I Will Be Gone For A Week!

There are a few people that read my page weekly. This little letter is for you. I will be back at the end of July. I am going on a mission trip to West Virginia.

I would like to personally thank those who take the time to read this blog. It means a lot to me that someone would think that my thoughts are worth their time.

I will post again before August. Until then, pray that God will bless our work in West Virginia. Also, I would like to encourage you to tell others about this site. The more that read it, the better.


I hope that God blesses you, your family, and your work.

Does God Hate Harry Potter?

My anniversary was over the weekend, and I took my wife to the Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio to celebrate. The other big national event going on over the weekend was the release of the new Harry Potter book. These two important events met face to face at the bookstore on Friday night.

As my wife and I walked around Easton, we saw hundreds, maybe a thousand, people dressed in capes. Most of the cape dwellers were between the ages of 10 and 16. However, I saw a couple of 25 year olds running around in garb. As the hour grew close to midnight, the excitement grew to a fever pitch. In the midst of this, I told my wife that there was probably another thousand people here that was disappointed that their mom's wouldn't let them bring their cape.

We now know that the Harry Potter book sold at 250,000 copies an hour on the first day. The book made the author 36 million dollars on day one. Those are amazing numbers, and they cannot be dismissed. I have absolutely no interest in the ongoing saga of young Harry. I have not read any of the books. Yet, I did see the first movie when it aired on T.V., and I am sure that the 10-16 crowd loved it, but it wasn't my cup of tea. Nevertheless, I would be wrong not to realize how important this phenomena is to the youth of America.

So, Does God disapprove of Harry Potter? There are some Christians that believe that God disapproves of almost everything Hollywood gives us. I remember having a conversation years ago with a Christian who believed that God hated the movie "Twins". Her premise was simple, she believed the movie made a mockery out of womanhood and devalued fatherhood. These two ideas were very important to her, and they are both found in the Bible. On the other hand, I didn't like the movie because I though it was stupid, it was written poorly, and the acting was bad.

My point is, that many Christians do not understand fiction. Stories are stories, and they can be used to teach good things or bad things. We can all agree that the Bible teaches us not to lie. However, Jesus told parables that probably didn't happen. So I must ask, "When Jesus said that there was a man who built his house on sand was he lying?" I say absolutely not. Jesus was using a story to teach a great truth. It is not a lie to tell a story. The Church has used stories for centuries to teach, and I use them every Sunday Morning in my messages.

As for Harry Potter, many Christians would say that the Bible teaches us to avoid witchcraft. I agree fully with that statement. However, I must ask, "Is reading Harry Potter 'Witchcraft'?" I have admitted, I am not an expert on Harry Potter. However, I have watched one movie, and in that movie I never once saw the teaching of witchcraft. What I saw was a fictional story about a young wizard. At no point in the movie did I ever get it confused with real life, and at no point in the movie did I see a manual for the teaching of the sorcery and wizardry.

I know that some would say that Harry Potter doesn't honor God, and we should only support things that honor God. I believe that this world would be impossible to live in if you base your life on that statement. There are very few things in this world that honor God. I believe most Christians couldn't buy groceries if they only supported things that honor God.

Does God hate Harry Potter? How could he? Harry Potter is a fictional character that does not exist. However, God may hate the author. I guess we will find out on judgment day.

Without a doubt, there are some movies and books we should not let our children see or read. If the story teaches our children to disobey. If the story allows bad to defeat good. If the story has subject matter that is inappropriate for the their age. These types of things we should avoid.

In my humble opinion, Harry Potter is harmless. It is a fictional story that teaches honesty and integrity. The good people always triumphs over the bad people. Friendship is important, and obeying your elders has its benefits. If a child decides to pick up witchcraft after reading Harry Potter, I would suggest that there is a lot wrong with the parenting of that child. A child old enough to read Harry Potter should be able to know the difference between fiction and reality. If a child is unable to do this, then by all means avoid the book.

(On a side note)

If your child is reading Harry Potter, I hope you also recommend to your child that he or she reads the Bible. It has some great stories in it as well.

The Quiet Decision Of the United Church of Christ.

On July 4th, the United Church of Christ declared themselves open to gay marriage. On July 5th, the rest of the Christian world responded with a big yawn. For over 20 years, the UCC has supported every far left agenda imaginable. Their outward support of gay marriage was nothing more than their affirming of what we already knew about them. If the UCC wanted to surprise us, they would have voted to affirm Biblical authority in their church.

It should not surprise you that this denomination is shrinking in size. When you do not believe in anything, it is difficult for people to see a reason to join. The sad fact is that this denomination has a great Biblical history. The majority of UCC churches used to be Congregational Churches. The Congregational Church joined together with several smaller denominations to create the UCC. Early Congregationalists would be outraged at what has happened to their denomination. However, the new leadership is not interested in holding onto historical truth.

I do not want to spend much time discussing the topic of homosexuality or homosexual marriage in this post. That topic deserves a post all by itself. My views on these issues are complex. I am a Biblicist, so I must declare that the Bible calls homosexuality a sin. I must also say that the Bible calls lying a sin. I believe that many people, in the name of Christ, have been extremely unchristian to those who struggle with homosexuality. Homosexuals need to see Christ's love in the church, and then be shown how to repent.

The rest of this post will deal with my opinion of those who attend the United Church of Christ. In my opinion, there should be mass exodus on Sunday. However, there will not be, and it is not because everyone in the UCC supports gay marriage. People will stay for three reasons. Those of us who are not apart of the UCC, need to remember these three reasons. This will help guard ourselves from becoming like this in the future.

First, many in the congregation believe the lie. The laity have slowly and confidently been told for years that the Bible is not important. The leadership of the UCC have worked a brilliant plan to get their way. They knew if they taught homosexual ordination back in the 70's it would have never worked. The people would have rejected it soundly. So they slowly and confidently taught liberal theology to their people. They spoon fed them lies; little by little. They knew that eating an elephant must be done one bite at a time. If they showed their people their theology all at once, the people would have turned. So they have painstakingly taught the people, until the big lie could finally be accepted.

Second, many in the congregation are ignorant of what is going on. I believe that this is the majority. Most people do not care. This is sad, but the lack of Biblical fervency runs deep in many mainline denominations. They have placed their trust in the church, and they do not monitor what they have placed their trust in. The UCC is not the only church that has moved away from their Biblical heritage. The United Methodist Church has also embraced much of the protestant liberal agenda. John and Charles Wesley would be horrified at what is being taught under their banner. Martin Luther would start a war if he knew what was being taught in the Lutheran Church. The list of churches that have moved from their Biblical tradition is vast. The leadership of these denominations know this about themselves. They know that what they teach and believe is not what the church has traditionally taught and believed. However, the local church member is clueless. They do not want to know. They do not want to hear about it. They do not want to be challenged. They just want to set in their pew, like they have for years, and think they are doing something that pleases God.

Finally, there are those who know the truth, but out of tradition, will not leave. This is the saddest group out of the three. To know that God is not pleased, but still refusing to leave is beyond me. These people justify what is wrong to keep themselves in their Church. Their parents and grandparents are or were members of the church. There forefathers were the founders of the congregation. They allow their history and tradition to keep them in their pews. So they support what they know is wrong to justify their staying. Every member of the United Church of Christ should remember that every time they give money to their church, a portion of that money is going to support the leadership and their causes. It is hard to imagine how those who know the truth can justify their offering, but I know they will.

Is there hope for the UCC? Of course, if every Bible believing member of the Church demanded change; change would happen. However, I do not see this happening. The UCC is staunchly entrenched in protestant liberalism. The leadership has worked hard to move the congregation in this direction. They will not give it back without a huge fight.

My advice to those who are attending the UCC, and believe in the Bible, is to dust your feet at the door and leave. God expects obedience from his people. You must ask yourself if you can truly be obedient to God while setting under the teaching of such tripe. I guess some folks can learn to live with anything. I know that I am not one of those people.

Who Has Authority In The Church?

Recently, I was talking to a pastor friend who bemoaned the fact that certain television evangelists have more authority to some of his members than he did. The truth is this is very common. I work with pastors all the time who struggle to have pastoral authority in the church. Today, I feel that I have a good amount of pastoral authority, but it isn't complete. I had to fight hard to get what I have, and I will never be seen with proper authority by some in the church. The simple fact is that some in the church have never been pastored, and they don't want one.

So why is it so hard for pastors to be seen with proper Biblical authority? The easy thing to do is blame the people. There is always some woman or man who has a tight reign over an area of ministry, and they are unwilling to give it up. Many times we blame it on the deacons. Many deacon boards see themselves as the board of directors, and it is easy to point fingers at their abuse of power. I often hear pastors blame certain families. In many churches, there are families that have a lot of say because of their history.

Now I guess it is time to make everyone mad at me. All of these things I mentioned, in the above paragraph, are bad and unBiblical. However, there is a reason these things exist. The reason is due to the fact that pastors haven't done their jobs. I don't mean "you" pastor, I mean all of us as a group.

Proper Biblical pastoral authority starts with trust. Pastors who leave their pulpit every three years cannot build the trust necessary to lead. The average pastor jumps from pulpit to pulpit every two to three years. This leaves the congregation without proper leadership. Thus people step up into leadership positions out of need. Why is that deacon board out of control? Because past pastors allowed it to happen. Why is that one family such a thorn in the Church? Because past pastors didn't lead them not to be.

So What is the lesson here? If you are a church member, and you want your church to run as the Bible said it should; support your pastor with all you have. Do not speak negatively about him to other church members. You need to make certain your children never hear you bad mouth him. You need to make certain that you encourage your pastor to lead, and when he does applaud and support him.

Now pastors, the problems of the local church will never get fixed if you leave every time it gets difficult. Sometimes we have to fight, scratch, and claw our way into Biblical authority. To break up the strong holds of the church, it will take more than a couple of years. We have been told that the grass is greener on the other side, but we need to realize that the next pulpit will have the same problems as our current one unless we fix them.

The Church is hard. However, she is also the most wonderful thing the world has today. Her mission is glorious. She is the light of the world. She is beautiful. She is loved by God. Never let us forget the greatness of the local church. Yes, there are some problems. Let us pray, that God will make us and use us to be the problem solvers.