A Contemporary Song that Exposes the Ancient, Gospel-less Horror in the Seeker Movement.

The doctrine in this song is so bad and misleading that I cannot bring myself to comment on it at this time. I will dissect it after I have recovered. When you read it, I am sure you will understand....


"If We Are The Body" By Casting Crowns

It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in
Trying to fade into the faces
The girls' teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know

CHORUS
But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way

A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat
And quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances tells him that his chances
Are better out on the road

CHORUS
But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the Body?
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?

BRIDGE
Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the Body of Christ

CHORUS (2x)
If we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
Jesus is the way

Predestination and Logic

The teachings on Free Well that come out of Arminianism and Calvinism are both built on the foundation of a common logical fallacy. The informal fallacy of false dilemma is where two concepts are presented as a mutually exclusive choice where no other options exists. This is an especially foolish assumption when trying to guess the unknowable operation of an omnipotent and omniscient God.

In other words, this fallacy presents the choice of either A or B... but ignores the possibility of an option C, D, E, F, etc. An absurd example of such a fallacy would be: "If you are an animal, you are either a dog or a cat." Such a statement is illogical because an animal could be a horse, cow, or any number of other creatures.

The Arminian/Calvinist debate over eternal election which rages is built on this kind of false dilemma. They want to force you into using your limited human reason to choose either option A or option B. Both of these options have been carefully crafted and argued by the flawed source that is the human intellect. At the same time, infallible Holy Scripture clearly makes both options unsupportable. It is okay to say that there could be an unknown "option C" regarding our eternal election that is beyond our human understanding. In the end, we must stand on only what Scripture reveals and not what we can try to figure out with our limited capabilities and knowledge. Everything beyond the clear testimony of Scripture is just guess work.

...of course a Calvinist has already told me that this position is a "cop out". :P

Evangelism without Evangel

I am stealing this fantastic quote from an anabaptist layman who is teaching a pretty good Bible study over here:

"Evangelism is the most misunderstood word in Christianity. It no longer means what it used to mean. Evangelism means to tell the Evangel: the Good News. Evangelism that does not specifically state the whole Good News properly is just recruitment."

I am going to start making this distinction. It's helpful to call a spade a spade.

+ In Memoriam +

It is around this time of year that our family remembers the solid Christian witness that was given to us by the sainted Grandma Baker. I will never forget her final instructions that she spoke to me before she went to be with Our Lord:

"Love your family, love everybody, and count your blessings. And do that every day."

God's Prosperity for You is Found in Holy Absolution

You hear alot these days about the two "P"s in church: "Prosperity" and "Purpose". There are books, churches, and movements founded on unlocking some kind of divine formula for prosperity. The entire purpose of the church these days is to show you how to purposefully search for your purpose so that you will prosper.

You have to wonder though, when we get past all these mortal speakers, hucksters, and mystics for a second... what does God's Word actually say about true prosperity? What does divine prosperity actually look like? Where does one find God's prosperity?

God's prosperity for you is found at the center of holy absolution. The forgiveness of your sin which is apprehended by faith in Jesus Christ is the pearl of great price. Cast aside everything to lay hold of this unique treasure. What other thing could be found that is of equal value? There is nothing else but this promise: Come and hear Christ's word of forgiveness spoken specifically to you.

"Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." -Proverbs 28:13 [ESV]

The Slap in the Face

How often do we, as Christians, gather for worship... and then do nothing less but reenact the Fall of Man in the name of God?

Tricky Devil, you come into the garden that is Lord's House and you convince us to lay aside the clear Word of God. You tempt us to do that which God has forbidden, upset the order that He has established for the church, and seek the worldly self-gratification that comes with trying to make ourselves wise.

That's Why They Call it a Desert

Yesterday it was over 110° F. (This reading was based off of a thermometer that was in the shade!)

This morning it was 90° F at 08:30 a.m.

...and it is only the end of May.

Oh, this summer is going to be brutal. :P

An Evolution Joke

A little girl asked her mother, "How did the human race appear?"

The mother answered, "God made Adam and Eve and they had children and so was all mankind made."

Two days later the girl asked her father the same question. The father answered, "Many years ago there were monkeys from which the human race evolved."

The confused girl returned to her mother and said, "Mom how is it possible that you told me the human race was created by God, and Dad said they developed from monkeys?"

The mother answered, "Well, dear, it is very simple: I told you about my side of the family and your father told you about his."

Memorial Day Made Real

Lest you allow Memorial Day to pass without a proper recollection of those who have given the supreme sacrifice for you, this worn-out deployed buck sergeant is here to remind you of how personal war is. It's not statistics and politics. It's people. It's people who are not coming back alive.

This memorial day, I offer special respect and honor to

Army Staff Sergeant Brandon L. Wallace

Brandon was age 27 and was from St. Louis, Mo. He was assigned to the 1451st Transportation Company, 13th Support Command, Iraq. He died on April 14, 2007 in Fallujah, Iraq when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near his vehicle.

Read and weep for the fallen and his family:

------------

The Associated Press

FESTUS, Mo. — A 27-year-old who was scheduled to come home from Iraq in two weeks was killed by a roadside bomb in Fallujah, his family said this weekend.

Army Staff Sgt. Brandon Wallace, who had been reactivated from the Individual Ready Reserve and had been deployed since May, was killed April 14, his family said.

He was preparing to come home and marry an Army specialist he had met and proposed to in Iraq.

His father, Rickey Wallace, said his son already had served his active-duty contract for three years in Germany and Kosovo.

“In Brandon’s mind, he thought he was basically done,” Rickey Wallace said. “He was shocked that they called him back.”

Brandon Wallace graduated from Crystal City High School in 1998. He had been taking classes at the police academy in St. Charles when he was reactivated.

Rickey Wallace urged his son to ask if he could graduate from the academy before being deployed, and the Army agreed.

Robin Wallace said she took some comfort in hearing her son had died instantly.

Wallace’s parents told the Web site for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, www.stltoday.com, that they will meet their son’s fiancee for the first time next week when she brings their son’s body home.

------------

Do you feel that ache in your gut, the burning in your eyes, and the agony over the senseless loss for this family? How about the air that escaped when you read the last sentence of that horrible article? Hold on to that furiously mournful feeling.

That's Memorial Day.


Sergeant Brandon L. Wallace was not the only casualty from that roadside bomb. Also killed was

Sergeant Joshua A. Schmit.

Read more about some of our honored dead here.

Explosives, Prayer, Psalm 77, Ascension, and Faith

On Ascension Day this year, I found myself staring at two unidentified pieces of ordinance. I was laying on my stomach looking for something when I discovered them less than a meter away from my face. They were not supposed to be there and I did not expect to find them. It could have made for a very bad day because they had been violently disturbed moments before I saw them. I am being intentionally vague, but I am sure that you get the idea.

They turned out to be inert ("not dangerous" for you civilians). They could have just as easily been live rounds or some kind of improvised explosive device. I was fairly certain that they were just inert when I saw them, but you really want to be more than "fairly certain" in that kind of situation. Looking back, there was that split second before my army training kicked in where I thought about being "blown to kingdom come". I have to chuckle at the irony of thinking of that phrase on that particular day in the church year.

I guess a Christian who is also a Soldier at war thinks about the heavenly kingdom alot... regardless of his duties or situation. It is always in the back of his mind that the only constant about war is that it can be incredibly indiscriminate and random. My Ascension Day experience was like that: random. Why me? Why inert? The mind can spin rather easily about such questions.

I think that alot of the stress comes from the powerlessness of these kinds of random situations (which happen just as often--if not more often--back in the States.) It seems more intense here because it is compounded by the isolation of being away from home, from the church, and from her gifts. The combination can be a real test of faith and endurance.

Lots of things start to dip: sleep, energy, cognitive function, and even prayer. It is really easy for peaceful meditations on God's Word to turn into fits of frustration and exhaustion. The devil pounces on this opportunity and throws your wretched sinfulness in your face. It can be a real battle. You start to really understand the psalmist when he says:

I cry aloud to God,
aloud to God, and he will hear me.
In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
my soul refuses to be comforted.
When I remember God, I moan;
when I meditate, my spirit faints.

You hold my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
I consider the days of old,
the years long ago.
I said, "Let me remember my song in the night;
let me meditate in my heart."
Then my spirit made a diligent search:
"Will the Lord spurn forever,
and never again be favorable?
Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
Are his promises at an end for all time?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his compassion?"

Boy can I relate! Here I will interrupt the psalmist to speak about Christ. In the Creed we confess that, at the conclusion of His saving work on earth, Christ ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. Christ spoke this very truth on the night of His arrest.

This doctrine was affirmed by the Apostle Peter at Pentecost when he preached, "This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, "'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.'" [Acts 2:32-35]

It is there at the Father's right hand that the glorified Christ intercedes on our behalf as our Mediator and Great High Priest. It is because of Christ, Our King and Deliverer, that we have reason to rejoice. By recounting His marvelous deeds, this bleak psalm turns in verse 10 and brightens for us at this point where the psalmist recalls the God who delivered Israel out of the land of Egypt. Pay close attention to a familiar, creedal term used in the first phrase in this transition from despair and frustration to hope and faith. It is hard to miss the Christological imagery here.

Then I said, "I will appeal to this,
to the years of the right hand of the Most High."
I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
I will ponder all your work,
and meditate on your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is great like our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
you have made known your might among the peoples.
You with your arm redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph.

When the waters saw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
indeed, the deep trembled.
The clouds poured out water;
the skies gave forth thunder;
your arrows flashed on every side.
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lighted up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
Your way was through the sea,
your path through the great waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.
You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Amen and Amen.

In the dark, isolated times we turn by faith to the one who sits at the right hand of the Most High and remember the deeds of the Lord. These deeds of deliverance and of salvation. We look to Jesus Christ... incarnate, crucified, buried, resurrected, and now ascended.