MY POST FOR THE BIBLE EXCHANGE THIS WEEK:Something you can't lose but you can throw away

Since I can't get to The Bible Exchange this week, I've decided to post it here. So below is "Something you can't lose but throw away.

I have a question: if you can't fall away from worshipping Christ, why are there so many warnings against it in the New Testament?

I haven't made a secret of the fact that I was a Southern Baptist for many years, and was even ordained in that denomination, but feel that I can't be one of them anymore because of the issue of eternal security. I just don't believe in it anymore, because I can't find anyone in the New Testament who talked that way.

For those who don't know, eternal security, also annoyingly called “once saved always saved”, means that once you've given yourself to Jesus,you can never be lost again, no matter what you do. Though touted as a Baptist distinctive, it's functionality identical to the Calvinist doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. 

Of course, people do fall away, which is explained by saying that they were never saved in the first place. This is supposed to give us assurance of our salvation, but it has the opposite effect on me. According to this belief, you can live your whole life thinking you're saved because of some event in your past, only to find out you're not after you die, when there's nothing you can do about it anyway. That's not comforting, it's demonic, and it's again identical to the perseverance of the saints.

I believe, because Scripture teaches it, that it is possible to apostasize, that a person can turn his back on his faith if he decides to. This doesn't make me “eternally insecure”, nor does it mean that I'm constantly afraid of losing my salvation , any more than an obedient son is constantly afraid of losing disowned by his father. There are some people would say I'll be damned for believing that, but that'll just another way of saying we're saved by theology, and only those who believe a particular theology can avoid Hell and enter Paradise.

Other people would say that I'm limiting the sovereignty of God by making human decision too important. Some would even say that I don't believe in God’s sovereignty at all. That's just silly. God isn't less in charge because he doesn't make people do things. While I know that they say there things to ensure that people know that God is sovereign, but it effectively makes them sovereign, since they're the ones who decide what God is like.

All that said, you don't have to worry that Jesus will lose you. Jesus will not lose anyone. No one will accidentally go to Hell. At the same time, you shouldn't assume that you're saved when you're not. No one will blackmail his way into Heaven either.

Christ promised to abide in anyone who would abide in him. In that sense no one can lose his salvation. But you can't spend your whole life spitting in God’s face and expect him to save you in the end. If you do that, you're just throwing his sacrifice away.

[LC Bloom tries not to throw anything useful away. He's from Birmingham, Alabama, and can be reached at lechroom@icloud.com. He also writes for Built for Glory and COBRASAURUS‼‼!]

Psalm 125

Remember covenants?

This is another example of people holding God to his word, asserting that they'd kept their end of the bargain and insisting that he do that same.

Review: THE UPSIDE-DOWN KINGDOM by Donald G Kraybill

You can say the right thing but say it at the wrong time and not be heard. That seems to be what happened to this book.

When this book was first published in 1979, Jerry Falwell was building up the Moral Majority, turning evangelical Christianity into a political movement. Though Kraybill makes a strong case for political noninvolvement from Scriptrure, it's not hard to tell which position has been more popular.

I agree with Kraybill, so I recommend this book 

Psalm 124

In 3,000 nothing has changed.

This psalm is labeled as "Of David." That makes it about 3,000 years old. After all that time mankind is still entirely dependent on God.

Review: BONHOEFFER by Eric Metaxas

This is a very thick black, because it's an exhaustive account of Diettrich Bonhoeffer's life. Though I had heard of Bonhoeffer, I didn't know a lot beyond the facts that he had been German, had written The Cost of Discipleship, and that had been involved in a plot to kill Hitler.

Now I feel like I do, and I wonder if any of the American evangelicals who claim him have ever read or understood his books. For learning about the man's life, I recommend it.

Psalm 123

Remember Psalm 23?

That was 100 psalms ago. We've covered a lot of ground since then. If you've been reading along the whole time we're over halfway through the Bible. And this psalm? It's a plea for mercy.

The commands of Jesus VII

... let your peace be upon it ... (MAT 10.13)

.,,  let sour peace return to you . (MAT 10.13)

,.. Shake that dust from your feet ... (MAT 10.14)

... be wise as serpents and innocent  as doves. (MAT 10.16)

Beware of men ... (MAT 10.17)

.. do not be anxious about how you are to speak or what you are to say ... (MAT 10.19)

... when they persecute you in one town flee to another ... (MAT 10.23)

So have no fear of them ... (MAT 10.26)

.... say it in the light ... (MAT 10.27)

... proclaim it on the housetops ... (MAT 10.27)

Psalm 122

in this psalm, not only the Temple is praised, but the city of Jerusalem itself. The focus is still on God, though. The city is only praised because it's where the people of Israel met with God.

The city is only famous because God chose it.

Review: THE GEORGE VERWER COLLECTION by George Verwer

This consists of three books by Verwer. I had never heard of him, but apparently he was a big deal among English evangelicals.

The books are very well-written and easy to read, but one thing really stood out and has stuck with me. Verwer said that if you don't understand love, you don't understand anything in the Bible, because the Bible is all about love.

That's always struck me as incredibly wise, and this would be worth reading just for that. The whole thing's good, though, and I recommend it.

Psalm 121

There are a lot of psalms about why we should trust God. This isn't one of those,

Instead of telling why he believes in God, he believes in God. Instead of telling all that has done to make him trust him, he just trusts him. Why does he know God will rescue and defend him? We're never told. He just does.

Hurt but not harm

One thing I was taught when I was in seminary was that God can't be hurt. I don't think that's quite true.  I understand the reason we were taught that, and I get and completely agree with what they meant. I just don't think that "hurt" was the right word to use there.

My wife is hurt if I just ignore her. If she says something and I dismiss it, she's going to be hurt. She won't be physically damaged, but her emotions will be distraught. In that sense, we hurt God all the time.

Damaging God, though, is beyond us, and beyond anyone. No matter what someone does, he can't make God any less God. He can only harm himself; he can't harm God.

That's a quick explanation of why it's better to say harm than hurt. It may seem nitpicky, but God deserves our precision.

An announcement

I have new post, "And abortion makes three", on This Bible Exchange. bibleexchange.com

Review: PRINCE VALIANT FREE COMIC BOOK by Hal Foster

Prince Valiant was never something I particularly cared for. It was one of those comic strips I read just because it was in the paper, probably for old people, who were the only people I could imagine who might keep things like that and Mary Worth going.

With this book, I've finally learned to appreciate Prince Valiant. Because it was presented episodically and I wasn't a regular reader, it never made sense. Here are several complete tales, and everything makes better sense in context.

Appreciation is not the same thing as love, however. While the art is beautiful and the writing makes for some, as my friend Davo might say, "cracking good reads", none of that changes the fact that the whole series is based on violence. This book contains a story about a duet, and another featuring Vikings, who were, at base, thieves and murderers. I can't recommend it.

Review: UNCONVENTIONAL by JJ Hebert

I'd hate for anyone to be in any needless suspense, so I'll just tell you I didn't like this book. It seemed to embody what's wrong not only with "Christian" publishing, but with the American church in general.

First, there's the title. There's nothing wrong with calling a book Unconventional -- and with frequent use of the word -- but if you're going to you'd better make sure it is. Unfortunately, this is possibly the most conventional and by-the-numbers book I've ever read.

Second, it just doesn't ring true. People don't act like this and what's worse according to the Bible they shouldn't. It feels less like a story growing organically from a group of characters than a bunch of characters shoehorned into an existing plot.

Most importantly,  the author seems to have confused the Gospel with the American Dream. This is essentially a Horatio Alger rags-to-riches story with enough Jesus on top that it could be sold in Christian bookstores.

This is Hebert's first novel, and I sincerely hope that he's become a better writer. As it stands, though, this book shouldn't have been published. I don't recommend it,

The commands of Jesus VI

And proclaim at you go ... (MAT 10.7)

Heal the sick ... (MAT 10.8)

... raise the dead ... ;MAT 10.8)

... cleanse lepers ... (MAT 10.8)

... cast out demons. (MAT 10.8)

,.. give without pay. (MAT 10.9)

Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals and 

     a staff ... (MAT 10.10)

... find out who is worthy in it ... (MAT 10.11)

... stay there ... (10.11)

... greet it ... (MAT 10.12)

Review: ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN VOL 1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley

This was the first of the Ultimate comics, and since Spider-Man is Marvel's most important character, this book had to be great.

Fortunately, it was. And it was something the main Spider-Man books hadn't been for many years- fun 

This is partly due to the fact that the main character is younger. This Spider-Man is a teenager, and he acts like it, and the rest of his cast has been similarly de-aged. It's also due to the fact that there's not a half-century of continuity weighing him down. This is a brand-new book starring a brand-new character in a brand-new world, and everything is happening for the first time.

Mostly, though, it seems to be due to the fact that Bendis and Bagley seem to enjoy making the comic book. Whatever it is, it's an entertaining book, and I recommend it.

Psalm 120

Why do we do this to ourselves?

Why do we ally ourselves with people with whom we don't agree? Why do we think that whatever good might result outweighs the bad that might be required? Why do we always think our way is better than God's? 

Psalm 121 will be here next Monday.

Truth isn't relative

That's why I don't listen to the Avett Brothers anymore.

Let me explain. I used to like the Avett Brothers a lot, but one of their songs had the lines, "I believe the Good Book is true/What's right for me may not be right for you". The problem is that you can't believe both. They're mutually exclusive. One claims to contain absolute truth, and the other is a complete denial of it.

The statement, "There are no absolutes," is self-denying, because it is an absolute. That's like using the existence of gravity to prove there's no such thing as gravity. It just doesn't make sense.

I can say I don't believe in cars, but if I walk in the middle of a freeway I'll still get hit. Sayin' don't make it so, and our opinion of something doesn't affect its reality one bit.

Psalm 119 Taw

Deliver me, since I've kept your law.

Often this psalm seems very mercenary, with the psalmist saying what he's done for God and expecting something in return. That's because we don't understand covenants, which are just agreements to do something for each other.

Review: FANTASTIC FOUR BY WAID AND WIERINGO ULTIMATE COLLECTION VOL 1...

... by Mark Waid, Mike Wieringo, et al.

Before I start, I just want to say that that is a ridiculously long title. Now on to the review ...

Back in 1961, Fantastic Four was Marvel's first superhero book. Despite a few changes and experiments, it's essentially remained the same since then. Mark Waid doesn't try to rock the boat; this is classicist FF, and it's very well done.

Mike Wieringo was a very good artist, but not a spectacular one in that he never seemed flashy or out to impress people. He's been hugely influential, but primarily he just produced very good, very solid work, which is probably what he'd rather be remembered for anyway.

I mostly started FF because of what I knew it didn't contain -- gratuitous sex, foul language, or violence -- but I was surprised at just how enjoyable it was. While the main characters have powers, they tend to win battles by thinking rather than by punching, which has a lot to do with how the book's become so venerable in the first place. I recommend it.

Psalm 119 Sin and Shin

For too many of us, reading the Bible has become just another chore to get through. Being a Christian doesn't make it magically come alive for you. If it does then I must not be a Christian. Sometimes it's just an old, dry book.

How many of us can honestly say we love it?

Review: DELIGHTING IN GOD by AW Tozer

Tozer wrote a while back, he remains popular because he just had a very clear and unique way of putting things. The fact that he was almost entirely uneducated makes it even more amazing.

This book is no exception. Tozer's beginning and conclusion are both biblical, and the exposition in the middle is clear and steeped in Scripture. I recommend this book.

Psalm 119 Resh

You can't rebel by being just like everyone else.

Many people have no interest in God or his word. Most of them don't. That's not a new attitude; it's the sin there is, and thinking that way just makes you like every other would-be rebel out there.

The commands of Jesus V

... Take heart ...(MAT 9.2)

... Rise, pick up your bed, and go home. (MAT 9.6)

... Follow me ... (MAT 9.9)

... ... Go and learn what this means ... (MAT 9.13)

... Take heart ... (MAT 9.22)

... Go away ... (MAT 9.24)

... See that no one knows about it ... (MAT 9.30)

... pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers ... (MAT 9.38)

... Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans ... (MAT 10.5)

... go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (MAT 10.5)

Psalm 119 Qoph

We're very sleepy people. The psalmist talks about getting up early to meditate on God's law, but not even the idea of communion with God is enough to get us out of bed.

If only we loved God as much as our pillows.

Review: ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR VOL 1 by Brain Michael Bendis, Mark Millar, and Adam Kubert

About fifteen years ago, Marvel Comics launched the Ultimate Universe, an attempt to reboot some of its signature characters for a 21st-century audience. It was a success, resulting in four ongoing series and innumerable miniseries, all tightly interwoven, until it all imploded in the Ultiatum miniseries.

Bendis and Millar were two of the main architects of the Ultimate Universe, and while it's n pot clear exactly how the writing was divided between them, the dialogue seems to be by Bendis. The characters are similar to their counterparts in the main universe, and are easily recognizable. The art by Adam Kubert is detailed and energetic, but it's also clearly a product of its time. 

What sets this book apart is that the Fantastic Four aren't superheroes. They're fundamentally explorers, and in this book in particular they're people to whom something terrible has happened. I recommend it.

Psalm 119 Tsadhe

Even when the entire world is against you, you can always depend on God and his word.

Though our foes don't believe, we do. Though our foes won't ultimately triumph, we will. And we should never want to see anybody on the losing side.

In Soviet Russia ...

I think Yakov Smirnov-type jokes are hilarious. I don't know why.

+++

Psalm 119 Pe

The psalmist praises God for protection, and asks for protection so that he can praise.

The best thing a person can do is to praise God. That's because he's the best thing there is. And it's not like we don't praise anyway. Anytime we value something, we want to talk about how great it is.

Review: BEHOLD THE LAMB by Peter Hoover

In this book Hoover looks at the rise and fall of the Moravian Church and of its most famous member, Could Nicholas von Zinzendorf.

The Moravians were well-known both for their tolerance and their missionary zeal. All was not well in the movement, though, and the decline in the Count was matched by a decline in the denomination as well. As he grew older, the Count's focus on the wounds of Christ became an obsession, and within a few generations the Moravia Church had lost all that had made it distinctive.

This book is a cautionary tale, showing what can happen when a group of people take their eyes off of Christ. I recommend it.

Psalm 119 Ayin

The psalmist trusts God to protect him because he has obeyed the law of God and his enemy has not. He expresses his devotion to God.

After all, he knows that is for him, no one can stand against him.

Review: DAREDEVIL: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR by Frank Miller and John Romita, Jr

This is a limited series, meaning that it was a comic book only meant to last a few issues. (At the time, I think the regular Daredevil series was up to around 250 issues.) This is the character on which Miller made his name as a writer and artist back in the early 1980s, and he was the first creator to really give the book its own identity, playing up the noir and crime elements. He's a very talented writer, and this is a very well- written book.

It's the art, though, that was the real revelation for me. I've always liked John Romita, Jr's blocky, massive figures, but I'd never paid attention to his backgrounds. Since the stroke, my eyesight isn't as good as it was, so I've had to read most comics a panel at a time. Enlarging them this way makes them easier to read, but it also reveals details that are unnoticeable at regular size. Not every artist's work can stand up to this kind of scrutiny, but JRJR's can.

Between the story and art, this is possibly the best-produced comic I've ever seen. I still can't recommend it, though. There's some sexual content, which isn't explicit but isn't necessary either. Mostly, though, it's because off the violence. This is a very bloody book, and not one I'd recommend.

Psalm 119 Samekh

I don't know how else to say it. God can be trusted.

He's never given a reason not to. Even when the nation of Israel fell, it wasn't because of his unfaithfulness, but theirs. God is a good risk.

The commands of Jesus IV

... knock, and it will be opened to you. (MAT 7.7)

For whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them ... (MAT 7.12) 

Enter by the narrow gate ... (MAT 7.13)

Beware of false prophets ... (MAT 7.15)

Say nothing to anyone .. (MAT 8.4)

.., go, show yourself to the priests ... (MAT 8.4)

... offer the gift that Moses commanded ... (MAT 8.4)

... go; let it be done for you as you have believed ... (MAT 8.13)

... follow me, and and leave the dead to bury their own dead. (MAT 8.23)

Go ... (MAT 8.32)

Psalm 119 Nun

Throughout this psalm, the author has expressed his love for and dedication to God's law. This is even more incredible when you consider that the only Bible that might have existed then was the Torah.

He hungered for the things we tend to skip over.

Review: GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS by John Bunyan

This is quite possibly the most depressing thing I've ever read.

This is supposed to be Bunyan's "spiritual autobiography", but it could have been summed up in six words: "I suck, but God loves me." It's typical of 17th century Calvinist literature, in that it's longer than it needs to be and seems much longer.

I don't recommend it unless you like having nails pounded into your forehead.

Psalm 119 Mem

Understanding comes from God, not society.

The psalmist says that he knows how to walk rightly because he knows and obeys the word of God. Knowing what the world has to teach isn't inherently wrong, but it's not necessary either.

Hate

If a Christian's life is to be defined by an all-consuming, self-sacrificial love, is there room in it for hatred?

I think so,

If a person loves something, it's almost axiomatic that he should hate its opposite. To love freedom is to hate oppression. To love peace is to hate war. To love life is to hate death. You can't love something and its opposite at the same time.

Even beyond the logical problems there's the issue of loving what God hates. Some say that he can't hate because God is love, but that's why he has to hate. Because God loves marriage, truth, and justice, he hates divorce,lies, and injustice. Among other things.

And so should we.

Psalm 119 Lamedh

When does life began? It really doesn't matter.

For decades people have debated whether life begins at conception or at birth. The answer given here is "No". It says that the source of life is the word of God. We could have the birth/conception debate about a lizard. Only humans are made in the image of God and can understand his written revelation.

Review: SUICIDE SONS by Michael Gold

Thiis is a fictionalization of the way the conflict between Arabs and Israelis is sometimes carried far beyond the Middle East. It also examines how parental expectations can cause adverse feelings in the sons.

Though Gold is apparently Jewish, he is careful not to take sides. Each of his fictional tribes has similarities to both Muslims and Jews, as well as wholly imaginative elements. All told it's an interesting and entertaining book, and I recommend it.

Psalm 119 Kaph

Even when we're persecuted, there's a place we can turn. God will always protect those who keep his word. He can be depended upon.

He may not always give us what we think we want, but he'll always give us what we need.

Review: THE INFINITY GAUNTLET by Jim Starlin, George Perez, and Ron Lim

This is a comic book, and the basis for the next couple of Avengers movies. It was first published in the early 90s.

Jim Starlin created many of Marvel's cosmic characters in the 1970s, and this features his two most popular creations, Adam Warlock and Thanos. The first part of this miniseries is illustrated by George Perez, with the remainder drawn by Ron Lim, and while Lim's art is good enough, it's a definite step down 

Even with its faults, this is a good comic that's cast a long shadow the last 25 years or so. I recommend it.