2014 UM Polity Series: General Conference

For 2014 my articles will be focusing on United Methodist polity. (Polity is a fancy word to describe the way in which the church is organized, structured, and governed; it comes from the same root as politics.)  I have to confess that I am a polity geek; I really get into this stuff.
Today we start at the top with General Conference.  General Conference is the highest legislative body of the United Methodist Church.  General Conference is the only body that can speak for the entire United Methodist Church.  (An interesting piece of legal trivia: The United Methodist Church does not legally exist in that it is not incorporated and does not have a headquarters.  Our general agencies, institutions, annual conferences, and local churches are all incorporated and legally exist, we will say more about these in the future, but the United Methodist Church does not.)  The United Methodist Church only really exists during the 10 or so days every four years when General Conference is in session.
General Conference meets for approximately 10 days every four years (Presidential election years in the U.S.) during April or May and the location is rotated among five U.S. regions called Jurisdictions, more on these in a future article, and there has been talk of including locations outside the U.S. in that rotation.  The last General Conference was held on April 24-May 4, 2012 in Tampa, Florida.  The next General Conference will be held on May 10-22, 2016 in Portland, Oregon.  Arrangements for General Conference are mad by a committee called the Commission on the General Conference and a committee from the host annual conference.
The Constitution of the United Methodist Church sets the number of delegates to General Conference to be at least 600 and no more than 1,000.  In 2016 there will be 850 delegates, a significant reduction from 2012 in order to save money.  Each annual conference is awarded an equal number of clergy delegates (elders and deacons) and lay delegates based on its number of members.  At annual conference meetings prior to General Conference clergy members elect clergy delegates and lay members elect lay delegates on separate ballots.
It is of absolute importance to keep in mind that the United Methodist Church is a global church, not simply a U.S. church, therefore, General Conference is a global gathering.  The United Methodist Church is large and growing in Africa and there are United Methodist Churches in Europe and in the Philippines.  The number of delegates to General Conference from outside the U.S., particularly Africa, is growing.  It is projected that, 30% of delegates in 2016 will be from Africa, 58.3% from the U.S., 4.6% from Europe, and 5.8% from the Philippines, with the remainder from the Concordat churches.  (Concordat churches are other churches that exchange delegates with us, such as the British Methodist Church.)
General Conference receives and acts on petitions to make changes in the Book of Discipline and Book of Resolutions, or any other policies of the United Methodist Church.  Any individual United Methodist or United Methodist group can make a petition to General Conference.

2013 Doctrine Series #12 – Last Things

This is our last article in this year’s doctrine series and so this time we will deal with last things, well, last. 

This subject can get touchy because it can be scary for some and because faithful Christians disagree about many features of this doctrine.  First, I would like to state the core doctrine concisely:  Jesus will one day return to earth to set up his perfect and eternal kingdom, the dead will be raised and judged, and the faithful live in Christ’s kingdom, God’s new creation, forever.  That is the doctrine but there are many views within Christianity about how all of this will play out.  I am going to outline these views in this article.  Each of you may have a view with which you identify and each of you may have a view that you reject, but you have to promise me that you will remember that people who hold these views are all your brothers and sisters in Christ.  Also, I will need you to promise me that you will look up the Scriptures I cite for yourself since I will not have space to quote them here.

As we begin we need to define some terms…

Rapture - Jesus returns to resurrect those who have died in the faith and give new bodies to those who are still alive.  (Ezekiel 37:1-14, Daniel 12:2-3, 13, Matthew 24:40-41, Luke 17:34-35, 1 Corinthians 15:51-54, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

Tribulation – A period of intense suffering on earth prior to the return of Jesus, during which according to many the Antichrist will rule the world.  (Often said to be seven years, either literally or figuratively.)  (Daniel 9:27, Daniel 12:1, Joel 2:31, Matthew 24:21, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, several passages in Revelation)

Millennium – Literally or figuratively, a thousand year period during which Jesus rules the earth. (Revelation 20:1-10)

New Heaven and New Earth (The Eternal State) ­­– God’s new creation in eternity.  (Isaiah 65:17-25, Revelation 21:1-4)

Now we will look at the various views that various Christian believers hold about how all these pieces fit together…

Pre-Millennialism – Jesus will return and rapture believers before the millennium and will rule on earth in person for one thousand years.  After the thousand years will come the resurrection and judgment of non-believers and the eternal state.  Pre-Millennialists are divided into three sub groups based on when they believe the rapture will occur. 

Pre-Tribulationists believe that the rapture will occur before the seven year tribulation period.  Believers, body and soul, will wait out the tribulation in heaven.  Non-believers will go through the tribulation during which they will have an opportunity to come to faith.  At the end of the tribulation Jesus returns to earth with the raptured church, those who came to faith and died during the tribulation will be resurrected, and the millennium will begin.  This is a popular view and is the view that is seen in the Left Behind series of books.

Mid-Tribulationists beliefs are similar to the pre-Tribulationists except that they believe that the rapture will occur sometime during the tribulation perhaps at the half way point, at three and half years, when things get really bad.

Post-Tribulationists believe that the church will go through the tribulation and the rapture will occur after the tribulation, at the beginning of the millennium.  Christians, those who died before and during the tribulation, will be resurrected at the beginning of the millennium; non-believers will be raised and judged at the end of the millennium.

Post-Millennialism – Jesus will return, the dead will be raised, and the eternal state will begin after the millennium.  The millennium is a period of peace on earth, literally or figuratively one thousand years, that is brought about by the church.  Originally this was envisioned in terms of total global evangelization, however, more recently, from the late 19^th century, it has been seen in terms of social change and activism.  This has been a very popular view of Methodists, both in its early version and more recently.  John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, held this view in its evangelical variety, believing that the whole world, not necessarily every person, would become Christianized.  However, there are Methodists that hold to all views.

Amillennialism – Means “No Millennium.”  The time we currently live in is figuratively both the tribulation, because it is a time of trouble and evil, and the millennium, because Christ rules in his church.  All the events described above occur at once when Jesus returns to commence the eternal state.  This is the official position of the Roman Catholic Church and of many mainline Protestant churches.  This was the position of St. Augustine, Martin Luther, and John Calvin.  However, many, if not most, denominations, including the United Methodist Church, do not have an official position on any of these views.

In closing, I would like to offer a final Scripture verse and a funny story in order to alleviate any anxiety this topic may have cause. 

The Scripture is very last verse in the book of Daniel.  These are God’s words of comfort to relieve Daniel’s anxiety after all the visions he had seen.  “As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.” (Daniel 12:13) 

The funny story is about a preacher I once heard.  He was asked which of these end times views he believed in.  He said he was a “Pan-Millennialist.”  He said he believed everything was going to pan out in the end! 

2013 Doctrine Series #11 – What Happens after We Die?

This is one of the great question of life and religious faiths of all kinds attempt to answer this question.  Even atheistic/materialistic evolution has an answer for this question: we rot!
Christianity has a unique view of life after life that all too often gets mushed up with other views and our own imaginations, so we need to get some clarity.
First, the Christian doctrine of the afterlife is based on the belief that human beings possess something that other creatures do not: an immortal soul.  This is based on what we read about the creation of Adam in Genesis.  All of the other creatures God simply spoke into existence, but God “formed” Adam and “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Gen. 2:7)  There is a part of us that will continue to live on somewhere after this earthly life.  (In case you are thinking reincarnation, Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment.”)  So, we are all going somewhere after we die, the question is, where?
The Bible says that it will be one of two places.  These two places go by various names in the Bible but we most often refer to them as heaven and hell.  The Bible does not describe either of these places in much detail.  Most of what we have come to think about them has actually come from human imagination.  However, the Bible does tell us enough to want to go to heaven and not go to hell.  So the question is, how do we get to heaven?
Some people think that everybody just automatically goes to heaven.  However, Jesus himself says that there is a hell and people will actually go there.  (See Matt. 25:31-46 and others)
Other people think that one can get into heaven by being good.  The problem is that heaven’s standard is not merely good, it is perfect.  Nobody is good enough to get into heaven.
So how do we get into heaven?  Or, as the crowd asked Peter on the Day of Pentecost, “What should we do?”  Peter’s response is, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:37-38)  We get into heaven by being forgiven for our sins when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior by faith.  However, this does not mean that we simply get away with what we have done.  We will be judged and held accountable, but will not be condemned.  (1 Corinthians 3:12-15 and others)
At the moment of our physical death our spirit leaves our body and goes to heaven.  2 Corinthians 5:8 says that to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord.  But heaven, as wonderful as it is, is not the end of the story.  We also look forward to the resurrection of the body, which we will talk more about next time.
The greatest thing about heaven is the ultimate hope that it gives us.  Physical death is the very worst that this world can do to us but, because of our faith in Christ and our hope of heaven, we face death with courage and even with joy.  Jesus said, “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more.  But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!”  (Luke 12:4-5)  
 

2013 Doctrine Series #10 – The Holy Spirit and Sanctification

Most of us are familiar with the story of the Holy Spirit coming on the Day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2.  However, for many people the Holy Spirit is the most misunderstood person of the Trinity.
Perhaps I should take a moment here to at least define, if not explain, the Trinity. (It would take an entire article, in fact a series of articles, to even try to explain it.)  The doctrine of the Trinity (Tri-Unity) states that the Father is God, the Son, Jesus Christ, is God, and the Holy Spirit is God united in such a way that the three are distinct, unique, and equal persons but that there is still only one God.  The Trinity is one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  This is one of those things we believe even though we do not completely understand it.
All three persons of the Trinity are present and active in all the works of the Trinity, however, we do often speak of certain person of the Trinity doing specific things, so the work of the Holy Spirit is, among many others…..
• Drawing people to God.  (John 6:44)
• Convicting us of sin.  (John 16:7-11)
• Helping us to understand and remember Scripture and the teaching of Jesus.  (Luke 24:45; John 16:13; James 1:5)
• Comforting us.  (John 14:16)
• Helping us pray.  (Romans 8:26)
• Gifting and empowering all of us for ministry.  (1 Corinthians 12)
o There are a variety of gifts.  Each of us has gifts.  There are given for the good of the church and the mission.
• Producing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.  (Galatians 5:22-23)
o Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.
• Sanctifying us or Making us holy.  (1 Peter 1:15; 1 Thessalonians 4:3)
o Sanctification is a distinctive of Wesleyan/Methodist theology, and other theologies as well.  Sanctification or, as Wesley called it, Christian Perfection, is a state which is attainable in this life in which a person commits no known and willful sin.  However, there are two important facts to keep in mind:  First, Sanctification is not something we do or earn, it is the work of the Holy Spirit in us.  It is not about trying hard nor is it something to have pride about, that would be sin.  Second, Sanctification does not free us from mistakes, misunderstandings, or limitations.  It strictly deals with the idea of known and willful sin.  Sanctification is something we should pray for and allow the Spirit to work in our lives; it is a process.
Before closing I would like to take a moment to lift ups another distinctive of Wesleyan/Methodist theology: the three types of grace…
1. Prevenient Grace – The grace that goes before.  This is the grace that is active in creation and providence but it is also the grace that opens our eyes to our need for God and his forgiveness and draws us toward a relationship with God.
2. Justifying Grace – This is the grace that was revealed in the life and ministry and the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.  This is the grace we receive when we put our faith in Jesus and receive him as our Lord and Savior.  This is saving grace.
3. Sanctifying Grace – This is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives empowering us and making us holy.

2013 Doctrine Series #9 – Ascension

            After Jesus rose from the dead on Easter Sunday he remains with his disciples for another forty days.  After that he ascended into heaven.  The book of Acts tells the story this way in Acts 1:3-11.

3 After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. "This," he said, "is what you have heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11 They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

           Jesus is in heaven right now, seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again one day.  (I will say more about this in a future article.)  However, he is still busy.

• He is still with us, watching over us.

18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."  Matthew 28:18-20

• He is praying for us.

34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.  Romans 8:34

• He is preparing a place for us in heaven and, one day, he will come to take us to be with him.

1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.”  John 14:1-3.

           Just as Jesus is busy in heaven watching over us, praying for us, and preparing a place for us, he expects us to be busy until he returns being his witnesses and making disciples.

2013 Doctrine Series #8 – Resurrection

Last time we left Jesus crucified, dead, buried in the tomb.  That was Friday evening, Good Friday.  But on Sunday morning, Easter Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead.
All four gospels tell us the story of an empty tomb and a resurrected Jesus.  The gospels tell us that Jesus had a body that could be touched (John 20:27) and that he could eat, (Luke 24:40-43) but he could also do things like suddenly appear in a locked room. (John 20:19)  The Apostle Paul calls this a spiritual body.  (1 Cor. 15:44)
For the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 the resurrection of Jesus is the foundation for everything else in Christianity.  Without the resurrection, Christianity simply falls apart.
Paul says that Christ’s death for our sins and his resurrection are of “first importance.” (1 Cor. 15:3-4)  Jesus appeared alive to over five hundred people. (1 Cor. 15:6)  If Christ has not been raised, “then our proclamation has been in vain, and your faith has been in vain.” (1 Cor. 15:14)  If Christ has not been raised then, Paul and all of those who preach, including me, are found to be “misrepresenting God.” (1 Cor. 15:15)  If Christ has not been raised our faith is futile and we are still in our sins.  (1 Cor. 15:17)  If Christ is not raised those who have died, and we who will die one day, have no true hope for salvation and eternal life, they have “perished.” (1 Cor. 15:18)  Finally, if Christ is not raised, we who have faith in Christ are, in a word, pitiful.  (1 Cor. 15:19)
Back in 2007 news broke that an ossuary, a bone box, had been discovered with the inscription “Jesus son of Joseph” on it.  Speculations began as to whether this box contained the bones of Jesus, never mind that Jesus and Joseph (and Mary) were very common names at the time.  A Discovery Channel documentary was released in March of 2007.  Let’s just say that most archeologists and Biblical scholars were not impressed with this discovery and the claims that were being made.  And, by the way, when they opened the box, it was empty.
Around the time this news broke I was in chapel at seminary when one of our professors, in jest, said, “The body of Jesus has found, all classes are canceled, and the seminary is now closed.”  That is what is on the line for us as Christians.  If Jesus has not been raised from the dead, the church is out of business.  The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ is at the very core of the Christian faith.  Without these we have nothing.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ also points to our own resurrection at the end of time, but we will not be talking about that until toward the end of the series.

Christian Suing Christians

I was in a conversation with a person recently who had a dilemma.  They were owed some money and the person who owed them money was, technically anyway, although they never attend, a member of  the church.  They said to me, "I know Christians are not supposed to sue Christian, but what I am supposed to do?"  I was able to help them find a different solution to try first.  However, the outcome of that conversation is not as important as the questions it raises.
1 Corinthians 6:1 says, "When any of you has a grievance against another, do you dare to take it to court before the unrighteous, instead of taking it before the saints?"  I would like to look at three conditions that existed in the Corinthian church that do not exist today.
The first issue I see is that Paul assumes in the Corinthian church a level of fellowship that does not exist in many of our churches today.  The idea that a merely nominal and inactive church member could avoid financial responsibility under this verse is, quite frankly, repugnant  This situation only works when we have a highly level of fellowship and community.  I truly wish that were the case.
The second issue has to do with accountability and authority of the church.  The assumption here is that the church had authority and that church members were accountable to it.  Disputes would be brought to the church or to a group of leaders and they would decide what was just and order the party in the wrong to make it right.  If they refused to obey the church they would be expelled from the church.  This would mean the the restrictions of this verse would no longer apply and the parties could take the matter to the secular courts.  I doubt that most of us really want a church that has that kind of authority or want to live in that level of accountability.  I wish that we did.
The third and final issue is the fact that in this context the secular courts were steeped in paganism and hostile to Christianity.  This, thankfully, is no longer the case.
It would be my sincere hope that fellow believers would have the degree of fellowship with each other and faith in the church that they could bring their disputes before the community of faith and mutually abide by its decision.  However, I do not think that this verse, if all else fails, prevents Christians from utilizing the secular justice system in order to protect themselves even from one  another.

2013 Doctrine Series #7 – Crucifixion

In my article from May on Justification I talked about how what Jesus did on the cross, by sacrificing himself, by shedding his blood, made a way for our sins to be forgiven.  This time I want to talk more about the Crucifixion itself.
In 2004 the Mel Gibson movie “The Passion of Christ” was released.  The movie was enthusiastically received by some and rejected by others.  There were some political and theological objections that were raised against the movie but I will not get into those here.  The greatest objections, however, were raised to the graphic violence depicted in the movie.  In my mind the graphic nature of the movie was its real strength.  The Crucifixion was a violent event, in many ways it was the most violent event in all of history.  Since we now live in a visual society rather than a verbal society we needed something like this movie to help us understand the reality of the Crucifixion.
In the gospels the authors simply state that Jesus was crucified.  They did not need to describe crucifixion because everyone who was part of the original audience of the gospels understood exactly what crucifixion was.  Most of them would have even witnessed a crucifixion firsthand.
Crucifixion was the most violent, painful, and inhumane form of execution ever devised by humankind.  It was how the Roman Empire dealt with those who rebelled and made political trouble.  Crucifixions were done publically so that all could see what happened to those who dared to resist Roman rule.  The condemned were nailed to a cross through the wrists and the feet and left hanging there until they died.
The Cross is the center of the Christian faith.  In the cross we see the breadth of God’s love meet the depth of human need.  In the cross we see how bad we are and how good God is.  In the cross we see how much God loves us and how much God hates our sin.  In the cross God says “yes” to us while saying “no” to our sin.  In a world whose creed has become “I’m OK; you’re OK,” the cross tells us no uncertain terms that we are not in fact “OK!”  If people cannot accept this – because they cannot accept the fact of their own sin and need for forgiveness – it has always been that way.  Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
When I look at the cross, or when I receive Holy Communion, I am reminded how much God loves me, even though I don’t deserve it.  However, it also reminds me that the cross does not have the last word.  Next time we will talk about the Resurrection.

2013 Doctrine Series #6 – Incarnation

The first chapter of the Gospel of John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God… And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1-2, 14 NRSV)  This is John’s version of the Nativity; no Mary, no Joseph, no Manger, no shepherd, no wise men.
The reason for this is that one could come away from the Nativity stories of Matthew and Luke with the impression that Jesus is a very special but merely human baby.  John is trying to make sure that this does not happen.  John is trying to show the doctrine that lies behind the story, the doctrine of Incarnation.
Those with a minimal understanding of Spanish, or who have even spent enough time in Mexican restaurants, will recognize the word “carne” which means meat and which comes from the same word in Latin that means meat, flesh, or skin.  Incarnation, or to become incarnate, is to become, or take on, flesh, to become human.  In the Incarnation the Word, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus, took on flesh and became a human being.
Another important piece of the doctrine of Incarnation that John lifts up is what is called the pre-existence of Christ, the belief that Jesus has existed as the Son of God from the beginning of time prior to taking on flesh and being born in Bethlehem.  John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
It is here that we begin to see the doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrine that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each fully and equally God, that they are unified, and yet they are distinct from one another.  We will say more about this in a future article.
So we see that the Word, Jesus, the Son, is God and is with God the Father (as is the Holy Spirit) before the creation of the universe in eternity past.  It is the Son who became incarnate, who took on flesh, who became a human being.  As John says, “The Word became flesh and lived among us.”  Jesus is God in the flesh.  God became a human being.  Jesus is fully God and fully human.
If you have a hard time getting your head around all of this, you are not alone.  It took the early church a long time to figure out what Jesus and the biblical author meant.  In fact many of the things we take for granted about what we believe about Jesus were not settled until the Council of Chalcedon in the year 451 which declared that Jesus had two natures, one human and one divine, "united with neither confusion nor division."  So that you can impress, or bore, your friends this is called the “hypostatic union.”
Another passage of Scripture that is very important to understanding incarnation is Philippians 2:5-8, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.”
In closing we need to ask why this is so important and what difference does it make to us?  I think the best passage to answer this question is Hebrews 4:14-16, “Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

2013 Doctrine Series #5 – Justification (Forgiveness)

In our last article we saw how we all have a sin problem.  Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  And that is bad news for us because as Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.”  That is not only physical death but also spiritual death.  Yes, that means hell!  As I write these very words I am listening to coverage of the bombing at the Boston Marathon.  We live in an evil world!
Our sin is a problem because God is holy.  God is holy and God’s standard for us is holiness.  1 Peter 1:16 says, “It is written, ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”  Jesus says in Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  Sinful people cannot be in a relationship with a holy God, at least not without help.  Isaiah 59:2 says, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”   Habakkuk 1:13 says, “Your [God’s] eyes are too pure to behold evil, and you cannot look on wrongdoing.”  God cannot even look at us in our sin.
That is where the doctrine of justification or atonement comes in.  Through justification God offers a way for our sin to be dealt with and for us to be forgiven and restored to a relationship with God.
In the Old Testament God instituted a system of animal sacrifices in order to atone for sin.  This was to prove the point that sin has deadly consequences.  Hebrews 9:22 says, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”
This sets the stage for what God has done through his Son, Jesus Christ.  Jesus died on the cross, shed his blood, so that we could be forgiven for our sins and our relationship with God could be restored.  This happens when we accept Jesus as our Savior.
God forgives us for all of our past sins when we accept Christ.  God wants us to not sin but if we do sin, God is always ready and willing to forgive us if we confess and repent.  1 John 1:8-2:2 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.  My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”
In the next few months we will be talking in more depth about Jesus and who he is and what he has done.  Please check back.

2013 Doctrine Series #4 – The Fall (Original Sin)

In our article on creation we said that God created everything and declared it “good.”  But, as we saw in our article on providence, sometimes things do not work out perhaps the way in which God had originally planned.  What happened?  The answer, in a word, is sin.
We see the story unfold in Genesis 3.  Adam and Eve were placed in paradise and were given only one commandment: Do not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  The serpent tempts Eve to eat from the Tree and then Eve gives the fruit to Adam and he eats.  God then throws Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden and they become subject to sickness and death.
All of us, as descendants of Adam have inherited this sinful nature and the physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual brokenness that comes along with it.  The Bible puts it this way in Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned.”
It is not just people who are broken because of sin.  The whole world is out of whack as a result of sin as well.  Romans 8:20 says, “For the creation was subjected to futility.”
The doctrine of original sin says that, as a result of the Fall, Adam’s first sin, all human beings inherit a sinful nature and are broken and subject to sickness and death.  Also, as a result of the Fall, all of creation is broken and works in unpredictable and dangerous ways.  G. K. Chesterton, in his book Orthodoxy, writes that original sin “is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved.”  Do you really need me, or anyone else to prove to you that there really is sin in the world and in your own life?  All we have to do is watch the news, or take a good long look at our own lives.
Besides the original sin that we all carry around, it does not take very long and we have actual sin, sin that we actually commit ourselves.  Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Sin is sin; no sin is worse than another.  James 2:10 says, “Whoever breaks one commandment is guilty of breaking them all.” (Good News Translation)
We all have a sin problem.  In the next article we will see what God has done for us to solve that problem.

2013 Doctrines Series: #3 – Providence

“God is in control.”  We hear that all the time and, in a world that often seems out-of-control, these words are very comforting.  This is kind of a “bumper sticker” statement of a very complex facet of Christian doctrine called providence.  (From the root provide.)  And, like most “bumper sticker” summaries of doctrine, it requires a lot of explanation.
Providence, like revelation, which we talked about in the first article, can be divided into two types, general and special.
General providence is things like oxygen, fertile soil, and sunshine; plants and animals to eat; families and communities to which to belong.  These things are gifts of God’s providence.  We have done nothing to deserve these; God provides them to us out of his grace.  (In Wesleyan theology we talk about prevenient grace, the grace that goes before.  God provides for all his people and calls us all into relationship with him.)
Special providence is those very special, and perhaps rare, times when God seems to intervene directly in our lives.  We experience miraculous healing; we are running late only to find out that we just missed an accident ahead of us; we receive an unexpected check in the mail just when we needed it.  All of these things are providence.  We may call them coincidences, but there is an old saying that goes, “coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous.”
However, the questions arise when things do not happen that way; when tragedy strikes; when healing does not come; when God does not do what we expect.  These are the hard questions.
There are two very broad ways that Christians over the years have looked at the problem evil, the closed view and the open view.  The closed view says that God decides everything that happens and directly causes them to happen, including evil, and tragedy.  Of course God has a good reason for everything that happens although we do not always know what that is.  To be fair this way of thinking can provide a lot of comfort in the face of tragedy for many people.
The open view, which I hold, says that because of free will, which is also a gift of providence, God does not always get his way; things do not always happen according to God’s perfect plan.  The first thing we must realize, and which we will explore in greater detail in the next article, is that the world is broken.   This world, as it is, is not the way that God intended it to be.  This is due to the effects of human sin.
In this view God allows, rather than causes, evil as consequences of our own choices.  James 1:13-14 says, “No one, when tempted, should say, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one.  But one is tempted by one's own desire, being lured and enticed by it.”
However, God is still in control and is still taking care of us in all of this; and while God does not cause these things to happen, he can use them to help us to grow.   1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.”  As another old saying goes, “God never gives us more than we can handle, I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.”  God believes in us more than we believe in ourselves.  We can get through anything if we use the grace God’s gives us.
God’s providence is all around us every day, in the air we breathe, in the water we drink, in the food we eat, and in the people we meet.  God’s providence is there in the natural resources we use and are called to protect.  God’s providence is there in the miracles that we can see every day if only we will look.  God’s providence is even there in the midst of tragedy, walking with us, getting us through, and helping us to grow.  However, providence, like any of God’s good gifts, can be neglected, misused, and taken for granted.  So, let us learn to recognize, appreciate, and enjoy God’s providence.