Thoughts on Theology

It is vitally important to understand theology and compare different views to establish a Christ-centered foundation. In today’s culture there are many views of God and this has affected the morale and effectiveness of the church. It is important to look at contemporary theological viewpoints, and compare and contrast with biblical truth.

The liberal view of salvation is based on feelings and not upon doctrinal affirmations. Liberals believe that man’s reason is far above the authority of Scripture. They reject the miraculous and supernatural happenings in Scripture because of their belief in man’s reason and science. Sin is viewed not as rebellion to God but as man trying to live by themselves away from others. Their view of the Bible is that it is an ordinary book and not inspired at all.

In comparison to this liberal view of salvation, Millard Erickson views the human condition as separation from God by sin. Salvation is only found through a relationship with Christ and faith is the means of accepting that salvation. Salvation is a change of the heart from being corrupt and stained with sin, to a new transformed life. Erickson’s view of Scripture is that it is inspired by God and is truthful in all ways.

This is contrary to liberal theology in that salvation is based on a feeling that is experienced through a profound self-consciousness. The views of Erickson and liberal theology are completely opposite. Schleiermacher went as far as to believe that no authority in scripture, church, or creeds takes priority over the experience of believers. This is a faulty and man-centered theology that is contrary to God’s Word.

I believe the liberal view of Scripture is the most damaging aspect of the modern culture. Liberals view truth upon experience and not on God’s revelation. Experience is an essential part of salvation, but God’s free gift to men of salvation is constant whether people believe it or not. Salvation is of God and not of man. The next focus will be on the liberal view of Jesus Christ.

Schleiermacher denied the deity of Jesus and thought of Him as a good man and wise teacher. All of the miracles were denied because they were not consistent with present human reason and science. Schleiermacher used insights and methods from the social sciences to understand Christian theology.

Jesus came to earth for the purpose of giving His life for the sin of mankind. Jesus was tempted in every way that we are in life and yet prevailed without sin. I believe that Jesus was the sinless son of God that came to deliver man from their sin and make them righteous by His death on the cross. If Jesus was just a man and not God in the flesh, then mankind is doomed to eternal death. The only payment for our sin against God is a perfect sacrifice as shown in the Old Testament times through temple sacrifice. Jesus was the perfect Lamb of God that was an offering for our sin. Jesus as the sinless son of God is the only hope that mankind has in the realm of eternity.

The Bible is how an almighty God revealed himself to us. Scripture is without error and completely God-breathed. I believe that God’s word is completely true and is the revelation of God to man.

The next character that is to be discussed is Reinhold Niebuhr and his beliefs on theology. He believed mainly in the social injustices of the day and the cause of man. He believed sin was more of a social issue than a spiritual one. He rejected the doctrine of original sin and redefined sin. Niebuhr’s view on creation was that it was a myth and just a picture of what humanity looked like.

This view takes away from the truth of the scripture and takes away the creation story as historical and makes it mythical. The scripture is true in all its way and is an inspired book from God that includes historical truth. The creation account in Genesis is the most prominent role in creating and establishing a biblical theology. I believe that God alone created the universe out of nothing (ex-nihilo) and fashioned all of God’s creativity in every detail so that He could receive all glory.

Liberation theology is a view that relates to the movement of feminists and third world theologies. The liberation view of scripture is that the Bible identifies with the oppressed people. This group focuses on portions of the Bible that show God helping people that are in bondage. Scripture is relevant to all people at all times without prejudice upon any class of people. His Word applies to the sickly, the poor, the rich, and the powerful.

It is important to note that liberation theology is running rampant in our culture today. The idea of liberation is freedom from problems and hardships in life instead of spiritual freedom and repentance of sin. I believe that we must meet the immediate physical needs of individuals in order to build a bridge to reach them with the gospel. Ministry should not stop once the physical needs are met, but there are spiritual needs that can only be met by a relationship with Jesus.

I believe that your theology dictates the way you live your life and how you view a person. It is important to note that anytime a man tries to distort God’s Scripture with man-centered theology, it fails. The modern movement of picking and choosing passages in scripture and labeling them as true or false, is in direct rebellion from God. If theology is not the actual study of God and becomes the study of what men accept about God, then it is contrary to God’s will and heart. It says in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

I believe that believers must study and know the correct theology that lines up with the scripture and heart of God. It is important in today’s culture to be able to discuss with people theology in a way that brings glory to God.

Book Review of "Conspiracy for Kindness"

Steve Sjogren is the senior pastor of Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Cincinatti, Ohio. It is a church plant that has been ranked as on of the twenty five fastest growing churches in U.S. Steve applies both the spiritual and practical ways to show kind acts to people in order to share the love of Christ. Since then, Steve has a church planting internship program and his coaching efforts have produced several dozen successful church plants.  Steve is currently focused on writing, speaking and mentoring church planters. A wave of kindness has been in constant growth since Steve has written this book and many others that encourage and empower Christians to share their faith with the heart of Christ. Towards the end of the book, there are tangible steps to putting acts of kindness together with real-life set up and breakdowns of doing a quality job in loving the lost. Conspiracy for Kindness is an insightful look at sharing Jesus with the lost through random acts of kindness that reveals the love of Christ.

The importance of kindness is the vehicle by which people see and experience the love of Christ. The book reminds the reader of putting feet to their faith and not just talking about God’s love. In the book, many acts of kindness are recorded and people’s responses are many times, “Why are you doing this?” The response of unbelievers to the sharing of kindness opens up many doors to share the gospel with hurting people. The first chapter shows believers that God is active in the process of helping people see Christ but He uses people as the first priority in reaching others with the gospel. People are open to love and that is the premise of using this approach to sharing Jesus with the lost world.

The author uses many good illustrations of knowing the “basics” and continually going over knowing the purpose of sharing the gospel with the lost. He uses the word “goals” that a person sets before they begin to share the gospel. The author explains the importance of helping each person finding a distinct way to show kindness to people in order to share Jesus. The book displays many instances of older versions of evangelism and talks about knowing the culture and the more effective ways to share the gospel.

The author goes through a variety of “myths” relating to evangelism and why many people do not share their faith. The book does a good job of explaining the importance of being with people and moving outside of the “church bubble” and into the lives of people in the community. The book then moves onto helping people build courage as they learn to share their faith in groups. Random acts of kindness are explained in a great way to help church leaders apply the information in the book for their own ministries.

Lastly, the book does not discount the importance of getting children involved in serving people through acts of kindness. The great lesson that children learn is to be counter-culture and to be a “giver” than a “receiver.” Not only does the author talk about children, but points out the importance of small groups and how effective they can be in the community. People can find a group to identify with and feel loved is a great point for the church to be aware of and act upon.

This book reveals the heart of Christ in a way that sheds light on loving people and sharing Christ. Although there are many approaches to evangelism in the church today, this book reveals the servant’s heart of Christ. The danger that this book poses is that Christians only focus upon grace and not on the law. The law is what shows us we need Christ, the Ten Commandments is a “schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.” The book does reveal a good path to use the acts of kindness to open the door for the gospel, the important idea to be aware of is a “social gospel” that is based only on people’s needs. The reality of this is seen in many churches today where the gospel is spread with a “me” mentality. In other words, the gospel is meant only for people and not for God’s ultimate glory.

The book poses many great illustrations for believers to wrap their minds around in their walk with God. The reality is people need to know the Christians care before they open up their heart to God. This book does a wonderful job of using real-life stories to show how kindness is used to help people know Christ’s love. The title of the book conveys a challenge to the traditional approaches (door-to-door, etc) but offers an alternative rather than attacking the older ways of evangelism. The book states many valid points on how Christians spend a considerable amount of time talking about evangelism, but very little actually doing it. The author is clear in expressing how important it is to meeting people at their point of need, relating to them, and expressing the gospel.

This book does have a unique tone seeing that Steve is from a Vineyard Fellowship Church. Many times authors from Baptist background are less willing to talk about tangible acts of kindness and more upon confrontational evangelism. The author uses many examples that include his own times sharing his faith, which reveals a transparent way to understand the author’s heart. The author continually points out the importance of embodying the picture of the gospel, not just speaking about it. The author’s points have been proven in many lives that are learning how to share Jesus and this book confirms that good approach that kindness brings in the lost.

The author does a good job of writing about how to respond to rejection in witnessing. This quote was great in understanding outreach, “we realize before we even set foot outside of the church parking lot that a certain percentage of our seeds of kindness will be rejected.” The author paints a realistic picture of how many people will be rejected for being witnesses of Jesus Christ. Even with handing out a drink to people for free, some were rejected and treated with disdain.

The great aspect about this book is it gives everyday believers the encouragement that they can impact people for the kingdom of God. Since the church is in an age of postmodernism where people think, “go ahead and try to show me about Jesus”, this book is an adequate answer to showing the gospel through action. The author completes his goal in this book and will be a good tool for believers to apply to their lives.

The one negative side of the book is that it rarely talks about calling people to a commitment to Christ. Jesus always called people to a commitment to follow Him and did not base it upon their feelings but on His love for them. In order for people to get the complete story of the gospel, the truth must be shared at some point of evangelism. The method that is used is one that shows kindness and love but at some point the lost person needs to be confronted lovingly with the reality of eternity.

The word that is used to describe the book is key for the reader to get the overall meaning and impact of the teaching. The author is complete and wise in his dealings with people that are un-churched. This book is successful in the completion of a book that not only shows kindness in its approach to evangelism, but in its practical application for churches. Many churches today are in need of a “revival” of sorts of the definition of evangelism. The word “evangelism” evokes a feeling of fear and failure to many believers today and this book is a great tool to disprove the myths of evangelism and gives practical ways to learn how to share the gospel with the lost.

The deeds of kindness that are used in the book are quite practical and reveal a heart of Christ to lost people. Not only does the author give the “nuts and bolts” of showing kindness, but also he gives a clear and convincing explanation for a new look at evangelism in today’s culture. The author was successful in his vision for this ministry book and many people will find a clear and demonstrative tool to apply to their arsenal to share Jesus.

Lastly, the whole premise of kindness is a reminder to the church today that people are not won over by large church buildings or slick programs, but are looking for meaningful relationships. This book conveys a spirit of kindness that has not been seen in the writings about evangelism in the past. The author gives a refreshing look at how we love people and show the sacrificial love that Christ showed us on the cross. The book was a good read and is useful to any believer no matter where they are on their journey of following Christ.

Application of Genesis 11

Genesis 11 shows the generations following Noah to be similar to today’s society that is idolizing their desires and their activities. How can we apply this text to us today and be changed to be more like Christ? It must first start with believers finding unity not within themselves, but in the body of Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.”[1]

Society can not be changed by itself; God must be the focal point of believers in order to be successful in reaching the world with the gospel. Pride is directly opposite of God’s character. The people in the text were focused upon, “me, myself, and I” and never referred to God for anything. How ironic is this when God brought them safely through the cataclysmic world-wide flood?

God’s grace is bigger than any box that we can place it. God once again sees people turning their backs on Him and He responds with judgment that sets them scattered into the world, but greater than that it led the way for salvation to come and is shown through the person of Jesus Christ who came to die for our sin and make us righteous before God.

When will the church become focused upon what God’s plan is and quit asking God to bless their plan? God’s plan for believers is to rely upon Him for everything. He is the sustainer of life and has set us free from the bondage of sin and condemnation (Rom. 8:1).

How big is God in your life? Do you pray for His will to be done or your own? I believe that if the people of Babylon could talk today, they would tell us to die to their own desires and make God’s name renown throughout the earth. When God’s will is pursued by the church, then our focus will turn into a lifestyle of worship to King Jesus. As Paul writes in Galatians 6:14 this should be the heart’s cry of this generation, “But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” God does not just want what you can do for Him or part of yourself, He wants all of you. What will be your response?

The beginning of the story man decides to build a city and tower for their own renown, now God turned the tables and has scattered mankind throughout the whole earth. The emphasis that the people took upon their lives was self-centered and prideful. Why does man turn away from God and seek after their own desires? What an interesting question. Man’s wickedness is shown in this passage of the Bible, being one of the most mysterious passages in Genesis due to the extreme actions taken by man and God.

Man is in need of salvation from their sin and this passage shows how an entire generation found redemption through God’s grace during the Flood. Believers today need to realize that God’s redemption is through Jesus on the cross, but is not limited to it. In their daily lives He provides and cares for their every step in life. The story of Babylon shows the need of mankind to be saved by God and bring them out of their hopelessness and live a life of worship to Him. God deserves the praise and adoration of mankind and in this passage man was taking the glory that was due God. Anytime that people directly disobey God’s commands, (be fruitful and multiply) consequences follow.

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[1] Holy Bible. Holman Christian Standard Bible. 2 Corinthians 5:17.