yearns for the day when "religion finally dies." A bumper sticker proudly proclaims: "I'm not religious, just Christian." Why do we think we can turn words upside-down and confuse seekers this way? Christianese is hard enough to master without turning good words into bad. Leave that to the gay people.

Illustration and Application

Let's say you live in a small town with only two stores. One is owned and run by an upstanding citizen, and the other treats customers just as well and has lower prices, but you discover it's owned by a wife-beating Al-Qaeda supporter. Would you shop only at the store with higher prices? Then why is it that most of you never participate in boycotts?
Most Christians would never do business with Planned Parenthood for obvious reasons--it's the USA's largest abortion provider. But if Christians knew that the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Allstate, DuPont, eBay, Sonic, AARP, Outback, the National Education Association (teachers' union), and Marriot (hotels) all give money to P.P., would Christians shun patronizing those companies? They should. I do.

Praise

My wife is a talented artist. Imagine she completed a painting and showed it to me. What if I were to shout, "I praise you! I love you, Gina! I thank you, Gina!," and then repeat a time or two? She would look at me funny. But if I would say, "Wow! The colors are magnificent, the details so beautiful--it looks like a photo, only better!," then she would be quite pleased.
The Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul taught that we ought to love and worship God with our minds as well as our hearts (Matt. 22:37, 1 Cor. 14:1-31). The Psalms are full of thoughtful exclamations of God's attributes.
Some of our dear Pentecostal brethren (I consider myself Pentecostal) have been known to chant a few phrases repeatedly, day after day, year after year, in worship. Unfortunately, one of their oft-used expressions of praise is "hallelujah," which of course means "praise the Lord." So we're telling the Lord to praise Himself? You won't find that word in the Bible addressed to God.
There's a tune by Jeremy Camp--who seems to be a wonderful Christian--that's played on the radio and sung in many worship services, and the song only has five phrases in it. Not even five complete sentences--five phrases--for about four minutes. Where is the thoughtfulness in that?
I've noticed that during my church's worship, pretty much the only time people raise their hands is during the chorus of each song. Maybe that's because they have the chorus so well memorized that they don't have to think about it, and they're then free to worship?
Is God more glorified by, "I praise you, I praise you, I love you, I thank you, hallelujah," or, "Oh, what a wonderful God we have! How great are His wisdom and knowledge and riches! How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions and His methods!" (Rom. 11:33)?

Who Is Responsible For Missionaries?

In case you haven't heard (the myopic U.S. media are more interested in the latest pop tart scandal), there are dozens of South Korean missionaries being held hostage by Islamofascists. While much of the rest of the world is moved with sympathy for the captives, in S.K. there is a significant minority that is angry with them. "You put yourselves in harm's way, and now we have to bail you out!" I hope you don't faint when I say that they make a good point. Anyone who wants to follow the Lord's leading into a dangerous place ought to register a statement with the government releasing civil authorities from responsibilty. In effect, "God called me to do this, and He is able to rescue me from any trouble I might get into. My life is in His hands--I am as safe as He wants me to be. Please do not pay any ransom or make any attempt to rescue me."

Fear or Faith?

It had been many years since I saw a horror flick. They all seemed to have immature language (commonly called mature language) and/or gratuitous sexual situations and imagery, and I don't watch those kind of films. But The Grudge came out a couple of years ago, and after consulting http://www.pluggedinonline.com/ for their take on the movie's cleanness, I took the family to see it. S-c-a-r-y. I think it affected me more than the average guy because I hadn't seen a fear flick for so long. I found myself fairly apprehensive during showers or in the dark for some days afterward. Since then, I've developed some thoughts about the horror genre, and about entertainment in general.

I was inspired to record these thoughts after listening to a Christian radio show which had as its topic: "How have TV or movies affected your thinking irrationally?" All of the callers recounted how horror films had haunted them for years or even decades--no one called about comedies or documentaries. No one regretted seeing the scary films; they were willing to live with their silly trepidations. I became somewhat angry when not one but two callers wished that God hadn't removed much of their capacity to be afraid at these movies. Publicly complaining that God shouldn't have done something is just wrong, especially when the whiner is a professing Christian.

One of the most common phrases in the Bible is "Fear not." God says that "perfect love casts out fear," and that He "has not given us a spirit of fear." Is it wise, is it God's will, to seek to be frightened by images of saw-weilding madmen as a form of entertainment?

For thrills and adventure, I think it's better to go on a mission trip, give more than you can afford, or preach the Gospel in public than to partake of the fake Hollywood stuff or roller coasters or bungee jumping. The Lord designed each of us with an appetite for adrenaline rushes, and some crave it more often than others. But God wants each of us to get a regular "fix" by stepping out by faith in whatever adventure or risk He leads us into. That way, we'll be building our faith and accomplishing some good along with getting a buzz.

Theology Works

Why call a blog theologyworks? Theology because I passionately want Christians to pursue truth, and works because what you believe will be expressed in your lifestyle. Jesus repeatedly taught that people's hearts are revealed by their deeds and words.

This blog is for Christians, so please consider carefully before you send a post to a lost sinner. Jesus said it's not prudent to cast our pearls before swine.

So today, instead of watching that mind-numbing, perverted, far-from-reality reality show on TV, and instead of joining 20,000 fanatics as they scream at a bunch of multi-millionaire steroid junkees in funny clothes hitting a ball with a stick, why not use your God-given time by obtaining, living, and disseminating truth?

My blog for everybody is http://www.jgapinoy.blogspot.com