Category Archives: Post-Modernism

What I am Thankful For

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

This year, I am thankful for something quite odd in today’s culture. I am thankful for a God who is, without apology, jealous and controlling.

Yes, I am thankful for a God who demands absolute loyalty and obedience from his servants and children, a God who is intolerant of anyone seeking to rival him in his glory, especially in terms of power over others, or even over ourselves.  I am thankful for a God who is a perfectionist in the extreme, allowing not the slightest spot, blemish, wrinkle, or stain into his spiritual presence in Heaven.

I am thankful for a God who has decreed a death penalty for any and all infractions of his law without exception, who cannot be moved to change his mind and change the rules based upon an emotional appeal to hard circumstances, but always carries out his decrees. I am thankful for an obstinate God who never changes his ways, never changes who he is and what he believes, never waivers on what he hates and what he loves, for any reason.

I am thankful because this God is just, reliable, trustworthy, and dependable, powerful enough and willing to protect us from harm and avenge us of wrongs.

I am also thankful this God looked down on a world that hates him for all of the above things that I would praise him for, saw that this world was full of everything that he hates, saw that we were hopelessly unable to ever measure up to his standards, all of us condemned to die and that our spirits, though designed to dwell in a body of flesh and to be in his presence, would be left disembodied and spiritually separated from his presence for all eternity.

I am thankful that this god so loathed by the world, so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son to pay the penalty of our sin and die in our place, so that we could be washed clean of our sin and purified in his blood. I am thankful he sent his Holy Spirit to dwell in us, so we can learn to walk in his way rather than continue to follow after the corruption of the mortal flesh we will trade one fine day for new, immortal, sinless and flawless bodies worthy to be with Him.

I am thankful that my God is both simultaneously a Just, Jealous, Holy, Unwavering, Unmovable, Unshakable, Authoritarian King of Kings and a Loving, Merciful, Good, Gracious, Patient, Gentle, Humble Savior and Redeemer.

I am thankful that the power of sin has already been defeated on the Cross and that it is only a matter of time before this long cosmic war is over and the last battle fought. I am thankful that, by grace, through faith alone,  I can stand with the Creator of the Universe in the battle against sin and overcome rather than rebel, wallow in sin, and find myself cast out with the Lawless One. I am thankful that God has begun a good work of eradicating sin and imperfection in me and that he will continue to carry out his work in me until the day of His Coming.

I am thankful even us rebels who have betrayed our Heavenly citizenship again and again, going the way of the enemy culture all around us, can always  humbly bow our knees to the King of Kings and be reconciled to him and forgiven.

Posted in Bible and Theology, God's Character, God's love, Gospel, Grace, Legalism, Post-Modernism, Sin and Holiness

Christians Known By Love, But Defined by Truth

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.” (1 Peter 1:24-25)

An internet meme asserts that Jesus said Christians will be known by their love, not by their doctrine. Even pastoral sermons can fall into this trap. Yes, trap.

The problem with this meme is two fold. One, it presents a false dichotomy, pitting love and truth against each other. The scriptures on Christian love are a vital part of sound doctrine. You don’t have sound doctrine if you don’t have sincere Christian love. Secondly, the idea that you can have true Christian love without sound doctrine is a lie based on cherry picking scriptures, taking them out of their context as our verse of the day does. Verses 22-23 read:

2Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love,  love one another earnestly from a pure heart,  since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

So after asserting we are to be holy (verse 15) and we are told the sincere love we are to be known by is a product (fruit) of being purified of sin through obedience to the truth. Christian love comes from a pure heart, of being born again through the imperishable seed of the Word. It is in that context we are reminded that, though our lives in the corrupt sinful fallen bodies of the present are like grass and fading, the word of the Lord remains forever.

Further this, according to Peter, is the very gospel itself, the good news that the apostles preached and that authentic Christianity still preaches to this day. Not love above truth at any cost, as some false teachers espouse, but rather love born of truth and eternal life itself from being born again of the truth, by faith, through God’s grace at work in us, not of our own efforts, lest any boast.

Christ our Lord said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” not “I am the Love.” Yes, we are known by our love, but we are defined by the truth. Our love binds us to Christ and one another, and it is certain that we don’t even know what love is until we stand at the foot of his cross where God’s love sent his son to die for traitors. But it is the truth that sets us free from the bondage of sin, which is what divides us and creates bitterness, anger, malice, confusion, selfishness, and all manner of unloving behavior. It is equally crucial to have true doctrine and sincere love for God and one another. Truth and Love are conjoined twins. Damage to the one inevitably impacts the other.

The most grave damage from divorcing love from truth is that, to be consistent, one must claim the Apostles who wrote the bulk of the New Testament, and preached “love one another,” were themselves judgmental hate mongers. In the pages of scripture, the apostles thrash Christian sects whose doctrine differs with their own, denouncing the adherents as heretics and the leaders as false teachers leading people astray from God. Paul encourages us to imitate him, even, and makes no exception for his combative defense of sound doctrine.

Per the world’s definition of love, we must conclude the apostles were wrong to judge the very salvation of those who disagreed with their doctrines. Instead of fighting with these “false teachers” and their followers, they should have done as we do and embraced them as saved fellow Christians who loved Christ as much as they did and simply had different views on scripture than the apostles.

Students of history will be aware the Church has long disobeyed the apostles’ doctrine and murdered each other over disputable matters. The definition of love in reaction to this evil, however, shows its own demonic origins by subtly standing in judgment against the very bible those taken captive by this lie claim their love and faith are based on. It is double-minded inconsistency to embrace the authority of the apostles to write scripture on one side of the mouth and on the other stand in judgment against those God appoints today as defenders of the faith and promoters of the spread of the apostles’ soul-saving doctrine.

Lord, give us wisdom to know your truth and discern the error that tugs on our ears and sounds so good. Give us a desire to grow in holiness and sound doctrine as well as the love and grace and forgiveness that spring up from maturing in the truth. Prick our hearts with conviction when we detach the flower of love from the vine of truth, for blooms detached from their roots quickly die and fade away, and branches that do not flower and bear fruit will be cut off and burned. Either way, keep us safe and growing in you. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, Gospel, Post-Modernism, Sin and Holiness

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Secret to True Christian Harmony

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 15:5-6)

Longing for peace and harmony in your relationships? This blessing in Romans points us to the only source of reconciliation: Jesus. It starts with prayer, filling up on encouragement and endurance from the Lord, opening up to his power to bring  each of us into accord with him. The more like him each of us grows, the more harmony we will have with one another.

Churches and Christians get in trouble when we start to see harmony as an end unto itself. The end goal of harmonizing is to glory the Lord our God, who does not change. If, for the sake of peace, we sacrifice doctrinal truth and change our message to please those in the church who are held captive by the world, we might have peace, but we’d all be out of harmony with Jesus. Rather than glorifying Christ, we’d be spreading deception.

Thus we must be sure who we are harmonizing with is truly seeking to be in one accord with the Christ Jesus of the Bible. Now, we should be respectful, gentle, and kind in disagreeing with those who choose to believe a lie. We should be sensitive to the Lord’s leading in who we cast our pearls before.

However, in our own lives, we must not back down from where we stand in Christ to please the Marketplace of Ideas Shoppers who toss a few cherry-picked Christian beliefs in their basket along with other cherished beliefs that seem right and feel good to them. Warn them if God leads,  leave them to God’s judgment as convicted to, but don’t let them take you with them for the sake of peace. Our first responsibility is to harmonize (become in accord) with the Lord. If others around us decline to, that is their choice.

Lord, search our hearts. If we have any beliefs not in harmony with who you are, reveal them to us by your holy spirit. By your grace, grant us the strength to cast off anything that is not of you. Encourage us to endurance, seeking to live in peace, for the purpose of glorifying you with all of your people. We pray we would find peace and harmony as we your people draw closer to the truth and walk in your ways. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, Idols, Post-Modernism, Prayer and Devotions

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Embrace God’s Certainty and God’s Mystery

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Andrea Graham| 1 Comment

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33)

Paul says this in the midst of a three or four chapter long discourse on the salvation of the Jewish people, where he struggles between God’s promise Israel is His chosen people, the surety of God’s promises, and the fact so many Jews had chosen to reject the Jewish messiah who brought us salvation.

To a degree, in this verse, Paul is lifting up his hands and praising God for a plan he indicates here that he doesn’t understand. From our vantage point, this is remarkable faith. Paul is an intellectual trained by a famous rabbi of his day, and, in our culture today, intellectuals are quite often tempted to walk away from faith when life doesn’t make rational, logical sense to them.

But Paul understands there is a greater reality that has different rules, that this reality has not been fully revealed to us. He chooses to embrace this mystery rather than dismiss or explain it. In 1 Cor 13:12, he says, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” (In this verse’s context, I understand that then references Heaven.)

We should also take note and heed–many false teachings arise from attempts to explain the mysteries and paradoxes of God, just as atheism’s intellectual root is a rejection of anything the person cannot fully know and grasp with the five physical senses. To keep our spiritual center, we must embrace the full revelation of God’s written word, but doing so also means humbly acknowledging the mysteries His word tells us will only be revealed when we at last meet our heavenly bridegroom face to face.

Lord, we confess we are curious creatures who impatiently long for full understanding. Please check us in our spirits when we are tempted to let our imaginations shine false light on your mysteries. Guard us from coming to false conclusions trying to reconcile your paradoxes, and from dismissing parts of who you are to satisfy our darkened understanding. Strengthen us today to search and know what has been revealed to us in the Bible, and to stand securely upon all of it and you, the Living word, as our firm foundation, still a solid rock in a world where even many in our churches are building their lives upon shifting sands. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

If you like my reviews, see: CSFF Tour: The Ale Boy’s Feast by Jeffrey Overstreet

Posted in Faith, God's promises, Post-Modernism, Prayer and Devotions

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Pray for Authorities, God’s people, and the Lost

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.” (1 Timothy 2:5-6)

The context of this verse says, if I understand Paul’s complex sentence structures correctly is:

  • Pray for all people, including all government and authority figures
  • Pray that those in authority would allow God’s people to live peaceful, dignified lives (i.e. free of persecution)
  • It is also good to pray for those who don’t know Christ that they might be saved because God desires all know Him and the Truth
  • It is also good to pray this because the Lord is the only God and Jesus Christ gave himself to ransom all humanity and is the only mediator able to reconcile God to man (I.E. able to restore us to Paradise)
  • But actually give this testimony only at the proper time.

Paul doesn’t actually tell us out right when exactly the proper time is, at least in this chapter as far as I can tell. Reason would suggest the proper time is when our prayers have softened their hearts’s soil enough to receive the seed of faith we plant. Another scripture, “have an answer ready for the hope that is within you” suggests we’ll know for sure their hearts are ready when they ask us. Short of that, follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Lord, we pray for our governing authorities today and for all persons in positions to discriminate against Christians and make it difficult for us, in our nations as well as in lands where our brothers and sisters are dying rather than deny you. Change their hearts, oh Lord, so we might live in peace with the same dignity that they profess they want to ensure everyone enjoys.  Soften their hearts and the hearts of all those who do not know you, that they might be convicted of the truth, and ready to hear and receive our continued testimony that Christ died for all and only he can save us from our sin and make us pure enough to return to the Paradise we long for, which is found in your kingdom. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, Gospel, Post-Modernism, Prayer and Devotions

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Righteousness, Kindness, and Why Homosexuality is a Sin

Posted on February 6, 2011 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor.” (Proverbs 21:21)

So pursuing righteousness gets me righteousness and life. Pursuing kindness gets me honor? Interesting.

The Church today has a hard time pursuing both righteousness and kindness. The devil fights us because either one  isn’t enough. We need both to find life righteousness, and honor. So all he has to do is keep us from being one or the other–and we can be more easily tricked into thinking we’re following Jesus properly in either half way state.

The devil also likes to get us focused on the opposite problem than the one we really have.  So if you’re focused on being kind to sinners,  there’s a good chance you lean towards not taking the sin seriously enough. If you’re focused on the evil of the sin, you’re probably not being kind enough.

For example, lets consider that we live in a world where, even among Christians, the majority of the generation under forty, and super-majority of the generation under twenty, are honestly perplexed why two men or two women who love each other can’t have sex together inside the confines of a committed relationship. The rest of us  simply cite the “thou shalt not” and expect that to be enough. It’s not. Too many false teachers are available to explain to itching ears why the Bible doesn’t really say “thou shalt not.”

So why don’t we answer the question? Some of us are plain afraid of confrontation and debate. Quite a few of us don’t know what to say because we haven’t asked that question. We stopped at “don’t,” but the bible does not.  It does answer, and the answer explains quite a bit about why the devil is promoting sexual deviancy of all sorts and attacking marriage on every side.

For those of us who have been to a seminar or class on marriage and biblical roles, we’ll find the answer has been right smack under our noses the whole time. The answer is found in Ephesians 5:21-33.

You know, that same passage the American Feminist dreads and loathes when it actually says both spouses should submit to each other, since the husband is obliged by Christ’s example to wash his wife’s feet and be the servant of all.

God designed marriage as the oldest and original passion play, starring the wife as the Church and the husband as Christ. Any deviation from that design corrupts the play and turns it into blasphemy, especially in the case of the husband’s failures. Whenever a man has sex outside of marriage, cheats on his wife, leaves his wife when she has been faithful to him, has sex with another man, beats his wife, treats her like an object, belittles her, walks on her, or selfishly seeks his own interests above hers, or  is plain passive and unresponsive, he is depicting God as being that way and hence blaspheming. That is why Christian men, and male Christian leaders especially, so often find themselves fighting fierce spiritual battles.

Whenever a woman takes part in, encourages, or enables such blasphemous behavior in a man, she is guilty for that. It is also a sin for the woman to depict the Church as straying from Christ by committing the evils listed above. And all homosexual relationships distort marriage’s passion play and mock God. That is why the devil seeks to legitimize and increase that behavior. That is why God said no one can live that way and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Ladies, difficult as our role is, especially when our men fail, it is absolutely nothing compared to the responsibilities our godly men labor under! I would not want to trade with them for the world.

God’s design for sex, spouses’ roles in marriage, and the structure of the family are all under vicious assault because they all derive from God’s nature and His relationship with His people. This spiritual battle ultimately isn’t about sex, but the gospel. And all of these things are equally important.

Before God, homosexual relationships are no more detestable than adultery, wives dominating their husbands, or husbands mistreating their wives. Each sin should be responded to the same, with reproof that seeks to gently restore the believer caught in such deception and bondage.  Those outside should also all receive the same measures of truth and loving kindness. We should not be discriminating at all against our celibate brothers and sisters in Christ who silently suffer same sex attractions. They should not have to hide in fear of their weakness being discovered.

We need righteousness and kindness. We need truth and love.

Posted in Abuse, Adultery, Bible and Theology, Gospel, Marriage, Post-Modernism

Review: Surrender All by Joni Lamb

Posted on June 30, 2009 by Andrea Graham| 2 Comments

In this 200 page Christian living title from waterbrook press, Joni Lamb, Vice President of Christian television’s Daystar Network, takes a half a cup of scripture, a tablespoon of a classic hymn, and three cups of anecdotes, bakes it at 350 degrees, and produces Surrender All: Your Answer to Living with Peace, Power, and Purpose

Seriously, quick, concise and thought provoking, Surrender All conveys a central point of the Christian faith that is often missed by Christians engulfed in a self-worshiping culture that demands we be independent and in control at all times rather than God-dependent followers of Christ who take up the cross and die to self. And let me be honest: I live here, too. I can personally attest there’s plenty here to challenge as well as inspire, though Lamb would have been wise to acknowledge more that she also lives here. But our culture comes with a pressure for would-be role models to pretend perfection, so that much is to be expected.

Speaking of which, my usual concerns. I would have liked to see this totally biblical concept grounded more in scripture. Meaning, she missed an opportunity to build a case for surrender from the scriptures. We do get taken to the garden of Gethsemane, but very late in the book. It is there, I just would have liked to see a deeper exploration of the words of scripture on this subject. This may shock some, but there’s no anecdote as powerful as the living word. At least I don’t think any of us would claim to have a story we could tell that’s as sharp as a two edged sword to divide bone and marrow.

Likewise, she pulled her punches a tad too much on issues like divorce and homosexuality  and, in an attempt to be compassionate, sent what to me sounded like mixed messages. On women’s roles, especially in terms of career, she clearly sees the pain and confusion we all suffer from in our culture, but like most of us, in unguarded moments, doesn’t appear to realize what most women really want–and if you’d like to know what I think it is, feel free to ask.

Finally, I’m concerned about at least one of the anecdotes being dangerous if misunderstood. She’s clear earlier being surrendered means following the Holy Spirit’s guidance in such situations, but there’s a reason counselors are loathe to tell abuse victims to actually reconcile with the perpetrator and even discourage it. In my opinion, only God has the right to tell someone to put themselves back in a situation where they are almost certainly going to be in physical, spiritual, and/or psychological peril, which the Lord did in one anecdote in the book, which could be taken as an example for all to follow rather than an example of being obedient even when the Lord’s instructions defy all common sense, as they often do.

So in terms of dealing with “hard cases” the book suffers somewhat from disorganization, the rather common lack of a “been there” feel that makes it sound like the authors don’t know what they’re talking about even if they objectively do, and the even more common lack of the ink space the subject really requires. So, if you’re seriously wounded and hurting, I’d address that before tackling this book.

However, save for the last group, who may ironically feel a little like Job did when his friends offered their well-meaning advice if they read this, none of the human flaws takes away from the divine wisdom she does convey and well. Surrender, taking up our cross and following Him, dying to self, being obedient, whatever one calls it, bowing to Christ’s lordship is a critical area most Christians are struggling in today and it’s one that separates us from the Lord–and sadly this could be a permanent condition if never mastered. A chilling thought as we all have times we struggle there, but scripture doesn’t leave much wiggle room. We can’t serve two masters. A routine habit of living for self, of being the one calling the shots of our lives, is a soul killer.

We all want Heaven.  Upwards of 80% of Americans in particular want Jesus as our Savior. But do we really want him as Lord? That’s the question that matters for eternity.

Too many in church on Sundays are just trying to use the Lord:  happy to accept his sacrifice, eager to embrace him as a friend and a brother even, but reluctant, or outright refusing, to accept Him as Lord. When we reconcile without repentance, we perpetuate the lie they can get away with it, too. We’re the bible they believe, and the way we forgive is the way they expect God forgives–with deadly pathologies on both sides of the coin, for certain. Only the Lord can balance us properly.

Regardless, Joni Lamb’s handling of this issue makes this a good book to give to that someone we all know who hasn’t made the all-important decision to Surrender All yet. Or if we’re needing a refresher.


Posted in Book Reviews, Post-Modernism, Sin and Holiness