Response to Theological Debates

This is not an ordinary blog post and really has little to do with the purpose of this website but, it is just something I believe needs to be said.  It is off the cuff and not necessarily intended to be professionally written.  Basically, it’s just me thinking out loud about something that has been bothering me.

I always try to keep an open mind when engaging in debate with somebody who thinks differently. I never want to make a decision about what I believe based on what others have taught, tradition, culture, education, intellectual reasoning, history, popular opinion etc… I want to hear from God. I want to hear from the Holy Spirit.  I want to be teachable…while not allowing myself to be deceived.  So, I pray a lot when I am listening to or reading about another’s take on a moral issue and what the Bible really teaches.  I have struggled so hard over this friends’ decision to support the LGBT agenda and stand against what he refers to as the Christian “right” (which I do not believe that the One True Church has a right or a left).  I don’t want my beliefs to be based on what I have always understood to be true because I might have been wrong.  Like many devout believers, I struggle with issues like torture (the harm of one to save countless others), women’s rights and roles in the church, and so much more.  I read lots of books that are outside of conservative Christian thinking to make sure I am not deliberately isolating myself from other teachings because I don’t want to know.   I do know this, however, when talking about rights, I truly believe we are entitled to nothing greater than Hell except for God’s grace.  I don’t believe Christians need to stand for their rights because Satan is the temporary ruler of this world until Christ returns.  Christians will never have rights here. We’re not supposed to. Our citizenship is in God’s Kingdom.  The constitution may say that we do, but biblically, the government doesn’t get to determine our rights, God does. He may have given Satan dominion but He is still in complete authority over Satan and all these people who cry for rights…they need to be crying out to the ONE who defines them all, not any government or man.

I’m going a little off topic for a moment to lead up to a point…I have felt called to ministry ever since the beginning of my walk with God but have never pursued it outside of women’s ministry because of what I have been taught that the Bible says.  Women are not supposed to teach men (I am not on board with this and still seeking God due to the compelling call that won’t go away). I still struggle to believe that the patriarchal way of things is not how it should be done.  I do believe that some of it is NOT biblical and there is plenty of clear evidence of women leading and teaching men in the early Christian church. I know there is clear support that Jesus instructed women to be the first to spread the gospel and it was a woman who he came to first and a woman who was the first to share the gospel with men by telling the disciples that Jesus had risen.  So, all my life, as I have denied that I have a call to serve as a “deaconess” or even as a shepherd to a church (which I still don’t believe I am called to do), I am now seeking God to show me the truth in this matter…ACCORDING to the scriptures.  However, on issues such as LGBT, you can’t just look at scripture face value and see clearly that this is acceptable in any form.  You have to go beyond scripture, really dig and really stretch; and this is why I stand on what I read and how it all fits in context.  I have read so many books and articles. I have heard many lectures and it’s all so convincing but I cannot reconcile it with scripture, (even when I read very convincing arguments from extremely reputable theologians in the field who are much more educated than I).

When it comes to women being pastors, I am still searching and praying. I am not convinced at this time in either direction. I am convinced that women should be able to baptize, to be deacons, and to teach classes with men present.  I even believe it’s okay for women to be in authority over men in some instances (such as a deacon).  I believe  this because I see ample evidence of it in the scriptures including the New Testament. I will not be brainwashed because I belong to a conservative Baptist denomination and I have to think like they dictate.  I don’t believe drinking alcohol is sin and I am sure I would be banned from volunteering and working in Baptist environments as a result. I am okay with this. I accept it. I probably will never be able to teach in a Baptist setting because I am being so brutally honest here, but, like every other believer, I have to stand on Truth as it is revealed to me through the scriptures. God calls us to be transparent.  I am not pretending to go along with what I do not go along with. That is lying and lying is sin.  To say that drinking alcohol is sin is not Truth. I understand that abstaining is best and I understand the reasoning behind this. But, I will not judge a person who drinks responsibly.  To call that person a sinner is to call Jesus a sinner.  He made the best wine for the people who were already drunk. According to what I have believed in the past, that would make him a sinner and also He would have been causing every drunk at that wedding to stumble.  It was not grape juice and it was probably very pure and very potent wine (and I imagine it was quite yummy to boot).  I have a bigger problem when it comes to gluttony with food than I do with drinking alcohol!  Hold me accountable for that!

I said all of this to say that I do believe that God’s Word is Truth.  I do believe that God is the Author and the Bible is divinely inspired. It doesn’t matter how right we think we are.  In the end all Truth will be revealed and I think that every single Christian is in for a few surprises. So, when I am reading and listening to others as they take a stand on an agenda from a different point of view…and they are Christians…I look at the measures taken to “prove” by scripture that they are correct and not really stretching and twisting and pulling things apart in order to make it fit with their agenda.

I get overwhelmed by these things and often start doubting what I believe and I have to go to God and pray.  I stand on my convictions.  I don’t believe I need to overly educate myself and do exhaustive research on everything debated about in scripture.  I think when we do that, we run the risk of letting human reasoning trump the conviction and truth revealed plainly by the Holy Spirit through God’s Word.

I believe Christian scholars are walking a very fine line and they need to beware.  Intellect is good until it becomes an idol. When we start relying too much on our intellectual abilities we rely less on the truth revealed by scripture through the Holy Spirit.  When we love people more than we love God, we can make scripture support people so they can have the best of both worlds…be Christians and live according to their version of the Truth.  I could make scripture say that I should be a pastor, or a deacon and I could leave my church based on that belief.  But, I believe that God has placed me where I am and even though I don’t agree on every level, I am where I am by divine appointment.  Personally, I probably wouldn’t agree on every level with any denomination or any one person for that matter.  Who would? What matters is that we respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit in a way that glorifies God.

I want to live by God’s Truth as revealed to me by scripture through the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit.

Read your Bible…cover to cover…and see how many “intellectuals” the God used and revealed Himself through.  I’m not by any means downplaying the importance of education.  I have a college degree myself.  I am not saying that we don’t need to do research to better understand the Bible. I am saying we must use great discernment and care to avoid letting our intellectual abilities overcome Truth that can only be revealed through the power of the Holy Spirit.

There is great division among those who call themselves part of the body of Christ.  I think somewhere in the middle of all the chaos and division, their lies a sleeping giant…the TRUE CHURCH.  I want to be a part of that body…at any cost.

To constantly go to great intellectual lengths to support an agenda…and take one hot topic, stretch it, twist it, research it and overanalyze it until it says what you need it to say…then invalidating what has been agreed upon for all time by Spirit filled believers…and using culture, history, language and such to reason away what was originally believed…if that is accomplished…then how can we believe that anything we have ever read or understood in God’s inspired, Holy Spirit revealed Truth?  If just one topic is invalidated then it causes the entire Truth to be called into question.  If what I have read recently is Truth, then nothing read in the Bible can be understood clearly without extreme intellectual and lifelong research on history, culture, tradition and experience. If this is true, then the Holy Spirit does not speak truth to the uneducated and the entire Bible should be called into question.  Moses penned the Pentateuch.  I don’t believe he had a degree in any type of theology.  If what I have read recently is true then, the Holy Spirit is not equipped to reveal truth apart from intellectual human reasoning which completely eliminates the need for faith and negates the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit.  Humans get the glory for their wisdom, not God. So, what’s the point?

From “Living in Abundance” via Facebook

THIS GIRL LOVES TO DANCE

I remember Daddy telling me “Just slack up on the rope. Let them have their way for a while, sooner or later they will hang themselves.” What he was trying to teach me was self-control in the presence of my enemy. Over the years, I have found that to be true.

Often times when faced with criticism, unfair judgement, or false accusations we want to prove ourselves. In those rash moments of defending ourselves we usually end up making our enemies case. Most of the time we walk away not defended, but defeated.

Yet, when we allow the truth to be revealed in God’s timing, our reputations are exalted and we gain respect of all involved including our enemy. Self-control is one of the hardest virtues to obtain. Yet, it is the most rewarding.

Our culture says the man who walks away is weak, yet, God says that man is strong. It takes a much stronger person to allow themselves to be wronged in order to protect others. The self-controlled knows that in due time, God will exalt them and set them above the enemy.

The shepherd, warrior David knew how hard it was to practice self-control. God had anointed him King, but he was hiding in caves fighting for his life. On two different occasions David could have taken the life of Saul, but instead David practiced self-control and waited for God’s timing.

In Psalms 30:10-12, David is praising God for being his helper. He is exalting not himself, but God as the victor over his enemies. In return, God rewards David.

I don’t know about you, but for me the greatest victories has been when God exalted me. Those times when I tried to exalt myself, I walked away more humiliated and shamed than if I had just walked away. Self control isn’t an easy thing to obtain. It is one of the most precious and valuable treasures to be found.

“Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!
O Lord, be my helper!”
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!”

O Lord, be our helper. Be merciful unto us and remind us that You are our validation. You are our vindicator. Remind us that in due time You will exalt us and turn our mourning into dancing. You will clothe us in gladness. Remind us to be faithful to do what is right, even when it seems to cost us dearly. In those times, we know that You will reward us. Let our glory be found in You and not in ourselves. Then all will see You and will sing Your praises, for in You is our life and our very existence. Without You we are nothing, but in You we are Kings and Queens. Thank You for Your love, grace and mercy. In Jesus Name, Amen.”

https://www.facebook.com/LivinginAbundanceJohn1010?fref=nf

“Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the LORD with all his might…” 2 Samuel 6:14