The Pursuit

New Blog - Kinda

Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Hey everyone…

I know, this is probably going to be a little confusing for everyone. I’ve moved my blog - again!

It is now located at http://www.the-pursuit.net/blog/.

I moved it (and yes it is ugly right now) to a wordpress site that I am having hosted. I plan on making everything pretty and looking much better… someday.

Until then, please change your links.

Thanks,
Lew

Locker Room

Saturday, October 14th, 2006 | Uncategorized | No Comments

A few weeks ago I was in the locker room after working out. I started to get in the shower when I heard a couple of guys talking. The conversation was about a member of their church who had stopped attending their services. Apparently one of the guys saw one of the family members out in public and he struck up a conversation with her. He asked why he has not seen them at church in a while and she responded saying that they started a home church. The guy talking made it clear that he really did not believe her and did not approve if she was telling the truth. After all even if they had started a home church, “how many missionaries are they supporting?”

I obviously do not remember it word for word - but even if I made the whole thing up (which I did not), what do you all think about this conversation? Especially the quote.

Is the number of missionaries you support a legitimate concern? Is it a biblical concern?

Appendix A

Wednesday, October 11th, 2006 | Uncategorized | No Comments

This past weekend I flew up to Maine. My grandfather had given me a bunch of furniture and I needed to pack it in the back of a moving truck to bring it down to North Carolina. This trip gave me plenty of time to think. I found that a lot of my time was spent thinking about a chapter of the book I have said I plan on writing. Actually this topic will be more of an appendix because of its wide application. The topic is the idea in Christianity of being separate from the world. A common phrase is that Christians are to be “in the world” but not “of the world.” This principle can be derive throughout scripture.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” - Matthew 5:12-15

“If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” - John 15:19

“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” - John 17:14-18

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God.” - 1 Cor. 2:12

“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. . . . If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, ‘Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!’” - Colossians 2:8,20

There are numerous more but I am sure you get the point.

Now, you may be asking, why are you planning on writing an appendix to a book concerning this obvious principle. The answer is simple, the principle has become perverted. I cannot say when, for I have not studied its history, but I have noticed a growing trend of Christians separating themselves from sinners. Thankfully this is not happening everywhere but it is happening in creeping ways and the philosophy behind it has infected our theologies . . . or perhaps our theologies have infected this principle.

You see, the principle is (and should remain) that our attitudes and actions be like Christ. In fact, our very being should reflect everything that Christ did and desired to do. The principle has become - do not associate in any activities that non-Christians participate in.

Non-Christians, drink alcohol, go to bars, gamble, wear torns jeans, etc.
Thus Christians need to abstain from alcohol, forsake bars, never gamble, wear khaki’s or dress clothes, etc.

Instead, in the NT we see Jesus, drinking wine, hanging out with the tax collectors, sinners, and prostitutes (probably in bar-like scenarios), cannot say for sure that He gambled - it’s a non-issue at this point, wore the clothes a carpenter could afford, etc.

It is a common misconception that you must wear your “Sunday’s Best” when you meet the Church - why? So the world can see a difference in you. That is completely anti-thetical to itself.

1) If the “world” is gathering as the Church - you have bigger fish to fry.
2) The “world” wears khaki’s, dress slacks, etc. - Christians would need to invent brand new clothing that only bonafide Christians can wear
3) Do we only care what the world sees us wearing one day a week; when we have the smallest interaction with the world?

There was a professor at SEBTS that once said we need to bring our very best to God. He was frowning upon those lazy college students who wander into chapel wearing nothing but their pajama’s. To this day, I still wonder whether or not he wears his suit when he does his morning prayers or right before bed . . .

I still need to develop this topic a little better before I write an appendix about it. But just to leave you with a thought. If you believe that we need to be separate from the world by separating ourselves from them, I want you to consider this…

The world sleeps, drinks water, drinks juice, drinks soda, drives cars, walks, runs, goes to the gym, goes grocery shopping, talks on phones, uses libraries, uses the interent, wears clothing, swims, plays, enjoys company, etc., etc., etc.

Do you hold to a position that prevents you from doing what Jesus did - interact with the world for the sake of His gospel?

Scripture Memorization

Wednesday, October 4th, 2006 | Uncategorized | No Comments

A few weeks ago in my Foundations of Youth Ministry class, we talked about H.A.B.I.T.S. an anagram presented in Doug Fields’ A Purpose Driven Youth Ministry, meaning Hang time with God, Accountability partner, Bible memorization, Involvement with the Chuch body, Tithing commitment, and Study scripture; respectively. My teacher asked the class what we thought about the anagram and whether or not we would add/subtract from any of the six items.

I raise my hand and said that I did not agree that it should be a requirement to have Bible memorization (to be honest I disagree with more than that, but I do not want the class to stone me - yet). Anyways, I said that the Bible does not require us to memorize it and that adding requirements to Christianity is wrong.

NOTE: I was not saying that scripture memorization was wrong, just not required.

Well, there were a lot of students who disagreed with me. In fact, right after I made my comment someone pointed to me and said, “Do you mean to tell me that scripture does not teach that we should memorize it?” To which I responde, “Absolutely, unless you can provide me with scripture that does…” He and another student responded with these scriptures:

“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” - Psalm 119:11 KJV
“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart” - Deut. 6:6 KJV

I cannot remember any other verses they may have said, but these are the two I remember more clearly (and I think the only two they gave me).

I responded, “You will have to do a lot of work to convince me that these verses are telling us to memorize scripture.”

I emphasized over and over again in the class that I had no problem with Bible memorization - in fact I think it is beneficial for some people. At the same time, I do not think it is required and I do not think these verses teach us to memorize scripture but instead to give reverence to God’s word, loving Him with everything and loving our neighbors as ourselves.

With that said, I find it much more beneficial for me to study and know scripture than to memorize a few catch verses. Through studying I find myself knowing, learning, and remember scripture and what it teaches.

Question: Does the Bible tell use to memorize it?

A delayed blessing…

Friday, September 1st, 2006 | Uncategorized | No Comments

A few months ago a friend of mine sent me to a blog which had a segment from a book called So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore. I downloaded the available PDF and stored it on my jumpdrive. After a few months I had totally forgotten about the book. Last week this same friend mentioned the book and I remembered that I had once downloaded it with the intention of reading it. He encouraged me to read it.

So I read the book and finished it in a few days (only a few hours of reading). The book was awesome and it challenged me in many ways. I highly encourage those who are on a similar journey to read this book. You can download it or purchase it at http://www.jakecolsen.com/.

The only warning I can give is the same warning that was given to me. Basically, the book is really good but read it carefully and thoughtfully.

Roman Baptists?

Thursday, August 31st, 2006 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Some of you may have heard of the recent drama at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS). For those of you who have not, Rev. Dwight McKissic spoke at their chapel on Tuesday, August 29th. Baptism and the filling of the Holy Spirit was the topic of his sermon.

When you are talking about this topic from the Bible you will almost always be confronted with the concept of speaking in tongues. Mr. McKissic was no exception to this rule. He talked about tongues and endorsed the use of tongues as a spiritual gift by the Holy Spirit. During his sermon he made mention of the current policy set in the International Mission Board (IMB) not allowing any missionary the right to serve in the IMB if they practice the use of tongues or a private prayer language. The policy can be found at: http://www.imb.org/core/story.asp?storyID=3834&LanguageID=1709

There are some who completely disagree with this move by the IMB and Mr. McKissic is one of those people. In his sermon he talked about the use of tongues and that he himself was a practitioner of tongues in his private prayer life. He believes that this policy disqualifies a lot of Baptists who would make excellent missionaries. I have to agree.

So why did I title this blog “Roman Baptists”? Well, it is a little play on words. After the sermon, SWBTS discontinued the ability to download his sermon for free. They did this for two reasons (according to their website). First they did not want to look like they support him in questioning the authority of the IMB and second they fear that his views might be “harmful to the churches.”

Basically it reminds me of Catholicism (at least old-school Catholicism) - if you don’t agree with them, they’ll shut you up. Basically they feared that your views might tear down their institution so they did what was necessary to protect their “precious” institution.

Read an article about this here.
Read SWBTS statement concerning Mr. McKissic’s sermon here.
Read Mr. McKissic’s sermon here.
Read a letter Mr. McKissic wrote to Dr. Patterson (the president of SWBTS) concerning this issue here.

How Close to Sin Can You Get?

Wednesday, August 30th, 2006 | Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Last night, in one of my classes the professor ended the class by stating that the Bible never asks or answers the question, “How close to sin can you get without sinning?” but always asks and answers the question, “How close to Jesus can you get?”

The point he was trying to make is that it is a wrong attitude to try to figure out what you can get away with instead of focusing on how you can build up your relationship with Jesus. At first glance this seems great, but it is the application that fails.

In application he talked about the fact that he promotes abstinence from alcohol and has been called legalistic because of his stand. As some of you know, I have recently written a paper refuting the positions taken by those who teach abstinence from alcohol as a biblical position. I have not posted this paper online anywhere yet and I may not (more on this later). I do tend to agree that those who promote abstinence from alcohol are being pharisaical or legalistic. That is not to say that abstaining from alcohol is wrong, just wrong to force on other believers. Of course we all agree that drunkenness is wrong and there are clear teachings in the Bible against drunkenness. But there is a fundamental difference between getting drunk and drinking. If you use the question my professor posed to the class, “How close to Jesus can you get?” and apply it to the alcohol discussion, you have the burden to prove that person X who abstains from alcohol is able to get closer to Jesus than person Y who drinks in moderation (never getting drunk).

He also mentioned a youth retreat he went on once and he told all of the youth to bring at least one pair of khakis to wear to their “worship service.” His whole premise for this is that we should not dress like the world, we should be distinct from the world. Stating that the world would see the difference in us and would be able to recognize us as Christians because of what we wear. This argument really falls short for me, for several reasons.

1. The world wears Khakis… if we are called to wear clothes that are not found in the world, then we need to invent new clothes that only Christians can wear.
2. If this principle is true, shouldn’t we wear Khakis everyday? Last time I checked, not much of the world is inside the church building every Sunday.
3. The Church is suppose to be a gathering of your spiritual family. Does requiring certain types of clothing really impress the idea of family? Last time I gathered with my physical family I was wearing a t-shirt and pants.
4. The burden of proof still lies at the feet of the man who thinks that wearing a suit and tie to the church brings him closer to Jesus than the man who wears jeans and a t-shirt (never dressing immodestly).

He did specifically mention those “church-goers” who wear less than modest clothing at the gathering. He said that the man-of-God should not have to deal with seeing that when he is preaching God’s word. Now do not get me wrong, I do agree what we should dress modestly, both men and women. We should not be wearing anything that could cause a weaker brother/sister to stumble. I do have a couple of problems/clarifications with the theology behind his statement.

1. This also applies to what we wear in the world, we should be modest 24/7.
2. In my opinion, the “man-of-God,” is already a one-woman-man and does not have to deal with the lust that his weaker brothers/sisters might be dealing with. If you hold to the idea that preachers should not have to look upon a worldly dressed Christian because of lust, then that same man should not be witnessing/evangelizing the world, otherwise he might lust after those woman too. Surely the prostitutes that Jesus talked with were not wearing their “Sunday’s best.”

I have been thinking about these issues pretty much all night. If you hold to some of these ideas, I hope I have challenged what you think.

Now for business… as I mentioned above I wrote a paper refuting the positions that many alcohol abstainers hold to. I think it is a pretty good paper. I actually gave a copy to Dr. Akin (the SEBTS President) and he commented on it for me. I plan on beefing the paper up and making it the best argument possible. Anyways, I have been thinking about this for about a month now, but I was thinking of writing a book. It will be called, The Old Wives Tales of Christianity or something like that… not really sure yet. Anyways, in this book I will have a chapter dedicated to all sorts of different things that some Christians hold to. One of the chapters will be my paper on alcohol. I was thinking about other things I could write about. For now I have, Gambling and Clothing. If you have any other ideas please send them to me, a three chapter book will be pretty useless.

Well that’s it for now, thanks for reading.

School…

Friday, August 18th, 2006 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Well classes started yesterday. I am taking four classes this semester, than hopefully I will be graduating in December. I plan on applying for the MDIV program here at Southeastern but I am still praying about and it trying to seek God’s will.

These are the classes I am taking this semester:
American History I: Pre-1887 - This class is being taught by Dr. Aucoin. He is one of my favorite teachers in the college. I love the way he lectures and teaches. The only problem with this class is the new format. The school changed how many history classes are taught, they use to break up American History into four classes, now it is the normal two classes that you normally see in colleges. Because of this we have to read a textbook and have weekly quizzes. The past two history classes I took with Dr. Aucoin we had to read regular books and had to write research papers or book reviews. Believe it or not, I would much rather do the latter. I need/want as much reading/writing experience as possible. Anyways, that is not a huge deal, I will be writing in my other classes and this class will be good regardless.

Foundations of Youth Ministry - Dr. Reynolds is teaching this class. He has a blogspot blog at Guardian Ministries. To be perfectly honest, I am only taking this class to fulfill my Ministry requirement. They offered two this semester and this was the best of the two. Basically I disagree with the whole premise of Youth Ministry, but I am not going to get into that today, perhaps another day-another blog. Even though I may disagree with some of his theology, Dr. Reynolds seems like a really nice guy. It sounds like he is realy going to encourage discussion in the class room. Hopefully I can be sound-minded enough to pose questions that will really challenge the other students in the class and make them think about their own position concerning this topic. I do not really care if I sway people to “my side” of the argument, I just care that people are looking for biblical answers to the question.

Logic - This class is being taught be Dr. Ladd. He seems like a nice guy, kind of goofy (in a good way). This class fulfills an elective for me. I think I will really enjoy this class because I love logic. Hopefully we will not be spending too much time the beginner stuff; I already have some experience with logic from my computer science background, from taking philosophy courses, and from reading. I know a lot of the semester will be spent talking about the different types of formal and informal fallacies. I really look forward to that because I am definitely lacking in that knowledge.

Early Pauline Epistles - This class is being taught by Prof. Gravely. I had never taken him, but he seems like he will be good. He is a lot younger than I was expecting when I walked into the class and the class is a lot more full than I was expecting. I am pretty excited about working on the exegesis paper that will be do. We will have to write a paper concerning a topic of interest found in one of Paul’s early epistles. I have no idea what I am going to write about, but I am excited for it.

So I guess that is what my semester will look like. I am excited about my classes they are all going to be good and the professors will be great. Gary and I are still working out, we had to move our schedules all around to get the gym in. I still pretty excited about going to the gym. I love working out and Gary has made an excellent gym partner.

I think that is about it. I hope you all have a great weekend.

Talk to you later,
Lew

Happy Birthday Kati!

Thursday, August 17th, 2006 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Today is my wife’s birthday. She is now 25 years old!

Happy birthday Kati!

I LOVE YOU!

First Post

Wednesday, August 16th, 2006 | Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Just Testing…