A few rules #003

Here are a few more of my rules.

11 Cussing is for people who can't think of anything better to say.

12. Manners are easy, and free.

13. Belief is not a weak form of knowing.

14. Do what you're told, except when it conflicts with rule 1.

15. Anything worth doing is worth doing right. Not everything is worth doing.

I can't think of any others right now, but I'll add them as they come. Any other ideas for this blog?

An apology to Larry Hileman

A long time ago I was in the US Navy. One of my best friends on the ship was IC3 Hileman. One day he asked me what being a Christian was like. In a flat and entirely unconvincing tone I replied, "it's great."

Silly me. How would I know? I wasn't even one myself.

I was a devotee of what I now know was churchianity. Churchianity looks a lot like Christianity; it even feels the same from the inside. It's not, though. It was just acting moral ... when someone was looking.

Churchianity encouraged Bible reading, which was, after all, a Very Moral Thing. It discouraged believing anything I read, though, which would kick the legs right out from under it. It was fine with me going to church on Sunday, and acting like a jerk the rest of the week. Churchianity taught that idols were okay, as long as I didn't physically bow down to them.

I don't know where Hileman is now. I doubt he's reading this. On the off-chance he is, though, I want to say something to him:

I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't know what I was talking about. I'm sorry for giving a flip answer to a serious question. I hope you can forgive me.

Mine

'I first noticed it about fifteen years ago, People started sticking "my" onto things. You started to get it your way everywhere you went. Everything was customizable.

Some of these changes were good. You should be able to get a McDonald's cheeseburger without onions if you want. The problem comes when we bring that mentality into religion.

Guess what?  God can't be made to fit your preferences. The cafeteria mentality just doesn't work. Every religion is mutually exclusive,and only biblical Christtianity makes sense, the only somewhat customizable religions are Hinduism and Baha'ii, and the only way they can be that flexible by denying what they claim to believe.

The Bible is what it is. I've said before there are parts I would take out if I could. But it's not my book. It's his.

If I could get down on my knees and beg, I would

Here's a fact: you were made by and for God. That's not my opinion; it's an actual fact. If you don't believe that God made you, then all I can do is try to convince you. If you don't believe that you exist for God, then again all I can do is try to convince you otherwise. 

We've all done wrong and need reconciliation with God. The only way to do that is by believing in Christ; not just giving intellectual assent to certain facts, but trusting that he is who he said and can do what he said he would.

But whether you're atheist, agnostic, or think Jesus is just something you add to an already-full plate, I ask the same thing of you:

Please, please, please, be sure you're right.

A few rules #002

Here are a few more of my rules:

6. You don't have to say everything you know.

7. A = A.

8 Don't wait to be told to do what needs .

9. Try to leave a place better than you found it.

10. God is not an idiot.

I have some more, if anyone wants to read them.

My beef with Calvinism

Notice I didn't say "with Calvinists". The translation of the Bible I prefer, the ESV, was largely produced by Calvinists. Most of the best preachers and teachers call themselves Calvinists. Most of my friends would describe themselves that way.

My problem with Calvinism, as with so much else, boils down to one thing: evangelism. Simply put, I've never heard a professing Calvinist evangelize like one.

I've never heard that God may have elected someone to salvation before time began. I've never heard anyone told that Christ may have died for them, or if God means for them to be saved, they will be, whether they want it or not.

Instead, they talk like everyone else.

This doesn't make me an Arminiann or any species ofPelagian, either regular or semi-. It makes me someone who disagrees with a number of people I otherwise like and respect over an internal not clearly taught in Scripture.

Now let's win the world together.

There's something strange ...

The other day I saw a man in a "Vietnam Veteran" shirt. I thought there was something strange about identifying with a conflict that's been over for nearly four decades.

But who am I to judge? I identify myself with a Jew  almost 2000 years dead. Most of the people I know identify themselves as his followers. Everybody identifies with something.

Of course, the nation of Vietnam will likely not be there for you when you die. Neither will comic books, Voltaire, or a football team. I have good reason to believe that Jesus Christ will.

If I'm wrong, I promise to apologize  One minute after I die.

Fundamentalism (and me) defined, sort of

I'll quote the original post:

"Is 'fundamentalist' the right word? Probably not." 

I don't know what fundies believe. I only know that outside this country, my belief in the truth of the Bible labels me -- usually by people who have never actually read it -- as a fundamentalist. 

I also know that I won't debate anyone. This is partly due to simple physical restrictions; I don't have the time or energy to respond as you no doubt deserve. Partly it's because I just haven't got any interest in arguing. We're unlikely to convince each other, so it's just argument for its own sake, which helps no one.

A few rules #001

As I started thinking about the rules I try to live by,I quickly realized something:

I have a lot of rules.

Be that as it may, here are a few rules by which I try to live. Lora can tell you how often I've failed.

1. Do what is right, even when others don't.

2. Try not to be more trouble than you're worth.

3. Do what you say, when you say.

4. Man up.

5. Do what's expected of you, then a little more.

Notice there's nothing explicitly Christian in these. They're just the minimum, in my opinion, that a decent man does