When The Old World Started Dying

I love Christmas.

This is the time when we remember the day that the old world started dying and the new world started coming on...

This is the time when we remember how real love really is.

This is the time when we sing songs and celebrate the fact that we can sing songs and celebrate.

This is the time when GRACE is celebrated even by those who reject it.

This is the time when magic can be magical because it is for Freedom that Christ set us free.

This is the time when I know there's good will toward men On account of that Baby born in Bethlehem.

This is the time we remember...when the old world started dying and the new world started coming on.

Merry Christmas!

*Italicized words written by Rich Mullins.

Living Among the Dead

Ravi Zacharias said the following quote in a recent podcast which I listened to on the way to work this morning:

“Jesus did not come to make bad people good, he came to make dead people live.”

For Ravi, the authenticity of the Risen Christ is so compelling that it takes an utterly rebellious heart (read: depraved) to reject Him. Ironically, it is the Holy Spirit Himself who then gives us the ability to receive Christ.

As I move forward on my challenging journey I have many fears and doubts. My defense mechanism seems to be one of trying to “figure everything out” so that I can intellectually know what is going on.

I crave certainty so that I can conquer my uncertainty.

So there I am, driving to work and Ravi shares this thought and it occurs to me that the Cross is the only certainty I have. Neither my intellect nor my emotions can provide any certainty. I can try hard to do the right thing, but most of the time I don't end up doing the right thing. I can study hard to try to figure things out, but in the end I rarely achieve the clarity I seek.

My theology and my practice are worthless at the end of the day. And yet, I live. By sheer Grace, I live.

Indeed, when I cling to the Cross I find an answer for all questions, all fears, all doubts, all sadness, all guilt, all failure, all trouble, all suffering. At the Cross I find unity within diversity, I find beauty within the repulsiveness which is our world, I find music among the noise, I find logic among the nonsense and I find the living among the dead.

What is your 'Platform' on Christ?

**Important Note: I personally am not concerned with the idea that Mitt Romney is a Mormon as it relates to the presidency. I would not vote against someone simply because of their theological position, unless it has a direct impact on the decisions a president might choose to make (e.g., abortion). Here, I'm merely focused on careful distinctions in theology for individuals.**

A great deal of buzz is going around regarding Mitt Romney's speech about faith and politics. During the speech, Romney seemed intent on clarifying his position on Christ:

“I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of mankind.”

Hey, if you are a Christian, that should do it for you. If you like Romney's platform, and your only concern was his Mormonism, then it's all good now, right?

Well, regardless of his Mormonism, I would challenge you that if anyone says to you that “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of mankind” in order to try to join with you in faith, then a follow up question must be asked: “Who, precisely, is Jesus Christ?”

As Orthodox Christians our answer is that Jesus Christ is God. We believe, teach and confess that He is eternal. He is True God and True Man. We read in Jeremiah 23:6 that His name is YHWH Tsidkenu. As Jesus said in John 8:58, “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

Romney, if he is true to the teachings of Mormonism, would utterly reject the above paragraph. Mormons clearly and explicitly teach that Jesus is the spirit brother of Lucifer and that as Jesus is, you and I can become.

Careful distinctions like this must be made. Consider John's warning in 1 John 2:22-23:

Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

It is again imperative to note that I'm not placing a label on Romney or any other Mormon. Further, the idea of “antichrist” as presented here is merely “one who is against Christ” not some final enemy of the church as portrayed in some eschatological systems. Instead, I'm suggesting that it is critical for us to have careful distinctions in theology.

Regarding politics, I do not disqualify Romney because of his theology. However, I'm quite intrigued by the other guy from Hope, Arkansas.