Recently I went to service at a local Muslim Mosque.  A couple weeks ago I was asked to participate in a debate between myself and a Muslim Imam.  I went to the service and then talked with the Imam afterwards.  We are still working out the details for the debate, but I thought I would submit a post regarding my experience at the mosque.  The following comments could sound like I don’t see a difference between Islam and Christianity.  I assure you there are vitally important differences, but this post is about the experience not the theology.

I brought my friend Brian with me to the mosque.  Brian is preparing for the mission field and regularly has interactions with Muslims.  After we arrived and met our contact we entered the building where we immediately took off our shoes.  There is a part of me that like the idea of taking shoes off.  It reminded me of when Moses approached the burning bush and God asked him to remove his shoe because he was on holy ground.  From the moment you walk in the door there is a seriousness, an expectation that you are to encounter Allah.

We continued into the mosque,  got a little tour, and talked about the debate a little bit.  Of course the women and the men worshiped apart from each other.  It felt weird to leave and realize that I had not seen a woman the entire time.  That was brought to my attention by our contact who explained the correct way to leave the building so that we would not come in contact with the women.

The service itself had some similarities to attending church as well as some significant differences.  One of the differences was that we sat on the floor for the entire service.  That was very uncomfortable which got me to thinking once again about the commitment made to attend service.  I don’t know that I have ever complained about the chairs at our church, but after that experience, I never will.  I some times get the sense that evangelicals in America have become a little soft.  I don’t necessarily think comfortable chairs make us soft, but I do wonder what would happen if we had to sacrifice them.

The service consisted of a call to prayer, prayer, a message, and prayer.  No music, no cool video, no frills and the place was packed and they had multiple services.

Apart from the message being only half English and a few very important theological differences the message sounded pretty similar to what you might hear in an evangelical church.  The message was about marriage and following Allah’s principles to do it.

Perhaps the most uncomfortable part of the experience was not the floor, but the prayers at the end.  The Imam began to lead everyone in prayer which included standing up, bowing, kneeling, and so on.  There was only one problem, they were praying to Allah.  So Brian and I simply stood while everyone else was bowing and praying to Allah.  I kept thinking about Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego.  The uncomfortable part was when the two of us were standing while everyone else in the room was bowing and praying.

Fortunately the Muslims were very good hosts and even sat with us for a good hour after the service to answer our questions.

Homosexuality and same sex marriage has become a very hot topic and those who believe the Bible says it is a sin or that the government should not recognize same sex marriage have become reluctant to speak out.  There are several reasons for this, but one of them is not being able to deal with the personal attacks, faulty arguments, and accusations of those who believe homosexuality is natural and the government should recognize same sex marriage.  Too many have also been convinced that they were wrong in believing that homosexuality is wrong.  That is why I am taking the time to write a series of blogs dealing with some of the more common arguments used by the pro-homosexual crowd, specifically those proposed by Soulforce.  This being the second post in the series, you can read the first post here.

Premise #2

“Historically, people’s misinterpretation of the Bible has left a trail of suffering, bloodshed, and death.”

This premise has a grain of truth to it.  Certainly there are times when people have misinterpreted the Bible and then proceeded to do terrible things.   The list of examples given, in some cases, lacks historical context.  Even if all of the examples given are true that does not mean the Bible is being misinterpreted in this case.  Correct interpretation has lead to great good being done throughout history.  Think of the work Samaratans Purse, International Justice Mission, Compassion International, and many, many more.  Women being freed to vote, the end to slavery, churches that run to the aide of whatever community has been harmed by hurricane, tornado, or other natural disaster are all done in the name of Jesus, Christianity, and the Bible.

I’m not sure how the fact that misinterpretation of the Bible has lead to harm and bloodshed matters in this case.  In order for this to matter the author needs to show that the Bible has been misinterpreted in this case.  So far this person has not done this.  Fortunately the author admits, “Most of the people I know who say “the Bible condemns homosexuality” would never condone these acts.   Most Christians have no idea that the people killing gay and lesbian persons go around quoting those few verses of Scripture as justification.”  So let me be clear this kind of action or any kind of hate expressed towards gay people should be condemned by all Christians.

Premise #3

“We must be open to new truth from Scripture.”

This premise is based on the idea that some have misinterpreted the Bible and should be open to correcting their belief.  This of course goes both ways.  In other words the author of this article could be the one who is wrong and no belief is without consequences.  We should not be open to new truths, but we should be open to changing our minds if our beliefs are mistaken.  Still the author has not given any valid reason for believing the Bible does not teach that homosexuality is a sin and given what appear to be pretty strait forward passages on this issue the burden of proof would be on those who are pro-homosexual.

I do agree with the author when they say, “I believe with all my heart that the Holy Spirit is still teaching us. When we reconsider the texts that are used by some people to condemn God’s gay children, we must fervently seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance, or we risk being misled by our own prejudices.”  What I don’t believe is that the Holy Spirit is teaching something different from what the original text intended.  There is nothing in Scripture that suggests the Holy Spirit would ever do that.

Premise #4

“The Bible is a book about God — not a book about human sexuality.”

Certainly sex is not the purpose of the Bible, but that does not mean the Bible doesn’t have anything legitimate to say about sex.  The Bible isn’t about war, but it does address the issue of war and gives us good principles by which we can judge whether a war is just or not.  The bible isn’t about parenting, but it does have a lot of valuable things to say about parenting in the book of Proverbs for instance.

No the Bible isn’t about sex, but it does say a lot of things about sex.  What is interesting is that right after saying the Bible isn’t about sex the author then lists several verses dealing with sex.  The Bible talks about incest, rape, fornication, procreation, beastiality, adultery, purity, and homosexuality.  Song of Songs is a book in the Bible that talks a lot about sex.  There are more than 70 verses in the NIV that use the word “sexual.”  There are countless more passages that deal with sexual topics.  It makes sense that if God created people he would have a lot to say about how they would relate to each other and since sex is the means by which procreation takes place it would also make sense for him to have something to say about that.

Next week we will begin to deal with some of those passages that talk specifically about homosexuality.

This video echos the mantra of so many people today.  Saying, “I hate religion, but I love Jesus” doesn’t say what people think it does.  What people don’t understand is that as soon as you say you believe in something…like Jesus…you have dogma which means you have religion.  Jesus was not anti-religion, he was anti-bad religion.  There is a difference and it is worth pointing out.  Instead of bashing all religion we should be defending good and true religion.  James 1:27 says, “ Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

Republican may not mean Christian, but neither does Democrat.

Religion may have started some wars, but not all religions are equal in this way.  Some religions seem to be more violent than others.  For instance the Crusades were to defend Jerusalem against the Muslims.  In the last century more people have been killed in wars that were based not on religion but ideology.  Communism and Naziism are non-religions ideologies responsible for very bloody wars.  In reality non-religious ideology has cause more death and war than religion…so it seems that as a general rule religion is less bloody than non-religion.  To read more about this, click here.  When you begin to consider the good done by religious organizations like Samaritan’s Purse, International Justice Mission, Compassion International, and many, many others it seems religion and especially Christianity does not start wars but instead ends unjust wars and protects those who are in need of protection.

Religion does build churches, but most of them are not huge.  Even the huge churches often do feed the poor or support organizations that do.  This platitude sounds good, but is simply untrue.

Our church along with many others has a ministry specifically to help those who have gone through divorce to heal.

Some religion is behavior modification, but not all.  If he is talking about Christianity, he needs a theology lesson.  Salvation (justification) comes by grace, but that is not license to sin.  Sanctification is the process of becoming more holy.  Sanctification does include behavior modification.  If Christians go on sinning they are called hypocrites, but if they don’t then they are legalistic.  It’s a no win situation.

“I aint judgin, I’m just sayin quit puttin on a fake look”  That sounds like judging to me, he seems to be claiming that many are being hypocrites.

“I love the church, I love the Bible, and yes I believe in sin.”  Apparently the church is not part of a religion…I’m confused.

Jesus and religion are not opposite.  Jesus is the work of God, but the church is the Bride of Christ not a man made invention.

“Religion says do, but Jesus says done.”  Let’s not forget the Bible says do and so does Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount among other places.  There are plenty of commandments in the Bible and if I’m not mistaken there are ten written by the finger of God himself (The Ten Commandments).  It is true the actions of Jesus accomplished what the law could not, but that does not give us reason to ignore the commands of God.

Let me end this post by saying this guy gets the gospel right and I am thankful for that.  My concern is that he seems to group the church and religion together and he does a pretty good job of bashing them both.  The church is the Bride of Christ, the chosen vehicle to deliver the gospel to the world.  Though the church needs to be corrected from time to time, we should defend, cherish, and love her.  Christianity is a religion in spite of of this popular platitude.

Recently Rick Lawrence of Group Magazine published the results of a survey of 20,000 plus teens answering the following questions:

• What would you like to do More of in your church’s youth ministry? (these results were published in the latest print version of Group)
• What is your biggest challenge in growing deeper in your relationship with God?
• What is your biggest regret in your relationship with God?
• What is your biggest hope in your relationship with God?
• If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I found the published results to the first question to be mostly bothersome and frustrating.  It seemed to me that there was too much emphasis on games and activities, hang out time, and other similar types of things.  What was encouraging was what came in at #1 even if only by a little bit…Learning about Jesus.  This isn’t the story though.  The story, in my opinion, is what is found in the rest of the survey published online here.

As a dad for the last 13 years I have slowly learned that what my child wants is much different than what that child needs.  Is it really surprising that students want to have more fun?  No, of course not.  What is surprising is the number of parents, youth pastors, and leaders that listen to this and go no further.  Teenagers are adolescent minds that have not fully developed.  This does not discredit their answers; it just means that those of us with fully developed minds (some more than others) should take this into consideration when reading these results.  Example:

• The #1 answer regarding what they want more of may be learning about Jesus, but Help in understanding the Bible (our primary source regarding Jesus) doesn’t show up until #12 followed by learning about the New Testament, sermons that focus on the Bible doesn’t show up until #36, a Bible study that focuses on a book of the Bible doesn’t show up until #38.

America has been blessed and teens in America have seen the blessing but not the cost.  Because of this and other cultural factors they often see what they want, but don’t realize what is required.  This survey brings this perception to the forefront.

The most significant question asked was “What’s the biggest challenge in growing deeper in your relationship with God?”  The answers were no surprise.  The top 3 answers can be boiled down to two:  schedule and parents.  Even busyness is a parent issue.  Parents model the importance of spiritual things by how they manage their time and it is the parents role to help students learn to manage their time.

There are many other significant observations that could be made.  I think this survey is important and should be read and gone over by every youth ministry professional that can get their hands on it, but I want to end by bringing things full circle.

Students may want to learn about Jesus, but don’t want to study the Bible, they want to go to church because it is fun or because their friends are there, but they don’t want to listen to good teaching.  Some may want to be more spiritual but aren’t willing to participate in spiritual disciplines.  The job of the Youth Pastor is to help students fall more in love with God.  That doesn’t mean we don’t do the fun stuff they want, but it does mean we often do things they need,  but don’t necessarily want.

So what?  Well, that is up to you as a parent, youth pastor, or youth leader.   As we think about our philosophy of ministry we could ask these kinds of questions:

• Am I giving students enough of what they need?
• Am I helping students understand what is required in order to get what they want?
• How do we give students enough of what they want (keeping it attractive) and at the same time make sure they are getting what they need?
• What is it that students need?  What is the most effective way to give that to them?

Not to long ago I had a long Facebook discussion about the issue of homosexuality.  That particular discussion was more political in nature and did not address (at least not in depth) what the Bible has to say on the issue.  An organization called Soulforce has, as one of its resources, an online article that addresses what the Bible says about this issue.  I might point out that according to their web site Soulforce does not claim to be a faith based organization.  Still, the arguments used are the typical arguments used by those in the homosexual community.  It is for that reason I will be addressing these arguments over the next several weeks.  Their article can be found here.  Well, here it goes.

There are a couple of things I noticed about the introduction to this article that were bothersome to me.  The author does not reveal who they are.  I looked for a by line at the beginning and the end of the article and did not see one.  Second, it was also bothersome to me that this person claims to have studied at a conservative seminary, but does not say which one.  The identity of this person and the identity of the seminary do not change the validity of the arguments presented, but I find it odd.

The author has 8 premises and the first one is this, “Most people have not carefully and prayerfully researched the biblical texts often used to condemn God’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender children.”

There is probably some truth to this statement.  Most people are not pastors and have not learned the skills necessary to study these things on a scholarly level.  Most people probably haven’t taken the time to read a book or look up all the passages in Scripture that deal with homosexuality.  The assumption in this statement is that if they had carefully studied this issue they would come to a pro-homosexual position.  Just because most people haven’t studied it, that doesn’t mean that all of those who believe the message of scripture speaks of homosexuality as a sin have not studied it.  As a matter of fact many who continue to speak against homosexuality have studied this issue very carefully.

The author spends time in the introduction talking about the importance of “rightly dividing the word of truth” and then under the first premise this person speaks about Biblical ignorance.  This person then lists three things about the Bible which they believe most Christians do not know.  Those things are:

• Jesus says nothing about same-sex behavior.  (true, but Jesus does talk about marriage)
• The Jewish prophets are silent about homosexuality. (again true)
• Only six or seven of the Bible’s one million verses refer to same-sex behavior in any way — and none of these verses refer to homosexual orientation as it’s understood today.  (This statement is not true)

This last statement is disturbing.  For a person who claims to have 50+ years of studying the Bible and claims ignorance on the part of others, it amazes me that they would think there are one million verses in the Bible.  There aren’t even one million words in the bible and there are approximately 30,000 verses in the Bible (Check this here).

I realize we have not yet started to deal with Scripture itself, but we will begin to do that next week as we deal with the next two premises the author presents.  They are:

“Historically, people’s misinterpretation of the Bible has left a trail of suffering, bloodshed, and death.”

and

“We must be open to new truth from Scripture.”

Many people make resolutions to change something about there life each year, perhaps you are one of those people.  Few people are successful in making those resolutions reality.  There are at least a couple reasons why and if these obstacles can be overcome, then perhaps 2012 can be the year you succeed.

Ecclesiastes says, “What has been is what will be,  and what has been done is what will be done,  and there is nothing new under the sun.”  Of course Solomon isn’t saying nothing anywhere is new or that old habits can’t be replaced by new good ones.  Instead Solomon is pointing out the consistency of human nature.  In other words human nature stays the same.  When it comes to changing habits whether we are talking about eating habits or spiritual habits human nature, our own nature, will not change.  That doesn’t mean don’t make a resolution, it does mean be ready for the difficulty.

Romans 7:19 says, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”  Changing habits, especially sinful ones is a war that takes place in the mind and the heart.  That is why we must renew our minds continually.

Ultimately we must remember that, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”  This is Paul’s answer to his own question of who can save him from the sin that continuously battles against him.  Our strength in doing what is good and right in 2012 must come from the understanding that Christ’s death conquers sin; partially now and completely later.

Our strength is in Christ, but the battle is in our mind.  That is why Paul also says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  The question is how?  How do we renew our minds?  The answer is simple, knowledge and wisdom.  Gain knowledge by studying the scriptures and grow in wisdom by applying that knowledge to your habits and resolutions.

I don’t think there is anything magical about starting to change things on the new year, we should simply change things when they need to be changed.  That is why my resolutions are a continuation of things I have already begun.  That said, here they are:

• Get completely out of debt with the exception of my house this year.  (we have already paid off my school loans)
• Memorize 25-30 new verses this year. (many of them will come fro one passage of scripture)

That’s it, just two.

I have been often told that Christians would be viewed in a more positive light if they were for things, not against them.  This has often been said to me by Christians and non-Christians alike.  So here are some things Christians should be for:

• Christians should first and foremost be for loving God.  What it means to love God is a little more complicated, but 1 John 3 suggests that obedience is how we show God love.  This often means accepting God’s commandments as good and true even if we don’t particularly like those commandments.
• Christians should be for loving others.  Of course this is often misunderstood as well.  We like to talk about love being kind, patient, gentle and so on;  perhaps we should consider all of 1 Corinthians 13 when we think about how to describe love.  Love “does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in truth.”  This means if we are to be for loving others we cannot simply accept wrongdoing even if a person claims that wrongdoing is part of who they are.  This leads us to the next thing we should be for:
• Christians should be for the truth.  Being for truth often means exposing that which is untrue…of course that is where Christians are told they should be for more things rather than against them.
• Christians should be for showing compassion, but that does not mean we don’t speak truth.  Instead this just means we speak truth in the most compassionate way possible, we minister to those in need, and do what we can to lift up the oppressed.
• Christians should be for right/holy living.
• Christians should be for marriage between a man and a woman.
• Christians should be for protecting the life of the unborn.
• Christians should be for getting as many people involved in a relationship with Jesus as possible.
• Christians should be for seeing people go to heaven.
• Christians should be for a good work ethic.
• Christians should be for personal responsibility.
• Christians should be for the public expression of faith.

Being for certain things means that you are also against some things, so here are a few things Christians should be against:

• Christians should be against anything that undermines what they are for.
• Christians should be against changing our theology because of life circumstances (though life circumstances are a good reason to reevaluate our theology).  In the end our theology should come from Scripture and be applied to life.
• Christians should be against separating our faith from public life or any area of life.
• Christians should be against evil.
• Christians should be against hell.

When Christians speak against some things it is because of what we are for.

A few weeks ago Christopher Hitchens a famous atheist who was active in his belief that God does not exist passed away.  Hitchens has debated the whos who of Christian apologists including William Lane Craig, Alister McGrath, and many others.  How should Christians feel about someone like Hitchens dying?  The answer is simply, sad, upset, disappointed, etc…

It is true that Hitchens was on a crusade against theism, especially Christianity.  His attacks on Christians were leveled with quick wit and very often sharp points.  He was no friend of the Christian cause.  I believe he did, however, seek truth and simply remained unconvinced.  The Christians attitude toward those who actively fight against Christianity should be one of compassion.  If Christianity is true and if we do indeed have good reason to believe it is true then we should not be fearful of being challenged.

I believe Hitchens now has sufficient evidence to believe in the Christian God and it deeply saddens me that he could not be convinced prior to his death.

Is God causing the Broncos to win?  Sounds ridiculous when you say it out loud, but could it be?  Some sports commentators have said things like, “Surely God is not interested in football games, if he was then wouldn’t the team with the most Christians always win.  Doesn’t God have better things to do?”  It’s just a game, why would God care?

I’ll answer the question I posed in a strait forward way, but first let’s think about this.  Is God interested in the details of our lives?  I think the answer to this question is obvious…YES.  Matthew 6:25-34 seems to make this clear.  God does care about each of us, but that doesn’t mean whoever offers up the most prayers for their team will help their team win.  Maybe God has other purposes in mind.

What is God’s purpose?  This is the crux of the issue.  Many have suggested that the reason God created mankind was to love mankind and be loved by mankind.  It appears that God’s covenant with Abraham had within it the purpose of making God known among the nations.  If you follow this general idea through the Old Testament it seems to be consistent.  In the New Testament the same would be true.  Before Jesus left the earth he told the disciples to share the gospel, make disciples, and be a witness.

Does Tim Tebow leading the Broncos to comeback win after comeback win accomplish these purposes?  Perhaps.  If Tebow prays for God to get involved and help the Broncos win maybe God would be inclined to get involved in order to Give Tebow a larger platform from which to proclaim God’s greatness.

After doing an extensive search in the Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic texts I have found no mention of Tebow or the Broncos.  In the end I have no idea whether God is causing the Broncos to win or giving them a helping hand in some way.  I don’t think it is a stretch to think it is possible, but I would not presume to know the mind of God apart from what he has revealed and He hasn’t said anything to me.

This is an excerpt from a message John Byrne did at Launch a leadership conference for students. The title of the message was “What is the Gospel?” Feel free to check out the Launch web site www.launch2012.com