Everyone has pivotal moments in life that transform them, sometimes for good and sometimes for bad. Some of these moments are God’s means of grace, where we may either be empowered by and towards God (2 Kings 2:9-15), or taken to a new level of hardness (Exodus 8:32; 9:12). Although not all are sacraments, I recall: accepting Jesus as my savior during a Vacation Bible School, my baptism, my 3rd grade teacher moving me to the 4th grade reading group, the first time I was aware of racism toward me, when a camp counselor encouraged me because he knew I didn’t need to rededicate my life to Christ, the first time a teen introduced me as his youth pastor, the death of a friend, when I told my father about my call to ministry, when I realized I could succeed in college, my wedding, the birth of my daughter, my ordination, and graduation from seminary, (I intentionally left out of that list events that moved me in a negative direction.) as one-time events which left a lasting impact. Continue reading The Sacraments as Means of Grace part 4: Ordination
The Sacraments as Means of Grace part 2: Baptism
While visiting friends over a weekend, I attended church service with their family, and baptisms happened to be occurring that morning. Among the family I sat with was a six-year-old girl, who had not recalled seeing a baptism previously. “What is he doing?” she asked her grandmother, who replied that the man was being baptized. Shocked, the little girl exclaimed, “Doesn’t he know that he’s supposed to take a bath at home?!” Although there are many other differences between a bath and a baptism, private versus public is a big difference. Continue reading The Sacraments as Means of Grace part 2: Baptism
Culture Influenced Christianity part 2: Individualism
The Bible speaks both of salvation and judgement coming to groups of people, such as the people of God, as well as the reward or judgement of the individual. Various traditions tend to emphasize one over the other. Cyprian of Carthage’s phrase extra Ecclesiam nulla salus “outside the church there is no salvation” reflects strongly in the Roman Catholic tradition, among others. The Wesleyan-Arminian holds that the Church is chosen in Jesus,1 yet as part of Evangelicalism in the United State we are also influenced by the teaching of individual election by God. A biblical case may be made for either position, with ramifications throughout our doctrine of salvation, but in my opinion, the flow of Scripture does not move from corporate to individual accountability and salvation, but both threads move throughout. Continue reading Culture Influenced Christianity part 2: Individualism
The Sacraments as Means of Grace part 3: Marriage
The Wesleyan Church recognizes two sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. However, as I delved into our Anglican roots (John Wesley remained an Anglican priest until he died, despite founding the Methodist tradition), I found some acceptance of the other five, but they are “not counted as a sacrament of the gospel,” meaning not ordained by Jesus nor necessary for salvation, but still a part of Christian tradition. In fact, as I have looked at the remaining five sacraments/practices (please use whichever term that would cause you least offense) most churches practice them, sometimes by other names, even though they might not call them “sacraments.” Thus, I would hope we could at least agree that God can use these events as means of grace.
When I met the woman who would become my wife, I found that she, having grown up in a household with a Roman Catholic father and Lutheran mother, had a different view of the sacraments, including whether or not they should be called “sacraments” or “ordinances,” than I did, as a person who grew up Baptist. When asked if marriage is a sacrament, my wife usually responds, “My marriage is a sacrament. I can’t speak for yours.” I agree with her, and by that I mean not just the ceremony, but our marriage. Having recently officiated a marriage, and gearing up for another, I stand in awe of the mystery of Christ and the Church, which human marriage reflects (Ephesians 5:32). Jesus compared the Kingdom of Heaven to a wedding feast (Matthew 22:2-14) and we look forward to the wedding supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9). My marriage has certainly enhanced my relationship with God, and how I act toward my wife, how she acts toward me, and how we work together are all reflection of the spiritual reality of Christ and the Church. Continue reading The Sacraments as Means of Grace part 3: Marriage
Call to Worship: Forgiveness
Psychiatrist Karl Menninger once said that if he could convince the patients in psychiatric hospitals that their sins were forgiven, 75 percent of them could walk out the next day.1 His thoughts remind us that freedom, in our lives and minds, comes through forgiveness. Ephesians 1:7 and Colossians 1:14 both say that through Jesus Christ we have “redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” It is not that we have redemption and forgiveness, but that redemption, being freed from slavery, is the forgiveness of our sins. Through God’s forgiveness, we are free to live, and to worship.
1. Today in the Word, March 1989, p. 8
photo credit: Will Foster via photopin cc
©2012 Paul Tillman
The Sacraments as Means of Grace part 1: The Lord’s Supper
A high school student I knew had recently placed faith in Jesus Christ as his savior, and in addition to attending youth group and Sunday church himself, began bringing his younger brother (very Andrew and Simon like (John 1:41)). The second time the younger brother came to church happened to be the first Sunday of the month, when we served the Lord’s Table, and I noticed that he took and consumed the bread and juice, just as everyone else.
After church, as we hung out in my living room, I said this to him. “You’re not in trouble or anything, but I was just wondering something. At church, when they passed around the bread and juice, did you understand what that meant or were you just following what everyone else did?” He replied that he just thought that’s what he was supposed to do, so I asked him if he would like to know what it meant, and he did want to know. Continue reading The Sacraments as Means of Grace part 1: The Lord’s Supper
Culture Influenced Christianity part 1: Society going downhill
As a Christian and pastor, I strive to not only increase the depth of my relationship with God, but also in my knowledge of Christianity as a religion, the cultures in which it exists, and the cultures it creates within itself. Life has provided me opportunities to study outside my own denominational traditions, and recently I have gained a more acute awareness of how our cultural positions (Christian culture/doctrinal positions and our larger national culture) affect our day to day Christian practice in society. (By “doctrinal positions” I do not mean the core Christian beliefs, such as The Apostle’s Creed, which orthodox Christians affirm, but instead I mean the theological systems which we construct around our core beliefs.) Emerson’s & Smith’s (2000) Divided by Faith sparked some of these thoughts. For this first post I will consider premillennialism. Continue reading Culture Influenced Christianity part 1: Society going downhill
The Bridge Illustration
The bridge illustration is an effective way of sharing the gospel with either a child or an adult. It gives a visual aide to complement the verses and concepts that are being discussed. If two people were in a restaurant, for example, the illustration could be drawn upon a paper napkin, along with the verse references, and given to the person with whom the message is being shared. If no paper is handy, the illustration can be easily described, or two glasses and a butter knife, for the bridge, could be used for the same effect. This illustration is frequently used by Navpress in their books. It is fairly easy for one to draw out as it is spoken. Continue reading The Bridge Illustration
Avoiding Christianese
We should avoid the confusion of using our “Christian” or uncommon words in conversation. While great for writing and learning doctrine, we should not assume people even know the major stories of the Bible, let alone understand some of theology’s unique vocabulary. According to ChristianBook.com, the King James Version (KJV) reads at a 12th grade level, the New American Standard Bible (NASB) at an 11th grade level, and the New International Version (NIV) at the 7th-8th grade level. People can understand the Bible, and the Holy Spirit illumines the Scripture (I’m using Christianese there. I should have said, “the Holy Spirit helps people to understand the spiritual things in the Bible), but we should not make the process more difficult for someone by using words they may not have heard before. The apostle Paul wanted to proclaim Jesus as clearly as possible (1 Corinthians 14:19, Colossians 4:4).
Reading the Bible in 90 Days: The First 30 Days
Thirty Days ago I, along with Heath Mullikin and Jeff Brady, began the Bible in 90 Days Reading Plan from YouVersion. The YouVersion cloud Bible and applications deserve their own post, so for now I will just say that I use it, and you should check it out. For this post, I will concentrate on the benefits and challenges I have seen during the first third of this reading plan. Continue reading Reading the Bible in 90 Days: The First 30 Days