Matt Chandler - De-Churched

This was me. When you remove the grace of the cross and the love of God from your sermons and from your ministries, this is what you will get in your pews. I still am struggling to strip all the bad teachings from past churches I was in, yet I pray that those who are still in those will be blessed and be fruitful and used by God in his will.

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The Prodigal Son: Part III: Religion vs Gospel

If you haven't read the first two posts within this series, you can find them here and here. If this reads a little odd, it is because they came from a sermon series I did at chapels at a local private school. I hope that these will aid you in your understanding of the Gospel more fully. I also want you to know, as I stated in the first post, that I leaned highly on the sermons given by Tim Keller that can be found here.

Here is the last post in regards to the Prodigal Son.

The Vengeful Brother

So, it looks like everything is going great, the celebration has started, the whole town is there celebrating a feast that they probably have never seen before. It’s actually so loud that the elder brother can hear it as he starts to approach the house. Here is what follows in the story.

“Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.
“And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be.
“And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’
“But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him.
“But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;
but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
“And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.
‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’ ”

At this point in the story, the Pharisees that are standing around listening to the story that Jesus is telling, are very angry. They are thinking to themselves: this boy wished his father dead, completely devastated his family, squandered his dad’s money with prostitutes, and lived alongside an unclean animal, now the father has the gall to merely forgive him? Not only forgive him, but throw a huge celebration for the son?

Then Jesus starts in with the elder brother and they have to be thinking, “finally, someone who is thinking correctly”

To give you some context in what should have happened in a true God loving country…it was the elder brother’s job to bring back the prodigal son to restore the family's image and respect among the community. But, for the elder son to do this for the younger, it would cost him a lot of money. Remember, at this point, everything is going to be the elder brothers now when his father dies…and because the elder brother is an idolator also of his father’s possessions, he won’t go out to get seek the younger brother. But instead of seeing himself as no better than his younger brother he actually sees himself as superior to the younger brother, because of all the work he has done for the father.

Look at the response of the elder brother.

“But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him.
“But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;
but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’

Why is he so mad? The reason is that he feels like he has earned the right to be his father’s son with all his works, but doesn’t believe that the Prodigal Son has earned any right to be called the son or part of the family.

At this point, he has done the same thing that the Prodigal did when he repented, he wants to be his father’s hired servant. He says:

For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours;

Here you will see that the elder brother believes he deserves something from the father because of him following his commands. It isn’t enough to be called a son and be with the father, he wants more…he wants his father’s things

You see Pharisees do two things: they believe their works save them, but they also believe that their works make them earn God’s love and God’s grace and ultimately, his gifts.

We have to realize that God doesn’t owe us anything. No matter if you read your bible, pray, help others, go to church, go to a private school, wear WWJD bracelets, wear Christian t-shirts, listen to Christian music, smile all the time like you're on something,etc. God doesn’t owe you an easier life.

I have heard before that if you read your Bible your days will be better. Therefore, you read your bible so you have a better day. But what happens when you read your bible and your dad dies?

What are you going to do? You’ll blame God because you followed everything God said to do, yet your life isn’t better, it’s worse.

You are telling God, “you owe me!...look at all I did!” God says, “I owe you nothing, but I gave you everything!”

I want to really drive this home: This is anti gospel, this is religion. Which states, I get to earn my salvation by my works.

The elder brother is so messed up. But, I want to be able to give you some ways to see if you are the elder brother. Because the interesting thing is that it is easy to see the Prodigal Son and who they are. They are usually the ones hooked on drugs, getting drunk, living for money, caught up in very visible evil things.

The hard thing with the elder brothers is where they congregate. They don’t congregate in the pig slop, they congregate in churches, in Christian schools and Christian businesses.

Because outwardly, they look like they are doing all the right things…they give to the poor, they read their bibles, they come to church every week, they serve in the church and memorize their Bibles, they have Christian bumper stickers, they have the latest Top 50 Worship Songs CD, etc. Now are any of these things wrong? We could debate on some of them, but, is it wrong to go to church, christian schools, work at a Crhistian business, read your bible, pray, etc.? No…of course not..unless the heart is jacked up…

Religion does all these things to gain God’s favor, they do it to look good, not because they love God.

Think about this…what is the difference between a Mormon that gives to the poor, reads their Bibles, does many moral things that are good and you? What is the difference?

If you can’t answer, “My works are merely because I love my God and am thankful for what he has done for me” you might be an elder brother candidate…

King David puts it this way:

Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired;
My ears You have opened;
Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.
Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your Law is within my heart.”
Psalm 40:6-8

But, when you think of this: didn’t God say that burnt offerings and sin offering were required? But notice that David says he does these things not to earn God’s favor but does it because he delights to do God’s will.

‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
‘But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ ”
Matthew 15:8-9

Jesus wants your heart, not merely your works. But know this: out of a heart that loves God and desires him most, good works will come.

Here is some things to watch for to see if you are an elder brother candidate who loves religion instead of gospel: I totally stole this from Tim Keller.

1. Anger

Notice the brother was angry with his father. An elder brother, or Pharisee, is someone who is angry because he is not getting what he thinks he deserves…”why aren’t I prospering God? I do all these things, my life should be good, my grades should be good, I should have lots of friends, I should have the nicest clothes, I shouldn’t have to struggle like this”

You will always think that you are better than “that guy” and you will often say when you hear a message at church, “so and so needs to hear this message,” but you will never see that the message was speaking to you.

2. Duty without Beauty

You slave for God. You don’t enjoy church, you don’t enjoy praying, you don’t enjoy reading your bible, you don’t enjoy loving others…because elder brothers find God useful, not beautiful.

You see, for an elder brother God is not the end, he is not the gift of our salvation, but God is a means to get what they want. Gospel Christians obey because they want God. Elder brothers obey God to get his stuff. Gospel saturated Christians obey because they want to draw close to God and find God and love his presence.

For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to ..what? money? power? health? a good life? a safe life? no…he died to bring us to God

For the elder brother this isn’t good enough, God isn’t good enough. They need recognition, they need God’s things, not God himself. Why do you obey God? So you can look good on the outside to others? To get a good day out of God? Or do you obey God because you deeply love him, knowing that if everything was taken from you, your joy would not be stolen.

As an example: elder brothers pray to get things not to get closer to God

3. Religious and Cultural Class Superiority

If you ground your self image in your performance then you have to look down upon those who are failures, if you ground your self image in your work, then you have to look down upon those who are lazy. If you ground yourself on being and American, you look down on anyone who comes in this country illegally. So, if you ground your self image in your good grades, playing sports, playing an instrument, being an amazing artist, wearing a t-shirt with some weird saying of Christ..if this is where your self image lies…all those who can’t do these things…you’ll look down upon them.

The elder brother says that God owes him grace and love because of his works, the gospel centered person states, “I am not worthy to be your son”

Notice the elder brother says,

but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’

We mustn’t say: I can’t believe that person is a murderer, thief, drunk, druggy, homosexual, or pedophile…instead, we must say, without God’s grace I would be in their same sinful state and then we take and show the gospel to them.

We must be careful not to be the elder brother who is really viewing himself as a hired servant only interested in getting what he feels owed to him. We must be gospel centered, knowing we are not worthy to be called God’s sons and daughters.

Notice how this parable ends:

“And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.
‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’ ”

At this point, I can see Christ looking right into the eyes of the Pharisees. The interesting thing is that although the father should be angry with his eldest son, he shows much compassion for him. Like the younger brother, the father comes out to the eldest son, and like he did with the younger brother, he shows forgiveness and love for the eldest son instead of anger.

Notice, Jesus uses the term “son” when the father says, “son, you have always been with me…” which means something close to “my child”…it is very intimate. The father pleads with the son to come in and enjoy the feast. Jesus is telling the Pharisees that there is still time for them to turn and know that they can be saved, not by their works, but the work that is about to happen on the cross.

Then, the parable ends. We are left to see that the Prodigal Son is saved and in his father’s house, even though his works were filled with sin. But because of his father’s mercy and grace…he is redeemed. Showing those who have a life filled with sin, that they too can be forgiven and be in heaven some day, because of the greater father, Jesus Christ, who paid the price for their sins and stands ready to forgive them.

But, the elder brother is left outside. He is going to hell despite his good works. He, like his younger brother, has now torn the family up once again. But he, unlike his brother, believes his salvation and grace should come by what he has done, instead of what his father has done.

Jesus actually doesn’t tell us the end of the story because his hour to die hadn’t yet come. But, if we were to work out this parable to the end, as the father is pleading with his son to come in and celebrate, the elder son out of all his anger picks up a piece of wood and beats his father to death with it.

In the end, Jesus dies on the cross at the hands of the self righteous Pharisees, who believed their works were what earned them the right to be loved by God. They couldn’t believe that this Messiah came to save the prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, homosexuals, liars, thieves and pedophiles. They couldn’t believe that he came to save you and I.

Conclusion

There is much to glean from this parable that we have yet to uncover. But which are you? There are only three to choose from. Are you the prodigal? Do you live out your own desires and have many idols that are ahead of God?

Are you the elder brother? Do you believe that God owes you something because you read our Bible every morning, pray every morning or help those in need?

Or, are you a blood bought Christian that understands that God is the gift. God is our redeemer and salvation. He is the one that has paid it all, not only for our salvation, but also for our sanctification?

Are you one that is repentant because you break God’s heart and you desire to live for him because you love him?

I hope that this study has opened your eyes to the understanding of the true Gospel of our Christ. He paid it all. He desires you to be saved and he has removed all obstacles for you to be saved. You just need to repent and turn to him and tell him that you have sinned against heaven and you are not worthy to be his son. But, be careful, because if you ever feel as though you are worthy to be called his son…you are becoming that elder brother

I will end with a quote from Augustine from his confessions:

What does ambition seek except honor and glory, but only you lord have a glory forever that can never be lost

What does power of the mighty desire except to be feared, but none has power that can ever be ceased and stolen but you

What do the lonely and the anxious long for, except a love that they cannot lose, but who can give a love that does not fade and die but you

What does wariness seek except rest, but what sure rest is there apart from you

Thus the soul commits adultery whenever it turns from you and seeks these things that it cannot find except in you

Oh Lord you made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you

May we seek to find our rest in God himself, instead of God’s things.

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Kill Morality or it Will Be Killing You

The continuation of this post title could really include, "...and you will kill others." This quote is a play off of John Owens famous words from "Mortality of Sin" when he states to "kill sin or it will be killing you" and has a real bent on daily sins that need to be dealt with. What I have noticed, and what many of our contemporaries have noticed, is that there is a real bad case of Pharisaical Gospel boxed up and disguised within a moralistic good doer mentality. The gospel means "good news" not "good men." But what happens is that instead of there being any good news within the gospel one is just taken from being trapped in sin to being trapped in rules and regulations for those who want to be called sanctified and mature.

The more I find out the clarity of the cross, the more I realize that it isn't the man that proves sanctification, but the God/man. He is the one who proves everything that has to do with redemption and sanctification. Some love to call people to Lordship salvation, but are really disguising what they deem to be under Lordship through their daily rules that their followers must adhere to (not saying I don't believe in Lordship salvation, just saying people don't understand what it truly means). The problem within this is that this discredits our Lord in heaven and his work that he accomplished while he was here on this earth. What this discredits is every aspect of the redemptive plan and it is one that continually needs to be poked at, prodded at, made fun of and completely discredited. If not, your moralism will kill you and then kill others.


Moralism Kills, The Gospel Resuscitates

If you are a Christian, do you realize that you have been saved from your works, not to your works? You have been saved to realize that your works are crap and worthless, but the work of our Christ was, is and will be perfect. Once you start making rules of when you should study the bible, how much church you should attend, how many worship songs you should sing, how long you should pray, which movies you shouldn't watch, which people you should protest, which political party you should relate to, and you base these off of the thought that this is what any good Christian ought to do, you have failed redemption. You have just aligned yourself with the Pharisees. You have just put forth what one must adhere to that isn't found in the bible. You are no different than a Jew who made many rules to adhere to the fake, hate filled Israelite god of the Old Testament Jews. Now...I am not being a heretic here. The true God is found in the Old Testament, but usually only in the mouths of the prophets and rarely found in the practice of the Jewish people. Their acts are what made people think that the Jewish, Old Testament Yahweh was hateful and required good works for salvation. This wasn't the case. The God of the OT is the same God found in the face of Christ in the New Testament, who didn't call the righteous, but the sinner to his side.

The question isn't "is this true" but the question is "why don't you believe this true with your crappy works that you have set up for yourself?" Paul said the same thing to the Galatians:

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
Galatians 3:1-3

Same thing with us. If you believe in Sola Gratia and Sola Fide, why do you go back to your works for salvific proof or sanctification purposes? You begun with faith in the Christ, do you now leave him behind and do everything yourself? How about you start living like the Christ actually died on the cross and rose again for your sins? Our works should only be driven by our love for the Christ, not the love of our flesh and self gratifying crappy ideals. Stop with your lists of labor thinking it gains you anything. Start living for the risen Christ, understanding that he paid it all and nothing you do can gain you anything, besides more love for Christ. If your works start feeling like a painful experience of unwanted slavery, you probably aren't working for the right reasons:

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
1 John 5:3

Moralism Kills You, Then Those You "Love"

This is why I write this post. If you want to live some burdensome crappy life where you can't be loved by Christ unless you read the Bible and pray at 5am, that's cool for you. The reason I care is because your stupid thoughts and actions will then end up killing someone else. You will try to win people to your stupid "gospel." I still don't know how it is good news to anyone where they now have to quit everything, wear a suit in public and only drink kool aid...but whatever...Maybe Jesus actually meant it when he said he came to bring the good news of salvation.

He said the same thing to your kin, the Pharisees:

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
Matthew 23:13-15

You see, it was bad enough that Jesus came and tried to just stay near sinners, but the Pharisees wouldn't leave him alone and followed him around trying to get him to trip, trying to lure away his followers and find Christ in sin. Sounds a lot like some other pastors these days...always trying to find fault in other brothers who preach the gospel trying to win people to Jesus, instead of their morals.

Jesus put it bluntly, he could have just said, literally, "leave me the hell alone" but he said in another way that was far worse:

And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 2:17

Jesus says, if you can do it yourself through your works, you don't need me. Leave me alone, I came to save those who know they are sinners in total need for a Saviour for the rest of their lives, not just a one time penance prayer.

Jesus preached, loved and redeemed the sinner to his side so many times it cost him his life. Morality kills you first, then it kills others...and it killed our Christ. No doubt did God bring about good from his predestined plan of the cross, but moralism is what drove him there. The Pharisees thought themselves the highest morally and wanted to drive other people to their side and their morals instead of to God and to his redemption. The Pharisees couldn't handle someone else coming and releasing the sinner of the chains of slavery to moralism, so they wanted him dead.

If you notice, anyone who calls people to the grace of God continually, will be called someone who is an antinomian and believes one can sin all they want to without care. Not true. We preach that the works of Christ are enough, and all my works earn me jack, they only are done for the love of the redemption that was given to us in spite of ourselves, not because of ourselves.

So, ask yourself, "why do I do the works that I do?" If they are not done solely out of the love of your Saviour, you are doing them for the wrong reasons. You should preach this, practice this and teach this so much that people think you believe one can sin all they want to so that grace can abound. If people are asking this question, they also do not understand the life that has been transformed by the gospel. Know that your works will never gain you anything besides a smile on your face and maybe on the face of the ones you help.

Love Jesus more, love your works less and know that you are just as despicable as you were when you were saved, but because of the righteousness that you have been clothed with because of Christ, you are seen as perfect. Now, live like you care.

When you do this, this verse actually makes sense:

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men"
Colossians 3:23

The term "men" includes you...stop working for yourself and for others and start working because of the deep gratitude of the cross.

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When Jesus is Abused

This preaching is brutal. This "preacher" has decided that instead of preaching the gospel of Christ, he wants to use Christ to make his convictions turn into law. But just because this is so obvious don't think this type of stuff can't happen with you and your convictions. Know that the gospel of Christ is the most important issue behind the pulpit, not your convictions of whether a woman can wear pants or not. When the convictions become greater than the Gospel we have some issues. When we try and preach on why we are right and why some one else of the faith is wrong, to simply make a point, instead of pointing to the glories of Christ and how he saves us from our sin and self righteousness, we have lost sight of why God has called us to preach.

If you are a preacher, you must ask, "Why am I called to preach?" Is it to win sides and debates for my convictions? Or is it to save sinners from themselves to the joys of the cross? When one uses Christ for personal pride, they have twisted the reason of the calling. When Jesus isn't the reason for our preaching, but a sideshow to make a point, we need to repent. I have seen this preacher do the same things with other topics, so this is a trend with him. I will be trying to find out who he is so I can send an email to him to just simply ask him to preach the gospel.

HT: Bob Hayton

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Legalists Love to Act Like God by Making Rules

“Legalists love to act like God by making rules. Legalists love rules about the rules. Legalists love rules about who gets to make the rules about the rules. Legalists love rules about who gets to enforce the rules made by the people whom the rules appointed to make the rules about the rules. Legalists really love rules about who gets to interpret the rules that rule. Legalists get perfectly euphoric when they get to enact the rules by punishing people who break the rules as interpreted by those appointed by the rules. In the end, legalsts want to rule through rules and wield their rules like weapons to divide the church body into bloddied parts.” (Mark Driscoll, Vintage Church pp. 143-144)

HT: Irish Calvinist aka erik raymond

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Pants and Basketball? Modesty Taken to a Whole New Level

I found this story on ESPN.com and had to share it. This is a story on a school that requires it's boys basketball teams to wear long pants in the name of modesty. I found it very interesting that when the reporter asked if there was a verse in Scripture that addresses wearing long pants, this was the principals response:

There is, but I'd have to look it up -- I don't have it handy, but it's definitely in Scripture. And I don't know if you know this, but our girls' basketball team dresses in skirts. [And the school's cheerleading squad wears long skirts.]

Seems like if you were the principal you would be prepared to answer a question like that. But, I am guessing that the real problem is that this prohibition is found in the Bible right next to the laws of riding a unicorn and how to evangelize a leprechaun.

You have to read this post, I just don't get it.

We all know basketball pants have gotten longer and longer in recent years. But you probably have never seen them as long as this.

The team in the long pants is Gate City Christian, a tiny Pentecostal high school in southwestern Virginia. No, the players didn't forget their game shorts, and they aren't wearing their warm-up pants -- the Warriors, as the team is called, always wear long pants, due to the school's religious tenets. (You can see video footage of the Gate City Christian uniforms at the top of this page.)

This isn't the first time religion has influenced athletic attire. Girls at Orthodox Jewish schools sometimes wear skirts, for example (there's even a Connecticut school whose girls' hoops team is called the Skirts; additional info and photos here), and Muslim women often compete in unconventional gear.

But those examples involve female athletes conforming to traditional notions of feminine modesty. It's much more uncommon to see male players following a faith-based dress code. In an effort to learn more, Uni Watch tracked down Gate City Christian's principal, Wayne Elliott, who was happy to talk about the team's unusual uniforms.

Uni Watch

Uni Watch: A basketball team wearing long pants is new to me. What's it all about?

Wayne Elliott: We're a small Christian school, about 52 kids, and it's just a school dress code that we have, based on our Biblical beliefs and standards. It goes back to dressing in modest apparel -- that's the dress code we set, and the kids abide by it here at the school and at all school functions.

UW: And that code would be "no short pants."

WE: Correct.

UW: Please forgive my ignorance on this point, but is there a specific verse of the Bible that addresses this?

WE: There is, but I'd have to look it up -- I don't have it handy, but it's definitely in Scripture. And I don't know if you know this, but our girls' basketball team dresses in skirts. [And the school's cheerleading squad wears long skirts.]

UW: From a layman's standpoint, it seems like maybe you'd want the girls to wear pants as well, so they wouldn't show any skin. But I'm guessing you don't want the girls wearing pants or dressing the same as the boys, right?

WE: Yeah, because the Bible says there should be a separate distinction between a man and a woman in terms of their apparel, so that's what it's all about.

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Gate City Christian

Allen Greene Photography

No, that isn't a scrimmage in warm-up pants. Those are the official game uniforms for Gate City Christian and Maryville Christian.

UW: I see your kids also wear T-shirts under their tanktop jerseys. Is that also about modesty?

WE: Yes, that's part of the same thing.

UW: How long have you been doing this?

WE: We started our boys' basketball program in 2002. We now have varsity, JV, girls' basketball, girls' volleyball -- it's really grown.

UW: Wow, that's pretty impressive for a school with only 52 kids! And have your boys always worn the long pants since the team's inception?

WE: Yes sir, they've always worn the long pants. We've had people say that it puts our team at a competitive disadvantage, but we don't see it that way. It's just a way of life for us, it's all we know, so we don't feel it hinders us. We've really got some really good, respectful kids, and they're willing to give up wearing shorts in order to follow the rules.

UW: Are there other schools that have similar dress codes?

WE: Yes. We play in the East Tennessee Christian School Conference, and all four schools in the conference wear the long pants. [The team also plays nonconference opponents -- some Christian, some not.]

UW: So that means you probably have a lot of pants versus pants games.

WE: Yes, that's right. But it's not a conference rule -- it's just that all schools in the conference happen to dress that way.

UW: Did your school start that trend?

WE: No sir, we didn't. I'm 44 years old, and this is something schools around here have been doing as long as I can remember. So it was already established by the time we started our athletics program in 2002.

UW: Do any of the kids ever complain or roll their eyes and ask why they can't wear shorts like the other team?

WE: No, they know our guidelines and are willing to abide by that.

UW: What about when you play an opposing team wearing conventional shorts -- do they ever give your kids the business or make fun of their outfits?

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Gate City Christian

Allen Greene Photography

Gate City Christian's long pants don't seem to have impeded this drive to the basket.

WE: Nope, they're really respectful. I can't recall anything like that. There are some schools in our conference that require visiting teams to wear modest apparel too, although we don't do that at our gym, because I feel it wouldn't be fair to be pushing our preferences on people.

UW: So in those instances, a team that normally wears shorts would have to wear long pants when visiting one of these other schools?

WE: Yes, that's right. They'll even have a sign on the door that says, "All visiting teams must wear this apparel," and of course the coaches are told beforehand. To be honest with you, we did that during our first year, and I did have complaints from some people who felt it was a disadvantage to their teams, because they weren't used to wearing the pants like our team was used to it. But that's not why we changed it -- we changed it because I didn't want to force our beliefs on others.

Fair enough. But what's it like for the kids who wear the long pants? As Elliott noted, most of them have always dressed this way when playing sports, but one of the few exceptions is Travis Mullins, a 17-year-old senior who transferred to Gate City Christian in fifth grade. Prior to that, he attended a local public school, where he wore shorts in gym class and intramural athletics. Was it hard to get used to wearing pants when he began attending Gate City Christian?

"A little bit, but it wasn't that big of an adjustment," Mullins said. "I don't think it makes much difference in terms of hindering us or anything like that."

OK, but when Mullins sees a team dressed in conventional basketball uniforms, is there some little part of him that wishes his team could wear shorts, just once?

"In some ways, yes, you do want that, because I guess it would be lighter and not as hot," he said. "But aside from that, it doesn't bother me."

And there you have it. So the next time you see something like this and think to yourself, "Boy, those are pretty long," just remember that everything's relative.

(Special thanks to Cory Wright for his research assistance and to Allen Greene for his photographs and behind-the-scenes help.)

Paul Lukas thinks it would be fair to say that when the ESPN cameras showed up in Gate City last week, the school was ready for its Uni Watch moment. His Uni Watch blog, which is updated daily, is here. Want to learn about his Uni Watch membership program, be added to his mailing list so you'll always know when a new column has been posted or just ask him a question? Contact him here.

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Preach Jesus...Always

I am currently reading, The Law and Its Fulfillment: A Pauline Theology of Law, by Thomas R. Schreiner. It struck me as Dr. Schreiner was in his rebuttal of Sanders' thoughts on Judaism in both Second Temple Judaism and also Judaism in Paul's day. Sanders' main point through this is that the Jews during this time were not legalistic. Sander's tries to show that the reason that the Jews did the work of the Law was out of gratitude of the grace that God has shown them. Although I, of course, concede that this was the reason for the law, I do not believe that this is what was being practiced.

The problem is that one cannot find the grace taught in the rabbinic works in Second Temple Judaism. Sanders simply says that grace is presupposed and therefore not needed to be written to the Jews. Since the Jews knew that it was by grace that they were called and elected, there was no reason to include this in the rabbinic writings or teachings. Here is Sanders direct quote on the subject:

Very seldom is God's role in the covenant directly discussed. It is assumed so thoroughly that it need not be mentioned.
Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, p. 82

Based on this, Schreiner responds accordingly:

This explains, says Sanders, the emphasis in rabbinic literature on the fulfillment of commandments. Sanders' thesis on why the covenant is unmentioned may be granted in one sense. Presumably the rabbis did assume that God's covenantal mercies were the basis of all their behavior, and one must recall the nature of the literature found in the Mishnah and Gemara. Nevertheless, when one combines the failure to mention the covenant with the emphasis on obeying the detailed prescriptions of the law, one has a recipe for legalism. Such theology may not be legalistic in theory; it can always appeal to the covenant as the basis of all behavior. Theology, however, is not measured only by formal statements but also by what it stresses. Any theology that claims to stress God's grace but rarely mentions it and that elaborates human responsibility in detail inevitably becomes legalistic in practice, if not theory. This principle applies to rabbinic Judaism and to Christian churches. A church outwardly lauding grace as primary and fundamental may practice the most virulent legalism.
Schreiner, The Law and Its Fulfillment, p. 117

This is a great understanding. The main point that Schreiner is making is against Sanders' view and also Judaism's view of how to teach. This also hits us squarely on the head.

We cannot preach and teach like people understand that "it is all about Jesus" unless we show them how it is truly "all about Jesus." If we just give them things to do, steps to follow, and laws they must keep as a Christian, they will fall into legalism and so will we as the teachers. We can never assume that people "get it." We have to continue to put Jesus and the cross in the front of their eyes EVERYTIME we teach the Scriptures. The reason is that our futile minds and faulty reasoning as humans will naturally move to legalism and an understanding that it is all about what we do and not what Christ has done. So, if we just tell people to pray, read the word, tell others about Jesus, memorize Scripture and help those around them without telling them "why?," we have failed. We must always underline these things with the grace of the cross and the fulfillment of Christ. Without the preaching of the cross within these principles, we return to legalism by default.

Do not assume that your parishioners, or you, ever fully understand the grace of the cross. We must study the cross, preach the cross, pray the cross, sing the cross and live the cross. We must do this daily and we should do this because this is exactly what we will be doing for all eternity.

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.
Revelation 5:11-14

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10 Steps to Become a Legalist: Step 5

To be a true legalist, you have to get a little bit silly on some stuff, and this is one of them. You need to know that the way, the time and the when you study your Bible is exactly how all should do so. Anyone that doesn't study just like you do, is just not as mature as you and you need to bring them up to speed.

How do you study the Bible? Do you just simply read a chapter? Do you break down the verse like you are a back woods surgeon? Which ever way you do it, make sure you preach that it is the only way to do it, and that everyone else is as crazy as a TBN salesman...uhum...I meant TBN preacher.

You must take the verse, "Your word I have treasured in my heart," to mean whatever you want it to mean for your study.

So, if you break down verse by verse and parse it like you are going to teach a class in Hebrew and Greek, then that is the only way to do it. Those people who just read their Bible are as shallow as a kiddie pool, or a Presbyterian baptismal, and need to get to some real study. I mean how will they know that Jesus died for their sins, unless they know that the term "died" in the Greek means, "died"?

But, if you are a Presbyterian baptismal, then you must assert that those who do more than just read the Bible are going a little far. They are just cold theologians who love their knowledge more than Jesus. Don't they know that Paul said, "knowledge puffs up"? Keep saying that the reason that you read the Bible like you do is because they were letters written to be read in one sitting. If the Corinthians didn't sit around parsing sentences then why should I? Wait...the Corinthians knew Greek? And lived in that culture? Hmmmm...maybe I should study some more?

Not only should you press everyone to study just like you but you also should make sure that they study at the same time and for as long as you do. Everyone knows the best time to study is in the morning. You have to start your day off with Jesus or there is no way that you can be a strong Christian throughout the day. You're not a morning person? Get over it, you have to be, to be a strong mature Christian. Not only should you start your day with Jesus but if you don't study, or read your Bible (if you're one of those), for at least an hour, how do you get anything out of the Bible? What do you do, read your Bible for 20 minutes and then pray? You do? You must be a shallow Christian. What? You read the Bible at other times during the day too? You are also reading Christian books and listening to sermons? You live out your Christian study by serving others? Hmmm...not sure what you are getting at but those things need to be put to the side to make sure that you study for an hour.

This post seems silly and is silly. But, I have run into many people that not only believe that their way of study is a good way, but the only way. I have run into people who believe that if you don't spend an hour a day, in the morning, with a complete understanding of Greek and Hebrew, then you are not really doing Bible study. Not only this, but if they speak to anyone who doesn't study the way that they do, they look down on them. I don't mind people who try and help others with Bible study, but some take this so seriously that it makes me laugh. Some forget that people learn in different ways and at different times. Some are morning people some are night people. I have given much advice on this issue, but I used to be really weird in my views of how "it should be done." I used to be one of these, "only in the morning, and at least for 30 minutes," kind of guys. I was weird. Still am, but that is way beyond the point.

I think both of the views of Bible study I gave above could learn from each other. I have found at times myself breaking down one verse for days on end, and have also found myself simply reading through different passages to get a full view of things. But, to say that "one size fits all" works about as good as that big ugly shirt in the corner of your closet does, that you got because you were one of the first 3,000 fans at the minor league baseball game.

Let's be gracious in this. Let's learn from each other in this. Let's find what works for others and do something amazing with that information...try it for ourselves. Maybe you will find a way that you didn't think would work in the past for you, but actually opens up the Scriptures in ways you haven't seen in the past.

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10 Steps to Become a Legalist: Step 4

Before I start to have some fun with this post, I must ask that you have a sense of humor here. I am going to step on a lot of toes here. But, it's fun and I don't mind. I will mainly be focusing on home schooling vs public schooling. I was personally public schooled and I still have all my faculties and didn't sell my soul to the devil...although I was close a couple of times, but his offer wasn't quite good enough. I know many on both sides of this issue, so have at me if you will...and let's have some fun...and if you get a little mad at me, sorry, get used to it if you read these posts because they hit a lot of people in places they don't like. Including myself. Without further adu (however you spell that little word, remember I was public schooled)...let's do this and watch the carnage.

Step 4 is that you must raise your children like I do! This is a must for any parent. You must know that how you raise your children is absolutely correct and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, especially when you decide to keep them at home to learn on the couch as school starts at half past noon. You must get very dogged about this one. You must understand that homeshooling is the only way to raise your children, especially with all the little demons running around out there. I mean what would happen if they actually came in contact with a person who is a pagan? These pagans might touch them and infect them with the disease of "God hate."

You must understand that public schools are the devil. You must understand that there is no way that your child will be able to go through that and come out a Christian, but will be a flaming liberal. If you have to use Scripture to prove your point. My favorite is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, it is the Shema. It states (I'll put it in red so it looks more official):

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
Deuteronomy 6:4-9

How can a parent be diligent with their children to teach them this if they go off to school all day with the crazies? Remember that the time before school and also the time after school doesn't count, diligence can only happen between the times of about 7am to 3pm, according to my homemade Jewish calendar. It's right beside my wife's dress that she made from our old curtains. This (the time of diligence) just happens to be the time they will be at school! Also note that you can just ignore the other facts that are spoken in Deuteronomy, such as the dietary laws in chapter 14 and the ceremonial feasts in chapter 16. Also, don't worry, you don't have to write things on your forehead or put Bible verses on your front door, although most people that I know beleive that "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord" should be a staple on all front doors of believers. Why don't you have to do this? I don't know...cause I said so? Will that work? Sometimes ignoring Scripture works especially if you want to be a good legalist. Just say it with authority with a furrowed brow...that usually works.

Oh, and if your wife does all the schooling at home, that is okay too, even though no Jewish family would agree with you when applying Deuteronomy 6. The Jews took this to be the man's responsibility to do this, but the man is at work all day, and remember, diligence can only happen between 7am to 3pm, so the father obviously can't do this. So ignore that no Jew in the time of the Bible did it like this, and let the wife do all the teaching.

I just can't believe that anyone would want to send their kid to public school. I mean...there are non-Christians there. They might talk to your child. So, if your child happens to go to a public school, tell them to just run screaming if they see one of these people called, "non-Christians." Those kinds of parents that send their kids to public school must not care for their kids. It's not like they can read the material ahead of time, meet with teachers and be involved in any way. That is just crazy. Plus, the PTA really stands for Parents and Teachers for Anarchy.

And if any of these people bring up how Daniel went and had a secular education you should just say that was a one time occurrence and Daniel was lucky that Nebuchadnezzar liked him so much. Daniel wasn't really a light in the darkness, but it was like a Red Sea occurrence. You aren't going to tell your kid to try and part the Red Sea just because Moses did it, are you? Well, maybe you would if you think public school is okay.

We didn't even get to talk about Samuel going to get educated by Eli and that most Jewish boys would go to the synagogue to learn at the age of 7. I mean, how can your children learn Math unless the Math teacher is a Calvinist? 4+4=TULIP

Just remember that homeschooling isn't just a way for the legalist, but it is THE ONLY WAY...at least if you are a Christian who loves your children.

If you want to be a legalist and send your child to public school this becomes a little more tricky. But, all you have to do is continue to see that those that homeschool seem to be born in a bubble and have their hair combed by someone stuck in the fifties. Make sure that you over analyze things and always come up with the excuse that "how can Johnny know how to handle himself in the world if he is not in it." Remember that everything happens between 7am and 3pm and you will be well on your way to understanding how this plays out. Also, learn the following phrase and you will be good, "I don't want to shelter my kids forever." You must get that phrase down if you are going to be a legalist with a child that goes to public school. It is essential.

Okay...so here is the truth of the matter. You can quote any verse you want at me, but none of them tell me to homeschool my child. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 is my favorite passage because most take it way out of context and act like the parents can't be diligent with their children if they are going to school. Now, will parents who send their kids to public school have to be diligent? Yes, of course. I know of a parent who reads every single one of the books that will be on her child's reading list for the upcoming year. She meets with the teachers and principal. She is completely involved. She is also MORE involved than most of the homeschool parents I know. I have homeschooled kids coming to me and asking about some whacked out doctrine that they just learned from their home school teacher on video or at their co-op. So, it goes both ways. You can be either really diligent in both circumstances or just plain lazy as well. Don't assume that if you sit your kid in front of a DVD player with a teacher while your child is in bed all day that you are being a diligent and loving parent. Also, if you allow your child to go to public school don't assume that asking, "how was your day" is being diligent. Because usually your kid will usually leave out that he went to history class then skipped Math class to smoke marijuana and make out with Sally behind the bleachers.

Can we please remember Daniel. Can we please remember Samuel. Can we please remember that God has plans for everyone. Some he desires to be homeschooled, some he desires to be a light to the public school. Did you know that when your child gets out of high school and goes to that private college that their are non-Christians there and also profs who don't believe in the Old Testament? Then what? Do you know that your child might work for an atheist? Did you know that Jesus was amongst the roughest people around? Now, are we to be more careful when the children are in our houses? Yes, of course that is why we must be diligent with them to teach them the Shema. Diligence doesn't only come between the months of September to June from 7am to 3pm each day though.

I always laugh when I find that some are homeschool only people. I really can't believe it. I also laugh when I find people who are public school only parents and say that the homeschoolers are "sheltering" their children. Both of these logics are far off. Remember, I am not saying that if you believe in homeschool or public school that you are a legalist. It is when you start putting this yoke on others fiercly is when you start to the be "crazy uncle Ron." Why don't we let the Lord work in the hearts of parents on how they should raise their children and what they connotate as "diligence." I will probably send my child to public school and be on top of things. I want my child to be there to give Christian insight, to show that Christianity is still "in." That it is still here and growing. That God didn't go away and die like Nietzsche would have some believe. I am also not going to throw my child into the den of wolves and say, "good luck, be a city on a hill." I will be diligent and teach them the ways of the Lord and ask him to share that with those that have very contagious disease of paganism. But, I will tell him to watch out when they sneeze.

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10 Steps to Become a Legalist: Step 3

We are really moving now. We have seen in Step 1 how to build up our pride so that we understand that, basically, everyone sucks besides you. Step 2 was a reminder that everyone must dress the way that you dress. Step 3 is going to take us to some even more practical ways to make sure that you become all you can be when declaring and raising the flag of legalism. Which, if I had thought of it, I would have made a flag and had a link to buy it from here. Not sure what it would look like, but whatever it looked like, you would hate it and find ways that it was wrong, so what is the point?

Step 3 is going to show that we need to have a Bible version picked out and ready to defend against all other heretics out there who teach from a different Bible that is in your fake leather Bible protector. It probably matches your shoes and your pocket protector, so we'll just move on before I get too many responses.

Choose any Bible. There are good reasons to own any Bible and bad reasons to own all the others. What I will tell you is that once you choose one, make sure you erase from your memory any negatives about that translation and only focus on the positives. For the translations that you didn't choose do the opposite. Forget any possibility of them being good translations and make sure you focus so much on the negatives that only the naive, immature, closed minded "Christian" would decide to choose such a poorly translated "bible."

I honestly don't even know all the arguments for each one, but I know one thing for sure: my bible is way better than your crappy bible and my daddy is stronger than your daddy too.

I have seen this argued from both sides. One side being very dogmatic about the King James Only...these guys are way cool. They are so dogmatic about the 1611 King James Bible that they believe that it was literally inspired by God as a translation. Now, these are guys that any legalist should look up to. To go this far is awesome when you are trying to become a legalist. Of course you have to make sure that you look past any errors (click here for errors) in the translation by quoting "God's word shall endure forever" until you are red in the face. Believe me, the more you quote it the more you will believe it. Wait...I should restate that from the inspired, infallible translation: the word of our God shall stand for ever. These guys are really cool too because they have decided to still use words like "thou" and "thee" when the only people that still use these words are the mechanical presidents at the Hall of Presidents at Disney World.

They will use big words, so make sure that you can get this stuff down. They will talk to you about the Textus Receptus, Byzantine and Massoretic texts. Just be ready because you will want to learn these things if you decide that this is the way you want to be the next great up and coming KJO legalist. The cool thing is that you can use words like "pisseth" and "ass" because those words are in the King James Bible. I am tempted to join their team just for those two reasons, but I already wear a suit and tie 5 days a week and really would rather not wear one everywhere I go.

I mean how cool would it to be to be able to read aloud Judges 5:10

Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way.

Or what about 2 Kings 9:8

For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel:

Sure it reads like Yoda, but you can cuss with permission...wow, if that isn't emergent, I don't know what is. Can you picture an emergent KJO dude in a suit with holes in his suit pants, just so he can yell at everyone during his conversation within his community? Rad.

The other side that you can go, if the King James isn't your style because you don't ride in a horse and buggy or grow your own wheat, is those that love their Bible and hate the King James just cause it is old. The motto becomes, "because it's old, it's out." These people are pretty cool, because they have no arguments besides, "who wants to say thee and thou?" They get pretty crazy with this and become legalists in very weird ways. They only use the Message or Good News Bible and cry out that these paraphrased bibles "opened their eyes and changed their life." Now that is something I can get behind. Once something changes your life, everything else that didn't becomes the wolf in sheeps clothing. So, what happens is that the translation becomes as big of a deal to these guys as does the KJO crazies.

Here is the secret here. To become this kind of legalist is pretty cool, because you don't have to have any training at all in any original language, in any history of Bible translation or any care for what has been handed down. Seriously, who cares what it says in the Greek and Hebrew? Just keep saying, "it changed my life" and that is all you need to hang your hat on. When someone asks you about why certain phrases are completely left out of the translation (just look at what one KJO guy has to say about it) or why it is very loose in it's translation and argues for the sake that it might just be a commentary, just ignore them and make fun of them for their "wooden" versions. Stick with the, "it changed my view of the bible and all other translations are too hard to read" mentality and you will be well on your way to seeing that your "translation" is the only one...even though you might never say that.

Plus..."the message" sounds better than having to use the word Bible...what does the word Bible mean anyways?

Here is the basic premise of this post. Get over the translation thing. Some are better than others in certain areas, but the idea that there is one translation over others is a complete joke. Choose the Bible that you feel is the closest to the original tongue and let others do the same and you will be on your way to loving God and not hating people. I believe that there are some that are better than others, and would suggest some over others, but this idea that the King James is the only way is seriously a funny thing, if so many people weren't so angry about it. Use paraphrases for what they are supposed to be for: reading, not studying. Seriously, any paraphrased version should be honest to let you know that they interpreted a passage to make it easier to read, not to get the full, original wording out of the original text. Understand this and use them wisely. I would tell people to choose from the KJV, NKJV, ESV, NASB or NIV and you will be on your way to understanding what God meant to be said. Just don't make others feel as though they are idiots for choosing the one that you decided not to.

HT: Fundy Reformed; Bob Hayton

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10 Steps to Become a Legalist: Step 2

Well, hopefully you have the first step down and now you can move on to step two. This is where we take the pride learned in the first step and apply it. We need to learn that people need to also look like us as well. Go take a look in the mirror and then take a look at your closet, now everyone must look like that.

Remember this goes both ways. If you are one that parts your hair down the side, that is the standard, if you have purple hair then all those who have their hair parted are frickin weirdos and must hate Jesus. If you like wearing a cardigan for Jesus then all those with skulls and crossbones and weird buckles all over their clothing must be freaks that are of the world. So...

Step 1: Make sure that all Christians dress like you. Whether you dress like the businessman or you dress like the crack dealer downtown, know that the opposite of how you dress are the weirdos that don't really love Jesus. So, those people that have holes in their jeans and black Converse need to know that Jesus doesn't love the way that they dress. Jesus only loves those people who look like you do on the outside, forget the inside. Or, if you see someone in church that has a button up shirt and a tie for the sake of Christ, don't they know that they are boring and just conforming to the world's system? Here is the point. People need to dress like me to love Jesus like me.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7

I am sure that we can come up with an interpretation that will fit within our view of clothing somehow. Just say it with authority and hope that no one challenges you on it.

Step 2: If someone looks like a crack dealer, lives on the same block as crack dealers, acts like a crack dealer, they must be a crack dealer. Can you believe that some people would wear all black and like rock music? Don't they know that it is of the devil? Who cares if you have never talked to them, there is no need because you don't want to be a part of the world. If someone hangs out with them and lives amongst them they must be one of them! Maybe the Pharisees were right:

The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
Luke 7:34

I would rather watch the drunkards and crack dealers from afar instead of talking to them because I might get infected by their dirty sin. Plus, if you decide to be amongst them, what will the people in the church think? No matter that the Pharisees were the people of the "church" back in the day and decided it would be a good idea to kill Jesus.

Step 3: Why don't all pastors wear suits to church? Doesn't everyone know that we should dress our best to impress? I have heard it said that if you were to meet the President of the United States how would you dress? Then that is how you should dress for Jesus. (wait...you mean some wouldn't dress in a suit to meet the President?!) Especially the men speaking for Jesus.

I have heard a story where a man from Africa came over and was turned to Jesus by some missionaries. He was asked in what ways would he have done it differently if he could have some input for further mission's work.

His reply was:

These preachers love Jesus, no doubt. But, after we were converted they told us that we must abandon the clothes of our tribe and put on suits and ties, cause we needed to dress correctly for Jesus. The African said, that would be the only thing I would change.

Man, this African guy needs to lighten up and understand that Jesus does care about your clothes and it should always be the clothing of the United States Business Man. Who cares if some see it as a symbol for greed, Jesus needs your money too!

Who cares that the New Testament only speaks negatively when speaking of those who dress up in fine clothes. Who cares if Jesus wore the clothes that were appropriate for his culture, for the trade that he was in and the people that he was reaching. Men like Hudson Taylor were used by Jesus but Jesus hated that Mr. Taylor decided to respect the Chinese and dress like them, he should have had on a suit and tie.

Here is the point of this post. The only time that we see glamorous robes for God's people being used is in the Old Testament when the Gospel was really a "come and see" Gospel as John Piper has put it. Not only were the priests girded up with the bling, but so were all the temples of God along with his ark of the covenant that was definitely something to gaze at. But, as we left the "come and see" gospel behind and came into the "go, seek and save" gospel we only see the act of dressing up to be mentioned in the negative, not the positive. Take a look at James 2 and 1 Tim 2:9.

We are to emulate Jesus. Jesus dressed in the culture he was in, this is why Hudson Taylor should be our hero and not our foe. Taylor was amazing in that he changed his entire look to fit in with the culture because he felt that God had called him to that people.

Here is the bottom line. Dress like the people that God has called you to be with, but don't assume that it means that you must be in a three piece pimp suit if you are serving a bunch of people that dress in jeans and t-shirts. Suits are NOT the clothing of God. I should know,I wear one everyday to work. Why do I wear a suit? Because my clients who are seniors think that I am smarter if I do and most of my clients come from an age that suits were appropriate for my field, so I play their game and deal with it. Why do I cover up my tattoos when I go to work? Because most of my clients would throw a hissie fit if they saw that I had tats. What if I were to wear my suit to youth group? I would be an idiot. What if I wore my hat on backwards to work? I would also be an idiot.

Your clothing does not glorify God, your heart does. So, if you are sporting purple hair and skulls on your t-shirts to get a reaction, you are in just as much sin as the dude in a three piece showing off his bling. So, if the preacher wears a clown suit to get attention and prove that God doesn't care about clothing, he has missed the point, because does care about the intention of why you do things.

But don't put a burden on people just because you don't like the way that they dress or look. I love when people speak out against people with purple hair and then I ask if their wives color their hair. Most of them say, "yes." So, then, it's not if we can color our hair but God is now pleased with which color we choose for our hair? That is messed up.

We need to understand that they guy rolling in a Benz needs the same Saviour that the punk rocker in the VW bus with weed smoke coming out the window does. Love who God has called you to be, who he has called you to minister to and who he has made you into and love all others and respect who God has made them to be as well. Who knows, maybe the guy with purple hair, tattoos and earrings in his nose loves Jesus? Naaaah...no way...that is just too weird. :)

Jesus is no respecter of persons and neither should we.

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10 Steps to Become a Legalist: Step 1

Before we start this series, I want all to know that the reason that I am doing this is primarily to make fun of myself. Most of the things that you will see presented here, I have believed, or lived out, at some point. I might not have said it out loud, but my mind and my heart definitely condemned me on these. I hope that the discussions will allow for a little laughing at ourselves and also at how we come across when we are dogmatic about any of this stuff. Also, know that this will not only hit those that we would think look like legalists, like most of those I have run into in the IFB, but also any of us that really truly think that it is our way or nothing else.

So, just because you don’t wear a suit, believe in exclusive Psalmody and dream about you ruling the world when theonomy becomes the norm, doesn’t mean that you have escaped the trap that we call legalism.

Let’s get down to business.

The first step in becoming a legalist is to realize that you are the best and everyone else sucks. If you can get this step down, you will no doubt be well on your way in allowing for all the rest of the steps to fall into place. You need to definitely do some certain things to make sure that you can get this down.

Step 1: Realize that you should emulate, as much as possible, the publican in Luke 18. You must thank God that he made you so good and so much better than all these other sinners out there. I mean seriously. You dress appropriately, you listen to the right music, you pray more, you study better, you use the right translation of the Bible (not just talking about KJO guys here...hint hint) and if these other guys would get it, they too could be loved as much as you are by God. You really should thank God for not making you like these other people who are not as mature as you are. For you are God’s anointed and these other “Christians” just aren’t there yet. So, if people don’t look like you, worship like you do, pray like you do, go to church on the correct day at the correct time, then they are just immature and need to grow up and be a big boy…just like you.

Step 2: Pray for others. You need to pray for everyone else because they need the most work! When they ask for prayer requests from you, make sure you give them some answer that will make them think that you need prayer, but you know in reality, you don’t need that much prayer because you are on your way to perfection in the eyes of the Lord. Your progressive sanctification is almost complete, you just need the glorified body and you’ll be good. Make sure prayer time becomes a time of eloquence and perfect timing of your words and let everyone know how much you will pray for them, but whatever you do, don’t open yourself up for others to pray for you because they might think that you aren’t as stellar as you truly are. I mean, how much do their prayers matter anyway? James 5 says that the prayers of a righteous man accomplishes much, not the prayers of these people. Thank God that these people have you to be the righteous man, so that someone’s prayers accomplish something.

Step 3: Act like you are listening when others talk. Although James 1:19 says that we are to be quick to hear and slow to speak, it doesn’t say that we can’t be thinking of a way to rebut someone as soon as they shut up! I mean really, why do they have to talk for so long without adding anything to the conversation? Why can’t they just shut up?! Start realizing that others that don’t know as much as you do of the word, culture or whatever topic is being discussed, have nothing to add to the conversation. So, when they are speaking, don’t listen, but ready yourself for an answer. If you listen you will be wasting your time because they don’t really have anything to teach you. Who cares that the Word says,

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel. Proverbs 12:15

This isn’t talking about you, because you aren’t a fool. Right?!

Step 4: Realize that your way is the correct way. Why can’t everyone be like you? If people would just be like you then the church would run so much smoother and be more glorifying to God. Sure, the church wouldn’t be the body that is described in 1 Corinthians 12, but that church was messed up and if they just had you as their pastor, they wouldn’t have done all that stupid stuff.

Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Proverbs 26:12

Don’t you feel sorry for the wise man described in this verse? Thank God it isn’t you! Make sure that you don’t take reproof from anyone because they don’t understand the Scriptures or methodology they are to be carried out with, like you do. They can’t even use big words like you. They don’t even know how to defend the Regulative Principle against the Normative Principle, they don’t know the difference between infralapsarianism and supralapsarianism, how could they ever give you advice? But, remember step 3, just act like you are listening and quickly put them in their place by using those big words so they understand whose the man! I mean, think of this...some people have to actually click on the links in this very article to see what these words mean...what morons for Jesus.

Overall, you really need to make sure that you realize that you are the man! You still need to do the “biblical things” so that people will think that you are teachable, but seriously, what can they teach you that you don’t already know? But, you aren’t prideful because you know that it is all by God that you are a Calvinist or it is all because of your choice that you are an Arminian. So, you give God his glory by studying, praying for others, correcting others and trying to make sure that everyone understands the correct interpretations of Scripture since the Holy Spirit has only been given to you and a bunch of dead guys. If you are a Calvinist, it by God’s grace that he has made you so intelligent, and if you are an Arminian it is because of your intelligence that you saw the light and they are still in the darkness. I mean, what would God have done if it wasn’t for you in the 21st century? Who would he use? He definitely wouldn’t use anyone in your church or any of those people in that other church across town. So, thank God (or yourself) that you are here to put everything in order.

Here is your motto to live by: Learn from No One, Be ready to Teach Everyone!

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10 Steps to Become a Legalist

I thought it would be kind of funny and informative to do a series on "How to Become a Legalist." The reason is that I have found that in my past I had some real legalist tendencies. But, the one thing that I have always told people is, "Show me in the Bible, and I will change." Because of this, I have changed a lot in the past 5 years.

Just to give you some background. I grew up in the Bible belt in Oklahoma as a pastor's kid until I was 12. Then, we made the transition to moving to the Seattle area. Let's just say that these two are not even close to being the same in any way. The only way that they seem to be the same is that both contain sinners, but, one hides their sins (Oklahoma) and one could care less who knows of their sin, so they flaunt it (Seattle). My father was never into legalism and always thought the same thing that I did...Scripture before everything else. I think I lost some of this thought as I started doing some study in the Scriptures and listening to some who had good ideas about the practical implications of Scripture (at least in my mind at the time) but really the ideas weren't grounded in Scripture. The were convictions but should have never crossed the line into full admonition of sins unto others.

In the past 5 years, I have been all over the place. I have gone from caring less about serving and glorifying Christ, to a legalist in many ways, and now to someone who believes that they are moving in the correct understanding of who Christ is and the mission that he has for me. So, I thought I would put some of my own personal interaction with topics, where some of them used to be my own convictions and others being ones that have tried to be placed on my back as a yoke I could not carry.

So, I am going to do a series on how you too can become a legalist. As I write these I want people to understand that not all of these are bad convictions but once you cross the line and make your convictions, sin for all others, that is when you start to place your yoke on the neck of others that are unnecessary. I will make sure that this is placed in each post so you can see the balance that is necessary when thinking on these different topics.

So, here is the list I will go through in the upcoming weeks:

1. Everyone sucks besides me: a lesson on how to build up your pride
2. People need to look like I do
3. People need to read the same Bible I do
4. People need to raise their children the same way I do
5. People need to study the same amount of time and the same way that I do
6. People need to pray the same amount of time that I do and pray how I pray
7. People need to do church how I do church
8. People need to listen to the same music I listen to
9. People need to watch, or not watch, the same things I watch
10. People need to abstain from everything...well except food and money

These ten will of course be elaborated on more as we study these topics. I would love some interaction and stories on things that you have come across when going through these topics. I hope it is fun and also convicting as we look at the unnecessary yokes we put on others.

May we do all things for the glory of God and not ourselves.

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Follow Up on "Playing Church"

I have been very busy the last three or four days because of my wife's 29th birthday this last Saturday and have not been able to keep up on the comments on my post, "Genuine verses Counterfeit Christianity." I wanted to follow up by taking some time to answer the questions that were asked in a post today.

First, I really appreciate the readers and commenters on Contend Earnestly who continue to make Justin and I strive for content that continuously exalts Christ and humbles ourselves. With that said, I want all to know that in no way do I mean to exalt myself through this post but just want to share my heart and also what is coming up in my life as I take a look at the ministries God has placed me in. I am not going to give you the ins and outs at this point of the amazement of my church and God seemingly lifting me out of a pit and placing me at Taylor Creek Church, but if you knew the story you would be amazed to see God's work in my life.


What I have been learning through my pastor and also the sharpening of iron with my close brother Justin, is the heart of my post on Genuine verses Counterfeit Christianity, namely, I cannot improve on my justification. This is really easy to say, for I have been saying it since I was 8 years old, but I think I have only recently really had a true heart change in this area. I was listening to a message by Matt Chandler this morning and he asked, "Why are you righteous?" and also "Is God pleased with you?" If most of us were to answer this, I know this was me, I would start pointing out things like my ministries, Bible study, theological knowledge. Of course I would never "point these out" on a verbal level but at a heart level. Then, I would respond outwardly correctly, by saying, "Because of Christ." So, for a long time my outward and inward have been warring with one another. Knowing the correct answer to give but not really living that out. I was well pleased to go to church, be a Youth Pastor, evangelize and study and that was it, that was my life. In my heart really believing, and this is hard to confess, that I felt like I was "meriting my salvation" instead of doing all these things because of the cross of Christ.

I hope you know what I am speaking of. I would do the things that was "required" of a "good Christian man" and not doing the true things that Christ tells us, to love God and keep His commandments. Not out of trying to appease a wrathful dictator, but doing these things because the love of Christ controls us (2 Cor 5:14).

Sarah, from Amazing Grace, asked a great question: Now what? What are you doing with these convictions. So, I will answer her in humility and hope that Christ is glorified with this answer and my thoughts on where I see His will guiding me.

The first ministry that we are undertaking to better serve our Lord is a new homeless ministry. It is a ministry that was in place, before, with another church, but it fell off. There is a place in Seattle that has a place for the homeless to come and take showers, so we are going to start by going there every other month (to start) and hand out sack lunches with tube socks and also tracts inside the lunches. If God permits we will also speak the truth to these people who are in so much need of a Saviour.

The second is a ministry I am going in with my eyes closed and just trusting God. I will be riding with a cop this Friday night. He is K-9 drug unit so when he is called in he usually gets called in on drug busts and it can get pretty hairy. So, when the shots have ceased he said he will call me out of the van and I can then go around to those standing around to hand out Bibles and tracts. If the night is slow, he said we can go to where he knows the homeless teens hang out in the middle of the night and give me the chance to share the truth with them as well. Who knows what I am getting myself into, I just pray that God is glorified and will show me what these people need, both physically and spiritually.

Lastly, my wife is looking at starting a prison ministry at a youth detention center that is about 20 minutes away from us. Many of the young women are from the streets and many have children even though they are all under the age of 18. We are still in the infancy stages at this point and are asking for prayer on what God would have for us.

These are some of the things in my life that I feel that God has guided me to. I pray that I am doing the will of my Father and not what I believe I want to do. I pray that you would be in prayer for me as I go out with the cop for the first time this Friday night, April 27th. His shift is from 7pm to 3am so I will be right in the middle of it all and pray that God will open opportunities to share Christ to those I come in contact with. I don't know how much danger I will be in, but I don't pray for my safety, I pray that God would be exalted and His word would go forth.

May I live for Him, not out of merit but out of love.

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Spurgeon Sermon

This is an excerpt from a Spurgeon sermon titled, "God or Self-Which?" and is number 438, if you use the Spurgeon Sermon archive or have his sermons in his volumes of sermons.

But now I shall turn to a wider circle for a moment or two. BY THIS WE MAY TEST ALL THE OTHER RELIGIOUS ACTS OF MEN.
Many a brave deed has been done with the sound of which the world has rung for years which nevertheless has never been received by the Most High. Some have served God out of ostentation, that they might show what great things they could do. Remember Jehu when he said, “Come, see my zeal for the Lord God of Hosts.” Jehu has many imitators. “Lend me your pen, Sir.” “Yes.” “I hereby write my name for five thousand pounds at the head of the list. Is not that an acceptable offering to God? There are very few in England that will give as much as I have—report it in all the newspapers. Shouldn’t the world know that there still exists one liberal man?” Is not that splendid gift accepted? No, Brethren, certainly not, because it was given for his own praise and for his own glory and not for the glory of God.

If it is our earnestness in preaching the Gospel, if we are only earnest in order that people may think us earnest—if we are only zealous that men may say of us, “That man does more than the rest. What a zealous, earnest man he is”—we have offered nothing to God. We have been sacrificing on our own shrines and offering incense before our own image. A certain king had a minstrel and he bade him play before him. It was a day of high feasting. The cups were flowing and many great guests were assembled. The minstrel laid his fingers among the strings of his harp and woke them all to the sweetest melody, but the hymn was to the glory of himself. It was a celebration of the exploits of song which the bard had himself performed. He had excelled high Howell’s harp and emulated great Llewellyn’s lay. In high-sounding strains he sang of himself and all his glories. When the feast was over the harpist said to the monarch, “Oh King, give me my guerdon. Let the minstrel be paid.” And the king said, “You have sung unto yourself—pay yourself—your own praises were your theme. Be yourself the paymaster.” He cried, “Did I not sing sweetly? O, king, give me the gold!” But the king replied, “So much the worse for your pride that you should lavish such sweetness upon yourself.” Brethren, even if a man should grow gray-headed in the performance of good works, yet when at the last, if it is known that he has done it all to himself, his Lord will say, “You have done well enough in the eyes of man but so much the worse, because you did it only to yourself, that your own praises might be sung, and that your own name might be extolled.” That is a singular text in Hosea—“Israel is an empty vine. He brings forth fruit unto himself.” There was fruit, only it was brought forth to himself, which before God is emptiness.

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