Always Thinking

I'm not really sure just how old I was when my favorite boyhood movie played at the drive-in. It was probably the late 50's when The Day The Earth Stood Still made its impression on me that this is the best movie ever to be shown anywere. This black and white feature had a space ship, a spaceman, and plenty of overwhelming power to overtake any military threat. To a young boy, it had everything necessary to be one to remember. I had the occassion to see it a few more times before it seemed to be lost in the movie house archives forever.

 

Then it happened. The Hollywood machine started advertising the remake of this wonderful film and I waited in anticipation for its release. So, here I am in Lancaster, California and a beautiful Sunday afternoon seemed like the perfect time to pay the ticket price. Well, let me just say that I should have saved my time and money. Hollywood has once again taken a classic movie and inserted their political agenda of Greenism - see blog of August 26th. Not only that but they give the Keanu Reeves' character God-like qualities of granting healings and second chances. In the end, although he came to save earth from us, we get a second chance to be nice to the earth so it can be saved. This movie makes me puke!

 

Save your time and save your money. It is a very disappointing and shallow story line and not worthy of Mr. Reeves' talents.

A friend of mine, Pastor Jamie Hamblet, recently wrote an article I thought should be passed along to my readers. I print it here for your benefit because I could not say it any better.

 

Do you want to believe? I mean, really want to believe? That's the question the latest “X-Files” movie poses. It’s in the title – “Do You Want to Believe?” and, of course, ‘believing’ in the X-files world covers a multitude of ‘difficult to believe in’ things like alien abduction, crazy government conspiracies, shadowy smoking dudes and even your run-of-the-mill creepy crawly monsters of the week. It’s a dark and disturbing film and was released on the heels of yet another dark and disturbing film, “The Dark Knight.” But, of course, that’s just my opinion. Because even though - as the X-files series proclaims - ‘the truth is out there,’ there is no absolute truth, so everyone’s ‘truth’ is just opinion, right?

 

See if this sounds familiar: “That may be true for you, but it's not true for me.” Sure - when we’re talking about what Starbucks drink

we like the best or what we like on our massive burritos at Panchero’s. Those are ‘truths’ that you can put under the category of

opinion. But no absolutes? Anywhere? The whole logical problem with ‘there are no absolutes’ is that’s an absolute statement about the

non-existence of absolutes!

 

Whether or not absolute truth exists is not a question of how we feel. I may feel like I don’t want gravity to exist so I can fly to work and save on gas; but when I jump in the air, I will absolutely kiss the pavement. We can ignore the claims of Christ and the principles in the Bible but that will absolutely get us into physical, spiritual and eternal trouble. Here’s the deal. As humans, we have limited knowledge. And with limited knowledge, we simply cannot make absolute negative statements. For example - ‘there is no God.’ To absolutely affirm that, we would have to know everything, have been everywhere, seen everything, etc. Again, to absolutely know there are no absolutes, we would have to have absolute knowledge, which then would create a category of absolute truth and defeat the very concept we tried to

prove.

 

Whew! Does your brain hurt? Mine does - so let’s get down to why I bring this up. I believe in absolute truth because Jesus did. Check out these three extremely clear statements: Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6). Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." (John 8:31-32). And my personal favorite: Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. (John 17:17).

 

First, Jesus not only claims that absolute truth exists but also that He is the truth! He speaks the truth and acts out the truth. In fact, Jesus makes the statement ‘I tell you the truth’ over 70 times in the gospels. So if absolutes don’t exist, then Jesus is a liar. He also is referring to Himself when He says, “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.” What Jesus means is that we must abide in His Word, which is necessary for true discipleship. Abiding opens the way to knowing the truth more fully; to the point of being set free through it. Finally, Jesus calls the words of God ‘truth.’ Since the Bible is the inspired word of God, we have 774,746 words of absolute truth!

 

I get where some people are coming from. They think it's arrogant for a limited human being to say their beliefs and interpretations about life are absolutely true and should be shared by everyone. I don’t think this makes us arrogant; it makes us confident. So, if you’re like me, you want to believe. And we can, because the truth really is out there. Let’s open our Bible and talk to the Savior - because He will tell us the truth…the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

 

 

I have not heard it anywhere else yet and I do not know if I am the first to coin the phrase or not, but it deserves to be talked about in the right light. And that is Greenism. You know what I am talking about. This whole idea of worshiping the Earth through feeling responsible enough about the earth's health that you arrange your whole life and your way of thinking around "being green"!

 

Now let me say that I am the first to not litter. All litter has its place and that is in the trash. Oh, and BTW, I love animals.

 

Having said that, let's get the right perspective on this whole green business. Proponents of Greenism will even try to quote Scripture to reinforce their views by saying that Man should not pollute what God has created and that we are supposed to protect the earth from destroying herself - and, yes, this means elevating animals to the level of having souls so we have to save them also. But one step at a time.

 

First, God did create the earth. Some Greenists got that point right. But God created the earth in a perfect state where nothing rotted or wore out or needed to be thrown away. It is due to our own fallen nature that we live in an imperfect world. But even on this corrupted planet, we are told to take dominion over the living creatures of the world and over the plants of the soil. We were even warned that it would be hard work. But we were not told or directed to save the planet! God never asks us to do that which He does not give us the power to do.

 

Second, Greenist personify the earth as a living being. God created the earth in a perfect state, but after the worldwide flood, God set the seasons that we now know. And with this He allowed measureable data that shows cycles having to do with our planetary characteristics. He has set its path and knows the number of its days. He alone decides its future destruction. The earth has no soul, but Greenists would have us believe that earth, Mother Nature, is a fragile creature that needs our help. Therefore, we must do what we can to help warm it or thaw it or prevent it from melting. Billions of dollars are being asked for and spent on endeavors man has no control over and will only be stymied at every attempt. Colossians tells us that there is only One who holds it all together - Jesus Christ!

 

Thirdly, Greenists assign human-like souls to that of the animals. While God did create each animal wonderfully and lovingly amazing, He did not give them souls. God was first to kill an animal and demanded many more to be killed to offer worship to Himself. We are instructed everywhere to use and harvest animals for our well being whether in war or peace. While it is nice to think Fido will be in Heaven with you, that simply is not the case. A new heaven and earth will be created one day and there will be animals - the lion will lay with the lamb, etc - but not the ones we knew. Greenists elevate animals to the level of created souls where someone can now be imprisoned for treating animals cruely - while our own children are killed for convenience. Animals can even inherit property! We will even not develop an area for fear of endangering a gnat!

 

What is this world coming to? Nothing new, actually. Man has long worshiped the created over the Creator. Let us not be caught in its web of deceipt.

When you make a move like we just did half way across the country, there are many items on the list that must be checked off in due time. Of course, there is the mail and forwarding of such, final bill paying and hook ups at the final destination, the locating of stores that you are used to using and re-establishing the infinite rewards cards that all these stores seem to push today. And, yes, there is the task of finding a church.

 

This is something we have had to do many times for various reasons. In our exuberance as a young Christians, it was all about the teaching. The church had to offer good solid bible study and expository exagesis. Then as the kids got older, the church needed a good youth program. And when they were well grounded and in college, we were looking for a challenge. Another time we were looking for a large church where we could just rest awhile (this plan never seems to work out). More recently we needed a place where the pastor had maturity and balance in his life (this is not found everywhere).

 

And so we began our search with a bit of trepedation but also knowing exactly what we were looking for. In addition to being doctrinely sound, a church with these characteristics:

 

1. Atonomy - the local body of Christ needs to be free of interference from civil government and denominational influences. This is especially so in this age of compromise and the twisting of scripture for the sake of unity and cultural pressures.

2. Elder rule - this is the only biblical form of government for the local church. BTW, the elders need to be spiritually mature and tested men.

3. Bible preaching - where the members are encouraged and taught to read and study the Scriptures for themselves. A healthy church is one where Christians live the truths of Scripture daily.

4. Gospel centered - where the simple Gospel of grace is not watered down to easy believism nor made a stumbling block by judgmental Mightier-than-Thous.

5. Youth oriented - an active youth group led by a man excited about Godly things. The youth are our future leaders and I want the church to be just as solid when I am an old goat.

6. Opportunity to minister - there has to appear to be room for us to use our giftedness.

7. Building - is there evidence that the body is not just standing still?

8. Friendly - how were we greeted? Anyone we invite will probably be greeted the same way.

9. Pastor - the pastor must have a sense of humor, be tried in the role of pastor, a faithful family, skilled at preaching, a man of integrity, and accountable to the elders.

 

Have we found this church? Maybe. We settled on one and we will dig in, join in, minister where the Lord permits and hopefully make it a better place than how we found it. Because that is what we do!

 

 

 

It is with excitement and a bit of sadness that we bid you all farewell. As most of you have gotten to know Cheryl and me, you know that we do not take our church family lightly. You opened up your hearts and homes to us these past five plus years and we have developed valued relationships to the point of you allowing us to minister to you in many ways. We want you to know that you have ministered to us as well and we will always cherish our time here with you.

 

We are on to the Seattle area by relocating closer to our grown children so that we can be a more influential part of their lives. This is at their request and we are thrilled at the opportunity it presents. We recently had our first grandchild so you can imagine what is ahead for us. This is the exciting part.

 

The bit of sadness comes as not being a part of the very exciting things I believe the Lord is doing in our midst at FEFC. I have resigned as Elder but will represent the Northern Plains Biblical Seminary in the Pacific Northwest. I look forward to this ongoing connection with FEFC. Cheryl will greatly miss the excellence we are accustomed to on the worship teams and we will both miss the wonderful worship and teaching the truth unequivocally from the pulpit. Please do not ever take this for granted. You are all well served in more ways than you may realize now.

 

Please know that when we find a new home church we will, of course, jump right in and minister as the Lord allows. Rejoice with us as we continue to strive to serve Him in all that we do. Our emails remain the same so please keep in touch.

 Until we reside in Heaven together, our love in Christ Jesus to you all.