Friday, May 19, 2006

More on Strife

"For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice." (James 3:16)

What else causes strife, disorder and division? Well, selfish ambition. It is most obvious when you see a spirit of competition enter the Christian. What is really sad is that it can happen between churches and ministries. It is that impulse desire to get ahead and even if it is at the expense of other people. It comes from the thinking that I have to step on my neighbor to get ahead. But that is not how the body of Christ works. The Bible says the opposite. What is the second most important commandment in the Bible?

"'Love your neighbor as yourself." (Mark 12:31)

And who can forget, "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves." (Romans 12:10)

I love how the Bible describes the church? He describes his family of believers like a body. Oh but not just any body, His very own body!

"so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." (Romans 12:5)

It also says that,

"If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it." (1 Cor 12:26)

But we can be quite the opposite. If one part suffers, we rejoice and if one part is honored we get jealous. Wowm such foolishness! But that is how our twisted and carnal nature works! We all have it but we must crucify it daily! It is these kinds of desires that breed strife in the body of Christ.

Now, my eyes are sore again. See you soon!

Strife

It is really sad when we see churches dividing rather than multiplying. These experiences can be quite traumatic. There are so many situations that can cause churches and ministries to split. Do you know what causes divisions and strife? Have you read what the Bible said about this? Let’s take a look and see:

“Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.” (Proverbs 13:10)

People consumed with pride are all about themselves. You can see it everywhere. I remember being introduced to a person who started parading all their gifts, talents, and accomplishments to me. They seemed to have something to prove. Maybe they were compensating for low-self esteem or lack of self worth? I wasn’t sure if the person was tying to have me envy him but really I felt sorry for him. God even says, ‘But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)

Who can blame God? Pride is the desire to glorify self but God desires that we glorify him. The proud want to be worshipped and envied and want to become the object of people’s affection and love. How can God use such a person who is all about self and not about Him? He has no choice but to resist him? Remember the reason the Devil got kicked out of heaven?

"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." (James 4:1-3)

We also need to have our will in line with God's will. Our hearts and motives are not always in the same line as God. James makes it clear to us that if we want something for the wrong reason and we shouldn't wonder why we don't get it. Hearts need to be examined when we live for God. What are we doing it for? What is the reason? Is it to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength and to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30-32). This is the ultimate end off all our life acheivements. Have we done it so far? This is God's will for our life. Or have we been imposing our own will with a hidden agenda? Let God judge?

Well, I'd go further but now I have a headache! My eyes hurt from staring at this thing...

I'll come back later. Sorry to leave you in suspence!

Comfort in time of Need

It is really sad when we see churches dividing rather than multiplying. These experiences can be quite traumatic. There are so many situations that can cause churches and ministries to split. Some times it can happen when a church is associated with financial fraud. It can involve people the people we love, look up to, or are inspired by. Than we are left wondering, “How can this happen? Not him! Why? How? When? No!”

But even Jesus’ ministry was no stranger to that. He to had financial fraud in His ministry. Check out John 12:4:

“But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.”

I don’t want to sound insensitive to any of you if you have gone through a traumatic experience like this. I don’t know what to say except that I’m sorry it happened to you and hope you find hope and healing and the power to move on. Churches and people are not perfect! But our faith is in our perfect God who works all things together for good.

However, I’d like to leave you with some last Words of comfort:

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

(Hebrews 4:14-16)

Our God is not insensitive to our pain. He feels it to!

Thursday, May 18, 2006

More Da Vinci Bashing!

20 Big Lies in the Da Vinci Code

By James A. Beverley

Source: http://www.charismamag.com/display.php?id=12860

Don't be fooled. Here are just a few ways Dan Brown's best-selling book twists and distorts the truth of the gospel.

In a little more than three years The Da Vinci Code has become the best-selling adult novel of all time. It has also become the subject of intense debate among Christians because of its radical claims that undermine basic Christianity.

Why all the fuss over a work of fiction? The answer lies on Page 1, where author Dan Brown asserts that "all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate."

In reality, the novel is a model of inaccuracy in almost every subject it addresses. Critics have noted its mistakes in mathematics, French geography and even the layout of the Louvre. More important, Brown's jarring claims about Jesus, the Bible, secret societies and ritual sex are based on shallow research, sloppy investigation and careless thought. However, given the novel's popularity and the staggering bravado in its tone, it is necessary for Christians to provide a critique of its central blunders.

Here are 20 of them.

1.The Bible was invented by Roman Emperor Constantine in the fourth century.

The Da Vinci Code reports that "Constantine commissioned and financed a new Bible," one that left out the Gnostic texts and included the four traditional Gospels. In fact, Constantine had nothing to do with the making of the Christian canon. He is not even mentioned in the standard Cambridge History of the Bible. The traditional Gospels were recognized by virtually all Christians 150 years before Constantine.

2. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Gnostic Gospels are the "earliest Christian records."

Not so. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947 and date from 250 B.C. to A.D. 100. However, these documents have virtually nothing to do with Christianity but with various Jewish groups, rituals and ideas before and during the time of Christ.

The Gnostic Gospels offer a twisted and heretical version of the Christian faith, but they didn't come into existence until about a century or more after the death of Christ.

The earliest Christian records are the writings of the New Testament.

3. The Gnostic Gospels present a positive view of the feminine.

The Gnostic texts are said to picture a human, sexualized Jesus who embraced the sacred feminine. Actually, the Jesus presented in the Gnostic material is often simply weird, and the underlying ideology tends to be radically anti-feminine. Consider this bizarre passage from the Gospel of Thomas: "Simon Peter said to them, 'Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life.' Jesus said, 'Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven.'"

4. Early Christians did not believe Jesus was God's Son.

This is a bizarre claim, rooted in either willful ignorance or blindness to the obvious. After 2,000 years, people continue to debate whether Jesus is the Son of God. But what has never been subject to doubt is that early Christians confessed that Jesus is God's Son, as the following Scriptures indicate: "Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God'" (Matt. 16:16); "But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son" (Gal. 4:4).

5. The Council of Nicea (A.D. 325) invented the divinity of Jesus.

Contrary to Brown's claim, the famous church council met to clarify the divinity of Jesus, not create it. There are thousands of references to the divinity of Jesus in Christian literature and archaeology before the Council at Nicea. This includes the hundreds of claims in the New Testament and the witness of early church leaders through the second and third centuries.

6. Jesus was really a pagan or a witch.

No standard reference works on witchcraft ever include Jesus as a witch or pagan. The novel attempts to argue that Jesus was a copycat figure of ancient pagan deities. This view depends on totally ignoring the Jewish context of the life and teaching of Jesus. If Jesus had been a pagan or a witch, this would have been noticed by the Jewish leaders who opposed Him.

7. Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.

The novel claims that there are "countless references" to their union in ancient history and that the topic "has been explored ad nauseam by modern historians." First, there is nothing in the New Testament or other first century material about such a marriage. Second, there is no explicit mention of the alleged marriage in the Gnostic material of the second and third centuries. All we have in the Gnostic material is one reference to Mary as the "companion" of Jesus. That word, however, does not usually mean "spouse" or "wife."

8. Jesus and Mary had a child named Sarah.

The novel claims Mary was pregnant at the time of the death of Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea, her uncle, helped her move to France. There she gave birth to a girl she named Sarah. Mary and Sarah found refuge in the Jewish community in France. We are told that "countless scholars of that era chronicled Mary Magdalene's days in France." This is nothing but historical junk first made popular by the 1982 potboiler Holy Blood, Holy Grail. There are no ancient documents supporting any of these claims, and no scholars of that era chronicled these alleged events.

9. There was a smear campaign against Mary Magdalene in Catholic tradition.

To the contrary, Mary Magdalene receives positive attention in the Bible and in Catholic tradition. In fact, she is regarded as a saint, and her Feast Day is July 22. As a close disciple of Jesus, she was one of the first witnesses of His resurrection. The mistaken view that she was a prostitute did not arise until A.D. 591 when Pope Gregory I confused her with a prostitute mentioned in Luke 7:36-50.

10. A secret society named the Priory of Sion started in 1099 and has protected the bones of Mary Magdalene and documents about the bloodline of Jesus Christ.

This is one of the most significant blunders of The Da Vinci Code. The Priory of Sion was actually started in France on May 7, 1956, by a con artist named Pierre Plantard (1920-2000). The Priory was first a civic organization. In the 1960s Plantard created the mythology of a secret society led by figures such as Isaac Newton and Leonardo da Vinci.

11. Ancient documents about the Priory were discovered in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris in 1975.

The Da Vinci Code refers to these alleged parchments as Les Dossiers Secrets. These documents are not ancient but are actually forgeries done by Philippe de Chérisey (1925-1985), a co-conspirator with Plantard. They were not discovered by the French library in 1975 but were placed there by Plantard in 1967.

Both de Chérisey and Plantard admitted the hoax before their deaths. In fact, Plantard was forced to admit his fraud before Judge Thierry Jean-Pierre in a French court case in September 1993.

12. There are historical lists of the Grand Masters of the Priory of Sion.

Actually, when Plantard invented the Priory of Sion he copied most of his list of Grand Masters from lists of alleged leaders of other groups, such as the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, a secret society founded in America in 1915. Plantard also changed his list of Grand Masters as he adopted different conspiracy theories about his Priory of Sion.

13. The Holy Grail is not the cup used at the Last Supper but the bones of Mary Magdalene.

The novel states that "the quest for the Holy Grail is literally the quest to kneel before the bones of Mary Magdalene. A journey to pray at the feet of the outcast one, the lost sacred feminine."

The Holy Grail legends started about A.D. 1180 and continued through the 19th century. They never involved claims about the bones of Mary Magdalene. Isn't it amazing that no Priory of Sion member has ever given in to the temptation to reveal the location of the bones of Mary Magdalene?

14. The Knights Templar guarded the bones of Mary Magdalene and four huge chests of ancient documents about the bloodline of Jesus Christ and the French kings who descended from Him.

The Knights Templar is a religious military order founded in the early 12th century. Hugues de Payens, a French Knight, led eight comrades in the campaign to protect pilgrims to the Holy Land.

It has never been argued in the historical material about the Templars that they protected either Mary Magdalene or documents about French kings. These claims are the inventions of Pierre Plantard, who declared at one point that he was the descendant of Jesus and the proper heir to the French throne.

15. Leonardo da Vinci was once the Grand Master of the Priory of Sion.

The Priory started 437 years after the death of the great artist. Not one Leonardo da Vinci specialist in the entire world has supported the view that he once headed a pagan sex cult. James Beck of Columbia University calls this "total nonsense." Leonard da Vinci scholars have convened special conferences in order to debunk the novel's false claims about the famous artist.

16. Leonardo da Vinci placed Mary Magdalene next to Jesus in his famous painting The Last Supper.

In da Vinci's time everyone believed that this person was John, the beloved disciple. Renaissance art specialists have always noted that John was painted in a rather effeminate manner. The painting was not meant to reveal the identity of a woman but the tension created among the apostles after Jesus says to them, "'One of you will betray Me'" (Matt. 26:21). Of course, even if da Vinci put a woman next to Jesus in his painting, this would not tell us anything about the real Last Supper more than 14 centuries earlier.

17. The Catholic Church killed 5 million women during the Witchcraft Inquisition.

The women targeted as witches were freethinkers, scholars, priestesses, gypsies, nature lovers, mystics and midwives.

The novel radically misinterprets the nature and scope of the Inquisition. First, both men and women were targeted as witches. Second, the female victims were generally older and were not from any specific class or profession. Third, the deaths totaled no more than 100,000, counting both males and females. Most important, the Inquisition was rooted in the real belief that certain men and women actually worshiped Satan and performed diabolical acts of evil.

18. French President

Francois Mitterand ordered 666 panes of glass in the pyramid at the front entrance to the Louvre.

The novel adopts a false rumor that circulated in French society two decades ago. Mitterand did not order 666 panes of glass to be in the pyramid. In fact, the public relations office at the Louvre informed me that the pyramid actually has 673 panes of glass.

19. Early Jewish as well as Christian tradition involved sex ritualism in worship.

There is not a single hint in the entire Old Testament or in Jewish history that sex rites were part of temple worship. Jewish males did not engage in sex with priestesses in the temple. The word "priestess" is not even used in the Old Testament.

In the novel Jesus and Mary Magdalene are pictured as the ideal participants in an early Christian sex ritual. This wild claim has no basis in history, either in terms of early Christian tradition or even in reference to Gnostic documents.

20 True worship involves sex ritualism.

The Da Vinci Code states that "historically, intercourse was the act through which male and female experienced God" and that "by communing with woman … man could achieve a climactic instant when his mind went totally blank and he could see God."

The Da Vinci Code will bring great harm to every innocent religious seeker who follows its endorsement of sex ritual as the path to God. Brown is surely bluffing in his rhetoric about sex in worship. It is impossible to imagine that he really believes his own novel's ideology.

Would he be willing to participate in the ancient ritual that The Da Vinci Code defends? Would he really recommend this ancient ritual to his wife, family and friends?

In both book and movie form The Da Vinci Code represents a threat as well as an opportunity for Christians. Its danger lies in its strident assertions of falsehoods that undermine basic teachings of the gospel.

Uninformed readers and moviegoers must be made aware of the historical blunders in Dan Brown's claims. At the same time, the novel and movie create an unprecedented opportunity for believers to witness about the reliability of the Bible and its central redemptive message—that the Son of God became flesh, died on the cross and rose again.

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James A. Beverley is associate director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara and professor of Christian Thought and Ethics at Tyndale Seminary in Toronto. He is also the author of 10 books, including Counterfeit Code and Religions A to Z. For information on his writings, visit www.jamesbeverley.com .

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Opposition

The Christian is always faced with the unending battle against sin. It is the thing that opposes us from obeying God. It is actually disobedience towards God. It deceives us (Romans 7:11), waits for us (Genesis 4:7), even provides pleasure (Hebrews 11:25), and eventually brings death (Romans 5:12). It is complete opposition to God. It works against us.

But obedience to God doesn’t mean that we will not face opposition either. Take the example of Paul,

"And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.” (Acts 20:22-23)

“After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, "The Holy Spirit says, 'In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.' " (Acts 21:10-11)

Now you must be thinking, ‘What is the point? Either way I’m going to meet opposition? Why should I bother obeying God? Well consider Paul’s reaction:

“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.” (Acts 20:24)

“Then Paul answered, "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." 14When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, "The Lord's will be done." (Acts 20:13-14)

Apparently obeying God and spreading the gospel was worth the opposition for Paul. Consider some of his other words:

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Cor 4:17)

All our troubles are temporal and mean nothing when put into an eternal perspective. Well, what a revelation.

The Democratic Process

Now I’m a firm advocate of the democratic process. At least in most cases… Do you know what democracy means? It means, the people rule. The majority rule but minorities still have a voice. Interesting huh? But many people think that it means that the majority are right. They are never wrong and when the majority vote and make decisions, they are always right ones.

Well, that has an interesting twist in the Bible. Can you remember any times when the majority wanted to do something that flew in the face of righteousness? Imagine democracy in instances of the Bible. Let’s apply this to the case of Moses leading an entire nation out of Egypt. It was clear. Moses had instructions from God to deliver his people out of bondage to the Egyptians (Exodus 3). The people didn’t believe it but through many signs and wonders they became convinced. Even on their way to the Promised Land, they complained and murmured and even wanted to go back (Exodus 17:1-3). If there was a democratic process, they majority would have disobeyed God and turned back to Egypt. They outvoted Moses! They were more against Moses decision to go to Israel than for him. Do you get the point?

There are other examples as well. Remember Moses gave Joshua a commission? He had to do some conquering. He even had some spies sent out to survey the land (Numbers 13:1). What was the report? What was the report of the majority? No! Can’t do it Josh! Their cities are too strong (Numbers 13:28). They are to big for us (Numbers 13:31)? Our army would not stand a chance? We shouldn’t do it! It’s not worth it. (Wilson’s translation). Let’s take a democratic vote. Who is the winner? The majority don’t want to go because the opposition is too big. Ouch! Wow, if the democratic vote were done, they would have voted to ……

The real question that should be considered isn’t what does the majority want! It is what does God want? Are our decisions guided by Biblical principles? What has he commanded us to do? If the majority would have their way, they would have disobeyed God. They would have stayed in bondage to slavery with the Egyptians. They would never have known freedom. And that would be a sad plight for them. God bless people like Moses. Sure, we know he made mistakes but also did some right things as well. He obeyed God. What a great feat. His obedience wasn't directed by a democracy but a theocracy in these instances. It is where God rules. And there was victory!

Monday, May 08, 2006

Endless Possibilities...

I just love the following Bible Verses! They make my imagination run WILD! Can you imagine the endless possibilities of a life fully devoted to Christ?


"
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father" (John 14:12)

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,..." (Ephesians 3:20)

"...Everything is possible for him who believes." (Mark 9:23)

Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God." (Luke 18:25)

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires." (2Peter 1:3-4)

"And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. (Heb 11:32-35)

Doing Vs Being....

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

(2 Peter 1:3-4)

I guess I can open up and confess a secret sin to you. I feel like I'm not doing enough! I just don't think I'm doing enough for the cause of Christ. I want to do more and more and more and more. God has given so much to me and us. I don't think it is to much for Him to ask to return a favor. Not that he needs it! But when you are in love with God you automatically want to give him more... I started to feel really down, self-pity was about to creep in... Than I remembered the above verse.

Now it is true that faith without works is dead but God is also concerned about our character. He wants us to not only do great works for him, but do it with the right mindset and attitude. I guess the above attributes are quite similar and in the same line as the fruits of the Holy Spirit as well. These are the things that make us effective and productive in Christ. The work alone don't do it unless we have the above qualities.

I've seen Christians complain, murmur, whine about how much pain and how inconvenient it was to offer hospitality or help to a brother or sister. (I'm guilty to) Great work was being done but without the right attitude.

I also remember I met a Christian in my highschool before I came to Christ. I remember that I didn't care to much about her burning message. But what really caught my eye was that she had a great attitude. She had love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These fruits shine in the dark, bleek world we live in. It is like a breath of fresh air.

When I was on my spiritual journey to find God, I met some Mormons. They took me into their temple and shared their message with me. It was quite interesting. My friend who would later lead me to Christ, was not to pleased. He took me to his house and while I was waiting for him to get ready, his Dad mentioned how some Mormon beleifs do not line up with the Bible. Than I reflected on his Dad's character and how humble and content he was. I realized that that was what I wanted in my life! I wanted what he had. It was Christ and the manifestation of His attributes.

Character can speak such volumes!