The Difference Between a Decree and a Cause

Greg Koukl on The Stand to Reason blog is bold to post ideas in Christian philosophy that are not yet fully developed. But such a thing is necessary for allowing the idea to be processed in the community of Christians at large. He recently started a discussion on the difference between God issuing a decree and acting as a cause. That language might not immediately seem pertinent. But there is the tension that we see in scripture where God is absolutely sovereign and where He seems to cause sin as a result. Go here to watch his video blog and read some of the comments:

http://str.typepad.com/weblog/2011/02/decree-vs-cause-video.html

My slightly edited response:

God, as a causer, is not an agent of cause. "Agent" implies that the causer was himself caused by something else. God's causing is in this way different than His creation, as discreet subdivided iterations of existence, being internally consistent agents of cause. That is, God has eternally established what will happen by decree and has created underlying rules for all of creation to follow as temporal causal agents.

Men, as volitional systems of causal agents, have intent. Where this intent agrees with God's ethical will, then there is no sin. Where this intent does not agree with God's ethical will, there is sin. The will of man is hardly monolithic. Every decision a man makes consists of a cocktail of intents - some good, some bad. If God causes anything to happen in the action of any man in the fallen world, that man will be guilty of sin.

God's intent, conversely, is always pure. God is not guilty where His goodness causes actions that arise out of the evil intents of men.

Men are sinners already and God has not alienated Himself from men any further than they are by causing actions that for men are sinful because of their intents. And their intents are not the most fundamental level of their sin. Evil intents arise out of the status of men being separated from God. We are born in a separated world and are likewise separated from God from birth. Even when we are given the Holy Spirit, we must endure the wiles of this separated world. Being given the Holy Spirit allows us to be separated FOR God (Holy) in this age rather than being separated FROM God in this age.

Atheism and the Problem of Sin

Atheists are interesting. First, they argue against the existence of God based on the problem of evil. God can’t exist, they say, because God wouldn’t allow evil to exist in the world. Second, they argue that although it seems there must be some sort of natural law of morality, there is no absolute standard of good and evil. So, on the one hand they say that God doesn’t exist because evil exists and on the other hand they say that evil doesn’t exist because God doesn’t exist.

What is further interesting is that lack of intellectual development beyond this. Some atheists recognize the conflict to some degree and try to rectify it by a weak appeal to some natural law of morality. This only results in a relative morality that still fails to address the universal question.

Evil in the world creates a paradox that confuses our thinking on every issue since evil lies in the intents of men. Any attempt to construct a true philosophy is frustrated by this. As a result, we have need to debate and wrestle not merely over issues of behavior and relationship, but over concepts and ideas. This fact alone should be a clue that things are not as they ought to be. But if intellectual conflicts are normal, then they should be expected in our theology. However, atheists point to theological paradoxes as though they are unique to theology when theology alone answers the presence of the paradoxes. So atheists pursue the resolution of the paradoxes of atheistic philosophies and fail to consider any resolution of theological paradoxes proposed by theists.

The Perfect Church is Not Perfect

Looking for the perfect church? It doesn't exist for two reasons: First is because churches are made of people who are at best still undergoing sanctification. That is, we have been saved from the penalty of our sin, but we are still in the process of learning how to live like it in a world that remains fallen.

But the second reason is similar to the first: Sanctification provides the rest of the world with a practical view of the nature of God. It's one thing to say that we are graciously forgiven. It's another thing to handle ongoing sin as though we are graciously forgiven.

We may be called to glorify God individually in how we handle our sin, but it's a mistake in light of original sin to think of sin as being a purely individual phenomenon. More importantly than how the individual handles sin is how a church body handles sin.

Therefore, if you are looking for the perfect church, look for how a church handles sin and submit yourself to the church that will help to purify you in a practical way - not because the church is perfect, but because the people therein have been through their own struggles with sin and have submitted to the same pattern of corporately ministered mortification of that sin.

Stay away from any church that makes you feel good about yourself and ignores your sin. That provides the temptation to worship the church rather than Christ. Submit rather to churches that demonstrate humility in overcoming struggles with sin with honesty, repentance, grace and reconciliation.

HT: Resurgence

Cookie Jar Christians and Broken Christians

One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (Luke 7:36-50)

I love my brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm amazed at the righteousness many have had throughout their lives. Many of them are leaders in churches, missions and other various ministries of extraordinary impact. They accepted Christ at a young age and recognized God's call to a particular mission in their life at which they may serve for most of their lives to great distinction. They are surrounded by people of great spiritual means and thoroughly networked. God has indeed raised them up to accomplish great things for his kingdom.

There are also people who have achieved great feats of righteousness and serve locally without distinction.

Sometimes I wish I was one. So far, my kids look to be these kind of Christians. Their worst sins amount to stealing cookies from a cookie jar. I call them "cookie jar Christians".

There's one drawback to cookie jar Christians.

For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)

And we see that even Christ was able to help those who fell into sin.

Cookie jar Christians must know they are pretty righteous. How can they not? When confronted by a tender soul who has been crushed by a life of sin and pain, cookie jar Christians typically must condescend in order to minister at all. They often treat such people with an air of spiritual superiority and you know they can't help but to know how much better they are than them.

Now, I don't want you to misunderstand me. I don't intend to disparage cookie jar Christians. It's wonderful that they are good enough that their focus is on helping others in the name of Christ, but there's a point at which they have to recognize that they simply can't relate to the struggle of someone who has been deep in sin.

However, some cookie jar Christians become a bit legalistic and refuse to help without some sign of repentance up front lest they become sullied in some way by associating with the sinner.

Most cookie jar Christians will be bold against the sins of the sinner, but not let up until repentance is gained. Thinking then that the job is done, they go about their business without taking the time to disciple the sinner. Busy Christians don't have that kind of time to invest in someone, especially when the sinner is not one of their inner circle of cookie jar Christian friends.

When a cookie jar Christian commits to discipling a sinner, however, the difficulty lies in not being able to address the struggles of the flesh that a sinner can undergo. The cookie jar Christian just hasn't had that experience. For example, a cookie jar Christian may tell a sinner to "just run to God!" (I've actually heard this advice given.) What does that even mean?

Then there are sinners who have been forgiven. I call these "broken Christians". God uses people who have come from bad family situations, deep-seated patterns of sin, abuse, racial prejudice, difficult illnesses, war, or any of a multitude of things that break a soul. Christians who come from these situations may, over time, become no better than cookie jar Christians. They forget their past. In a way, a broken Christian can give thanks for healing. In another way, such scars allow a broken Christian to meet a sinner who has not come to Christ and see the hope of salvation for the sinner as a person not unlike the broken Christian once was.

God uses broken Christians to work the difficult parts of the field in the harvest. They may not reap the apparently best stuff like the cookie jar Christians. However, their toil is of great value for they do it at the Master's behest and with his tender care for the harvest.

I write this to encourage my fellow broken Christians to use this gift to reach those like you once were.

But if you are a cookie jar Christian, I know it is difficult for you because you are superior in holiness to your brothers and sisters in Christ who are broken Christians, but I urge you to support and encourage them in their ministerial endeavors. Do not marginalize them or relegate them to the lower places in the church leadership, but learn from them what it is to love a sinner like Christ did.

House With or Without a Foundation

I like to watch House. I haven't particularly known why. He's vulgar, impetuous, misanthropic, atheistic and so intelligent he thinks he's right all the time, which he isn't, and right often enough to make him annoying.

Today, as I watch the umpteenth rerun of House, I finally realize why I like to watch him:

He's what I would be except for the grace of God. Pathetically reliant on my own conflicted reason and rationale. Yet there is a more sure way and as I am submitted to God in the intent of His perfect way, I can see clearly the futility of this conflicted sinful nature that yet calls flames of judgment to lick the bottom of my feet as I press on toward God's perfect peace in His glory.

And may it be that I never look on such characters as House and consider myself any better lest I become the Pharisee who thanks God he is not like the sinner.

The Nakedness of Adam and Eve and How a Measure of Separation Makes Us Closer

From Genesis 3:

8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" 10 And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." 11 He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" 12 The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

I've speculated on this recently in an online debate with a supposed female who is pro-pornography and tried to justify her position on a Biblical basis. The issue of nakedness is directly tied to sin in the account of the fall. In fact, nakedness is the first recorded awareness Adam and Eve had of the knowledge of good and evil. Testing the exegetical acumen of my opponent I speculated unnecessarily on the reason nakedness may be wrong is that Adam and Eve hid their nakedness from each other because they projected the sin of their own thoughts on the gaze of the other. My opponent didn't catch the planted error and I was able to ascertain the weakness in her presuppositions and debate effectively against her.

The fact is that Adam and Eve hid their nakedness from God rather than each other. My speculation isn't necessarily inaccurate, but it doesn't follow exegetically from the passage. So what is nakedness that it needs to be hidden from God or anyone? If nakedness is an issue as a result of sin, then nakedness is a projection of the guilt of the individual on the state of one's personal presentation in relational matters. Let me unpack this:

I have evil thoughts. We all do. If I have evil thoughts, then I know I am subject to scrutiny in my behavior and appearance as a reflection of the evil within me. Therefore, to minimize the scrutiny I desire to hide my true self and project an image that is more pleasant: an image of a person I desire to be rather than the person I really am. This desire may be rooted in a fear of being caught in sin, fear of broken relationships or an earnest desire to glorify God. Everyone has the first two reasons in life. (The third reason is only had by Christians for only the living God works through grace to His own glory for His sake as well as the sake of the elect. All false gods are created to demand mere adherence to a set of rules only for the sake of their adherents.) Whatever their reason here, Adam and Eve hid from God because they feared His righteous judgment on them. That was their nakedness.

But I consider that as they fleshed out their sin in their own relationship, nakedness became a barrier even for them. As Adam looked at his wife and Eve looked her husband, each realized that their vision of each other in their nakedness was tainted with scornful scrutiny. This pattern exists today. Don't believe me? Show up in town tomorrow without a scrap of clothing on your body and tell me how it goes. Why wouldn't you want to do that? Do you fear that others will look at you judgmentally? If you go into town and someone hops out of their car without a scrap of clothing on, would you fail to scrutinize them in the least? Would you treat them as though nothing were out of the ordinary? Would you avert your gaze to avoid seeing someone naked or stare so you can get a good eyefull?

Wearing clothes and acting like we don't have evil thoughts are an attempt to avert the judgment and scrutiny of others. It enables us to develop the close relationships we need as social creatures. This means that we cannot know of each other fully intimate details. We are, as it were, in a quarantine of sorts. We can be in fellowship with each other so long as we can keep our sinful tendencies hidden and only act on the righteousness available to all.

As an aside, I'm not advocating a lack of confession among believers, but rather it is wise to confess specific sins in certain confidence and only return to the account of any sin publicly in a limited manner as a matter of testifying about what God has done to forgive us and restore us.

Likewise, God clothes us so that we can avert His eternal judgment. Even as He clothed Adam and Eve in the skins of animals, the first sacrifice, He clothes us in the righteousness of His Son through His atoning sacrifice. The covering on the one hand hides our sin from God and on the other opens us to reconciliation with God.

This separation for the purpose of closeness is the necessary paradox of all our relationships in this fallen world.

To Eliminate the Desires of the Flesh

I have bad news for my readers. I’m a sinner. No, it’s true. Since you know this, you probably shouldn’t be reading what I have to say. What’s that? You say “everyone is a sinner”? Aw c’mon. We know that this is only theoretical, right? I’m an actual sinner. I’ve committed actual sins in my life. I know some people out there who haven’t actually sinned – ever… Right? I mean, we’re all sinners because of original sin. Even if you don’t sin, you still need salvation. So, surely all the people I know who act like they’ve never sinned before… well… surely many of them have never sinned. Ok, maybe they told a white lie when they were 8 years old or stole a cookie out of the cookie jar when they were 5. But they’ve never done anything major like prideful boasting, slander, unwarranted anger, cursing or ignoring the needs of the “least of these”. They haven’t even taken so much as a sip of wine lest it be a sin. I haven’t even mentioned the real biggies like adultery, hard drugs, witchcraft and murder.

Well, I was not one of these mild sinners. I once sought satisfaction for the desires of my flesh from the world rather than from God. When God brought me back to Himself, He miraculously removed desires one by one. He didn’t remove all of them. It’s one thing to say, “He removed the desire to be inebriated so I wouldn’t get drunk anymore,” because we don’t need to be inebriated. It’s another to say, “He removed the desire to eat so I wouldn’t be a glutton,” because I still need to eat something and it helps to crave the foods I need. You see, there’s a fuzzy line there when you talk about the “desires of the flesh.” Let me ‘splain:

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Galatians 5:16-24 ESV

We are instructed in the Ten Commandments not to covet. But Paul’s admonition is not to refrain from desiring. In fact, nowhere is there command to stop desiring. There is a difference between covet and desire. It’s the difference between intention and inclination.

The way to handle the desires of our flesh is not to satisfy them with the world, but to find our satisfaction in God. That means we must subject our desires to His truth, His will. We need our desires to some extent, but sin has distorted the things of this world and our desires are likewise distorted by sin. The truth of God helps us recognize the need our desires are ideally intended to address and deny the sin we may be tempted to pursue as a result of their distortion.

To pursue the desires of the flesh outside of the will of God is to commit acts of sin. For example, sexual desire is intended for pleasure and procreation only within a marital covenant. This is spiritually aligned with God’s desire for us and as such is a spiritual desire. Outside a marital covenant, sexual desire is distorted to be spiritually aligned with death or separation from God. This is fleshly desire. Spiritual desire is acted out in the temporal, but is rooted in the eternal. The desire of the flesh is rooted in the temporal to the exclusion of the eternal.

In this fallen world, the manifestation of desire in our bodies between the spirit and the flesh is physiologically indistinguishable. That’s why the difference is in our intention, not in whether we have a desire or not. God may graciously give us reprieve from some desires of the flesh, but allow us to struggle with others. We should rejoice over the struggle, for the Spirit of God is active within us, and recognize His purpose to strengthen us and build us up. Victory is when we are strengthened and bear the fruit of the Spirit.

More Random Thoughts

Here are a few more random, unconnected, unfinished thoughts…

John Piper posted a list the other day on why he doesn’t take pot shots at fundamentalists. It’s a great list and worthy of consideration because it puts into practice the I Corinthians admonishments regarding unity in the Body of Christ. I spent a few years running from God. When He brought me back, I was adopted by a family of wild fundamentalists. It was the stark contrast I needed to the life of sin I had been practicing to show me what God had put to death in my life and what real life was. Here’s the list:

1. They are humble and respectful and courteous and even funny (the ones I've met).
2. They believe in truth.
3. They believe that truth really matters.
4. They believe that the Bible is true, all of it.
5. They know that the Bible calls for some kind of separation from the world.
6. They have backbone and are not prone to compromise principle.
7. They put obedience to Jesus above the approval of man (even though they fall short, like others).
8. They believe in hell and are loving enough to warn people about it.
9. They believe in heaven and sing about how good it will be to go there.
10. Their "social action" is helping the person next door (like Jesus), which doesn't usually get written up in the newspaper.
11. They tend to raise law-abiding, chaste children, in spite of the fact that Barna says evangelical kids in general don't have any better track record than non-Christians.
12. They resist trendiness.
13. They don't think too much is gained by sounding hip.
14. They may not be hip, but they don't go so far as to drive buggies or insist on typewriters.
15. They still sing hymns.
16. They are not breathless about being accepted in the scholarly guild.
17. They give some contemporary plausibility to New Testament claim that the church is the "pillar and bulwark of the truth."
18. They are good for the rest of evangelicals because of all this.
19. My dad was one.
20. Everybody to my left thinks I am one. And there are a lot of people to my left.

What I find interesting is that for theological conservatives, we recognize those who deny the veracity of key elements of Christian orthodoxy as “liberals” while calling ourselves “conservatives”. “Fundamentalists” are those who are theologically conservative who tend toward legalistic trappings or appearances.

Most liberals don’t call themselves “liberals”. They call themselves “moderates”. They call conservatives “fundamentalists” and make no distinction between adherence to Christian theological orthodoxy and overt behavioral legalism. Use of the term “moderate” implies that there is some group much farther left that they don’t agree with. The problem is that if there are, they generally don’t acknowledge them. They certainly don’t criticize them like they criticize those they consider to be “fundamentalists”. As such, their intent seems to be to reframe the argument semantically in an attempt to move mainstream thinking ever leftward.

These same “moderates” would have been happy to leave me in my former sin. Thank God for the fundies.

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Another one from Desiring God references a Piper sermon on “Spiritual Depression in the Psalms”. I’ve talked about depression before, but this is something I’m still processing. The question I ask myself is why do we treat depression like it is a spiritual weakness?

“You have emotional issues? You must not be very spiritually mature.”
“I have emotional issues. I can’t let anyone know about it because then they’ll think I’m not a very mature Christian and ostracize me.”
or… “I have emotional issues. People will patronize me or not know how to interact with me.”

Actually, all of these are fairly accurate. However, none of them are indicative of attitudes that are becoming of a healthy Body of Christ. A good church recognizes the truth. Truth alone does not good ministry make. Sacrificial service in love does. There’s a lady who has been visiting our church. She’s been tangentially active, but has had some issues in her life. She’s open about the fact that she’s had a nervous breakdown, but most people are unwilling to sit and listen to her – so I do.

Spiritual depression, severe stress and emotional needs are characteristic of many of the first-person view in the Psalms. In this fallen world, this is normal. The church above all should be the first to recognize and offer comfort and direction for this. You can’t do this unless you are transparent enough to offer your own struggles. However, this is viewed as weak and not becoming of good leadership.

I don’t have any admonitions here; this is just where I am in considering these things.

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We (Christians) are gifts. Ok, we have received the gift of eternal life, but we are gifts to the Son by the Father. (John 17)

The question was asked, “What kind of gift am I?” I saw a commercial the other day. I think it was for an insurance company or some such. An old car, a classic that needed a lot of restoration work, was being bought and attached to the back of a truck.

The announcer came on and said something to the effect that “There’s nothing like towing a ‘new’ car home.” I imagine that’s what kind of gifts we are.

Perhaps we can imagine the Son saying to the Father, “Couldn’t you clean them up a little bit?”

The Father replies, “I have given them to you. It’s up to you to clean them up.”

I don’t mean to mischaracterize the relationship between the Father and the Son. No analogy is perfect. But I got a kick out of thinking that God saw fit to not only give me a gift that I do not deserve, but to consider me a gift fit for the Son.

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PFC Ross McGuinnis was awarded the Medal of Honor a few days ago posthumously. He gave his life for his fellow soldiers in an act that, given fuse times of grenades, took a scant second or two to perform. He didn’t have time to think about it in that moment. Rather, in order to react as he did, he would have thought about it and made that decision ahead of time.

Dealing with sin is an act of living sacrifice. We can’t wait until temptation strikes to make the decision. It’s too late by then. We make the decision what to do when tempted ahead of time. Given the insidious nature of temptation, we must realize that our lives here are to be characterized with a trust in God that desperately clings to Him moment by moment not unlike a soldier who in the heat of battle desperately clings to his weapons and armament, and looks to his fellow soldiers for support and commander for guidance.

The Divide Between Justification and Sanctification

My wife and I went to a Casting Crowns concert in Charlotte this past Saturday. I have their latest studio album, The Altar and the Door. I had listened to it a few times, but the messages on it just hadn't sunk in. I just haven't taken the time to study the lyrics more closely, which I regret not having done. I appreciated Mark Hall explaining the songs they sung from the album and will be contemplating them more closely in light of scripture.

The title song, The Altar and the Door, is really from a line in the song Somewhere in the Middle which really expresses the theme of the album. It's about the difference between the well-intentioned prayers and offerings made at the "altar" that seem to change when we get up and head for the door.



Justification is God's eternal decree. There is one act of justification that demonstrates this in time. God promised justification to all who trust Him. We can be certain of our justification. Sanctification happens over time. Goc provides sanctification prior to the time we begin to trust Him in order to give us the life we need to have faith. After we realize our justification, God continues to sanctify us as we daily live in Him. Justification is God's absolute provision. Sanctification is His subjective provision. We need sanctification because we continue to sin even after we realize our justification.

Trusting God means that we must be satisfied with His provision. It also means that we cannot be satisfied with where we are.

I am to be satisfied with my house, my spouse, my kids, my job, my church, my income, my ministry... So what justifies change at all? We continue to sin and others continue to sin. So what do we say? Does God perpetuate His purposes through sin? No, but we have a limited understanding of sin. We tend to focus on the actual rather than the intentional. What we intend for evil, God intends for good for we have not surprised God with any sin we commit. Does God allow sin by withholding judgement for a time? No. He works all things according to His good purpose.

So, we must be satisfied for God is good. However, there is a hot earth under the cold oceans. Such satisfaction threatens to erupt when sin is exposed. I rejoice where I am today because of a battle won yesterday, but I cannot be satisfied because I must advance to new ground tomorrow.

We are satisfied at the altar, but we must get up and go. The good news is that the altar doesn't stay. Our lives are the altar upon which our bodies are given as a living and holy sacrifice which is our spiritual service of worship. And so sanctification returns to justification.

"Give Us A Shot"

Jesus spent time with sinners (Matthew 9:10-13).  He even drank wine (Matthew 11:19). Yet we must not associate with drunkards (I Corinthians 5:7) or teach people to sin (Matthew 5:19). So what's the balance?

From FOXNews.com:

'Give Us a Shot': N.C. Church Hands Out Shot Glasses at Bars

Sunday, January 13, 2008

CHARLOTTE, N.C.  —  To get people to attend his new church campus, Robbie McLaughlin is sending his message out to where the people are.

Next Friday, staffers from Next Level Church of Matthews will go to bars in the Ballantyne area of Charlotte to hand out shot glasses which ask patrons to "give us a shot" and bear the slogan, "Real church for real people."

The idea is to draw people to the Ballantyne campus, which opens next month.

McLaughlin is the pastor, and said he is confident that it will be controversial, but he said the goal is not necessarily to impress people who already go to church. He said it's to impress people who don't.

Next Level is a nontraditional church that encourages members to dress casually and snack on coffee and doughnuts during services.

McLaughlin said the idea has caught on, and in two years, the church has grown from a handful of members to more than 700.

This is just down the road from where I live. Their church is growing? Wonderful! I hope those are genuine Christians on the rolls. I wonder if it's the shot glasses that are so effective? Would it be acceptable, for example, to hand out condoms at a brothel or to give weapons to murderers with the with the words "Give us a shot" emblazoned on them? Is a sin less of a sin because of some naturally derived morality rather than that which is revealed clearly in Biblical revelation? Jesus drank with sinners, but I doubt He condoned drunkenness. He forgave prostitutes and welcomed them, but I doubt he offered them tools to assist them in their sin. No, in fact He called them to stop sinning. Perhaps that's what this church does and the article has left that tidbit out. Nevertheless, I doubt the message to stop sinning is overly effective when sinners are given a symbolic wink at their sin.

Questioning God

Human beings in all the stupor of our fallen condition often ask sophomoric questions of God. After considering some act of evil one may ask, "Where was God?" Why, He's omnipresent, of course. He was there. We may also ask, more to the point, "Why does God let bad things happen?"

To answer this, we must ask the question, "What is a bad thing?" Certainly if we break God's law a bad thing has occurred. However, how bad is it? Has God been harmed by someone breaking His law? We can say that Christ was crucified and that certainly counts as being harmed. But is it? God has His ends in mind and He is not thwarted by our measly disobedience. There is no power against God in sin. Sin does harm to us, not God. In fact, He can use it to His advantage - to glorify Himself. Before whom is God glorified? Over whom does he require an advantage? He is God. He has the glory and the advantage without our faithless praise and vain prayers. That we have any proper inclination toward God is due to His condescension toward us, not our attempts to please Him. If we seek His face, we do so for our benefit, not His - for how can we benefit God? Nothing we can do in the world is untainted by sin.

So what do we say of people who are murdered or killed for no apparent reason? "They are innocent and undeserving of death," many are inclined to declare. No. All of us deserve death. We have an unfaithful view of God and His promise of eternal life if all we see is the function of our bodies in this world. There is more that this mud hole. It is a mere shadow of what God has for us. All whose bodies cease to function in this world for whatever cause are in the hands of a God who is both just and gracious.

Can we then do anything of worth? Yes, all things have worth and are redeemable by our Creator. However, God is not unconcerned for us and desires that we should do those things that benefit us. What most benefits us is a relationship with Him. This relationship in a fallen world is best fostered by our obedience to Him. He therefore gave us His law to reveal Himself to us, protect us, and provide a context to save us.

May God grant us wisdom to have faith and the power to obey.