Category: Book Summary

Heart of an Apostle

by Pete Beck Jr.

My father has served the body of Christ for many years as an apostle. Many churches and individuals look to him as a spiritual father. He did not start out with this in mind, but over time others began to see something in him that God had put there. Eventually he accepted his call to be a “sent one” to help plant, build, and strengthen churches and leaders around the world. With the recent resurgence of interest in the calling and work of apostles, he felt the need to write this book in order to correct some perceived errors in understanding. This book focuses on what he considers to be the main issue, a father’s heart for the church.

I have placed some salient quotes from the book below to whet your appetite for more. The book is available on Amazon.

The only remedy for avoiding the mistakes of the past and present is to recapture the true essence of the apostle and god’s pattern for leadership. In this book the emphasis is not on what the apostle does, but on who the apostle is in Christ. When this is properly modeled, individuals and churches should have no problem receiving and working with such individuals. It is only when this relational aspect is ignored that apostles become corporate executives or at worse, tyrants. When this happens, churches will inevitably pull away from that which God intended as a channel for blessing. (pp.11-12.)

Christ endows his apostles with a large world vision. They gather, set in order, and establish… apostles are always looking over the horizon. They are pioneers… They are given a general’s view of the battlefield… [their] mandate is to push forward the Kingdom.  (p.19)

The five-fold gifts are important and greatly complement each other. Yet the true apostle’s vision is broader than the others. It includes an anointing to bring things together… not only to place the foundation himself, but also to see that others are doing it properly. (p.23)

The apostle represents Christ and is an extension of Christ’s ministry on earth. Christ loves the church and died to give Himself for her (Ephesians 5:25). The true apostle feels no less inclined to live and die in the same manner. (p.49)

To be a true apostle there must be quiet confidence in the One who said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18) The primary characteristic of a mature and godly leader is that he really believes that Christ is in charge. What is more, he acts like it… (p.58)

While trying to give a benchmark for young churches and leaders to measure against when sizing up men who call themselves apostles, at the same it was the aim of this book to suggest that apostles ought to use the same benchmark to size themselves up. (p.137)

Heart of an Apostle covers key topics such as the apostle’s heart, lifestyle, authority, attitude toward churches, honoring sons, and character qualities needed. It is an important addition to your library, whether you are an apostle, relate to one, or simply want to know more about this important ministry gift to the church.

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Victorious Eschatology

Victorious Eschatology

by Harold Eberle and Martin Trench

When it comes to what we choose to believe regarding debatable issues, such as the end times, I go with the position that seems true to the Bible and resonates in my heart. I remember when I first read Arthur Pink’s amazing book, The Sovereignty of God. His words reverberated in my heart. He put down on paper what I already believed, but just had never seen articulated so well. That is what Eberle and Trench do in Victorious Eschatology.

I read this book years ago at the recommendation of a friend. Recently, while working through a study of Daniel, I decided to read it again, hoping it would shed some light on a difficult to interpret book. Wow! Am I ever glad I did! It made a much greater impact this time around. A lot of things make sense now that before seemed muddled. I formerly jokingly, yet truthfully, told people that I am a “pan-millennialist,” meaning I have no idea of how to properly interpret what the Bible says about the end times. I would read books like Daniel and feel that understanding it was hopeless. Instead, I put the end times on the “back burner,” thinking that it will all “pan out” in the end. Now I feel much more confident.

Victorious Eschatology explains what is called the partial preterist view that much of what the Bible has to say about the end has already taken place. This is very different from the futurist view that overlooks 2000 years of church history and believes that a very great deal of everything in Daniel and Revelation still lays ahead of us.

After my recent study of Daniel, I now believe that God gave him a revelation of the coming of the Messiah, his anointing for ministry, rejection and death, and the subsequent judgment of the nation in 70 AD by Rome. Daniel is not about the very end of time at all. It was about the end of the Jewish nation and sacrificial system after the introduction of the perfect sacrifice on Calvary and the Jews’ rejection of their Messianic King. A large section of Victorious Eschatology examines Daniel’s vision from this theological position.

Another large chunk of the book shows how the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25) should be broken down into two sections, that which pertains to the subject covered by Daniel and that which is about the Second Coming. The authors’ arguments are very convincing. A third segment of the book interprets Revelation in a similar manner.

The book shows how many modern teachings regarding the Antichrist are mostly unscriptural. It show how the great tribulation was what happened to Jerusalem in 70 AD. It shows how the Emperor Nero fulfilled the Revelation Antichrist to a tee. I will not give away any more of the book. You must read it for yourself.

Any discussion of the end must be done with humility. No one knows for certain what is going to happen. But the Bible does lay out for us a good reason to expect victory, not defeat.

Rather than gloomily expect everything to get worse and worse, we should expect our victorious Lord to reappear at any time to claim his rightful kingdom and impose his glorious rule. Come, Lord Jesus!

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Biblical Healing and Deliverance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Chester and Betsy Kylstra

The Kylstras wrote this book reveal “the keys needed to unlock the chains that bind our lives and block and hinder our Christian growth.” (p.15) They focus on four interconnected areas of bondage: sins of the fathers and resulting curses, ungodly beliefs, soul/spirit hurts, and demonic oppression.

They call this “an integrated approach to biblical healing ministry.” (p.15) They idea is that unless we deal with all four areas, we leave the door open for bondage and oppression to continue.

I (Pete Beck III) have been involved in this type of ministry for many years now. I began with Ed Smith’s teachings in what was then called Theophostic Ministry, an unfortunate choice for a ministry title. Most people are not familiar with the meaning of theophostic, which means simply “God’s light.” Theophostic was Ed’s attempt to allow Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor, have center stage during ministry sessions, wonderfully freeing and refreshing way to do things. He taught those receiving ministry to listen to the voice of God’s Spirit for themselves, under the oversight and direction of the human minister. Ed was pretty stringent about not employing other techniques of ministry, which I found to be rather restrictive. Over time I developed my own way of employing many of the insights learned from theophostic while combining them with other proven methods. I called what I did “Personal Prayer Ministry” because it heavily relies upon prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit for direction and insight. I also feel free to employ Bible teaching, intercessory and warfare prayer, the gifts of the Spirit, and sharing wisdom gained through experience. A friend of mine introduced me to the Kylstras’ book, which I discovered lays out all the things I had been doing in a very wonderful and thorough way. Although I do not agree perfectly with everything they teach, especially their heavy emphasis on the demonic, I do believe it is the best book on the topic I have ever read. I highly recommend it and have used it as a textbook for training others.

To read what I have personally written on this subject, click here.

If you are interested in learning more about Personal Prayer Ministry, you can contact me personally. I minister to individuals and train others to do the ministry, as long as they have the approval of their own pastoral leadership.

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Exposing Universalism

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by James B. De Young

Universalism is a false teaching that has plagued the church for centuries. Recently this error has seen a resurgence in popular thought and theology, which is dangerous. James De Young has written a great guide to help people understand the dangers of this heresy and to construct a sound way to refute the associated errors. Below is my summary of his book. I hope it inspires you to read it for yourself and commit to further study of this important subject. Please note that De Young particularly addresses the influence and writings of three modern proponents of Christian Universalism: Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, and Paul Young, the author of The Shack, which whom he has a personal acquaintance.

Pastor Pete Beck III

Introduction

The Beliefs of Universalism

De Young lists several distinct theological positions held by Christian universalists, which I will not list here. Afterward he gives the following summary.

The chief argument of universalism (as the reading of Young and Bell clearly shows) is the emotive appeal to God’s mercy and love so that he could not bring eternal suffering to any of his creatures. The argument is: How can a loving God torment untold billions of people forever in hell, the lake of fire, for failing to believe during a lifetime of a relatively few number of years? God’s justice is completely in the service of his love. Universalists also appeal to Scripture, and to history, but in the end these take second place to the appeal to a sense of fairness and justice qualified by God’s love in his dealing with people. God’s love is his supreme attribute. Love and justice are mutually exclusive. Yet, the matter of how God’s love relates to his justice cannot be a question occurring only to moderns. It is reflected throughout the pages of Scripture. Obviously, Jesus himself, Paul the Apostle, and others through the ages have certainly thought about these matters, the nature of God and the reality of hell. Yet they teach that God is both love and just (righteous), that all have a certain degree of knowledge of the true God as witnessed by the creation, that all have a conscience to discern right from wrong. And they assert that people are culpable and responsible for rejecting this knowledge (Romans chaps. 1– 3; 10: 4– 18). And so the debate is engaged between those who accept these biblical statements as authoritative and those who do not.  (De Young, James B.. Exposing Universalism: A Comprehensive Guide to the Faulty Appeals Made by Universalists Paul Young, Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, and Others Past and Present to Promote a New Kind of Christianity (pp. 8-9). Resource Publications, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition.)

Addressing the general slipperiness associated with deception, the author writes.

It is interesting that there is a common reluctance among adherents to universalism to confess their universalism. It is a common practice of universalists to refuse to commit themselves. This agrees with the fact that it is an important element of the creed of universalism that no creed shall be imposed as a creedal test, that no adherent shall be required to “subscribe to any . .  .   particular religious belief or creed.” This allows universalists to say that they both believe and do not believe certain things. Yet over time universalists have published statements of what they believe. By comparing contemporary writers to these “creedal” statements one can uncover what they believe. (De Young, p.10, Kindle Edition)

Universalists Dispense with the Institutional Church

It may come as a surprise to many readers that one of the tenets (if this term is appropriate) of universalism is its opposition to the institutional evangelical church. Both of the writers of fiction, Young and McLaren, are subversive to the existing form of the institutional church, and argue for a new ecclesiology. Young has Sarayu (representing the Holy Spirit) assert that the institutional church is one of many demonic systems that hinder relationship with God. McLaren argues the case for the emergent church which “turns from doctrines to practices,” from what one professes to believe to “how one pursues truth and puts beliefs into action through practices.” In his history of universalism Robinson asserts that Unitarians and universalists were brought together because of their rejection of evangelical Protestantism. (De Young, p. 14 Kindle Edition)

McLaren’s new ecclesiology seems to have forgotten its moorings. Without the proclamation of the gospel, there is no reason for the church. Where is the church’s responsibility to proclaim faith in Jesus Christ, and the good news about salvation in him and deliverance from judgment for sin? What about the role of the church to preserve the truth of Christ? Universalists have gone to the heart of the gospel and redefined it. It is a serious error when the omissions, what writers such as Young and McLaren do not say, reveal what they view the role of the church is in the world. (De Young, p. 15 Kindle Edition)

The evangelical church needs to recognize that the very heart and soul, the meaning, of evangelical faith is at stake. Evangelical faith and its doctrines, including the person of Christ and his view of hell, are under attack by universalism. Universalists have come to their convictions because they believe that the evangelical position on hell and other doctrines is responsible for all kinds of society’s ills, including war and injustice. In The Last Word McLaren blames belief in the doctrine of original sin for the shift in focus away from injustice on earth (for example, racism) to individual salvation . The emphasis on individual sin makes people let social injustice continue . Like the Pharisees, evangelicals adopt a view of hell that “marginalizes the poor by shifting focus from their poverty on earth to their destination in heaven”. Conservatives twist the understanding of the gospel so that “their earthly plans won’t be too inconvenienced”. McLaren embraces a “post-Protestant” church; his characters are “recovering fundamentalists”. He does not use the term “evangelical” because it has been captured by the “religious right” and “so is of little use to anyone else”. McLaren and Young (The Shack, 182; Lies, chap. 5) are agreed in not liking the term “Christian” either, and prefer to be known as followers of Jesus. McLaren identifies evangelicalism as really “neofundamentalism”; he prefers to be called (like Jim Wallis) a “postevangelical” or a “19th century evangelical.” Bell attacks evangelicals as having a “shriveled imagination”. Young rejects his “modern evangelical Christian fundamentalism” roots (Lies, 236). (De Young, p.16, Kindle Edition)

The Universalist “New Man”

All of these writers proclaim that embracing universalism has changed their lives and their preaching. Their new thinking about hell has transformed them into more loving people. They have a greater love for God and their neighbors (Young, UR, 32; Lies, chap. 28; McLaren, 175, 198). Their new theology affects all that they think, in particular the doctrines of salvation, Scripture, Christ, the atonement, the afterlife, the nature of the church, and most of all, the nature of God (Young, UR, 33; Lies, chap. 28; McLaren, 186; Bell, 178– 88). McLaren (18) and Young (UR, 32) acknowledge that they had departed first from the exclusivist view and had begun embracing universalism initially without any biblical basis for doing so. In effect, this means that something, such as emotion or logic, but not the Bible, led them to embrace new beliefs. This is a key point! (De Young, pp.16-17, Kindle Edition)

Universalism Is Not a Minor Threat to the Church

It is clear, then, that universal reconciliation is not a minor distortion of doctrine. It goes to the heart of evangelical faith— who God is; what he accomplished at the cross; what sin is; who Jesus is; how and when people are saved (or if they need to be saved!); what the nature of the judgment after death is; the witness of the history of the church; the meaning of the institutional church, and other matters. (De Young, pp.17, Kindle Edition)

De Young provides a brief overview of universalism’s impact on the church in recent history.

There is a long history of conflict between evangelical faith and universal reconciliation. In more recent years universalism joined with rationalism and liberalism in its acceptance of German higher criticism to undermine and almost destroy evangelical faith on the continent of Europe and in England in the 19th century (as universalism acknowledges and boasts). In early America, it opposed the evangelical Great Awakening under Edwards and Whitefield— an awakening that brought one out of every six people to personal faith, and strengthened the moral foundation for the new Republic. In later years, universalism joined with liberalism and Unitarianism to undermine evangelical faith. In 1960, the Unitarians (who are anti-trinitarian) and universalists joined together to form one “denomination.” What brought them together was their “liberal doctrine.” The present writing of universalism, including its fiction, continues this conflict. It is more seductive than a direct assault on the evangelical understanding of hell would be. Universalism in the emergent church and its embrace until recent years in various organizations such as Young Life make this critique all the more urgent. From being on the sidelines of evangelical faith universalism is attempting to join the team. (De Young, pp.17-18, Kindle Edition)

The Procedure of This Study

De Young next outlines how he has put together the remainder of his book.

In the first section of these pages I present the case for universalism as argued by universalists themselves, and I include my response to each of their points. I cite both nonfiction material and the fictional material in order to evaluate universalism from biblical and exegetical grounds, from history and theology, and from rational and emotive considerations. All of these areas are the same ones that universal reconciliation uses in its claims to be the truth. 42 In the second section of this study I bring universalism under the spotlight of the Bible to show how Christians can deal with universalism in their churches and in their personal encounters. I discuss major texts of Scripture, from Jesus and the Apostles, that universalism for the most part ignores or inadequately discusses or distorts in light of the contexts. These texts oppose the position of universal reconciliation. In the next part of this second section I compose questions that raise theological obstacles to universalism’s view of hell. I show why hell must be everlasting for Satan and unbelievers. Then I cite the fatal consequences inherent within universalism— the harm that comes to the church and its message of hope for the world. Then I show how universalism is subversive to the institutions of society including the church, marriage, and government. Finally, I make some concluding observations about how to deal with universal reconciliation in its many forms in contemporary society. I draw upon the witness of those who in the history of Christianity in America have had to deal with universalism in their day. In the Epilogue, I cite a powerful text dealing with the reality of sin and the consequences of dismissing or denying it, and make a final appeal to readers of this book. The following pages show that universalism departs from the true and actual meaning of the Bible and from Christian faith and doctrine. It also distorts the record of the history of Christianity. I draw upon my many years of teaching the interpretation of the New Testament, the Greek language, the Greek Old Testament (called the Septuagint, or the LXX), and the early Apostolic Fathers of Christian history (who wrote in Greek). I also draw upon my personal acquaintance with Paul Young and his departure from evangelical faith. Throughout, my concern is that the Spirit of God will guide us into the truth, as Jesus promised he would do (John 14: 26). We need to have no fear in exposing falsehood in pursuing the truth. As Jesus promised, the truth will make us free (John 8: 32). We also affirm the love of God as immeasurable and vast and unrelenting and unfailing, as also revealed “in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8: 28– 39). (De Young, pp.18-20, Kindle Edition)

Section 1: Refuting the Appeals of Universal Reconciliation

The Four Appeals of Universal Reconciliation

  • Appeal to the meanings of biblical language in order to redefine words: aion, hell, and the afterlife.

After studying universalism’s position dealing with “age” and “forever” several far-reaching observations summarize the preceding discussion. (1) Universalism is basically uninformed on how to do word studies, since by and large it neglects context as the determiner of meaning. Also, there is the unscholarly assumption that the same Greek word should always be translated by the same English word (the idea behind the Concordant version, often cited). This is the error called “root fallacy.” No reputable linguist or biblical interpreter affirms this approach. Actually, words in Greek and English have multiple meanings or a wide field of meaning, and there are no true synonyms and no exact equivalents between languages. Hence one context may call for a different translation as compared to another context. For example, the Greek word logos has fifty-two English translations (including “repute,” “show,” as well as the familiar idea of “word”). To argue that aiōn should have the same translation, “eon” or “age,” everywhere is not credible. It must always be context, context, context as the determiner of meaning. (De Young, p.45, Kindle Edition)

  • Appeal to reason and emotion regarding fairness, justice, mercy, and love.

The weight of the statement is that one’s belief should be fashioned finally not by the authority of Scripture but by emotional (“ sentiment”) and rational (“ reason”) concerns. This perspective still shows up in the fictions and nonfictions of Young, McLaren, and Rob Bell. It is distinctive of evangelical faith that the final authority for belief is the Bible plainly interpreted, not emotions or reasons— not subjective thoughts about God. (De Young, pp.40-41, Kindle Edition)

  • Appeal to history with the claim that universal reconciliation (UR) was the predominant position of the church for the first 500 years. This point will be addressed later in the Excursus near the end of this article.
  • Appeal to specific texts of Scripture.

Universalism appeals to texts to teach that God wills all to repent and to be saved, that Jesus has died for all, that atonement and reconciliation have already been made for all, that all will confess Jesus as Lord. If all people do not realize this salvation before they die, then God will use the corrective fires of hell to convince people and fallen angels to repent. God’s love to draw all people does not end with their dying. At some point in the future even hell and the lake of fire will cease to exist. Obviously the name “universal reconciliation” derives from these sorts of texts that incorporate the term “all” or “reconciliation.” (De Young, p.22, Kindle Edition)

Section 2: Correctly Interpreting the Bible

De Young spends a great deal of time addressing numerous texts and passages of Scripture in order to examine and refute universalist arguments. I will not take the time to cite these here. Chapter 12 covers the parables of Jesus. Chapter 13 looks at the apostolic teachings on judgment and hell. Chapter 14 asks sixteen questions that expose universalism’s false beliefs about hell. (p.236) His concluding paragraph is quoted below.

In summary, the texts cited by universalists do not teach universal salvation but have other possible explanations. 269 They may refer to the following. (1) God’s universal desire that none perish, not to a universal plan to save all. (2) God’s universal purpose through the atonement to provide “the blessings of common grace to all.” That is, all humanity without exception experience the providence of God, as the Bible teaches in many places (e.g., Matt 5: 45; 6: 25– 33; Acts 17: 24– 28). (3) The universal sufficiency of Christ’s atonement for all. (4) The universal pacification that disarms forces of evil but does not lead them to Christ (Col 2: 15; Phil 2: 9). (5) Christ’s being the savior of the world, but this means only that Christ has provided sufficient salvation for the world. Its realization is limited to those who respond in repentance and faith. (De Young, pp.241-242, Kindle Edition)

Chapter 15 addresses eight fatal consequences belonging to universal reconciliation and gives a summary of nine errors, which I here quote in their entirety.

The following are the fatal dangers that arise if one is going to embrace universalism. These consequences amount to a redefinition of the gospel taught by our Lord Jesus and his Apostles.

  1.  In adopting universalism, one rejects the traditional view of the church through the ages, and embraces what the community of faith has identified as heresy (it is rejected by the Eastern, Roman, and Protestant churches). Universalism has been close to Unitarianism in “sentiment and action.” The Unitarians have become increasingly humanistic and reject the trinity and the deity of Christ. In 1825 they declared that they are not a part of the Christian church. In 1959 they voted to merge with the universalists. The merger was accomplished in 1961. It is not surprising that Unitarians and universalists enjoy company, since they part company with the community of the faith over the destiny of the wicked. They end up disparaging the work of Christ. The more recent attempt to reform a Christian universalist denomination only reinforces the deliberate attempt to deceive the evangelical church.
  2. Universalism disparages the love of God by rejecting, in the end, the value of the greatest act of God’s loving, namely the redemption secured by the sacrificial, substitutionary, atoning death of Jesus Christ. If in the end all people, and even Satan and his angels, are saved and enter heaven, what in the end is the value of Christ’s death? His death cannot help fallen angels and the devil. Upon serious reflection does it really matter that Jesus became incarnate and died if God is so loving that everyone without exception enters heaven? Does this view not subject God’s justice and holiness to his love, as universalists claim, so that they are distorted? In neutralizing justice one also neutralizes, indeed extinguishes, grace.
  3. Ultimately the person of Jesus Christ is disparaged. His death and resurrection do not make a difference in the end. Yet he is worthy of all honor by all because of his death (Phil 2: 11). The very text claimed as a basis for universalism, the reconciling of all to God, counts for nothing in the end, as far as exalting Jesus on a par with God the Father (giving him the name that is above every name— the name Yahweh). The history of universalism witnesses to this increasingly humanistic trend. Universalists tend to focus on God the Father to the blasphemous neglect of Jesus Christ— just as “Papa” (representing the Father), rather than Jesus, occupies center stage in Young’s The Shack.
  4. Evangelism is distorted. There is the real danger that the proclamation of the gospel will be considered less urgent because there is the ever-present option that people, all people, will ultimately be saved anyway. People are denied the knowledge that their rejection of Christ has everlasting consequences that cannot be altered after dying. The great commission is pointless; and the call to holiness is reduced in urgency as well. The meaning of John 3: 16 is abrogated. The promise that “whosoever believes in Christ might not perish but have everlasting life” is now understood in universalism to say that “perish” does not mean everlasting separation but that all will have a second chance after death and all will escape hell. The verse now reads:“ whosoever believes in Christ before or after death will not perish but have everlasting life.”
  5. Universalism taints society’s own sense of justice and retribution. Universalism teaches that even the most incorrigible of persons, the most leprous specimens of society (think here of Hitler, Pol Pot of Cambodia, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, etc.), who have given themselves over to evil till the moment of death, still will be accepted one day into God’s heaven. Does this not debase our human conception of fairness, of right and wrong— of justice?
  6. If there is a legitimate place for the imprecatory Psalms of the OT, that implore God’s judgment on his enemies, then it is possible to distinguish between the righteous and the wicked in this life and beyond. But universalism denies this. It maintains that all are God’s people and he loves them equally. All are already reconciled to God. Universalism extends this “equal love” to the devil and the fallen angels.
  7. Promoters of universalism bear a special responsibility for promoting heresy. Writers of fiction (as McLaren and Young) are particularly clever to promote universalism to the unsuspecting who are caught up in the story. If tens of thousands, even millions, of people are reading their fiction books, and more recently the nonfiction of Bell and Young, should not the evangelical church warn the readers of the false doctrine that pervades them? Not since the time of the declaration of the universalist ministers of Boston in 1878, do these writers have the potential to do more to promote this heresy than any others in history.
  8. Biblical interpretation, hermeneutics, is forever distorted if universalism is correct. There is the repeated appeal to the argument of silence. There is a disavowal of half of the nature of God as wholly just so that the content of the Bible on this topic is ignored or deemed irrelevant. There is the “root fallacy” of insisting that a Greek word (aiōn) should have always and only the same interpretation in English. There is a rejection of the rule of interpreting by the wider context. There is rejection of interpreting according to the analogy of the faith— what the vast majority of Christians have always believed— what is in the Bible from cover to cover. There is the distortion of historical theology. There is failure to interact with strong proponents of contrary views. There is failure to consult the modern standard dictionaries and commentaries. There is rejection of the rule that one should generally go with the simplest interpretation. There is rejection of the principle that one should generally go with the interpretation on which there is general consensus. If universalism is correct in its hermeneutics, the church will have to go back and argue over again all the decisions by the great councils of the church regarding the deity of Christ, his natures, and even the extent of the canon! Universalists, including Young and McLaren, are well informed advocates of universalism. Thereby they prove themselves unworthy interpreters of the Bible and teachers of falsehood and deceit. Their departure from the evangelical, apostolic faith proves that they are antichrists and deceivers (1 John 2: 18– 25; 4: 1– 6). What they do is to rape biblical faith.

SUMMARY OF THE NINE ERRORS OF UNIVERSAL RECONCILIATION

The claims of universalism rest on faulty bases.

  1. There is no clear teaching in Scripture that affirms a “second chance” for people to alter their destinies after death, nor for the hearing of the gospel after death, nor for the exercise of faith in Christ after death, nor for repentance after death. Jesus himself is the strongest proponent (as in Luke 16; Matt 25) of eternal suffering in hell and thus the strongest opponent to universalism. The choice is to be either a disciple of Jesus Christ or of universalists. The choice is clear.
  2. It is a falsehood that the church held universalism for the first five centuries. The earliest Apostolic Fathers do not support such a view. Instead, they affirm what the NT does: the wicked are lost in hell forever; they cannot change their destiny.
  3. The only real basis of universalism is a distorted inference drawn from the love of God— distorted because, by its adherents’ own assertion, God’s justice must be subservient to God’s love. The universalist ministers of Boston said that God’s justice is “born of love and limited by love.” 276 Yet the death of Christ was a satisfaction of both love and justice (Rom 5: 6– 11; 3: 22– 26), and neither can be limited by the other without losing its true value. Jesus Christ “loves righteousness” (Heb 1: 9). The summary of OT faith is found in Micah 6: 8. God requires of his people that they “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God.” It is not surprising that universalists never or rarely mention such verses! Universalism asserts that the love of God could not allow people to go to everlasting judgment. But if this is so, why did not God’s love constrain him at the beginning, to prevent the fall of humanity into sin and suffering and death and war and disease, etc., etc., over so many millennia? How could a loving God allow all of this?
  4. Universalism is the new face of the old opposition taken by the creature who defies the Creator, accusing him of injustice (Rom 9: 14). The devil is the mouthpiece of universalism. When the latter asserts that there is not eternal death or judgment for the ungodly, they are saying as the serpent said to Eve: “You shall not surely die.” There are some things that God cannot do— to act contrary to his nature as God. If in the end even the devil and his angels are to be saved or reconciled into God’s favor and heaven, what becomes of hell? Why did God create Satan and allow him to fall, and bring such havoc into the world’s history, if in the end even he is brought back? Why is there such an infinite cost requiring the death of the incarnate Son if in the end all reach heaven anyway?
  5. Universalism voids the accountability of every person to choose to accept forgiveness and reconciliation offered in Christ. It withholds from multitudes the opportunity to be saved so that they perish in hell. Another thing that God cannot do is to void his will that people have a will to choose contrary to his will, to disbelieve.
  6. Universalism minimizes the death of Christ. In the lengthy statement of the universalist ministers of Boston there is no mention of placing faith in Christ in order to be reconciled to God— not one word. Yet God has exalted Christ so as to make him worthy of the title of Yahweh (Phil 2: 9). There is salvation in no other than in him alone (1 Tim 2: 5; John 14: 6). Even omnipotent love cannot transform the wicked into the righteous suitable for heaven, for the kind of righteousness required for heaven is only found by being justified by faith in Christ, a faith freely exercised without coercion or force by the fires of hell.
  7. Universalism is wrong in its doctrine about the fallen angels. They cannot ever be restored. The Bible offers no atonement, no forgiveness, no hope, no reconciliation for the fallen angels and for Satan. Jesus became human to save people; he did not become angelic to save angels (Heb 2: 16). He died to save people by becoming the God-man. He did not die to save angels by becoming the God-angel. There is no Savior, no redeemer, no reconciler for them. They are lost forever. And if the fallen angels are lost forever, then hell (or the lake of fire) is forever or everlasting. It is a place where lost humanity who join the devil’s side will also go permanently. If hell is permanent for the devil and his angels (note that this is what Jesus asserted, Matt 25: 41), it must be permanent for human beings who choose their side.
  8. Universalism fails to realize that “the fires of heaven . .  .   are hotter than the fires of hell” for those who have chosen to be God themselves. Universalism cannot draw back a step and say: “Let’s make hell the permanent place only for the fallen angels, not for people.” It cannot do this. For it argues that love limits God’s justice, that love triumphs over justice. It argues that if there is permanency of separation for any creature then love has not won, then God has been defeated. According to universalism, it has to be the restoration of all creatures or it is the restoration of no creatures. Universalism is stuck in a position that ultimately drives its adherents into an impossible, because it is immoral and untruthful, position.
  9. Universalism’s distortion of God’s love bears its own demise. Such a concept holds God hostage to the enemies of Christ and the fallen angels and Satan. By this reckoning they win, not God. (De Young, pp. 243-248), Kindle Edition)

Chapter 16 shows how universalism subverts the institutions of society.

Giddens foresees the far reaching effects of opposing the institution of marriage on other institutions. But I think the priority lies with the church. Universalists, in refusing to be bound by rules, creeds, and institutions, embrace a similar scenario for their relationship with God as Giddens has traced it for marriage. I maintain that undermining the institution of the church, which sanctions government and marriage, will have even more severe consequences for society. I would argue that the very undermining of the institution of marriage presently going on by the gay community and the government is a result of the undermining and compromise of the church that preceded it. After all, it is the church that defines what is moral and sin, and homosexual behavior is condemned in Scripture. Yet many churches are embracing certain forms of same-sex behavior. It is these churches that are to blame for the erosion of the institution of marriage. (De Young, p.256, Kindle Edition)

Conclusion

De Young covers a lot of ground in the conclusion, including a salient paragraph by Oswald Chambers.

The Death of Jesus Christ is the performance in history of the very Mind of God. There is no room for looking on Jesus Christ as a martyr; His death was not something that happened to Him which might have been prevented: His death was the very reason why He came. Never build your preaching of forgiveness on the fact that God is our Father and He will forgive us because He loves us. It is untrue to Jesus Christ’s revelation of God; it makes the Cross unnecessary, and the Redemption “much ado about nothing.” If God does forgive sin, it is because of the Death of Christ. God could forgive men in no other way than by the death of His Son, and Jesus is exalted to be Saviour because of His death. “We see Jesus . .  .   because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor.” The greatest note of triumph that ever sounded in the ears of a startled universe was that sounded on the Cross of Christ—“ It is finished.” This is the last word in the redemption of man. Anything that belittles or obliterates the holiness of God by a false view of the love of God, is untrue to the revelation of God given by Jesus Christ. Never allow the thought that Jesus Christ stands with us against God out of pity and compassion; that He became a curse for us out of sympathy with us. Jesus Christ became a curse for us by the Divine decree. Our portion of realizing the terrific meaning of the curse is conviction of sin, the gift of shame and penitence is given us— this is the great mercy of God. Jesus Christ hates the wrong in man, and Calvary is the estimate of His hatred. (De Young, pp.263-264, Kindle Edition)

Excursus: The Doctrine of Endless Punishment by William G.T. Shedd

William G. T. Shedd was born to New England Puritan parents in 1820 and devoted his life to the teaching of theology. Among many works his The Doctrine of Endless Punishment was published in 1886, eight years before his death. He wrote this book because already universalism was being introduced into the Presbyterian church in Scotland and being accepted in America. Shedd’s work is a brilliant, persuasive defense of the doctrine of everlasting punishment. He is well acquainted with the history and influence of universalism and gives an able defense of the biblical truth from the standpoint of the Bible, reason, and history— the same three appeals that universalists use. (De Young, p.266, Kindle Edition)

In his first part, Shedd offers some new evidence for the historical reach of universalism (UR). As I tried to prove above, contrary to what UR asserts, the “common opinion in the Ancient church was that the future punishment of the impenitent was endless” (p. 1). Thus the claim of UR to the contrary is patently false. Shedd backs up his claim by noting that comparing this doctrine with that of the Trinity, there was far more dispute over the latter than over the former. Shedd notes that UR, having so little support in Scripture and reason, “gradually died out of the Ancient church by its own intrinsic mortality” (2). Neander in his history acknowledges that there was more “restorationism” in the period of 312-590, mainly due to the influence of the Alexandrian school under the influence of Clement and Origen, than earlier. Yet eternal punishment was the dominant view (2). Hagenbach agrees that during the period up to 250 most of the fathers held to eternal punishment. (p.268)

Shedd asserts that the views of Origen were strongly combatted by contemporary church leaders and subsequently by church leaders such as Epiphanius, Jerome, and Augustine (4). As far as the medieval church is concerned, it was virtually united in support of endless punishment. The Reformation churches, both Calvinistic and Lutheran, held the same position (4). (pp.268-269)

Since the Reformation many individuals and some sects have embraced various views of the afterlife: universalism, restorationism, and annihilation. Church denominations have never embraced these views, but some within them have done so. Evangelical churches have not embraced them [even into the 21st century, I would add]. Shedd notes that denial of endless punishment usually accompanies denial of original sin, vicarious atonement, and regeneration (5). [In the chapters above I’ve noted this same phenomena, which isn’t surprising]. (p.269)

Exposing Universalism is a great read for the serious student who wants a thorough understanding of the errors and dangers associated with the doctrine of Universal Reconciliation and how to combat them.

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Between Babel and Beast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Peter J. Leithart

This book grows in relevance as our nation declines spiritually, morally, and politically. It is difficult for an American Christian like myself to objectively view his or her country. We may not agree with the author’s points and conclusions, but followers of Christ must seriously consider America’s place as a world empire from a biblical perspective. We must also ponder that nearly every great empire throughout history has somehow managed to co-opt religion to its benefit. I hope you read this with an open mind and a repentant heart. I imagine it will be as difficult for you as it is for me to contemplate that we are a very flawed nation that is perhaps on the verge of catastrophe.

Part One: Empires in Scripture

Chapter One: A Tale of Two Imperialisms

The first chapter examines God’s resistance to man’s attempt to construct a nascent imperial empire at Babel. In opposition to Babel, God introduced his own plan for world order through Abraham.

God’s reign in Zion, not the city-and-tower of Babel, is the center of international order and the hope for global peace… Gentiles formed the boundary of Israel’s land, and as such they were incorporated as the frontier of Yahweh’s empire that had Zion at its capital… and this implied that the Gentile would eventually share in their redemption as light and life spread from Zion to the frontier, from Jew to Greek. (p.11)

Yahweh’s imperial program ran as a tangent to the history of Babel. Yahweh confronted Babel, but instead of sending a chosen army of holy warriors to plunder the great city, He founded His empire by calling Abram away from empire. (p.12)

All this was in preparation for uniting the nations to confess, with one lip, one great Name. (p.14)

…the Gospel of the kingdom is… the gospel of God’s imperium. (p.52)

Chapter Two: Rod, Refuge, Messiah, Beast

This chapter shows how…

The struggle of the Old Testament is not empire versus non-empire, but between rival imperialisms, rival visions for the political salvation of a human race divided linguistically, culturally, and religiously in the wake of the rebellion at Babel. This is why empire is always a seduction for Abraham’s children. For Israel, looking at Babel is like looking in the mirror. (p.33)

Babylon was renewed Babel, associated with the original program of imperial rebellion, false eschatology, sacrifice, and tyranny. (p.19)

When God sent his people into captivity in Babylon, he initiated a new phase of his plan for Israel.

More importantly, by resisting at crucial moments, Daniel and his friends broke the uniformity of Neo-Babelic worship and created fissures in the homogeneous political structure of Neo-Babel. Shemites who once cooperated in building Babel staked out a space of independence… Yahweh scattered citizens of his empire among the nations for a reason, not just to teach Israel a lesson, but to begin forming a martyr-people whose faithful resistance would remake Gentile empire. (p.22)

Leithart defines what it means for an empire to become “beastly.”

The Bible condemns violence, but bloodthirsty injustice is not, in itself, enough to make an empire a beast. Empires turn bestial when they begin to eat the people of God and drink their blood. (p.33)

Babelic empires are founded on the blood of innocents. Bestial empires are founded on the blood of the saints.  (p.53)

The Good News of Empire

Jesus heralded the kingdom or empire of God.

Every time Jesus spoke of Himself as “Son of Man,” He claimed to be the heir of imperial authority, the Emperor who fulfills God’s original anti-Babel imperial promise to Abraham. (p.37)

Leithart claims that God inverted Babel when the Holy Spirit fell on Pentecost.

The pneumatic church became God’s renewed imperium. The Spirit-filled church became the new Zion, the mountain from which Israel’s God rules, from which he reaches out to the Romans and barbarians. It is anti-Babel at nearly every point: many tongues, not one; scattering, not gathering; built on the blood of a willing victim; Jew and Gentile united in God’s work, not in opposition to Him. Yet the ecclesial imperium is at certain points a mirror image of Babel. All tribes, tongues, nations, and peoples confess with one lip that there is one Lord, Jesus. Jesus sends his Spirit to enliven the church as a multilingual, multi-ethnic, multinational empire. (p.38)

The church operates by vastly different ways from Babel type empires.

The fulfilled Israel of the church, by contrast, was founded by the victim not the victimizer. It was a city founded by crucified and risen Abel rather than Cain… The church’s sacrificial practice imitated that of Jesus, as willing martyr-victims mixed their blood with His. Renewal came through violence suffered, not violence enacted. (p.40)

Revelation envisions the delivery of the kingdoms of the world to the victors who overcome by faithful witness to death, the victors who follow Jesus-Victor to victory. (p.50)

Beast and harlot are cleared away to make room for the Bride.  Kings and empires are no longer chosen to shelter the church. Instead, the church as the fifth empire keeps its doors open day and night so that kings from across the sea will be able to enter and pay homage to the Son who reigns from Zion. (p.51)

Part Two: Americanism

Chapter Four: Heretic Nation

American is a new kind of human being… The American was a long time coming. Conceived by Luther, gestated by Calvin, he was born of the Puritan parents who begat America. It took thee labors to bring finally to birth – the English Civil War, from which American Puritans escaped, the American Revolution, and the American Civil War. From these emerged a new character type distinguished by a boundlessly optimistic sense of possibility and inventiveness, an extraordinary willingness to try, fail, and try again that has been the astonishment and envy of the world. He is generous, always ready to help. He is sentimental; even American warriors have a soft side. The American is fiercely independent; don’t tread on him, because he won’t be pushed around. He is willing to extend the same independence to others, to live and let live. The American has a dark side; He is utterly confident of the rightness of his every cause, infatuated with violence, insatiably hungry for novelty, not greedy for stuff so much as greedy for new stuff. He assumes that if the world were rightly ordered, it would look like global America and is bewildered by people who resist this utopia. Like most people, the American’s virtues and vices are sometimes hard to distinguish. (pp.57-58)

Christianity played a big part in shaping America because…

…it put forward a new and powerful ideal of community which called men to a life of meaningful participation… the church was an unprecedented social and political form, and it burst the bonds of all prior political categories. (p.59)

The early Puritan settlers conceived of themselves as representatives of God who established the colony…

“to serve the kingdom of God and advance the purposes of the gospel.” (p.67)

…for the Puritan colonists, America was not “just another plot of ground in a fallen world.” Rather, “The new World, like Canaan of old, belonged wholly to God. (p.68)

America was chosen to be the bearer of freedom and also of Christianity, and distinguishing the two was no longer easy to do. (p.74)

Over time, America’s mission changed from the earlier Puritan mission to advance the kingdom of God to the new mission of advancing American ideals.

…America is an inherently globalizing, universal nation. It cannot remain to itself and be itself… It is difficult to see how this is anything more than a sacralization of national interest: America exists to promote Americanism. (p.75)

The Civil War created a nation by a massive effusion of blood…The North offered this massive sacrifice to realize a vision of America’s future. “The contest on the part of the North is now undisguisedly for empire,” wrote a British journal in 1862. (p.79)

Lincoln…speculated that God might want the war to continue until every drop of slave blood is atoned for by the blood of a Union or Confederate solder…In general the war’s terrors and injustices were valorized by reference to Americanist typology and eschatology: mine eyes have seen to glory of the coming of the Lord…not to make men holy, but to make men free. (p.79)

The Revolutionary War had never shaped a coherent sense of the nation as a prevailing object of fealty, over against local communities and regions…Out of the carnage [of the Civil War] a national religion was born, a fresh commitment to the Union that Americans would defend to the death.

The church did not have enough critical distance from this Americanism to speak to it. Some traditional preachers did not address politics at all with the effect of leaving…

“the laity without a moral compass or guide… (p.80)

Sacrifice American style can only go on and on. For in Americanism, this fourth great biblical religion, there is no final sacrifice, no end to bloodshed, until we have rid the world of evil, until the Amer can creed becomes the creed of humanity. (p.81)

Chapter Five: Chanting the New Empire

This chapter compiles quotes from significant early leaders that show that empire was on their minds.

America’s Founding Fathers were not  anti-empire. Quite frequently, they stated the opposite. Washington described America in 1783 as a “rising empire,” and later predicted that the “infant empire” that was born from the Revolutionary War would one day have “some weight in the scale of Empires.” In Hamilton’s opinion, expressed in Federalist #1, America was “the most interesting” empire in the world, and in Federalist #11 he looked ahead to “a great American system, superior to the control of all trans-Atlantic force of influence, and able to to dictate the terms of connection between the Old and New World.” (p.86)

Thomas Jefferson describe our nation as an “Empire of Liberty.” American foreign policy could be called “imperial anti-colonialism.” (p.87) George Washington wrote:

If we remain one people under an efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by our justice, shall counsel. (p.96)

In short, “during the period of American innocence and isolation,’ the United States had forces stationed on or near every major continent in the world; its navy was active in virtually every ocean, its troops saw combat on virtually every continent, and its foreign relations were in a permanent state of crisis and turmoil.” (p.97)

Congress maintained only a small navy whose peacetime mission was to police the world, enforcing Western standards of behavior,  protecting U.S. commerce, and serving as a general adjunct to U.S. diplomacy… In short, naval captains were doing more or less the same job performed today by the World Trade Organization: integrating the world around the principle of free trade. Freelance imperialism has been a recurring feature of American history. (p.103)

American expansion gained momentum as our nation adopted the belief in its “Manifest Destiny” to acquire all the land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific by force of arms or otherwise. The author concludes this chapter:

In early American entanglements around the world, we acted neither more of less foolishly or wickedly than other nations have. Our treatment of the American Indians remains a dark blot on our history… Our problem is not so much the history itself as the mythology or ideology of Americanism that blinds us to the real force of our history. The heresy of Americanism is a shield that allows us to act like Babel while convincing ourselves that we are fulfilling a divine mission on behalf of the human race. Such blindness became more dangerous as America assumed its preminsnt place in the world. (p.109)

Part Three: Between Babel and Beast

Chapter 6: American Babel

The author asserts that in the 20th and 21st centuries the United States remained “nearly as religious as they ever were,” and her sense of purpose “remained as thoroughly infused by American eschatology as it had been in 1620 or 1789 or 1840, though her international actions had become more overtly imperial.” (p.115)

Commerce had expanded everywhere, so that American interests were global, and it should be U.S. policy to protect and promote commerce. (p.116)

The new world order requires a world police, and we should pay our share of the costs of watching the global neighborhood. (p.117)

I would argue that we assumed a lot more than our fair share. John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State under President Eisenhower, believed that…

“peace and civilization would only survive if the United States…exercised dominance over the globe.” (p.120)

“American policy must establish, ensure, and maintain, the dominance of America.” (p.121)

This is a Babelic stance. America conceived of herself as the

“indispensable nation” whose “job is to change the world, and in its own image.” (Condoleeza Rice, p.122)

“We believe everyone should be like us, and we believe that everyone wants to be. And we take steps to help them become like us, sometimes whether they want to or not.” (p.123)

Like Babel, we claim to guarantee international order, but often spread confusion. (p.125)

Americanist ideology gives sacred cover to our pursuit of national interest. (p.125)

He concludes:

When we violently impose our will on the world, we are acting against the better angels of our nature. But we are not betraying our true selves. We are being as Americanist as apple pie. (p.135)

Chapter 7: Among Beasts

This is for me the most sobering chapter, especially in light of increasing Antisemitism and anti-Christian rhetoric by citizens and government leaders. The author states:

America is not a beast, but Americanism could adapt itself to bestial ideology. Though we are not a beast, we enjoy the company of beasts; we send them money, train their soldiers, and have even permitted beasts to write constitutions that leave them free to be beasts. (p.137)

This, of course, relates to our bedfellow relationship with some Islamic nations that hinges upon our strategic and economic interests. The author concludes:

For much of the last century, the United States has forged alliances with repressive despots. During the Cold War, we thought we needed the brutes to stave off the Red Menace. Now, as we wage the war of terror, we say we need friendly beasts to help us deal with the less friendly ones… Realism of this type is not only foolish, but it puts us on the path of great evil…We fund our favorite beasts, then turn a blind eye when they devour the saints. It is a dangerous position, not only for the Christians who suffer at the hands of our allies, but also for the United States. Those who consort with beasts might become bestial, and beasts do not long survive. (p.150)

Conclusion

The author states that “as far as Christians are concerned, the only appropriate response is to repent of being Americanists.” (p.151) He suggests removing the American flag from our podiums and beginning to preach the imperium of the church rather than the U.S.

Throughout Scripture, the only power that can overcome the seemingly invincible omnipotence of a Babel or a Beast is the power of martyrdom, the power of witness to King Jesus to the point of loss and death. American Christianity has not done a good job of producing martyrs, and that is because we have done such an outstanding job of nurturing Americanists who regret that they have only one life to give for their country. (p.152)

Shall America devolve into a beastly nation before our Lord’s Second Coming? We are definitely trending that way. I love my country, but it is important for us to realize that as Christians we can only give conditional allegiance to everything besides Jesus. He is the only one who deserves our unconditional loyalty.

Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. 18  For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. 19  They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. 20  But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21  He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. Philippians 3:17-21 (NLT)

Prayer

Jesus, we acknowledge that you alone are Lord and that the nations are a drop in the bucket in your eyes. We believe that your hand has been upon our nation for good in many ways, but we also acknowledge that we have been far, far from perfect. Lord, do not let our love for our country blind us to her faults. Neither let us become anti-American. Lord, we pray for our nation and its leaders. Help us to be a force for good in the world. Forgive us for the many times we have pursued our national self-interest above your principles. Keep us from becoming a beastly nation. As your followers, help us to reserve unconditional loyalty for you alone. If necessary, help us to resist anyone and anything that would try to break that loyalty and allegiance. Jesus, you alone are Lord. Amen.

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The Shape of Practical Theology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Ray S. Anderson

The subtitle of this book, Empowering Ministry with Theological Praxis, tells the reader that this book is eminently practical, which is what I discovered. Anderson shows that theology can only be developed properly in the context of real life ministry. Theoretical theology, divorced from the complexities of fallen humanity, can lead to some harmful and erroneous positions that fail to demonstrate redemptive love and grace to profoundly flawed people, who have made serious mistakes (sins) in their lives and have reaped the consequences.I have emphasized sentences that are particularly seminal.

Anderson gives us a framework for developing a practical biblical theology that takes into consideration the activity of God’s Spirit in people’s lives, just as Peter and Paul did.

Anderson defines praxis as “truth in action.”

Praxis, then, reveals theology in a very tangible form. In this sense, actions are themselves theological and as such are open to theological reflection and critique. Thus the praxis of the church is in fact the embodiment of its theology… Praxis is an action that includes the telos or final meaning and character of truth. It is an action in which the truth is discovered through action, not merely applied or “practiced.” (p.48-49)

Is this not why Jesus will judge people according to their actions. Actions reveal what we really believe.

The author gives an example from Jesus’ ministry.

When Jesus experienced the work of God through a miraculous healing on the sabbath (John 9), he argued that the truth of the sabbath was to be found in the restoration of humanity, not in keeping the law of the sabbath. When challenged by the Pharisees…, he responded, “The sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the sabbath.” (Mark 2:27) This is what is meant by praxis. The work of God in our midst discloses to us the word of God, even as the Word of God reveals its truth producing God’s work. (p.51)

Praxis is not merely a “practice” involving the making of a product or application of theoretical knowledge; it means discerning the truth as  final outcome of one’s action. The action itself contains its own good end, and if the end is not “good,” the action cannot be the right one. For example, when Jesus healed on the sabbath, he was acting in accordance with the telos of the sabbath – that is, God’s purpose for the sabbath, reconciliation and restoration of life to its God-intended value. This was praxis. (p.239)

The kingdom of God is revealed through a praxis that embodies the telos, or maturity, or a life through its actions. The New Testament Greek world teleios (mature, perfect) was used by those who translated the Old Testament into Greek (the Septuagint) to render the Hebrew word salem (shalom), which means “sound, complete, whole.” (p.239)

The author argues that theology that is divorced from a critical reflection of God’s actions in the world borders on idolatry.

The continued presence and work of the Holy Spirit constitute the praxis of Christ’s resurrection. This means that the truth of resurrection is not only the fact an historical event but the presence and power of a resurrected person, Jesus Christ… Following Pentecost the early church interpreted the praxis of the Holy Spirit as the continued ministry of the risen Christ… Christopraxis…upholds the full authority and objectivity of the divine word as written in holy Scripture but only because Scripture itself is contingent on the being of God as given to us through the incarnate Word. Should one wish to dissolve the contingency into a Word of God that exists as a sheer objectification of truth detached from God’s being, it would be done at the peril of idolatry, in my judgment. (pp.51-53)

Jesus has not simply left us a set of teachings. He has done that. But in addition, he continues to teach. Discovering this teaching is itself a hermeneutical task, not merely an exercise in historical memory… the resurrected Jesus as the living Lord is a continuing hermeneutical criterion for interpreting the Word of God. (p.84,87)

Practical theology integrates the “objective” truth of Scripture with the actions of the Holy Spirit. If our theology does not account for what the Holy Spirit does, our theology must be altered, lest we become as the Pharisees whose messianic theology could not accommodate Christ and his actions. An easily understood example would be how the doctrine of cessationism fails to account for the present day activity of the Spirit. The choice has to be made between doctrine and the Spirit’s work. How to navigate such a crisis is the theme of this book.

It is a tension between the new humanity and the new order, which is always and already present through the Holy Spirit, and the old order, in which we have received the command of God but which must give way to the new. (p.89)

Where there is a tension within Scripture between the now and the not yet… a proper interpretation of scriptural authority as a rule of faith must take into account the presence and work of the risen Christ within his church. (p.91)

Women in Ministry as an Example of the Need of Practical Theology

Anderson’s book is designed to help us navigate the difficult exegetical waters of some key questions confronting the church, one of which is the role of women in ministry. As I see it, there are three ways to approach this issue. One is to adopt a strict complementarian approach that insists that men hold all positions and roles of authority in the church. On the opposite end of the spectrum are those who hold the egalitarian position that women are free to hold any and every position or role in the church. In the middle are those who think that the Bible generally teaches that men are called to be in authority positions, but women are free to minister in any area and are sometimes called to have authority. What is at issue here are scriptures which seem to clearly teach that women should hold a subordinate role in the church when it come to authority matters posed against Paul’s assertion that in Christ there is neither male nor female. (I am deliberately not including the details of this debate.) Anderson argues the following: since…

New Testament evidence is not unanimous as to teaching forbidding women to exercise pastoral leadership and ministry in the church, the issue cannot be settled on a textual exegesis alone… The situation is not unlike that which confronted Peter. On the one hand he had the Old Testament teaching that God’s gracious election was restricted to the Jews… On the other hand he had the teaching of the Lord himself that pointed toward offering Cornelius and his household full parity in the gospel. The issue was settled for him when the Spirit fell on the assembled people while he was yet speaking. (p.92)

Using this logic, Anderson insists that we must recognize the divine call on women whom God clearly raises up to serve in pastoral ministry.

To refuse to ordain women to pastoral ministry would be to refuse to recognize the freedom of the Lord as manifested through his work…in the church today. (p.93)

Recognizing that the Spirit indeed calls, equips, and places women into pastoral ministry does not do violence to the scriptures that men generally are called to lead and hold authority. What it does is make room for the Spirit to apply a “resurrection reality” to the present time as he may choose. We also have a scriptural precedent in how God raised up Deborah to judge and command Israel, having authority over its leading general.

Circumcision and the Need for Re-examination of Doctrine

The issue of circumcision wracked the early church. The Old Testament clearly insisted that it was a clear and non-negotiable mark of covenant inclusion. When Peter and Paul observed the Holy Spirit fall upon uncircumcised Gentiles, they realized that their theology of circumcision was not in agreement with the Spirit’s activity. Whenever this happens, we are driven to reexamine the Word of God to see if there is something we missed, some scriptural precedent which foreshadowed what the Spirit is doing. This is what Paul did. He realized that God justified Abraham by faith before he was ever circumcised. This gave the apostle the scriptural basis for properly interpreting the present work of the Spirit and gave rise to the doctrine of justification by faith. Paul blended his exegesis of Scripture with the observed activity of God’s Spirit. If we fail to do this, we separate…

the word of God from the work of God, a practice against which the apostle Paul warned in his letter to the Roman church. (Romans 14:20) (p.99)

For Anderson,

Theological reflection must be a “way of seeing” as well as a way of thinking. (p.103)

When Peter defended baptizing in water Cornelius and his family to the resident theologians in Jerusalem,

His defense was not based on clever exegetical reading of the Scriptures but on the compelling praxis of the Spirit revealed through his ministry of witness to the resurrection power of Jesus. (p.104)

What the author is saying is that the Spirit takes what is real in Christ, some of which is yet to be fully revealed in the resurrection, and brings it into our present historical context as he sees fit.

The Spirit that comes to the church comes out of the future, not the past. The presence of the Spirit is the anticipation of the return of Christ. (p.105)

Anderson states:

As nearly as I can see, for every case in which eschatological preference was exercised by the Spirit in the New Testament church, there was a biblical antecedent for what appeared to be revolutionary and new. (p.109)

Furthermore, the Spirit’s eschatological preference always works toward realizing God’s original purpose for humanity. (p.111)

The church is created and recreated through the praxis of the Spirit, liberating it from its conformity to nature and culture and its tendency to institutionalize the Word. (p.112)

In the person of Jesus there was a spiritual integrity that revitalized the spirit of human persons amidst the dead weight of tradition and legalism; where Jesus was there was life… He liberated the spirit from the law and created children of God out of slaves. He lifted the burden of the law by fulfilling it, not by breaking it, and pointed beyond it to a higher fulfillment. (p.169)

Applying these truths, Anderson states:

Where the Spirit of Christ prevails, there can no longer be discrimination  based on race, gender, or economic status. (Galatians 3:28) There can be no acts of favoritism…

The church repents by engaging in theological reflection on the work of God’s Spirit under the mandate of God’s Word… The church repents when it brings out new wineskins of worship and weaves new patterns of communal life out of the “unshrunk cloth” of the next generation. (p.182)

If the church is to be the redemptive presence and power in the world that God intends, it will be where the Spirit of Christ crossed the boundary and breaks through the wall that separates us from each other. (pp.185-6)

The church itself should seek to become the church that Christ desires to find when he comes, where distinctions of race, religion, ethnicity, economic and political status, and gender identity will no longer be found in the church and its apostolic life. (p.194)

These are bold words indeed. Clearly this will be the reality of the new creation at Christ’s return. Is the author correct in assuming that the Spirit is working to introduce that future reality into the historical present? I believe so.

Practical Theology as Paraclesis

The third section of the book seeks to apply what has been previously asserted.

The church has tended to stress two forms of the ministry of the Word of God; kerygma, the Word proclaimed; and didache, the Word taught. This leaves paraclesis, the ministry of encouragement or exhortation, to the Holy Spirit. This way of thinking separates the rational form of the Word from the relational. (p.195-6)

Interestingly, since I assume that Anderson is not charismatic, he does not mention that the gift of prophecy also fulfills this aspect of Christ’s ministry of the word – edification, exhortation, and comfort. (1 Corinthians 14:3) These aspects of Word ministry are often associated with the pastoral ministry. Anderson beautifully asserts:

Through the paracletic presence of the Holy Spirit, Jesus himself takes up my cause as his own. (p.197)

This paracletic ministry of Christ through the Spirit does not leave me as an individual but incorporates me into the fellowship of the body of Christ, the missionary people of God. (p.199)

Anderson writes:

A theology that does not begin and end with grace both from God’s side as well as from the human side is a theology that binds “heavy burdens” (Matthew 23:4) and sets a “yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1) on those who look for freedom and forgiveness. (p.202)

The litmus test of theology is not only what it says of God but what it does to persons when it is preached, taught, and practiced. (p.202)

The strategy of paracletic ministry in nonnegotiable in terms of advocacy for persons who suffer from discrimination, oppression, and human torment of any kind. (p.203)

The authentic charism that empowers is Christ’s power that redeems humanity from the social, political, and institutional forms of power that dehumanize. (p.204)

Theological Ethics and Pastoral Care

This section deals with how to deal with ambiguity regarding how to uphold the moral law while showing mercy. Anderson asserts:

God’s moral will is directed toward the goal of human life, and his moral laws are given so as to direct us toward that goal. If God himself were present in every case when it appears that moral laws collide, we would instinctively turn to him for assurance as to the best moral decision. This appears to be the way Jesus functioned… [as in the case of the woman caught in adultery]… He assumed that his presence was the presence of the freedom of God’s moral will to become the advocate for the human person. This advocacy clearly did not mean justifying the situation or the immoral actions…, but facilitating the restoration and liberation of the person to realize God’s moral will. (p.219)

Liberation from disease or demons is not an end in itself. Rather, the true end of liberation is the empowerment of the person to stand against prevailing evil [by faith] with a spiritual and moral assurance that she or he is not cut off from  God’s moral and spiritual good. (p.227)

Effective liberation, the goal of moral advocacy, is accomplished with the binding of the one who is estranged to the community of those who rest in God’s moral good of forgiveness and community. (p.230)

The way of wisdom is the telos that reaches into the actions (praxis) of therapy to enable the client to establish a coherent meaning to life. This itself can be transforming, even  when not every situation can be transformed. There are losses that can only be grieved…The moral law supports moral judgements in such cases. But the moral law does not itself contain wisdom’s freedom to provide healing and restoration… the church… will need to offer restoration and renewal to those who have no moral standing… The tension between upholding the divine order in its perfection and upholding the divine intention in restoring humanity is a praxis of moral wisdom. (pp.241-242)

That last sentence is one of the best thoughts of the book and challenges us to go beyond an intellectual application of rigid orthodoxy and venture into the realm where Jesus ministered, where we learn from the Spirit how to properly apply God’s truth in a redemptive and restorative way whenever possible.

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The Normal Christian Life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watchman Nee

I read this book in the 1970s as a new disciple. It profoundly shaped my understanding of the meaning of Romans 5-8. Over the years I have come to understand what a blessing that was, since many people have never benefited from such teaching. I decided to reread Nee’s work and write this summary since it is one of the very top books on my recommended reading list. I was not disappointed as I reacquainted myself with Nee’s teaching. In order to make this article brief, I will severely limit quotations from the book in the hope that you will read it for yourself.

For those of you not familiar with Watchman Nee, his real name was Nee Shu-tsu, whose English name was Henry Nee. He was born of second-generation Christian parents in Foochow, China in 1903. At the age of 17 he gave his life to Jesus, forever altering his plans. He was well-educated and had great aspirations in life, but he realized that becoming a Christian meant surrendering everything to God. He had previously considered Christian work to be a low occupation that was beneath him. He spent the rest of his life preaching, teaching, and writing. In 1952 he was falsely accused and imprisoned by the Communists. He died in a work camp in 1972. A prison guard found a scrap of paper in his cell after his death on which was written:

Christ is the Son of God who died for the redemption of sinners and resurrected after three days. This is the greatest truth in the universe. I die because of my belief in Christ. Watchman Nee.

By the time Watchman Nee was arrested in 1952, approximately four hundred local churches had been raised up in China. In addition, over thirty local churches had been raised up in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Today there are over twenty-three hundred local churches worldwide because of the rich and faithful ministry of Watchman Nee.

The Normal Christian Life was put together by his disciples from various messages Nee preached. It lays out what every believer in Christ is privileged to have by faith in the crucified and risen Savior and Lord. Nee primarily uses Romans 5-8 as his launching pad to lay out four crucial aspects of Christ’s finished work.

  1. The blood of Christ to deal with sins and guilt.
  2. The cross of Christ to deal with sin, the flesh and the natural man.
  3. The life of Christ made available to indwell, recreate and empower man.
  4. The working of death in the natural man that that indwelling Life may be progressively manifest.

(Nee, Watchman. The Normal Christian Life (Kindle Locations 2328-2333). CLC Publications. Kindle Edition.)

The first two of these aspects are remedial. They relate to the undoing of the work of the devil and the undoing of the sin of man. The last two are not remedial but positive, and relate more directly to the securing of the purpose of God. The first two are concerned with recovering what Adam lost by the Fall; the last two are concerned with bringing us into, and bringing into us, something that Adam never had. Thus we see that the achievement of the Lord Jesus in His death and resurrection comprises both a work which provided for the redemption of man and a work which made possible the realization of the purpose of God. (Kindle Locations 2333-2337)

You will find amazing insights in this book that, with the help of the Holy Spirit’s revelation and inner work, will revolutionize your thinking and life.

The last chapter is one that I have remembered for nearly fifty years and which profoundly influenced my desire to serve Christ unreservedly. I leave it to you to read it for yourself.

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Seeing Ghosts through God’s Eyes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Mark Hunnemann

My friend, Mark Hunnemann, has authored a much needed Christian worldview analysis of earthbound spirits that addresses the current explosion of interest in ghosts and other paranormal phenomena. Being troubled by a lack of thoughtful analysis within the paranormal community and the unquestioning acceptance of the underlying tenets associated with believing in ghosts by many supposed Bible believing Christians, he felt compelled to write this book.

Mark opens the book by addressing the burgeoning interest in the subject of ghosts. He next lays out what a worldview is and why it is important to approach this topic through the grid of a biblical worldview, since it is the only one that can satisfactorily answer the deepest questions about life and eternity. He then takes the reader through the major topics associated with a worldview analysis, showing why belief in ghosts is antithetical to what the Bible teaches and why ghosts, as defined by the paranormal community, cannot exist.

Mark first demonstrates that a belief in ghosts is at odds with what the Bible teaches about God the Father. The paranormal definition of a ghost is a trapped earthbound spirit. There are various criteria which are generally accepted for why a person might be trapped, which are generally related to the traumatic nature of their death and any unfinished business that might have existed. Mark shows that such a definition must allow for millions and millions of people to become ghosts due to wars, persecutions, and the fragility of life. Such a definition makes spiritual orphans out of these wandering spirits.

All the data shows that ghosts express no connection or interest in God the Father at all. Rather these spirits are self-absorbed loners with a lack of any redeeming qualities, which possess decidedly anti-God and demonic traits. Mark begins in this section of his book to make his case that what are called ghosts are actually demons.

Next Mark looks at how belief in ghosts undermines the biblical doctrine of God’s sovereignty. Rather than God’s being in control of the eternal destinies of all people, according to ghost doctrine, many people end up trapped, perhaps for all eternity, in a kind of limbo state. In this state somehow they manage to avoid both heaven and hell; although, such an existence could be called hell. In this paranormal existence, babies can coexist with men and women who were monsters during their life on earth as regular humans.

Mark shows how such a belief in ghosts actually strips people of hope.

The next area Mark examines is our purpose in life, which is to love God and people. Ghosts show no such emotions or desires to help others. Ghosts seem to have no purpose in life (or should I say afterlife?). During his earthly ministry, Jesus expressed no knowledge or interests in ghosts. If indeed there are vast numbers of trapped spirits all around us who have no way to cross over into their eternal habitation, would not it be expected that Jesus, the Savior, would have helped these “people”?

On the other hand, Jesus had many encounters with demons. Mark once again shows how the only reasonable explanation for ghost activity is demonic.

Hunnemann warns the reader that what is passed off as benign encounters with ghosts is actually dangerous involvement with demons, who are cleverly disguising themselves in order to lure people into ever deepening darkness and oppression.

The next worldview area Mark examines involves history. The Bible teaches that we are given a certain amount of time as humans in which to live our lives, after which death is decisive in determining our destiny. The idea of trapped earthbound spirits wandering for eons is inconsistent with what the Bible teaches in this regard. Christians already participate in eternal life while still here on earth, being seated with Christ in heavenly places. How then would it be possible for us to be trapped in a nether world where we would be separated from God’s presence and power?

The belief in ghosts is incompatible with the biblical doctrine of the believer’s union with Christ.

Next the book looks at the basis for morality as it intersects with belief in ghosts. Mark shows how morality must be based either in an external frame of reference, such as the Bible, or it rests upon the subjective determination of individuals.

If Biblical morality is accepted, communication with ghosts (the dead) is prohibited. Necromancy, as it is called, is strictly forbidden in the Scripture. Mark writes that God bans such communication because it is actually communication with demons, something which is very dangerous and destructive.

In the past, necromancy was practiced by a fringe group in society, but with the surge of interest in ghost hunting, thousands of people see this practice as normal, interesting, and adventurous.

Mark spends some time writing about what are called shadow figures and shows that they must certainly be demons since they have no light, prefer to slink about in the shadows, and universally inspire fear. He examines the notion that ghosts are trapped human spirits, but shows that they do not exhibit common human traits, especially godly traits, which the Bible calls the fruit of the Spirit.

Mark also shows that what is called poltergeist activity has all the earmarks of the demonic; even though the paranormal community relegates it to being some sort of telekinesis subconsciously practiced by disturbed individuals.

Likewise, Mark shows that what the paranormal community calls residual hauntings, energy imprints left as a result of some traumatic event, cannot possibly be unintelligent. In addition they clearly contradict the second law of thermodynamics (entropy) which states unequivocally that all energy dissipates without outside intervention and control. By refusing to acknowledge that such things are actually demonic, those who posit ghosts and other non-demonic spirit activity find themselves at odds with real science and with the biblical worldview.

Mark next shows that ghosts (demons) lack essential traits associated with being human. Human beings have a dualistic nature: they are capable of acts of kindness while at the same time being quite capable of doing evil.

Ghosts, as they are called, do not show the good side of human nature at all. They are also quite limited in their ability to communicate. Some ghosts appear to be capable of throwing rocks and other heavy objects, but never lift a hand to assist another person.

Mark shows that human beings who were kind-natured would be expected to have the same traits after becoming a ghost, but no such activity has been recorded among what are called ghosts. Mark also shows that ghosts show no flair or ability to be creative, but this is not surprising if these beings are actually demons, whose mission is to kill, steal, and destroy, according to the Bible.

Lastly, ghosts show no interest in, longing for, or love for God – something very common in humans.

The last major area Mark covers concerns what happens after we die. Jesus taught clearly that after death believers go to a place of blessing; whereas, evil people go to a place of torment. There is a great chasm between the two so that no one can cross over from one place to another, nor can they go back to communicate with loved ones who are still alive on earth. (See the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke’s gospel.) Jesus spoke of heaven and hell being the only two options, and, since he actually rose from the dead, he must know of which he speaks.

One cannot believe in Christ’s teaching about the afterlife and at the same time maintain a belief in ghosts.

If, as some affirm, it is possible to communicate with the ghosts of John Wilkes Booth and Adolf Hitler, then where is God’s justice? If these human spirits are still wandering and have escaped God’s judgment, this renders God impotent.

Mark concludes:

Simply believing in ghosts becomes part of ones spirituality, even if at first it plays a minimal role…The concept of ghosts is not merely at odds with a few passages of scripture (as significant as that would be); it is contrary to every aspect of the biblical worldview. Indeed without fear of exaggeration, I can say that it is actually hostile to true spirituality. The introduction to the belief in earthbound spirits into a person’s mind has an unsettling effect on everything else. Starting with the undermining of God as our Father, and the belittling of Christ, this concept also diminishes the finished work of Christ on the cross. (p.234-5)

I recommend this book to anyone who wishes to have a better understanding on the subject. Mark brilliantly weaves the Christian worldview into the book so that he communicates the Gospel very well under the format of writing about ghosts. This makes the book an exceptional outreach tool. I can envision using it as a “book club” offering or developing a discussion group around the contents. This book cannot be read lazily or skimmed. Mark took a great deal of time to put it together. It would do the book an injustice to fail to study it and think deeply about its contents. Thanks, Mark, for doing a superb job.

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The Supernatural Skyline

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Jim Hylton

Jim Hylton has been in church leadership for more than fifty years. He had pastored and led conferences worldwide and brings a broad and deep perspective to the reader. The crux of the book is that in times past the church has sought revival when it should have pursued the kingdom of God. Revivals come and go, but the kingdom continues to unfold without end.

I have come to the conclusion that receiving a Kingdom is far better than praying down revival. (p.213)

This is a simple idea, but don’t let that deter you from reading it. It is packed with insight that inspires. Hylton writes that the supernatural skyline is where heaven meets earth. Where heaven meets earth is where the church connects with the community on mission for Christ.

We have done a far better job telling people how to let Jesus in than we have in telling them how to let Jesus out. Letting Jesus out is letting the life and love He shares with us be shared again with others. The Kingdom coming creates a love-based behavior for all we do. This love-based motivation becomes the order for church life born out of the Kingdom overlay of purpose. Reaching out to people is based on what God can do for them, not what they can do for us. (p.204)

Recovering the Blueprints of the Kingdom

Nowhere does Jesus suggest that we should be praying, “Your church be built;” but, instead, “Your kingdom come.” In fact when Jesus introduced the Church later on, He indicated that He would build it (see Matt. 16:18). Our focus is always to be on the Kingdom. Seeking first the Kingdom carries the serendipity of everything else being added that is needed. We seek the Kingdom. He builds the church. (p.52)

Citing Bob Roberts, the pastor of Northwood Church in North Fort Worth, Texas, Hylton writes:

It is his love for Christ that gives him a love for missions, but missions is not about building the Church, but building the Kingdom. He teaches the family of God at Northwood that “they do not do missions; they are the mission.” Wherever they are, they are on mission, starting at home with good family relationships, at work with good work ethics, in their neighborhoods, in their cities, and on to the nations of the world…The original plan was allowing Christ’s life to create an order of authority and life that is the reenactment of Himself. His presence brings His Kingdom. His power brings His benefits to all who will receive them. (pp.53-55)

Addressing the propensity of God’s people to seek out superstar preachers rather than experience Kingdom life, he writes:

Preaching can easily become a verbal art form. People attend church like people who walk through art galleries, admiring the skills of the artist. Verbal artistry can leave people with the enjoyment of the art of communication and void of the experience of hearing God’s voice. Richard F. Lovelace, professor of Church history at Gordon Conwell Seminary, says of another generation needing a fresh encounter with God: “Many American congregations were in effect paying their ministers to protect them from the real God.” (p.62)

The author’s roots are in evangelical Christianity, and part of his journey has been coming to terms with the reality of God’s power and gifts being for today. He insightfully states:

When the church is not really concerned about hurting people, it has no sense for the need of the supernatural. The institutional church is more concerned in maintaining credibility and fostering success and image. When we “let this mind be in us that was in Christ” (Phil. 2:5) and start ministering as He did, we will gladly welcome all the supernatural power available. (p.83)

Losing the War in the Wrong Battle

Hylton addresses the hideous monster of church tradition which often rears its head to oppose the work of God’s Spirit, as it has always done through the ages. He writes:

The god of Christian religion is tradition. Though the tradition may be rich and heart-warming, if it is an outward form without a personal relationship to the living Lord, it is just a religion under a new name… Every awakening precipitates a “wineskin war” because old wineskins begin to crack and tear from the energy of fermenting new wine. Threatened wineskins must be defended by those whose commitment is to the “cause” rather than to the Kingdom…behind the protest, there is usually a threatened existence of a wineskin that no longer flexes under Christ’s rule. (pp.116-117)

Who’s Who in the Kingdom

In this chapter, Hylton addresses our identity in Christ.

Christ in us is the eternal purpose of God being fulfilled by his incarnation being extended beyond one life to every life willing to receive this gift of God. Mary had to decide if she would open her life to receive His life in her. So do we. This treasure of Heaven in us makes our lives clay pots housing His infinite worth. (p.136)

Everything he [Jesus] did was done because he knew who he was. His father told him, “You are my beloved son” and he believed him. Our problem in answering the question, “Who are you?” is usually the issue that most needs to be settled. Either we have never heard the Father tell us who we are, or we have heard and thought it was too good to be true, or we have heard and then forgotten what we heard. (p.141)

It was in this awakened state of mind that I realized that not only was I not a “saved sinner,” I was actually an new creation in Christ and appeared to God always in the clothing of Christ’s righteousness…I would not achieve righteousness by my performance. I would receive righteousness by my faith… Understanding our righteous identity with God allows us to know the peace of God. Peace covers our feet and allows us to walk with comfort. No wonder we are often immobile in moving to touch the lives of others. We are foot weary instead of having “happy feet” covered in peace… How we see ourselves always regulates how we treat others. Loving our neighbors comes out of loving ourselves. Jesus made that clear. When we have low self-esteem, we have low value for those for whom Christ gave His life. Our value is seen by Christ’s payment for us in his life and death. (pp.143-147)

The Gospel with an Attitude

Here Hylton addresses the importance of our posture. He writes:

His [Paul’s] gospel was not only the truth about the person and finished work of Christ, but was also the presence of Christ, who was there to speak for himself. He knew that Christ came and spoke for himself to him…We must see that the presence of Christ embodies the Gospel, as well as the true facts about Him. The facts about his perfect life, his death to pay for our sin, and his return to life in the resurrection victory are important. Never can they be discounted. We can declare Him. But we cannot re-present him. Only he can present himself. The content of the Gospel is important. The person of the Gospel is essential… Presence evangelism is the most impacting experience in evangelism. (pp.156-161)

When he [Jesus] declared, “The kingdom is at hand,” he was saying, “This is a mobile business. We will come where you are. House calls are made and deliveries are without charge.” Church as most of us have known it is something you go to. The Kingdom comes to us and to others through us. (p.163)

When the Kingdom Comes – Where Does It Go?

Here Hylton compares and contrasts our past emphasis on revival in churches to the coming of the Kingdom in an area. He writes:

We had grown accustomed to the Lord visiting us, and with his visitation, people came to bask in his presence. Now he didn’t come to us as regularly or as intently. We were going to where he was hanging out. His location surprised us at times… We were pioneering a day when the Body of Christ is more about Kingdom connections than church divisions. Successful Church life was not as high a priority as Kingdom expressions… Jesus is indeed disguised in the needs of others waiting for our helping hand. Kingdom hands are extended to others rather than just gripping what we already have. We need to lose our grip on what we cling to. (pp.177-183)

The final chapters of the book address the need to see and have faith for the Kingdom and the things that try to block that.

That Emmaus road experience is repeated by many who walk with a comparative stranger all day. They talk about Christ. Finally they awaken and discover that they were talking about him when they could have been talking to him (see Luke 24:13-31). He is here with us – even within us. He is our companion in this journey. He is here to be enjoyed, and he wants to share his life with us. (p.225)

Hylton also writes about dysfunctional patterns in the church that try to lock us out of truly experiencing kingdom life. He calls it an “orphan mentality,” which is a lie-based stronghold that obstructs our seeing God as our loving Father with infinite provisions.

The Kingdom message of economic freedom is not the message of a “prosperity gospel.” In fact it is almost the opposite; while giving is part of the kingdom message, the primary reality is about saving and investing. Our investment is more than wise financial investment. It is investment in the greatest agency of the Kingdom, namely people who become disciples. (p.268)

This book is loaded with good material, much of which I have not touched in this summary. I highly recommend that you take the time to read it for yourself.

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When Helping Hurts

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert

When Helping Hurts addresses a Christian response to poverty and community development. The authors confirmed some things that I have known intuitively and introduced me to some great new ideas and strategies. One of the most important concepts in the book is the definition of poverty as the

“result of relationships that do not work, that are not just, that are not for life, that are not harmonious or enjoyable. Poverty is the absence of shalom in all its meanings.” (p.59)

In the materialistic West, we tend to think of poverty as the lack of finances and things; so, we assume that throwing money and resources at the problem will fix it. Experience tells us that this is not the case. Such tactics often entrench people even further in poverty by teaching them to become dependent on the generosity of others instead of working.

If we accept that poverty is the result of broken relationships with God, ourselves, other people, and the creation, then alleviating poverty requires us to commit to the often messy and slow work of restoring those relationships.

A Christian response to poverty initially will focus on restoring the poor to a proper relationship with God through the Gospel. Knowing him as Savior, Lord, Provider, Sustainer, and Keeper – the One who loves us past comprehension – will produce faith that will enable boldness and perseverance in the quest to escape the chains of poverty. Secondly, people need to have their sense of personal worth and dignity restored. Many poor people have accepted the world’s valuation of them as being worthless and incapable. The gospel restores dignity to human beings that inspires confidence and courage to break free. The third leg of the table is the restoration of wholesome life-giving relationships with other people who are willing to mentor, equip, and support them in their journey out of poverty. Lastly, the gospel restores us to a proper relationship with creation by teaching us to be good stewards who appreciate the value of working for God’s glory. With the help of God’s sustaining grace, what was a curse regarding circumstances, family, past mistakes, lack of education, etc. can be turned into a blessing.

While many well-to-do people think of poverty as the absence of things, the poor themselves define it in terms of shame, powerlessness, hopelessness, and having no voice.Much harm has been done unintentionally by well-meaning people who have used a materialistic definition of poverty to come up with a materialistic solution.

The non-poor often have “God complexes” and see themselves as the answer to needs of the poor. This coupled with the feelings of shame and inferiority of the poor who are being “helped” leads to a result that often hurts those who are “helping” and those being “helped.” The authors encourage a much different approach, one that involves a true partnership with and honoring of the poor.

The authors define poverty alleviation as

“the ministry of reconciliation: moving people closer to glorifying God by living in right relationship with God, with self, with others, and with the rest of creation.” (p.74)

Westerners usually do not choose this strategy because it is a relatively slow process for which success is hard to measure. Instead we have most often opted for a “neater and cleaner” way that actually causes harm. For example, a typical way to alleviate hunger is to open a food pantry, stock it with food, set policies, get volunteers, open the doors, ask people to line up to see if they qualify, and give the ones who do a box of food once a month. This method is easy to organize and measure – 5000 served! People can get involved in a nice, safe, and scheduled way – show up on Tuesdays from ten until Noon, and no personal connection with poor people is required. Unfortunately, few seem to realize how shaming this method can be to the ones being “served.” It does not help people to learn to provide for themselves. It is just a handout.

The authors encourage a different model. What if a Christian food ministry were to discover that a neighborhood has a chronic food need? That ministry could then talk to some of the neighbors, listen to their stories, and determine what the poor think about their situation. Those within the neighborhood who could serve as connectors to the larger community could be identified and gathered for further discussions that could lead to the adoption of a plan to come up with a way to provide food for the community by the community. Further discussions might lead to the formation of a community co-op. Those who are interested could buy in for, say, $5 a week. The community leaders would then take that money, perhaps, combine it with money from other sources, and purchase food from a food bank and distribute it to their members. This solution involves community participation and leadership at all levels. Not only is low cost food provided, but a sense of worth and dignity is heightened – all to the glory of God. The authors define such material poverty alleviation as

“working together to reconcile the four foundational relationships so that people can fulfill their callings of glorifying God by working and supporting themselves and their families with the fruit of that work.” (p.74)

One of the reasons that poverty alleviation ministries so often end up hurting the people they serve is because they are one dimensional. Poverty alleviation has three stages: relief, rehabilitation, and development.

“One of the biggest mistakes that North American churches make – by far – is in applying relief in situations in which rehabilitation or development is the appropriate intervention.” (p.101)

Handing out boxes of food is a short term crisis averting solution, but, if it is done over a long period, it will likely foster dependence. Crisis relief should be seldom, immediate, and temporary. Rehabilitation involves working within the framework of the existing community to restore a person, with their participation, to where they were before the crisis. Development, also with their participation, takes them beyond where they were prior to the crisis. The authors spend chapters outlining how this can and should be done. The authors also warn against using the rich using their “power” to circumvent the time consuming work of relationship building and community participation. If we want to see long term results we cannot take short cuts. Partnership, not paternalism, is required.

If you are interested in being part of the solution for helping the chronically impoverished, this book can help you immensely. If you are already involved, it may help you to reevaluate what you are doing in order to be even more effective. It is definitely worth the time to read it.

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