The Church: A Historical Fortress or Modern phenomenon

Reflections on All Saint's Day

Yesterday was the day that the Church celebrates All Saint's Day which (to most modern evangelicals who don't have a clue what this day is) is the day that we celebrate what God has done through the saints of the ages. Contrary to common thought of the church of our day (particularly in America) the church does not just consist of believers that are living now. It is incredibly more than that. The church comprises of every believer that has ever walked this earth, Old and New Testament but it has been put into two categories: The Church Triumphant and the Church Militant. What a wonderful way to look at the church. Those of us here on earth are the church militant and the those who are with Christ are the church triumphant.

However the church of our day does not think this way. The church has purged any type of history from its doors and have basically said, “away with you, you don't know how to live godly.” Don't believe me? Look at our architecture. Churches of the days of old had a cemetery outside their doors. Some you would literally have to walk through the cemetery to get to the church. Why? Because it acts as a reminder (or it should) to those members of that church that this earth is not their home. Those lifeless stones bear the witness of gates of eternity and the second coming Christ. What does the church build now and surround their building with? Billboards and activities and auditorium seating and churches that look more like a mall and on the inside look more like theatre then a church. “We can't have a cemetery near our church, it's too grim, too future. It sure won't help our church growth.” Things like this are the thought processes that dominate American Christianity and sadly it is spreading to the world.

Still don't believe me? How about our speech and I suspect this will hit home a little more than architecture. Have you ever heard, “this is a 1^st century church” or “this is a church of the Bible” or other similar saying that have become cliché in too many churches? The fact of the matter is that these statements shows the ignorance and the naivety of the speaker who speaks them. Have I stepped on any toes yet? These statements seem so fresh and enlightening to the congregations of our day however they are quite dangerous. How so? You might ask. Lets start with the first phrase I mentioned, when this statement is uttered, it shows the ignorance of the speaker in that he is dead wrong. The only denomination that comes close to the 1^st century church is the Greek orthodox(I am not Greek orthodox, by the way, I am making a point). The rest of the churches that are scattered abroad resemble very little of the 1^st century church particularly in the structure of the service. “Wait!” you say. “That person was probably talking about doctrine not the church service.” (A great deal could be said about the church service, but that is for another time.) Then I say he is foolish in thinking that no other part of the church history affirms that which was affirmed in the 1^st century. On top of that, once that statement is cited it has just caused a void between the 1^st century and the 21^st century and in the midst making void all that has taken place in that time period.

How about the second phrase? To which I respond, “As opposed to what? The church of the koran?” I can almost here the words (not spoken but implied), “We're not a church of tradition, nor a church of post-modernism, but we are a church of the Bible!” ...Any particular passage of scripture that comes to mind? 1 Chor. 1:12 comes to mind just with different words. Does this make sense? Can you see the redundant arrogance is these statements. The thing that about these phrases that really irritates me is that they are empty of history. Indeed they encourage a “church” that started in 1950 not a church 2000+ years old. The church did not start in 1950 or 1988 when I was born. The church is a massive structure of history. And indeed we proclaim history, don't we? Is not Christ's death and resurrection historical? (implied yes answer).

So why am I so harsh? I know I stepped on toes in the past paragraphs. The church, now, looks at all the bad things in history (crusades etc.) and says, "they got it wrong, we can do better" and the create a new "church." Foolishness! They are cutting the chord that has given them life. And interestingly enough these churches that do that are doing similar things to what the Roman Catholic Church did a 1000 years ago. We need to acknowledge all of the church. Is God not sovereign? Was not all of church history according to His will? Its amazing how we look at the bad that has happened in the church and we try to disown it. However, we forget how much good that has been brought down through the ages by the church. I think of creeds, catechisms, and the reformation. Does the church realize where it would be if it weren't for the Nicene Creed? Or how about the Creed of Chalcedon? The answer is...we would be indeed be pagan! For these Creeds holds up the essentials to the Gospel! We need to careful how we use our speech. It effects how we think. By voiding any part of church history, you have taken on the responsibility of the church of that time. You are basically questioning God's sovereignty over the church and saying that He made a mistake. Be careful! Instead of disowning, let us learn from history.

“Aren't you focusing a lot on the church? Shouldn't you be focused on Christ more?” Some might abject. I concerned with the church because of the value of the church. Too many modern theologies have have made the church a cheap little oops that God made 2000 years. “Israel is the true people that God values.” Not so! The Church, which is of every tongue and tribe and nation, is God's most valued “possession” here on this earth. Why? Because of the message that which the church is a stewardship of is incalculably valuable. The Church is the bride of Christ. This something that you shouldn't get a big head about. Instead, your heart should overflow with gratitude that God would include you in this glorious thing through the ages called “The Church.” May the Church proclaim the wondrous message the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

For All the Saints:

For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

For the Apostles’ glorious company,
Who bearing forth the Cross o’er land and sea,
Shook all the mighty world, we sing to Thee:
Alleluia, Alleluia!

For the Evangelists, by whose blest word,
Like fourfold streams, the garden of the Lord,
Is fair and fruitful, be Thy Name adored.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

For Martyrs, who with rapture kindled eye,
Saw the bright crown descending from the sky,
And seeing, grasped it, Thee we glorify.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
All are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of glory passes on His way.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
And singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost:
Alleluia, Alleluia!

The Glory of God In Creation

How thankful are we to God for the beautiful creation He has given? Often I think, and observed, that instead of have gratitude, we take it for granted. The main proponent of this I think is our media soaked society. We are all looking for the latest “Wow” factor. Be it visual effects or cinematography, you fill in the blank. We've gotten so distracted by having the latest things (particularly in media) that we have become discontent. Or to put it in other words, we are so obsessed with the fake that reality has become boring. We are obsessed with the midst that covers majesty of the mountains and we beckon more of it to come.

Now some might be asking if it is fair you think of media as fake. Well, lets think about it. First off, if you are watching a movie and the electricity would all of a sudden turn off, does that story that you were watching really exist. The answer is plainly, no. Ah, some of you might say, what if it is a true story? (thinking particularly in the field of movies) So what? The watching of or the telling of does not make the story “real”. Now understand what I'm trying to say, I use the word “fake” very intentionally. A lot of books are “fake”. Almost any type of media has some form a “fakeness” to it. My point is that we are obsessed with it. We play with fakeness; we love fakeness. Another word would be “trivial”. We have a become a trivial/fake oriented culture basing our lives on things that don't exist. So turn off the TV or computer or video games and read God's word and then go outside and observe God's creation.

Why do I start this way? Because unless you understand the last paragraph you will not be thankful nor comprehend the beauty in which God has created for our enjoyment and the proclamation of His name. In junior high (and a little beforehand), I was obsessed with video games. I must have played hours on end on that pathetic game console. Just before high school, the Lord called me to music (specifically organ) and that got me away from video games, but there was still this fascination with media (movies and TV for the most part). It may not have been what it was in the past, but it was still there non-the-less. I would talk to people and we would talk about a living cell or something of that nature and I remember saying things like “isn't God's creation amazing” and I remember realizing that I knew that God's creation was amazing but indeed I didn't feel/comprehend how amazing it was (I'm still on that path of comprehending the amazingness of God's creation by the way). Then my mind would go back to when I was younger and first hearing these things, learning things about creation that blew my mind to pieces. So in essence, at that time, I was taking God's creation for granted and was over-occupied with special effects.

Then during my senior year of high school, I was taking a church history class and part of that was to read and then write a biography on someone in church history. I chose Jonathon Edwards. I remember reading about Edward's childhood and how he would watch nature for hours. I remember thinking in the back of my head, “well that's boring.” However, I do think that was the starting point of gaining more of an appreciation of creation.

It didn't really take off until I started studying at Moody Bible Institute in downtown Chicago. Where you are surround by everything but God's creation (I use the phrase loosely). All you have is buildings, no fields, no stars, no forests. On top of that, for the first few years that I was at Moody, you couldn't watch movies in your dorm (not really that bad of a rule, but it has changed). Therefore a combination of the city (and not being able to get away from the city) and the lack of media, I started appreciating more things in creation.

Another person that has helped people regain an appreciation for creation is C.S. Lewis. If you have read (if you haven't, you should) any of his fantasy books (Chronicles of Narnia, The Space Trilogy, etc.) you will notice that Lewis is able to describe the world he is thinking very much like painting a picture with words. How is he able to do this? Through observation and appreciation of creation.

Why do I even bring up this topic? Psalm 19:1- “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”(ESV) Creation is a small part of the glory of God, and since Christ is creator of it, that means He is better than it. Actually Christ is the completeness of the glory of God in which creation takes a small part of.

Think about it though, the atom that is so tiny we can't seen without a powerful microscope which makes up molecules (still to small to see) which makes up the basic elements that you and I are made and I am a one person in the midst of millions of people in Chicago and Chicago is one of hundreds of cities in America and America is part of the world and our world/earth is a part of our solar system and our solar system is a part of the Milky Way Galaxy, which is 100,000 lightyears across (takes light 100,000 years to go from one end to the other) and has at least 200 billion stars [is your mind blown yet? I've got more], and the Milky Way has neighbors that are bigger than itself and as the Hubble Space Telescope has shown, to the limits of the “known” universe, is that there billions of galaxies all with 200 billion or more stars in the “known” universe. What about the “unknown” universe? And scripture states Psalm 147:4 - “He[God] determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.”(ESV)

Zooming in back on our little/tiny/dinky part of the universe, have you ever felt the wetness of water? How about the very nature that you have breathe this very moment? Or that the sun came up once again? This past summer I was able to observe a orb spider (I think it was a orb spider) making its web. It was absolutely fascinating! Now I can just image girls (and guys) going, “Eeewww....spiders.” Have you ever thought that it is spiders (and other insects and animals) that keep down the pest population like misquotes and gnats? Anywho, the spider was on the last step of the web, which is the laying of the sticky silk in a spiral fashion. It was amazing how it was measuring the distance between threads with it's legs and how it would patiently work around the web fastening the sticky silk as well as adjusting the web here and there, tightening, tweaking parts of it. Until it was finished and the spider then went off the web to wait for its prey. I also speculated how that God provides for a spider. A small insignificant spider and how more so He will provide for His children.

So what do you think of creation? What do I think of creation? What do we think of creation and to what it points to? As a disclaimer, I am not a environmentalist, by name. Creation points to something greater than itself. It points to, however, does not tell the story of Christ. Creation doesn't save. Plato had an amazing view of creation and actually very close to the Christian world view, but he was still a pagan and quite far from Christianity. I find Plato and example of what Romans 1 talks about the common man being without excuse that there is a God. Still, the only way of salvation is through Christ.

One more thing I'm going to cover is how creation affects our worship of God through Christ. If I were to mention the word “awe” as in that you stand in awe of something. Modernly speaking, we don't have a clue on what the word means. The dictionary defines the word “awe” as “a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder.” This is helpful but I still don't think it communicates what awe is. Actually in today's mindset, it's not preferred to be in awe of something because if your in a awe of something, your in awe of something great than yourself and also with our “self-poisoned” air we don't think of awe as being important. As a result what is thought of when we see or hear the word “awe” is probably distorted and we forget what it means. This is where I find creation helps (in accordance with God's word), by making a connection to the word. If you go to the Grand Canyon (or some other landmark that is incredible), I can guarantee that you will not be jumping, clapping, or anything that you might do when you feel good. Instead, you stand there and soak it in and you realize how small you are as you gaze at the uniquely crafted walls. The reality of your finiteness stares you in the face as you walk close to the edge and see the 1,000+ foot drop beneath you. In that instance the Grand Canyon has more to say than what your vocabulary consists of therefore you remain silent. How much more should we be in awe of God who created the Grand Canyon? Now does this mean that praise, prayer, or in general human response is not apart of worship? No, my point is that the adoration (awe) has been lost from worship (when I use “worship” I mean the lifestyle of worship, not specifically music). May we look with awe, wonder, fear, and reverence to the Lord Almighty who sent His Son to die for sinners and on the third day rose again from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of the Father Almighty. To Him be the glory forever.

The First Update in 3 Years!

Hello to those who might check this from time to time (or never have checked at all) and have lost hope of seeing any sign movement on this blog. As one may notice, I've revamped the design and figured that this blog could still have new life put into it after 3 years. So here it is. I've got some ideas that have gathered over the years on we'll see if it is possible to get them to work. In the meantime hold tight. (Things have definitely changed in 3 years here on blogspot....[cough]I mean blogger............I've been away too long.)

By the way, if your interested I have tried wordpress and I have the equivalent (perhaps better than) of the old "The Organist" blog. theorganistnews.wordpress.com

Made For Glory Series (IV)

Part IV – What Christ Did to Restore God’s Glory

What hope is there for mankind if we are destined to eternal wrath for sinning against an infinite, holy God? First, what has to happen for God to even consider not crushing us under His wrath in hell? Our debt must be paid. God would not be just to ignore His name being dragged through the mud. Therefore, again, the debt must be paid so that we can be pardoned. Is this all? Can we make our way to eternity with God on just the basis of forgiven sin? No, our debt might be paid, but the paid debt is no good without change. Therefore God requires that the debt must be paid and that we must be made holy to enter His eternal kingdom. How can man do that? It’s impossible. This is made clear in Matt. 19:16-26 with Jesus speaking to the rich young ruler. Christ said “it is easier for the camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”. Then the disciples say “Then who can be saved?”; Christ finishes by saying, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." This is where Christ is made so glorious. Christ came to earth to die for sinners. By Christ dying on the cross He pays the debt of sin (that’s called justification) and then the Holy Spirit indwells and begins what is called sanctification where he changes the life of the individual. This is available to all who believe that Christ died for their sin and who repent (180 degree turn, literally) and turn away from their sin and follow Christ.
John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Acts 3:19 - "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;
Act 20:20-21 -- how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable,
and teaching you publicly and from house to house, 21 solemnly testifying to both Jews
and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Made for Glory Series (III)

Part III – What Man did to Deserve Eternal Destruction and Hell

Now here is where we come in. I talked about in Part II that God loves Himself more than anything and what I am going to talk about is how man offended (lack of a better term) God’s God-centerness and His glory. The list in Romans 3:9-23 is probably one of the grimmest pictures of mankind in the Bible, and in verse 23 Paul sums the list up with “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” So, when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden (they were perfect before God and glorified Him in whole), they made themselves the center of glory instead of God, therefore God , not receiving the glory due to His holy name condemns all mankind to an infinite debt of glory that needs to be paid and that cannot be paid by humans themselves. So, unless another way of paying the debt is supplied, every human being that will ever live on the earth will have to pay that debt eternally by being in hell when they die.

To see how serious God is about His glory we must look at Romans 1. In Romans 1:23 we see that God starts the judgment here on earth. “And [wicked men] change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made corruptible by man – and the birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.” (NKJV) The word “change” could be translated “exchange” so read it in that sense, “and [wicked men] exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”(ESV) I put the English Standard Version (ESV) in here because it better explains what is happening in the verse. So let’s review to make sure we’re on the same page, the ungodly and the unrighteous men (vs. 18) exchange the infinite glory of God for a finite image made with hands. Let’s read on in verse 24 an see how God reacts (so to speak). “Therefore [Paul’s building off the last verse] God gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor they’re bodies among themselves.”(NKJV) John Piper puts it in perspective that God gives them up to the swamp of their choice to drown in.

I understand that this part is very grim, but I’m going to talk about the one and only hope in Part IV – “What Christ did to Restore God’s Glory”

Made for Glory Series (II)

Part II – God’s Glory

To understand what being made for glory is, we must understand God’s glory. God loves__________, what would you put in that blank? Probably the most common word we would put in there is us, or believers. This is true, God loves believers, but there is a better word to put in the blank, namely, God. So, God loves God – Wait a minute, that’s vanity, you might say. But lets think about it, since God is the creator of the universe and has complete control over it and being the greatest being in the universe, it would be idolatry (placing something minor in the place of something great) for God to love anything more than Himself.

The word for glory in the Greek is δόξα or doxa and it has the idea of majesty, praise, and the verb δοξάζω or doxazo has the idea to magnify. So, God loves God and therefore glorifies/magnifies God because God is worthy of glory/majesty.

Isaiah 48:11 where God says He will not share His glory, in the context God has just finished saying that the reason He did all the things for Israel was for His name sake. Psalm 106:6-8 gets more detailed in the things that God did for Israel, splitting the Red Sea and leading them through the desert were acts by God to the glory of God (the text uses the phrase “so that He[God] might make known His mighty power).

Quickly I’m going to talk about God’s love in relation to His glory. The common thought of love in this day is to make much of someone. But probably a better way to define love is to want the best for someone. Now if God gave you the best computer, the fanciest car, the biggest TV, the best He wouldn’t love you because He isn’t giving you the absolute best thing, namely Himself. So therefore it is more loving for God to give Himself than for Him to give you a higher rank or a better view of yourself.

This is basically from the view point of God the Father; I will take a look what Christ has to do with this theology in later parts.

Next, Part III – “What Man Did to Deserve Eternal Destruction and Hell”

Made For Glory Series

Part I. – Introduction

The title of this blog is “Made for Glory”, and in the next few posts I will be explaining the theology behind it. “Made for glory”, in this day and age this term could have many meanings, for one it could mean you were made for praise of the a sport after you scored, or you were made to be praised in general, or you were made for a high office/rank. Consider, though, that you would not say at the birth of a child that it is made to have glory in basketball, but you would probably say as the child grows and show potential in playing basketball that he was made to be glorified in basketball; also realize how self-centered those possible meanings are. Theses are NOT the meanings implied by this blog. The meaning intended on Made for glory is not the self centered definitions that I have given in the above statements but is completely opposite. Compared to the above, the biblical definition of “made for glory” has known ever since the beginning of time and is anything but self-centered. When I refer to the term “made for glory” I mean that every human being, from birth, is made to enjoy the glory of God and be happy in it eternally. Everyone has a desire to be happy; the problem is though that many look for that happiness in the wrong things: money, sex, possessions, etc. These are not what the human race was created for. Mankind was made for God’s eternal, all satisfying glory. This is why people who pursue the riches of the world and don’t pursue the glory of God are never happy. They pursue to be happy but the happiness there are pursuing only last for a time. This is the reason Moses left Egypt, Hebrews 11:25 – “[Moses] choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God that to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.” Isaiah 43:7 makes clear that God made Israel (context of Isaiah 43) for His glory. Technically all things were created so that God would be glorified. Psalm 19:1 – “… the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.” I will continue this point in the next post. Until then…