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Blog Outline for Coming Months

October 31, 2009 By Randy Olds Leave a Comment

Here it is! I plan on starting at the top, and working my way down through this outline. I don’t plan on more than a couple or three posts on each of the “core belief” topics, and so should move through them relatively quickly. I don’t really want to get into any sort of apologetics, but I do want to explain briefly why I consider these my core beliefs.

I hope to follow the rest of the outline pretty much as is, although I may slightly rearrange and tweak the list as I go along and could possibly add some more topics if I see the need. I want to try and approach each of the remaining topics with as much of an open mind as possible and study each from the Bible as well as from other sources, especially the early church fathers. I may end up spending a number of weeks on some of these topics, so I fully expect that it will take some time to work through them all.

What I believe, and will not be swayed from (core beliefs).

*I believe that Jesus Christ, the Divine Son of God, became flesh, and died on the Cross as an atonement for my sins two thousand years ago.

*I believe that the words of Jesus, as originally written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are an accurate recording of what He said.

*I believe that, although not inerrant in it’s current form, the Bible is the inspired, living word of God, and He will speak to those who are listening through it.

*I believe in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Although I’m not sure that I completely accept the traditional view as explained by most Protestant churches, I believe that God somehow exists in three distinct persons; God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

*I believe that there is a literal Satan and he and his demons are constantly at work trying to destroy God’s work.

*I believe that Prima Scriptura is a much more valid doctrine than Sola Scriptura

What I’m pretty sure of, but feel that I need further study and prayer about to be able into move to my “core beliefs”.

*Libertarian free will. I especially want to view this in contrast with compatibilism and molinism.

*Prevenient grace as developed be Augustine, expanded upon by Arminius and then John Wesley is the best way of reconciling Total Depravity, libertarian free will and salvation by grace and can be supported by scripture.

*Sola fida- justification by faith alone through grace. I’m not sure that I don’t agree more with the Orthodox and Catholic views of justification.

*Cessationism. The gifts of the Holy Spirit as revealed in tongues, instantaneous healings, prophetic words, etc. ended with the original New Testament Church.

*The historical events recorded in the Old Testament literally happened pretty much as recorded in the Bible.

*The Old Law (all 613 statutes) in its entirety was fulfilled with Christ’s death and resurrection and was effectively nailed to the cross, and is no longer relevant to today’s Christians.

*The only Law of the New Covenant is to love God with all of your heart, all of your soul and all of your strength and all of your understanding, and to love your neighbor as yourself and that in following this a Christian will fulfill all of the requirements of the Old Law.

*The Indwelling. Somehow or another, once a person accepts Christ as their savior, He comes to live within us through the Power of the Holy Spirit.

*Entire Sanctification as defined by John Wesley and others is attainable in this lifetime.

*Perseverance of the Saints is not a valid doctrine and cannot be backed up by the bulk of scripture.

*The regular administration of the sacrament of communion is a vital means of sanctification and is underutilized my most Protestant denominations.

*Fasting is an effective means to spiritual growth and is underutilized my most Christians today.

*Baptism by sprinkling is as scripturally valid as baptism by complete immersion.

*Ordination of women into the ministry is scripturally sound.

*There will be a premillenial return of Jesus Christ.

Theological ideas that I’d like to be able to believe but still have many questions about.

*Universalism in one form or another is the eventual goal of God.

*There is a way to reconcile Young Earth Creationism with science.

*Annihilationism can be scripturally validated

*Spiritual warfare is an effective means of prayer.

What I don’t believe, but am still leaving myself a little room to be wrong.

*Saturday Sabbath keeping is not what God expects from us as Christians.

*We are under no obligation to keep the Jewish Holy Days (unless we are actually Jewish and then only maybe)

*The idea of a pre-tribulation rapture is not based in scripture and is in fact a relatively new belief system and was not the view of the Early Church or Church Fathers.

*Anglo-Israelism is completely false.

*Dispensationalism is an incorrect way of interpreting the Bible.

Things that I don’t want to believe, but that I still have many questions about.

*Predestination and Election as defined by Augustine and Calvin; there are still many scriptures that I have a difficult time explaining away.

*Eternal punishment in Hell.

*A second baptism in the Holy Spirit is available to believers.

Theological beliefs that I’m strongly against.

*The Prosperity Gospel

Areas of theology that probably don’t really matter, but that I’d still like to know more about.

*Supersessionism AKA replacement theology

*The chronology of the Old Testament as viewed in the traditional sense can be better explained with some of the newer theories that also line up better with secular historical records and archeological finds.

*Although I’m quite happy in my Methodist church, I want to explore some of the ideas present within the Emerging Church movement.

Filed Under: blogging

A New Direction for This Blog

October 29, 2009 By Randy Olds Leave a Comment

I want to change course slightly concerning the content and purpose of this blog. Since I began this blog, I’ve pretty much just written about what I’m currently thinking, experiencing or reading about, with no real purpose or direction. I’ve even written on occasion about what I’ve felt that other people may be interested in, and although I will occassionally still do so, that wasn’t the primary purpose of my blog. I created this blog primarily to document my journey in faith, and I want to redirect it back in that direction. I want to explore the following topics a little more:

*What I believe, and will not be swayed from. (core beliefs)

*Areas of theology that I’m pretty sure of, but feel that I need further study and prayer about to be able into move to my “core beliefs”.

*Theological ideas that I’d like to be able to believe but still have questions about.

*What I don’t believe, but am still leaving myself a little room to be wrong.

*Theological ideas that I don’t want to believe, but that I still have questions about and feel that I must try and address.

*Theological beliefs that I’m strongly against.

*Areas of theology that probably don’t really matter, but that I’d still like to know more about.

I have so far put together about thirty or so theological “beliefs” that I am working at fitting into these seven categories. My next post will be an expanded breakdown of this outline with those beliefs placed into each category as they apply to my current mindset with regard to each. I will then begin from the top and work through each area until I have reached the end of the list.

I plan on briefly addressing each of those areas of theology where my current core beliefs lie, but do not plan on spending an inordinate amount of time on them, since I’m not out to defend my current beliefs, but to rather solidify the areas in which I’m still undecided.

I will probably spend the most energy on the second category with the goal of placing at least a few of these articles into my “core beliefs” category by the time that I am done.

I will then systematically move through each of the other topics and will give each the time and research that seems appropriate at the time.

I may end up adding to the list of topics within these categories, but don’t plan on changing the basic format.

Although I know that there are some things that I may never be able to conclusively move into my core beliefs category nor be able to completely discard, I hope to be able to substantially narrow the number of things that are in my “pretty sure of” category. I’d also like to move some of the ideas that fall in the other categories either up or down the list.

I’ll still post about what is going on in my personal walk with God, but plan on spending more of my energy working through this outline. I’ll probably place a link to this post as well as the expanded outline once I get it posted on the sidebar somewhere so that those who are so inclined can keep up. I hope that those now reading along will appreciate the change in direction, and that those that join in along the way will be able to find something here that they can take away.

“Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without doubting.

For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed like the wind.

That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. An indecisive man is unstable in all his ways.” James 1:5-7

Filed Under: blogging

Dancing Before the Lord (and lifting holy hands)

October 28, 2009 By Randy Olds Leave a Comment

“David was dancing with all of his might before the Lord” II Samuel 6:14

I find that talking about worshipping God is a difficult thing to describe. Having grown up in a church (Worldwide Church of God) where worship was a very dry thing, having no sacraments or liturgy as I have discovered in the Methodist church, no real praise music as I encountered it in the Charismatic circles nor even the solemnity of the Baptist church, it is sometimes a difficult thing for me to get a mental grasp of exactly what type of corporate worship is appropriate.
I suppose that there are as many different ways of worshipping God, as there are people on the earth. It is a deeply personal thing, yet we are somehow expected to be able to freely express our worship toward God in front of large groups of people, and in today’s homogenous churches, many people may indeed have different worship styles within the same service. In my own Methodist church, we have an early ultra-traditional service at 8:15, a contemporary service at 9:30, and then a semi-traditional service at 11:00. On Saturday nights, there is another contemporary service that is somewhat more charismatic in nature than even the 9:30 Sunday service. Within each of these services on any given day there will be a mix of people who may prefer a different style of worship, but because of their particular schedules, will perhaps find themselves at a worship service a little out of their comfort zone.
I suppose if I had grown up and spent my entire life in one type of church, and everybody within that church worshipped in the same manner, I might feel a little different, but that was not my experience.
Although I enjoy the traditional service with all that entails, I actually prefer the more charismatic style of worship (without all the tongue-talking) with the band, contemporary Christian music, hand clapping and all. My wife prefers the more traditional service, but also enjoys the contemporary service when we make it.
Although I love the singing and lifting up my praises to God with all of my heart, I sometimes have a problem with the raising of “holy hands” within the service. Although our contemporary service is very upbeat, and I know that there are a number of former Charismatic in the congregation, you’ll still see just a smattering of raised hands within the Church. I think that folks want to, they’re just afraid of what the person in the pew behind them is going to think. After all, this is a Methodist church…
So far as to those people who think that the raising of hands in worship is somehow not scripturally appropriate, I could really give a hoot. I really don’t think that God is looking down and judging anyone on the means by which they worship Him. He’s looking at the heart of the person worshipping Him. It’s not nearly as important to Him whether we are standing, dancing, kneeling or singing, but that our entire self is directed at praising and worshipping Him. I personally think that our “heart of worship” is an integral part of how He created us.
I think that one of my favorite mental images of King David is the account that we have of him in 2 Samuel 6 when the ark is brought into Jerusalem. We read in verse 14 that “David was dancing with all of his might before the Lord wearing a linen ephod.” Later in the account we read how his wife Michal “despised him in her heart” for his apparent lack of Kingly dignity. I really like how David responded to Michal in vv. 21-22:
David replied to Michal, “I was dancing before the LORD who chose me over your father and his whole family to appoint me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel. I will celebrate before the LORD, and I will humble myself even more and humiliate myself. I will be honored by the slave girls you spoke about.” Holman CSB
David could have cared less what anyone in Israel thought about him, he was just excited to be able to celebrate and worship God.
I don’t know the source or veracity of the following story but it also rings true with me.
Deeply immersed in meditation during a church service, Italian poet Dante Alighieri failed to kneel at the appropriate moment. His enemies hurried to the bishop and demanded that Dante be punished for his sacrilege. Dante defended himself by saying, “If those who accuse me had had their eyes and minds on God, as I had, they too would have failed to notice events around them, and they most certainly would not have noticed what I was doing.”
Corporate worship is still a little uncomfortable to me at times, especially in the contemporary service. Although I’ll raise my hands and praise God with all of my heart during my personal worship time I’m still a little afraid that someone present will “despise me in their heart” if I worship the same way while I’m in the pews. Just a little hang-up of mine that I would like to get over. I suppose that I’d like to be a little more like David.

Filed Under: worship

Partakers of The Divine Nature

October 27, 2009 By Randy Olds Leave a Comment

I was going to write tonight about the process of sanctification and what part that we as followers of Christ we have to play in it. You know, prayer, studying God’s Word, service to our fellow Christians, the sacraments, etc. As I was driving to work, I was thinking about various scriptures relating to this, and somehow 2 Peter 1:4 came to mind.

“By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” NKJV

I’ve actually spent a lot of time studying 2 Peter 1:3-11 over the last few months, especially verses 5-7;

“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.” Holman CSB

It seems that this passage indicates in an orderly, logical way how we proceed through the process of sanctification, with faith leading to goodness and so on until we get to the zenith in our walk with God and that being love. Godly agape love as is found in verse 11.

But I digress. As I got to studying verse 4 again, I tried to focus on the “partakers of the divine nature” portion of it. What exactly does that mean?

The word partaker (Gr. Koinónos) actually means “companion” or “sharer”. I like the Thayers Lexicon entry for koinōnos; “To be a partner of the one doing something.” Using the following verses in context, it would appear that by only by partaking of the divine nature that was provided to us by Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit can we add to our faith the additional elements that will eventually result in having the love of God perfected in us. (1 John 2:5) But as I continued to study this verse, it seemed that it went a little deeper still.

It began to dawn on me that this was another verse validating Wesley’s concept of Christian Perfection that I touched upon in my post yesterday. It turns out that I was more right about this than I initially thought.

The concept of entire sanctification is foreign to most Protestants. Even among most congregationists in the Methodist church where Christian perfection used to be preached on a regular basis (albeit many years ago), the idea is not discussed much. Most Protestants don’t even know the difference between justification and sanctification and mostly think of sanctification as a one-time thing that happens at salvation. And the concept of Christian perfection, or entire sanctification would throw the average Protestant into a tizzy. However the idea of entire sanctification is apparently as old as the Christian Church itself.

The Catholic Church calls the doctrine of entire sanctification Theosis, and it is well known among Catholic and Orthodox theologians and clergy. It is also known as divinization or deification. One of the key verses supporting the doctrine of theosis turns out to be the same verse in 2 Peter that I have been studying over. Go figure.

I think that most Protestants would find the Orthodox view of Theosis quite unnerving, perhaps bordering on Eastern Mysticism or even Gnosticism. It’s not all that, and I think that the Protestants might benefit from studying this doctrine a little closer, although they perhaps should take baby steps and try to read and digest John Wesley’s A Plain Account of Christian Perfection first.

I read a very excellent essay Becoming Like God: An Evangelical Doctrine of Theosis by Bethel University Professor Robert Rakestraw. He traces the development of this doctrine from Paul through the early Church Fathers and into today’s theologians. I like what he said toward the end of his essay in his critique of the doctrine. “Why”, he asks, “use terminology that, at first glance at least, will alienate those unfamiliar with this line of thinking in Christian theology, and thus miss what might be of benefit to them? Some may reply, however, that the shock value of the terms may be just what is needed to awaken lethargic or defeated Christians to the truth of their union with Christ.”

I find the Wesleyan view of Christian perfection and this newly discovered (for me, anyway) related doctrine of theosis a fascinating study and find myself attracted to it. I feel that the typical Protestant idea of Christianity is lacking in many areas and think that the reason that there is such a downward trend in church attendance in America is more than likely due to the lack of zeal that so many people see in today’s Christians. I have also read that there are a large number of Christians that are converting to Orthodoxy. It is obvious to me that many Christians are looking for something more than what they are being offered in their average Protestant church.

Why are we seeking just to be “good Christians” rather than seeking to be “partakers of the Divine nature” and striving for Christian excellence in all that we do? Why is “good enough” good enough? Why aren’t we seeking to “be therefore perfect as [our] Father in Heaven is perfect“? Matthew 5:48

As Wesley points out in his treatise on Christian perfection, very few people will ever achieve this state during their natural lives, but it should be the bar that we all aim for. I like what C.S. Lewis had to say on the subject in Mere Christianity:

“The command “Be ye perfect” is not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command. He said (in the Bible) that we were “gods” and He is going to make good His words. If we let Him—for we can prevent Him, if we choose—He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, dazzling, radiant, immortal creatures, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to Him perfectly (though, of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing less. He meant what he said.”

In his book, “In the Light of Christ”, Basil Krivocheine reflects the thoughts of Symeon;

“While remaining a spiritually conscious state and clearly felt by the one who receives it, divinization will always remain an awesome mystery, surpassing all human understanding and unobserved by most people. Indeed, the ones who are granted it are rare, although all the baptized are called to it. It is their fault if they deprive themselves of it.” pp 389-390

One of the more “shocking” quotes that I ran across several times while studying this concept was from St. Athanasius of Alexandria. He said, “God became man so that man might become god.” Although the second “god” is lowercase in this statement, many Protestants that I know might get quite upset by such a statement. But isn’t that what the New Testament says in so many words?

As is often the case, the study of this verse took me much further down the rabbit hole than I anticipated. However, I like what I found down there. Wesley’s concept of Christian perfection, both in his life and in his teachings is one of the things that drew me to Methodism. I likewise find the expanded view of this as found in the doctrine of theosis to be of value, even if it isn’t necessarily the Methodist view and might make a few of the Christians that I know a little nervous. I suppose that a final thought on the subject might be:

Why settle for “good enough” when Christ has offered us the best?

.

Filed Under: Entire Sanctification

Being Remade in God’s Image

October 26, 2009 By Randy Olds Leave a Comment

It was a really great worship service at Church this morning. Our Church launched the kickoff of a new contemporary service called “The Well” in the newly renovated Chapel to run concurrently with the traditional Methodist service that takes place in the larger main sanctuary. The Chapel is much smaller, only seating about 250 people or so, but it was a packed house and the service was a huge blessing for my wife and I.

Our Teaching Pastor led the service, and although the message was primarily on how Christ’s generosity should reflect within us in our walk with God, he touched on a subject that I’ve spent a pretty fair amount of time studying lately. The scripture reading was from Galatians 5:16-24 and our pastor focused on how the Holy Spirit working within us is what allows us to be remade in God’s image.

Although our pastor didn’t hit on it in his sermon, Galatians 5:17 is one of the many verses that I feel confirms the doctrine of the total depravity of man. Although the Catholic Church doesn’t agree with total depravity, almost all of the Protestant theologians support this doctrine that was developed by Augustine in response to Pelagianism. From my own experience, I know that before I allowed Christ into my life and the Holy Spirit began His work in my heart, I was “…full of evil, and madness was in my heart…” (Ecclesiastes 9:3).

Before the Fall of Man, God had created us in His image. Sin brought depravity, and now it takes the presence of Christ living within us through the power of the Holy Spirit to reshape us back to the likeness of God’s image. I now believe that “I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother did conceive me.” (Psalms 51:5)

For many, many years I was “always learning, but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7) Holman CSB. I knew the Bible, I knew about theology, I attended church at times, I knew about God, but I never knew God. The idea of “having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ” was just a catch phrase; it had no real meaning to me. I thought the term was just something that the holy-rollers used, and that it was not a real thing that you could acquire. It was only after years of fruitless attempts to remake myself that I finally surrendered and pleaded for God to remake me.

That was when the miracle occurred.

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis writes; “God has landed on this enemy-occupied world in human form.” Lewis is referring to the incarnation, and this statement follows his famous Trilemma, but I have discovered that this statement is also true for each and every person who accepts Jesus Christ as his or her personal Lord and Savior. God lands within the enemy-occupied territory that is our human flesh. The Holy Spirit takes up residence within us (1 Corinthians 6:19) and begins to remake us back into the image of God.

I have a very good friend who I’ve known for many years who just recently accepted Christ and is amazed at what is going on in his life. He is surprised at how he no longer wants to do many of the sinful things that used to be just the normal way of life for him. He is also astounded in the change that he has witnessed in me, especially since he had known me for many years before I accepted Christ and had seen me at my depraved worst. I told him that it sometimes feels like I have been invaded by some alien presence because of the fundamental paradigm shift that has occurred within me. In many ways that statement is correct, but the alien presence is in actuality the Holy Spirit’s presence within me, and He is the One who is affecting the change.

It is a mysterious thing. As Paul said in Colossians 1:26-27 “the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

During his sermon, our pastor briefly touched on the Wesleyan doctrine of Christian Perfection. Although some Wesleyans have drifted away from this idea, holding that it is perhaps unattainable to one degree or another, I personally draw great strength from this belief held by John Wesley. This idea of perfection was not unique to Wesley as it is addressed often in the Bible, most notably by John. 1st John is perhaps my favorite book in the Bible. John says in 1 John 2:3-6;

“This is how we are sure that we have come to know Him: by keeping His commands. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” without keeping His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly in him the love of God is perfected. This is how we know we are in Him: the one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked.” (Holman CSB)

I am intensely aware of the miraculous change that has occurred within me in the relatively short time since I accepted Christ. Perhaps because of the sheer number of years that I struggled against the flesh and continually lost, it is apparent that nothing in me could have affected this change. It can be nothing but the presence of Christ living within me through the power of the Holy Spirit that has affected the change, not me. I often wonder how close to the image of God I will become if I am allowed to walk with Him for the same measure of years that I didn’t walk with Him.

As I continue to strive to “walk just as He walked” as a disciple of Jesus Christ, I seek nothing less than to be completely remade by Him into the image of my Father in Heaven. I don’t know how close to “Christian perfection” that He will bring me before I go to see Him in Heaven, but I pray that it is as close as possible. I try day by day to not let anything that I do to hinder the Holy Spirit as He continues to reshape and mold me into a “vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” (2 Timothy 2:21) NKJV

Filed Under: Christian Living, Entire Sanctification, John Wesley, The Holy Spirit

Was Jesus a Redhead?

October 25, 2009 By Randy Olds Leave a Comment

While I was at the hospital with my wife last week after she took her tumble down the stairs we were flipping through the channels on the hospital room TV and ended up on TBN. They were airing the 1977 “Jesus of Nazareth” with Robert Powell playing the part of Jesus. It had been many years since I had seen this rendition of Christ’s life, so we watched it for while during our wait.

Although the movie was in some places somewhat insightful, I found myself annoyed at Powell’s portrayal of Jesus. First of all, it was quite apparent that Powell must have gone on some serious crash diet before playing the part; he looked like a strong breeze would have knocked him over. And the British accent. Jesus didn’t have a British accent! Why do they always have to give him a British accent and beautiful flowing hair?

So what did Jesus really look like?

In spite of all of our stereotypical ideas of what Jesus looked like, we really don’t know for sure but there are a few clues.

According to most of the interpretations that I’ve read, the “ruddy” that is used to describe a young King David meant that he was a redhead (1 Samuel 16:12). Some people seem to interpret “ruddy” as skin color, but I tend to think it indicates his hair. Perhaps James Pate can help me out here, I found a couple of references to Midrash Rabbah – Bereishit 63:8 that indicates Jewish tradition interprets this verse as “red hair”. Don’t have any Midrash to refer to, but the sources seemed convincing.

So since Jesus is considered to be a direct descendent of David, could He have had red hair? I read an interesting article in the New York Times about the Rabula Gospels. It appears that the images of Jesus with straight, black hair had been painted over the original images of Jesus with red, curly hair. Since these are some of the earliest images that we have of Jesus, could they be a little closer to the truth?


I also tend to think of Jesus as being somewhat more rugged than what most Hollywood portrayals of Him have been. I’m sure He lost some weight while fasting for forty days, but surely He could have packed that back on pretty quickly. I somewhat liked the portrayal of Him in the Passion of The Christ, but for some reason I don’t see Him as being that good-looking, and the long hair still bugs me. Doesn’t Isaiah 53:2 tell us that He “would have no form or splendor that we should desire Him?’

I sometimes try and visualize Jesus and the Disciples when I’m reading the Gospels. When I do this I try really hard not to imagine the Hollywood Jesus, but the real Jewish Jesus.

Perhaps a Jesus with red, curly hair.

Filed Under: Jesus Christ, The Bible
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