First Century Christianity

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; and they said to him, "Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations." 1 Sam 8:4-5 (NASB)

Do you know what we call elders today who want to shirk their leadership responsibilities while retaining their leadership titles? Politicians. (Look at that, I started the blog with a digression. Note to self: focus) 

The elders in Samuel’s day should have trusted Yahweh and either taken leadership or simply trusted that God would provide. Instead, they found it much easier to ask for someone else to make their decisions for them. It’s interesting to see how Israel, history, and even in modern times, mankind is always looking for someone to take the lead and show us the way. How many times have we heard Ronald Reagan’s name invoked lately? It seems like we are hardwired with a desire to be led, whether to victory or to defeat. When it is victory, it’s always a “team” win and when it is a loss, well then it was “his” fault!

When we tell people about our faith, don’t they often ask who the Pastor is or what the denomination is? This is because folks are conditioned, based on history and experience, to have to tie a believer to some enigmatic teacher or organized denomination. We simply have to have had our doctrines spoon-fed to us by an established organization or else we just don’t fit into the box. Taking responsibility for one’s own salvation and studying independently is, sadly, a foreign concept. But this is how it was during the early days of Christianity. The Spirit called people individually and those believers studied to show themselves approved. Philip explained Yeshua to the Ethiopian using scripture only, not some man-granted authority. 

Our model ought to be the same as that Ethiopian. We should test everything, holding fast to the true. We see in a mirror now, dimly, and following men leads to following false prophets who steal our money and worse, our souls. Take a look at how Abraham answered the call as a contrast to those elders above: 

Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, " Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 

Gen 22:1 (NASB)

I’ve often wondered is there should be a comma in there. Could it be “Here, I am” instead of “Here I am”? Either way, though, our example illustrated by Abraham is what it is. Have faith and be prepared when called to answer. Because the leaders of the denominations and large churches won’t be able to save you on that great and terrible Day of the LORD.

I had this paper up at my old site and remembered it today. I did get an "A" on this! 

Phyletic gradualism and punctuated equilibrium are polysyllabic terms that have been used to describe the extremes within those who hold to the theory of evolution. Phyletic gradualism means that changes occur over time, they are incremental, and evolutionary changes happen over a constant, cumulative period of change (Hazen & Trefil, 2010). Punctuated equilibrium is an idea that changes occur in short bursts between static periods. It is important to remember that the time frames referenced when speaking of the idea that life has evolved over millions of years are really long. In this vein, punctuated equilibrium’s “short” periods of time are actually long periods of time referenced against much, much longer periods of time.

The scientific method hinges on hypotheses being observable and testable. Evolution, being based on the assumption of a very old planet, makes observation quite difficult. As the textbook indicates, the fossil record is hindered by circumstances limiting the ability for fossils to be formed in a given time and/or geography (Hazen & Trefil, 2010). Punctuated equilibrium states that the fossil record will show leaps in evolution vice a constant state of change (The Pace, 2006). Since that theory holds that change happens between periods of a lack of change, the evidence throughout a multi-million year evolutionary chain would appear like a dashed line instead of a smooth transition.

In the models of punctuated equilibrium, it is surmised that evolution only occurs at the edge of a species, i.e., at the fringes. In order to deal with the problem of interbreeding, the theory expounds that the majority of the species does not change, but only a group that becomes isolated encounters the evolutionary changes (Evolution Library, 2001). These changes only become evident when they have been sustained in the isolated group long enough that the isolated group becomes something else and then can survive alongside or independent of the original group. 

We can observe intra-species evolution taking place in very short amounts of time and in real-time. Biological beings change very rapidly due to external forces. For instance, look at the Korean peninsula today. On the northern side of the thirty-eighth parallel we have a malnourished population that is significantly smaller than their kin on the southern side of the border. Sunyoung Pak, an anthropologist, performed a study of 2300 refugees from North Korea and discovered that their fourteen-year-old males averaged over six inches shorter than their kin from the south and the fourteen-year-old girls were nearly 3 inches shorter. Assuming that the political situation in the Koreas stays the same for another fifty years, that disparity would presumably be much the same for the entire populations of the two countries. Then, imagine a cataclysmic event causes a mass extinction of the human race on the Korean peninsula and a couple thousand years passes before anyone can excavate this area. What will archaeologists and paleontologists discover? They would discover two notably different skeletal remains of the same species separated by a definitive dividing line. This change only took one hundred years, yet because of the socio-economic status of the two Koreas, it would appear that the skeletal remains were from dramatically different time periods. If the culture a couple thousand years from now is similar to ours today, this “find” would be used to illustrate proof of the punctuated equilibrium theory of evolution.

It is interesting to study how changes are supposed to take a long time and a short time at the same time within the sphere of evolutionary thought. This is similar to the debate today with respect to climate change. The proponents of climate change have massaged their arguments over time as new evidence has been uncovered but at no time does the evidence ever lead them to reconsider the entire thesis. Essentially, no matter what is happening with our climate and weather patterns, it backs up the idea of global, man-made, climate change. Our textbook says that during earth’s evolution, both dramatic change and gradual change have happened, likely simultaneously (Hazen & Trefil, 2010). This is quite disturbing because it appears that no matter what empirical evidence is discovered, it will be used to show that grand, cross-species evolution is true. This is called “group think” and is very much present in cult religions. This is quite contrary to the scientific method where testing everything, being curious, and following the evidence to wherever it leads is the paramount goal. If every piece of evidence uncovered must be manipulated to fit within a pre-established paradigm, then science is not the goal. 

Evidence for our planet being old is established through the fossil record. There are many species of animal that existed that no longer exist, and those different animals appear to have lived in widely varying eras. It is difficult to accept that life evolved from one species that was created accidentally and that humans, while being a very young species, are the only species to have evolved into intelligent, sentient beings. Evidence of evolution can be seen in the Fantastic Caverns of Springfield, MO. There are quite a number of caves under the ground in the state of Missouri; hence it is called the “cave state”. In the Fantastic Caverns, a fish was discovered that was identical to the fish that exist above ground but it has no eyes. Since the fish that fell into the caves lived their entire lives in darkness, they stopped growing eyes. This is evidence of intra-species, short-term evolution.

The idea that our planet was created accidentally and accidentally began spinning on the exact axis to accidentally create the perfect atmosphere for life to accidentally evolve into what we have today appears to be a statistical impossibility. However, the evidence shows what it shows. There is more evidence in the stars that our planet is very old. The distance between the planets in our solar system is vast and the scope and depth of space is incomprehensible. Our moon shows scars from being bombarded with, presumably, space debris. This debris is nowhere to be found near our planet. The time it takes for objects to travel far enough away that we cannot see them appears to be quite long. This, to the author, is evidence of age.

References

Evolution Library: Punctuated Equilibrium. (2001). In PBS. Retrieved February 28, 2011, from 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/03/5/l_035_01.html

Hazen, R. M, & Trefil, J., (2010). The Sciences an Integrated Approach (pp. 531-556). Danvers, 

MA: John Wiley & Sons

McKie, R., & Saini, A. (2004, December 5). North Korea is failing to meet growth target. In The

Guardian. Retrieved February 27, 2011, from 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/dec/05/northkorea

The Pace of Evolution. (2006). In Evolution 101: The Big Issues. Retrieved February 28, 2011,

from http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/evo101/VIIAPaceevolution.shtml

I sat down for a meal at a recent church meet-up and noticed the guy next to me had a relatively new tattoo on his forearm. The guy seemed to be about 30 and I think he has been in and around the Churches of God for most of his life. When I asked “what is that?” he responded by telling me the meaning of the shapes and what the tattoo meant to him. He is obviously proud of his body art.

I was a bit perplexed. I had (and have) no ill feeling at all toward the brother with the new tattoo but the first thought in my head was, “who’s running this guy’s home congregation?” 

I’m no stranger to tattoos and it is only by the grace of God that I escaped the Navy and my youth without one. I could never find some image that I wanted to wear for the rest of my life. I even had an artistically talented friend of mine draw what I envisioned having tattooed on me. I ended up laminating it and saving it until I ever felt like having it put on me permanently. That never happened.

Just in case anyone is wondering, Torah does indeed prohibit tattoos and that can be found at Leviticus 19:28. Earrings and, strangely, nose rings aren’t prohibited by scripture.

Brethren, it sure is easy to fall into the habit of only teaching our most powerful doctrines. The Sabbath, the Ten Commandments, the Moedim, and the pagan roots of the false doctrines are common threads we like to preach. We must not forget to speak, teach and write on the common beliefs we share with traditional Christianity. Standards of personal conduct, ethics, dressing modestly, and other fundamentals need to be addressed periodically. I know it is easy to assume everyone already knows these things but please invest the time, even if the congregation is a seasoned one. James 3:1 shows that we teachers have a great burden of judgment, so when the congregation is resurrected, let’s have them resurrected as knowledgeable and prepared for that day as possible.

As a side note, when I started to write this blog I was certain that earrings and nose rings were also prohibited by Torah. They actually aren’t and if one reads Ezekiel 16, one can see Yahweh analogizing Jerusalem as a bride and placing earrings and nose rings on her to make her beautiful. That said, I still prefer my wife and my daughters to stay the way Yahweh made them. If He wishes to place rings in their ears, though, His will be done.

George Burns made a couple of very funny movies where he played both God and the devil back in the lat 1970s. I recall one scene where both characters were playing poker with each other. When I think about a pure free-will view of Christianity, I tend to gravitate back to that fictional image of God and the devil playing poker. Does anyone really think they can bluff God? (By the way, I tried to find the clip of the movie but could only find a passing glimpse. Apparently some movies were made prior to YouTube. Who knew?)

The refrain of the song “Blessed be the Name” includes the words “You give and take away”. I wonder if we really take that refrain to heart. God really does give and take away, even to people who aren’t believers. Sometimes we hear that God raises up nations, but in order to do that He has to work with individuals, too. Even the unbelievers’ wealth and power were not accumulated without God’s notice and likely intervention. He surely has a purpose for all the resources He has given to mankind. 

If we look at Genesis and Exodus, God’s use of both believers and non-believers kind of jumps off of the pages. Jacob had twelve kids and eleven of them had a big problem with the youngest one, Joseph. They treated Joseph really, really bad by selling him into slavery after contemplating murdering him. This treachery ends up with Joseph becoming the de facto leader of Egypt so Yahweh can preserve the tribes. This is a great example of Yahweh working with individuals, even unbelieving Pharaoh, the jailers, Pharaoh’s wife, and a host of other people so that the nation of Israel could grow in number off of the radar of the Canaanites!

Referencing John 4:7-39, the Samaritan woman at the well during Yeshua’s earthly ministry is another outstanding example of the amazing power of God with respect to omniscience. Through a whole lot of happenings in the Old Testament, there was a people occupying Samaria who knew some of the ways of the LORD but were conflicted. Yeshua spoke of the fields being ripe and when He met that woman at the well it was no accident. A sinful Gentile woman who knew of the coming Messiah was used to make many believers and prepare that entire region for the spreading of the Gospel and the adoption that was to occur just a short time after that meeting.

The intersection of free-will and predestination is a very intriguing subject to contemplate. Think about your own lives now and see where you can identify the Hand of God guiding things in your past and your decisions. I can sure see this in my life. the idea of having a religious website and speaking in a Sabbath observing congregation would have been unthinkable to me 15 years ago, but here I am! Working in mysterious ways appears to be the LORD’s signature way of operating. Perhaps He will explain it all to us at the resurrection!

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

2 Tim 4:3-4 (NASB)

Paul writes of a prophecy where the people will accumulate teachers in accordance to their own desires. The word accumulate indicates a plurality. The people want to be stroked, like a cat, for doing what is right in their eyes, not in God’s sight.

What happened to the prophets who told people what Yahweh wanted them to hear instead of what they wanted to hear? It did not go well for them to say the least. Many of them were even killed outright.

But they became disobedient and rebelled against You, and cast Your law behind their backs and killed Your prophets who had admonished them so that they might return to You, and they committed great blasphemies. Neh 9:26 (NASB)

This has happened many times in the past. In 1 Samuel 8 the people rejected God as their King and demanded a human king. Yahweh even had Samuel try to talk them out of it by illustrating the burdens a king would lay upon them, but they would not listen. When Moses went up to get the Law, the people coaxed Aaron, their spiritual leader, to make them idols and lead them in debauchery. Most famously, the people demanded the murderer be released from prison so that the Messiah would be crucified. Each time the people just wanted to hear what they wanted to hear.

This same theme is occurring today. The former head coach of Penn State recently passed away. He had led that team to many victories, but had been covering up horrific crimes committed by his assistant. I pray he repented prior to his passing. But the people do not remember his sins which were recently uncovered. They only remember the glory he brought to their school. The flags are at half staff for a man who covered up the rape of children.

This is also occurring in our political arena. A man with a laundry list of ethical and moral problems in the past just won the GOP primary in South Carolina. South Carolina used to be considered “the Bible belt” and it would be unheard of for anyone with the problems of Newt Gingrich to even think about running for election there. But at a recent debate Newt got cross with the moderator for calling him out on his adulterous past. A repentant man would have answered the charge with remorse in his voice, but Newt responded with indignation! You see, the GOP primary voters don’t like the left wing media and that moderator represents the left wing media. Getting in a dig at the media is apparently more important to SC voters than choosing one of the other three candidates who have been faithfully married to their first and only wives for decades and have not been publicly fined for ethics violations.

The Gingrich and Paterno phenomena are quite bothersome. As Christians we should certainly forgive these men their past sins, as horrific as they may be. That does not mean we need to honor or exalt them or their memories, though. Let’s take care that we fight the urge to have our ears tickled and make choices on who our leaders will be with a sober and clear mind. Keep in mind, also, the requirements for leadership in the New Testament

It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), and not a new convert, so that he will not become  conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with  those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

1 Tim 3:1-7 (NASB)

It’s probably just coincidence but I’ve seen a trend lately with folks fixating on blame and responsibility. Problems come along and when a customer, vendor, or colleague discovers they may be even partially part of the root cause of the problem, they become apologetic or even self-deprecating in a bad way. Sometimes people even apologize to me profusely over things that aren’t even their fault and couldn’t be. My response is almost always to assure them that I take no offense and even if it was their fault, I’m not a backward-looking person. Life, professional or otherwise, is about looking forward, learning from mistakes, and moving on. None of us are perfect nor will be until perfected by our Creator in the New Jerusalem.

Christianity’s main theme is redemption and forgiveness. If we had no reason to repent, we would have no need for a Savior! Look at what Paul, one who persecuted the Church of God to great length prior to being converted, says about moving on:

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Phi 3:13-14 (NASB)

This is coming from Paul, one who’s sins were piled incredibly high. It is interesting to note that Paul was a highly educated theologian who missed the boat on the Messiah. His sins derived from his erroneous view of theology because he thought he knew all the right answers! Wow, doesn’t that apply to each and every bible-believing Christian ever?

Those of us who have taken responsibility for our own salvation through study of the Bible have all made errors in understanding, teaching, and application of the WORD. Perhaps we were part of faulty denominations or perhaps we became very dogmatic over doctrines we didn’t fully understand and lead someone else astray. But what Paul wrote was not to dwell on the past, move forward! Press on toward the goal! Focus on the prize! And here is one part of that prize:

"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. Isa 65:17 (NASB)

At some point in the future, those who are saved and granted eternal life, will not remember the former things. Our regrets, our sins, our errors, pain, sin, death, and all negative things that have happened will not be remembered anymore. If God has promised this, why not start today. Forgive yourself for past mistakes, and also, perhaps more importantly, forgive others for past mistakes as well. Forget about it!

"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 (NASB)

This is a very famous scripture that foreshadows the sacrifice of the Messiah. This verse follows immediately after Jesus tells His followers to love each other as He has loved them. I wonder when He was dying on that cross if some of the disciples remembered this and trembled. “Was He really telling us to be willing to die for each other, I mean, to die like THAT?” was most certainly a question that came up prior to His resurrection. Their fear and confusion must have been unbearable.

Let’s remember now one of the prophesies of the Messiah:

"The LORD said to me, 'They have spoken well. 'I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. Deut 18:17-18

Moses was used as a deliverer for the Hebrews from their physical bondage. Yahweh used Moses to lead His people out of a literal pagan nation where they were literally slaves. Yeshua came to show all mankind the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus came to call His people out of Babylon and paganism and to lead us into all Truth. There is another parallel that I seldom hear made between Yeshua and Moses. Take a look here in Exodus. The following verse comes after Yahweh gave the Law to Moses then the people “rose up to play”. Yahweh is prepared to wipe the entire race out when Moses says:

"But now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!" Exodus 32:32

This is an incredible sentence, brothers and sisters. Moses knew of the Book of Life and He knew it was already written and complete. Moses also knew that his name could be blotted out and he laid down his eternal life in order to save the people. Isn’t it amazing and sobering to acknowledge that while Yahweh did not require Moses’ eternal life to save the people, Christ really did lay His eternal life down for us. Let us live out our days acknowledging the greatest love of all, that the Messiah laid down His life for His people and that His shed blood allows us to become His people and have a chance to not get our names blotted out of the book!

The vast majority of Christians just celebrated what they think is the birthday of Jesus. A relative few of us abstain from that practice because, as my friend Lenny preached this last Sabbath, Jesus was not born in the winter. Also, the practices of Christmas are almost all linked to pagan religions of antiquity, so those of us who know that need to act accordingly.

But today’s post is not about XMAS but rather about the birth part. All Christians accept that Jesus was born, in a manger, of a woman, and was reared to adulthood by an earthly family. The WORD became flesh and dwelt (or tabernacled) among us. No controversy yet, so far as I know. The question I have is if a birth took place, then a death had to take place, too!

For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. Heb 9:15 (NASB)

Ahh, isn’t that a powerful verse, brethren? It is one of the verses that the whole faith hinges upon, huh? And it is about the subject of the New Covenant, the voluntary death of the Messiah who now mediates for believers and redeems us from the penalty of our sins. Sin is the transgression of the Law, a Law He kept without blemish. It is also an impossible verse to comprehend if one accepts the Trinity.

Because if a birth took place, which it did (and it’s date was not recorded), then a death took place. God the Father did not die, His Son did. His Son stayed that way for 72 hours (give or take) and was resurrected by the Father. He died and yet lived again, raised immortal and exalted. He again dwelt among us and taught the Apostles all things about Himself from the Torah. After His resurrection, He said he had not yet ascended to the Father. Yet another verse that is not possible to reconcile if one accepts the Trinity. If the three-in-one God thing is true, Jesus never really left the Father, never really died, wasn’t really resurrected, and the price of our sins is not paid.

Praise Almighty Yahweh (that’s God in English, btw.) that His Son was born, so that He could die, and yet live again. All will now live again, some to a resurrection of life and others to a resurrection of judgment. Accepting Yeshua (Jesus in English) as Messiah (Christ) is the path unto a resurrection of life! Accept Him and you shall be saved!

Take a look at this video in order to set the mood!

All righty, now that your sinusoidal deplanaration has been attenuated, let's get down to some basic truth.

Christianity is not supposed to be complicated!

We have a list of "rules for a good marriage" on the wall on our house. It has been there as long as I can remember and some of the rules are quite comical, though all are true! The one that comes to mind goes like this: "In an argument, the one doing the most talking is usually the one who is wrong." This is true on so, so many levels!

I have found myself reading incredibly long treatises trying to explain, using a maximum of adjectives and flowery language, how some plain truth of the Bible is neither plain nor true. Take the Sabbath for example. The Bible only sanctifies one day of the week to be kept holy and that day starts at Friday sunset and ends at Saturday sunset. The 4th commandment and Leviticus 23 tell us what to do on that day; don't work, don't make anyone else work, have a holy convocation (go to church). Easy to explain and easy to understand. Now ask someone to explain why most of Christianity does not keep the Sabbath and instead observes Sunday. Yep, it'll take pages.

Think about the other stuff people like us do. Most of our differences with mainstream Christianity come from simply scripture.

Q: Why don't you believe in the Trinity?

A: It's not in the Bible. Jesus prayed to The Father and is seated next to the Father so He's not the Father.

Q: Why don't you eat pork?

A: Because Jesus didn't eat pork. I'm a Christian so I want to be like Christ.

Q: Why don't you keep Christmas?

A: It's not in the Bible and Jeremiah writes that we specifically aren't supposed to do stuff like that.

Q: Why don't you have crosses in your house?

A: Jesus was killed with a cross. I don't think the device of His execution hanging on a wall is an appropriate tool for worship. Oh, and the commandment says not to use stuff made by men for worship.

See how easy that is? Sure, we can elaborate on all those points and many more, but for most of us the house of cards that is mainstream Christianity started falling down based on simple scripture. For me, the idea of an eternal hell with immortal souls came apart when I read Revelation 19 and 20. I remember asking my wife, who was raised a Sabbath keeper and schooled in the WORD, "Honey, it doesn't look like hell exists yet. Is that right?" And her response, "Of course not, keep reading."

That's some of the best advice anyone has ever given me with respect to the Bible. Keep reading. Yes, brothers and sisters, let's keep reading and by all means, Keep It Simple!