A SIXTH SOLA

I found a new anti-Calvinism YouTuber recently hailing from New Zealand. His name is Steve Copland and he delivers well-reasoned, level-headed, and concise arguments against the major tenets of "Reformed Theology". 

Occasionally, he makes a joke, but he's so deadpan that, in my mind, it's ten times funnier than it ought to be.

His most memorable line is dependent on being familiar with the "Five Solas" which became the pillars of the Reformation:

Sola Scriptura - "only Scripture" is the proper foundation for sound doctrine (not church teaching).

Soli Deo Gloria - all of redemption is accounted "to the glory of God" alone (man gets no credit).

Sola Gratia - salvation is available through "grace alone" (not earned).

Sola Fide - salvation is through "faith alone" (not works). 

And Solus Christus - salvation is found in "Christ alone" (and no other). 

So, anyway, in acknowledging the ramifications of the Calvinist's take on predestination, Steve Copland maintains that in Calvinism one is "chosen before the foundation of the world" by God for reasons known only to him - So not only is your salvation not dependent on your works, it's ultimately not dependent on grace or faith or even Jesus in the end! 

Thus, Copland calls Calvinistic salvation "Sola Lucktora"!

MYRTLE BEACH TRAVELOGUE #1

 A short synopsis of a long day:

Awake at 5:30 to drink coffee, pray and finish sermon thoughts.

Unload dishwasher, make a waffle and fry bacon for Melissa.

8:00 am - Load luggage carrier on top of rental van, stuff in three suitcases, and strap it all down.

Shower.

9:30 - Sunday School

10:15 - I am impressed: Melissa arrives with Trudy, Sarah, Rebecca (Sarah's friend who is spending the week with us in Myrtle Beach), Sarah's boyfriend, Logan, and Sugar. 

10:30  - Worship. The dog causes quite a stir. She CANNOT relax - too much to see, too many new people.

11:00 - My sermon is on the Old Testament Law, from Deuteronomy 4:1-13.

12:00 - Logan drives my van back to Columbus. The rest of us hit the road. On our way out of Westport, we stop for some tacos at Paco's. The workers go out of their way to be fast and super helpful!

1:00ish - Finally on the road. Myrtle Beach is about 11.5 hours and we hope to complete most of it today and finish tomorrow.

5:30ish - I am driving and the low fuel warning goes off. We have just passed Charlotte, West Virginia. No exits in sight. There is great fear of running out of gas in the mountains. But God is with us and we make it to a hillbilly gas station. I'm wondering how much of what I am pumping is gas and how much is "corn squeezins". 

Dinner at Cracker Barrel and by 10:00ish we have decided to call it quits in Mt. Ary, North Carolina. 

Only 4 hours to go tomorrow!

CHEAT CODE

Instead of thinking of God's Law as some odious list of dos and don'ts which must be observed to keep on the good side of an easily offended God, we'd be smart to think of the Law as a cheat code for reality.

When the Creator of the Universe lays out a book in front of you and says, "Do this", you would be wise to heed Him, right? After all, He's the One who invented the reality.

And - if you believe what He says in that book - then you have to admit that your own understanding is 1) pretty darn limited and 2) warped by sin and Satan. 

Marvin Gaye warned us long ago: "Believe half of what you see - and none of what you hear". (And Edgar Allan Poe wrote the same thing decades before Marvin sang it.)  Surely in this post-pandemic world we have learned that we can't rely on our eyes or our ears. 

And then there's confirmation bias, cognitive dissonance, and a host of logical fallacies to make our brains themselves completely unreliable. 

So how do you get in touch with deep reality? Do you "do your own research"? Where? On the internet?

As Joe Biden would say ... "C'mon, man!"

But right there on your phone, your bookshelf, and even on your hotel room night stand is God's word.

It's not meant to restrict you - it's meant to expand you. 

It's the cheat code and it's going to enable you to do things beyond your hope and imagination. 

In Deuteronomy Chapter 4, Moses tells the Israelites that the other nations are going to be jealous of them having God's Law:

5 See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 6 Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’

The other nations will see how Israel lives and think, "They must have a cheat code for reality". 

LIKE THE SUNRISE

I watched a YouTube video today entitled "Atheist SURPRISED By (Christian's) View Of SALVATION". 

It was posted by the Christian and after watching it, I wondered why he didn't delete it instead.

He didn't look too great. The atheist, on the other hand, seemed emboldened by the conversation rather than surprised.

A large part of the conversation centered on the atheist asking the Christian what reason he had for believing in the Bible's description of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

The Christian didn't really have a great response. It was like he had never thought of it before.

It's a good question and I was sympathetic to this guy struggling to answer because it's tough being put on the spot in that way. 

I tried to imagine myself in his shoes and ask myself what I would say.

It IS hard to make the case for believing in presumed firsthand accounts from 2,000 years ago of a miraculous occurence like a resurrection in an age when you know you can't even trust the evening news. Even if it is accompanied by video.

So I think I would have leaned on one of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes:

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

The longer I live, the more convinced I am that what I read in Scripture is the Truth. 

For all of the Bible's claims about life and human nature and God, I have yet to see even one of them shown to be false, shallow, or misleading. 

So why wouldn't I trust what it says about Jesus?

RIGHTNOW

Our Indiana/Kentucky region of the American Baptist Church recently made a deal with RightNow Media, "the world's largest library of Bible study video resources". 

It's a subscription service where the church pays a flat monthly due based on church size. The church is then able to distribute access to the media across its membership at no extra cost. 

So ABC churches are being offered a discount and all the area pastors had a Zoom call the other day with one of RightNow's sales reps. He showed us all the tens of thousands of videos in their library. 

It's impressive.

The sales rep assured us that they have the highest standards for screening the content on their platform.

But what does he mean by that? 

He said they feature only biblically sound teaching. 

BUT as the biggest names flashed by, I noticed at least half of the featured teachers are Calvinists. 

I understand the challenges involved in pulling together a diverse group of Bible teachers all under one roof - especially when one man's "biblically sound doctrine" is another man's heresy.

And I'm not saying that I could never find value in something being taught by a Calvinist teacher. 

But they do have a particular theology and anthropology which tend to color their teaching even when it's not directly touching the "5 Points".

And I think that is something worth guarding against.

Maybe it would be helpful to have descriptions on each video in the RightNow library with theological biases listed. 

NO HARM

Over the last couple of years, my appreciation for Mission Resource's approach to ministry has only deepened. We offer microloans to struggling businessmen and women - mostly in Ghana, West Africa. Many have pointed out that there is a huge difference between offering a hand UP and a hand OUT.

I saw plenty of handouts during my time in Haiti - some coming from my own pocket. And there is a time and place for straight up gifts of money and resources.

But you sure do see a lot of helplessness fostered by such handouts over time. Not to mention dependency and even entitlement.

I was thinking the other day that we often assume the cure for poverty is just an injection of money. But it's rarely that simple and straightforward. Poverty is at least as complex as any disease and every situation is different and deserving of careful diagnosis.

And the missionary/philanthropist ought to abide by the rule which governs medical doctors: First, do no harm. 

3 INGREDIENTS

Each week I get 60 seconds to promote Mission Resource’s work to businessmen and women at the local Business Network International chapter meeting. I always use this as my tagline: “Mission Resource – where we put your charitable dollars to work!”  

I figure that if anyone values hard work, it is this group of 20 entrepreneurs. I always want to assure them that donations to Mission Resource bless some of the hardest working people on this planet.

It has been two years since I first visited Ghana to see our staff and clients in action. I remember being struck by the diligence, energy, and dedication of these brothers and sisters - and feeling a growing pride in being a part of a ministry providing the raw materials necessary for their work. All in Jesus’ name. 

It is quite miraculous to witness: When Mission Resource puts a loan in their hard-working hands, they use it to create wealth. At the end of a year’s span, the money is repaid to the loan fund … but now there is a sewing machine, a boat, or a shop sitting where there was nothing before. And that miracle brings untold blessing to our clients, their families, their communities, and their churches. 

That miracle has three simple but necessary ingredients: 1) God’s blessing, 2) our staff and clients’ hard work, and 3) the generosity of believers here in the United States. 

I consider it a privilege to be involved weekly in promoting #3. 

For about 10 days come mid-November, I will once again get to witness firsthand the miracle in its fullness as all three ingredients are combined there in Ghana. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to it!