An apology and explanation.

Over the last year, I have received countless requests and suggestions that I should post more often on this blog. Unfortunately, I have not been able to do so due to certain circumstances in my life.

I attempted to post more often last August by starting the Proverb of the Day, and as you can see, that has been my last post for the better part of 5 months. When I started this blog, I asked God to speak His words through it, and to let it reach those who needed it. I firmly believe that God is and has been faithful to that end, and in that regard, He has been the one determining when each post should be made. Over the last few months, God has been working out some deep-seated issues in my life, (and still is) and this has taken priority over finishing new posts. I am still working on a couple of lengthy posts and have been this whole time, so rest assured that they are coming.

And finally, I want to apologize for trying to live up to the standards and expectations of keeping a blog over doing what God was asking me to do. Above all else, I am a Christian, but I am also an imperfect man who stumbles more often than he would like to admit. I will be attempting to finish a post about dispensational theology in the next couple of days and in the meantime, I encourage you again to study the things I have posted for yourselves.

About the Strong's Notation

In todays post, I made a reference to a word in the Strong's Concordance. The Concordance is a reference book on the Bible that lists each word found in it alphabetically, and lists each verse that contains that word. Needless to say, it is a hefty book with a lot of words in it. The Strong's Concordance also has two dictionaries in the back of it that list all the words used in the original texts and their meanings. these words are numbered for easier locating and have either an H in front for Hebrew words from the Old Testament, or a G for Greek words from the New Testament.

e-sword has a KJV Bible with an integrated Strong's concordance, very useful for finding the meanings of the more obscure words.

New Feature: Proverb of the Day

Wow, 4 months without a post, I've been slacking. I have been spending the summer on my school capstone project, or practical final, which can be seen here. During the summer months, I have been pondering ideas for things to post daily, or semi-daily. God then gave me the idea to look at some of the verses in Proverbs, and share my insights on them. I still plan to make a larger post once every one to two weeks. So here is the first PotD:

Pro 21:11 When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.

One of the overlying themes in the book of Proverbs is the comparison of the simple, or fools, to the wise. Every time I read something from Proverbs, I often wondered what exactly defined a man as wise or foolish. The obvious answer aside, (trust and leaning on God) I wondered specifically about what these men looked like, and what examples pervaded the lives of each of these men.

The answer hit me recently that most verses in Proverbs really answer this question, in this case, the PotD. The scorner, coming from the Strong's Concordance word H3887, means a mocker, one who has little respect for others. When God sees fit to bring these people punishment, it makes an example that can change the hearts of men. That is a major difference between a fool and a wise man, is the attitude of their heart.

This difference in attitude is better explained in the second half of the verse, "and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge." The wise man knows that he doesn't know everything, so he is willing to accept instruction, and learn from his mistakes. The fool thinks that he knows everything and is unwilling to be corrected. I think that to some extent, we are between these two examples, wise in some areas and foolish in others. It is an essential part of the Christian life to be continually brought out of our foolishness and into wisdom by the Source of all Wisdom.

So ask God what wisdom He has for you today, and ask him to change your heart to be more like the wise man.

What is Realistic Christianity?

I figured that out of all the topics in the previous post that this one should probably be the first one posted. The concept of living as a Christian and 'walking the walk' is a topic that can be rather elusive in some churches. Throughout my life, I have come across a wide variety of opinions on this matter just from the churches I have attended. I have found that many churches believe that salvation is the final step in the journey, and once you 'get in' you no longer have to worry about anything spiritual again. These churches tend to promote evangelism above all else and do little to nothing for the betterment of the body. Sermons at these churches can either be of the hellfire and brimstone variety, or lots of shallow 'feel good' messages one would almost associate with the hippy movement. I regularly attended a church that followed this philosophy a while back, while it was good at bringing people in, the environment stagnated after a year. When I asked one of the elders if this was all there was to the Christian walk, I got the reply, "Yes, isn't it great?" In fairness, it has been 11 years since I attended that church, so whether or not it still carries that attitude is unknown to me. I did have the honor of becoming a Christian while attending that church, but I really did not grow much as a Christian afterward.

Another group of churches that I have come across are ones that promote growth as a Christian, but tend to fall short with specifics. The so-called 'Mega Churches' can be bad at this due in part to the sheer number of members. I also attended a church like this. At first I was excited when I realized that salvation is actually the first step in a spiritual journey that would last the rest of my life and into eternity. I started to become closer to God as I discovered the joy of pursuing a relationship with Him. The charismatic style of worship was a stark contrast to the simple singing I participated in at my previous church, and the wide variety of teachings and ministries kept me busy for the many years I attended. The biggest problem I came across was when it came time to put these things into practice, I failed miserably and I felt very guilty about it. The church was not helpful in this aspect either, as there was an implied expectation of perfection throughout the church, and the members seemed to be putting up false personas in this regard. When a major dispute caused all but one of the elders of the church to resign, the church no longer felt like home, but a political arena and I believe that most of those people who were pretending that everything was okay could not handle the exposure, resulting in half of the members leaving. This was what made me realize what was happening in that church for the previous 8 years.

Yet another group of churches I have seen tends to ignore the concept of salvation altogether and believes that no one will be condemned because a loving God would not send those he loves to hell. I will simply reply to this concept by stating one of the more basic beliefs in Christianity. While God did create man for relationship and loves all men fully, the fall of man in the Garden changed the situation a bit. Assuming that sin is defined as a characteristic or behavior contrary to the nature of God, (i.e. lying is a sin because God cannot lie) it soon becomes apparent that God cannot peacefully coexist with sin. In this way, there was no alternative but for the fallen man to be separated from God at the time of death. Yet in His infinite wisdom, God found a way to have the penalty of sin paid for so that man could have relationship with God again through Jesus. This is the pivotal event in the Bible, the turning point in the spiritual history of man, and the basis of the Christian faith.

So, to start bringing all this together, what does the Christian walk look like from a realistic point of view? If the journey really did end at salvation, I expect that the Bible would have ended after the gospel of John. If the walk was supposed to be perfect all the time, why does the rest of the New Testament after the gospels portray so many imperfect men attempting to follow the example of Christ and failing miserably time after time? The apostle Paul, whom so many Christians seem to regard as a superman of the faith, freely admitted his imperfections and his struggle with doing what God wanted him to do. Sound familiar? Romans 7 spells out that struggle pretty well in Paul's own words. The point is that while Paul did not always follow all the actions perfectly, his heart was always directed towards God and through salvation, he was a Christian not by what he did, but who he was:

2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

This is true for all of us as Christians. While the transformation is by no means instant, the truth is when we accepted Christ as lord and savior, we became Christians not through our actions but by the concept of having Christ live in us and becoming part of us. This does not make the 'old things' disappear entirely, while the old man dies at salvation, his corpse still causes problems until we die, placing us in the situation of having to die to our old selves every day and continually choosing to follow Christ as He leads us deeper into relationship with Him. It is out of this relationship that the Christ-like behavior comes, instead of the behavior creating the relationship.

(Quick interjection: The NIV Bible translates a lot of words into forms that convey instant action, not process. E.g. John 8:32 is translated '…set you free' in the NIV instead of '…make you free' in the KJV. The word 'make' is a better translation from the original Greek word used than set.)

So what does this all mean for us today? First, we need to cut ourselves some slack as well as each other. If God doesn't expect us to be perfect, we shouldn't expect it either. This is why grace and forgiveness exist. I know we are called to become like Christ, but I also know that goal cannot be achieved by any of us in our lifetime. God desires relationship over performance and is willing to wait as we stumble our way along. Second, we should encourage each other and pray for each other when we do falter, as well as hold each other accountable. Third, don't be afraid to screw up! If God wanted us to be afraid of failing, the phrase 'fear not' would not appear in the KJV Bible over 100 times! Lastly, do not be discouraged if you don't find yourself following this perfectly.

Rom 8:1

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

So there you have it, my thoughts on what realistic Christianity should look like. Until next time…

God Bless

The second post and things to come

Okay, I warned you that I was not very good at keeping things going, I have been busy this last month with various things. In lieu of a full post, I will put up a list of topics I plan to write about when I have the time.

The Raunchy Bible- The Bible is full of concepts you would not say to a child. Don't believe me? Read Song of Solomon and tell me if you would read it to a five year old.

KJV vs. NIV- There is more to the differences between these versions than just rewording. Lets just say a thesaurus was not properly used during the creation of NIV.

Dispensational Theology- Why having God speaking to us in code is ridiculous.

Being a Realistic Christian- having my blog name explained further.

For now I will sign off and let you read something else. (or whatever you do when not here)

The big fat Intro.

So here I am with a blog, and as with any blog, a good thing to know would be what the point of this one is. 'After all,' the reader may be thinking, 'why should I give this one any attention with all the others hanging around the Internet?' This is a good question, and my honest first answer is 'I don't know.'

I did, however, reach a point in my life where I got sick of hearing about people calling themselves Christians doing things that go against the principles of Christianity. Abortion clinic bombing is a bit too obvious, so how about the Christian movement in America to establish a coup against the current government? 'But Bryce,' you may say, ' the current government is evil, anti-God, anti-family, blah, blah, blah.' I will reply with scripture, and I'm hoping that it becomes a common sight on this blog:

Rom 13:1-7 KJV Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. (2) Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. (3) For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: (4) For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. (5) Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. (6) For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. (7) Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
(copied from the KJV via e-sword)

There are two major arguments I can see coming already: 1) These verses don't apply to our desperate times, and 2) I can't understand the King James version of that block of scripture.

For the second group, I do have my reasons for using KJV, which I will explain later. For now, you can look up the reference in your own bible, or you can look it up on Bible Gateway.

Now that i have addressed the second excuse, I can get on with this topic that is becoming a larger and larger rabbit trail by the minute.

Ok, consider the time and place these words were written, consider the people Paul is writing to when you read the above scripture. Considering that the book of the bible in question is Romans, you can probably guess that the audience of this epistle is the believers in Rome.

Now that the who and where are answered, let's consider the when. Without having to refer to any historical references, I can narrow down the date this book was written using common sense. The book of Romans was written by Paul, a man who was convicted by God after persecuting believers in Jesus Christ, shortly after His ascension. This places Pauls lifespan between A.D. 1 and A.D. 100.

In short, the governing authority of the people Paul was addressing in the above reference was the Roman Empire. A government that had outlawed Christianity and hunted believers down. Once caught, the believers were fed to the lions in the Colosseum, for the entertainment of the Roman citizens! And Paul is telling them to submit to that authority because God put that authority in place. Even worse, Paul called that same authority the "minister of God!"

I really don't care how ungodly the current administration is, because I am certainly thankful that I have not been driven underground because my belief system is outlawed, hiding who I really am for fear that the police, or the army will take me away and incarcerate me, or worse, feed me to wild animals so that it can be televised to the cheering masses watching ESPN. And if God told the ancient Roman believers to submit to an authority who did these things, then I can certainly submit to an authority who merely has a different belief system from mine.

"But how can God allow such a man into office?" you might say. "Maybe God wants him removed." Remember that God ordains the rulers in power. (Romans 13:1) So then the question becomes, why did God put this man in place as President? It's not my place to say why, again I do have my own thoughts on that, but I won't get into that. What I will say, is that if God put him there, God will remove him at the time of His choosing. It is not for us as imperfect humans to decide.

Back off that long rabbit trail/preview of what to expect, the purpose of this blog is to look at common beliefs pervading the Christian church and examine them with the reality of scripture.
The second purpose of this blog is to let my fellow believers know that the things we struggle with as Christians are normal, and it is irrational to think that perfection can be achieved in this lifetime. Just because I stumble now and then (or realistically, more often than I'd like to admit) does not make me a bad Christian, it makes me a Christian that still has to face the consequences of the fall through my imperfect, earthly body, and the powers of the air that try to lead me astray.
So don't beat yourselves up, its time we had a realistic view of Christianity, what it means to be a follower of Jesus. (hence the title of the blog)

Some Disclaimers:

I AM NOT PERFECT! I am an imperfect human being like all of you. As a human I do make mistakes, so if there is something I post that you think is not true, call me on it! I just ask that you provide the scripture necessary to back your dispute. If scriptural reference does not apply, (i.e. I screwed up a fact relating to current events) send the appropriate linkage or reference so I can verify them.

I AM NOT A MIND-READER! Just because I don't know about a topic relevant to the purpose of this blog, does not make the topic invalid. In short, SEND REQUESTS! I want to help you as fellow believers with the things that you struggle with. The problem is that if you don't tell me what they are, I won't know about it.

I AM STILL STRUGGLING WITH PERSEVERANCE! Basically, I have been known to start things (like this blog) without following through very well. If enough readers find this blog, I may be compelled to continue writing it. Again, part of my imperfection, which leads me to the next disclaimer...

I NEED TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE! This is one of the big reasons God designed His church as a family, so that we can make sure that we are practicing what we preach, and encourage each other when we stumble. So if I ever challenge you to do something, challenge me back! Hold me accountable to the things I say!

I AM NOT AN ENGLISH TEACHER! This blog is not a place to exercise your grammar-correcting skills. I will do my best to spell-check each post, but any comments noting a missed capital, or rewording my sentences, will be summarily ignored and deleted. Such posts are distracting and are not needed.