Category Archives: Theology

April 9, 2009

Organic Church Life: The Lord’s Supper

By David D. Flowers

If you haven’t been following the Organic Church Life series, I recommend you start at The Beginning.

I was prompted to write on the Lord’s Supper because of the Easter season, and because of the great need there is for others to have a window into the Lord’s meal experienced in simple community.

The following post is a “play-by-play” account of our fellowship sharing the Lord’s meal together. I pray you are encouraged.

The Gathering 4/8/09

Tonight we met at the Price’s house to share the Lord’s meal together for the first time. We started off talking in the living room and then made our way into the kitchen after everyone had arrived.

We feasted on roast, mashed potatoes, cantaloupe, and mixed veggies. Yum! We spread out at the table and the bar. We were eating and laughing with each other.

Earlier I had stopped by the grocery store to pick up some bread for the Lord’s meal. I mentioned that every time I go through the self-checkout line I have problems. Kerry couldn’t understand how anyone could have problems with it. She said, “you people” are the ones taking so long in the line.

Everyone was having a good time laughing at us. I told her if they didn’t throw up Mission Control at you on the little screen, it would help!

After everyone had finished eating and were just talking, we began to move toward the bread and wine (juice). A few of us men had already discussed the “Lord’s Supper” a day or two before. We recognized that the practice was intended to be a meal, at least part of the meal.

What should this look like? We concluded that it is a meal and that we shouldn’t lock ourselves into any certain way of practicing it. The important thing is that we do indeed share the meal together as an extension of what we are already doing as a family.

Joel grabbed another chair and we made room at the table for everyone to sit down. Grant placed the loaf of bread on the table with the juice and I reached for the cups. I began by mentioning how the Lord told his disciples that he “eagerly desired” to have this meal with them (Lk. 22:15).

Normally this upper room conversation is completely reflected on with emphasis on Judas’ betrayal and Jesus’ talk of his upcoming suffering. He did speak of these things.

However, Jesus was also joyful over his sharing of the meal with those he was closest to in this world. He longed for the intimate fellowship. And he wanted to tell them the real meaning behind the Passover meal.

Jesus did not let anything keep him from this communion with his followers. Not only would the disciples have this event etched in their memories for the rest of their days, they would continue sharing the meal “until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God” (Lk. 22:18)—until they shared it together at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Grant spoke on the betrothal and marriage ceremony of Jews. He talked about how the cup of wine was given to the bride for her to accept the groom’s proposal.

This cup of destiny is also offered to us, the Bride of Christ.

Jesus offered this cup and still offers this cup to us who belong to him. Our acceptance of this cup is the embrace of a new covenant with God’s people.

This covenant gives us reason to celebrate our hope that we will be joined with Christ in the coming of his Kingdom.

We made mention of the meal’s first purpose and how radical it was for the Lord to reveal its fuller meaning. Can you imagine what these guys must have been thinking to hear Jesus seeming to change/add the symbolism of the Passover meal? They must have recognized that they were witnessing something of great significance, but still a little unsure of its meaning for the future.

What an intimate time of expectation that must have been!

Everyone poured their juice and began to drink as we continued speaking about the blood of Christ and the new covenant in the partaking of the wine.

The conversation naturally shifted to the bread, which the Lord said, “This is my body given for you.” Everyone pinched off a piece of bread from the round loaf in the middle of the table. We continued eating and drinking as we remembered the Lord.

Several of us spoke on how in the past the meal was no meal at all, but a solemn ceremony where believers turn inward only to think about their sin and the death of Jesus instead of moving on to the forgiveness of sin and the resurrection of Christ.

James and Joel both shared about how they once dreaded the practice of communion. It was a burdensome ceremony that left no room for life. We all agreed with one another that the meal was to be a celebratory meal in remembrance of our Lord and the foreshadowing of the Kingdom to come.

Gone are the days of taking the shot glass of grape juice and the Jesus chick-let from the cracker plate while sitting in condemnation being isolated in our pews.

We have been forgiven, the Lord is risen, and now is the time to celebrate!

I mentioned how the Gospels tell us that after the meal they sang a hymn before leaving for the garden where Jesus was arrested. Someone said, “Let’s sing a hymn then.” So we did.

We sang several with our voices only. How sweet it is to hear all the voices and to know we are one in the Spirit of Christ. What a blessing it is to share the Lord’s meal as a family of saints learning about the depths and riches of Christ in simple community.

A few departed when we got up from the table. The rest of us talked for a little while longer in the living room. What a wonderful time we had this evening!

Thank you Lord for your blood of the new covenant, your body that was broken for our sins, and your resurrection that has given us your very own LIFE!

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March 18, 2009

Surprised by Hope (Book Review)

By David D. Flowers

Getting It Wright!

A Book Review of “Surprised By Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church” by N.T. Wright Reviewed by David D. Flowers

Tom Wright undoubtedly stands at the summit of New Testament scholarship. I sincerely believe he is the most important of Christian thinkers alive today. His writings are a refreshing challenge and a beacon of hope in a world where much of Christianity has lost its way. Wright’s work is unsurpassed as it reminds us all that our faith is not founded on shady history and loose myths about Jesus.

In his book Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, Wright challenges this notion of “going to heaven when you die” and spending an eternity in some bodiless future. For if this was the case, Wright’s concern is “then what’s the fuss about putting things right in the present world?”

Is our present language of our future existence reflective of sound New Testament orthodoxy? Do we have a consistent biblical message on “life after death?” Wright doesn’t believe so, and he claims we have instead embraced a Gnostic idea of the future that fouls up our presentation of the Gospel in the present.

Our future home is not “heaven”–for this is where God is presently; another dimension altogether. Our hope is in this spiritual heaven coming down to earth. The climax of all human history is the consummation of God’s spiritual realm (heaven) breaking through to our earthly existence. Therefore, in Wright’s view, it is “life after life after death” that ought to be on our minds.

Only this sort of thinking will lead us to a proper practice of the church. If our beliefs about heaven and the resurrection are wrong, then we are not about the Lord’s business in ushering in the Kingdom of God in ways keeping with the example of Christ.

Wright’s greatest emphasis is on “resurrection” and “new creation” that has already begun in this world. It is time to realize the great significance with that which is at the heart of our faith in Christ (1 Cor. 15:12-28). He writes, “it is (resurrection), principally, the defining event of the new creation, the world that is being born with Jesus.”

It is in the resurrection of Christ that happened in this old creation that gives us hope for a new creation taking place right now in the twenty-first century. “Hope is what you get when you suddenly realize that a different worldview is possible…” (pg.75).

This “new creation” should not be confused with baptizing the culture into Christianity and attempting to enact a utopian dream, as so many in evangelicalism have embraced. This misplaced trust in the myth of progress does not work because it does not account for evil, Wright says.

This myth may sometimes run parallel to our Christian hope, but it “veers off toward a very different destination” that ignores the need for the cross of Christ upon the natural fallen creation. It doesn’t see the need for change within, only uniform capitulation to a set order of ideas.

Wright declares, “What matters is eschatological duality (the present age and the age to come), not ontological dualism (an evil “earth” and a good “heaven”)” (pg. 95). We all have seen how this belief in a Platonic escapism has pervaded our theology and demanded that we adopt a popular dispensationalist view of the future; a future where we “fly away” to “Beulah Land” and spend eternity in a glorified retirement home in the sky.

It is time we abandon this empty belief for one that appreciates the hope given to us in the New Testament; a hope where God restores his good creation and finishes the work he began in the universe. Wright states, “What creation needs is neither abandonment nor evolution but rather redemption and renewal; and this is both promised and guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead” (pg. 107).

Wright draws our attention to Christ’s ascension as well as his resurrection. Because of the ascension of Christ, we not only have a savior who is indwelling us and present with his people, but a Lord who is at the same time “gone on ahead of us” by being the first to enter in to our promised resurrected existence. In other words, the work of Christ is finished and yet to be realized. It is reflective of the “already, but not yet” tension of the Kingdom of God.

We await a savior to complete the work he began in us. This completion shall come by way of the parousia or his “coming.”  Wright very simply writes, “he will in fact be “appearing” right where he presently is—not a long way away within our own space-time world but in his own world, God’s world, the world we call heaven” (pg. 135).

Wright challenges our traditional picture of our journey being completed upon death. He argues that there is indeed a temporary “paradise” for believers awaiting the resurrection of the dead and the completion of all things.

Likewise, there would appear to be the same for those who have rejected Christ in this life. When Jesus spoke of “many dwelling places” in his Father’s house, he is speaking of a temporary stop on the journey.  To ignore the finished work of Christ through the final resurrection of the dead is to miss the entire Christian hope.

God’s judgment is a good thing, something that believers ought to celebrate—for evil will be dealt with once and for all and heaven will make its home on earth. On the other hand, the non-believer has much to worry about. Wright calls into question our modern interpretations of hell that reflects a theology from the church of the Dark Ages. Yet, he doesn’t go as far as some “emerging” leaders who, I have reason to believe, may never emerge.

Wright finds it impossible not to believe in some sort of “ultimate condemnation” and loss to human beings that have rejected God’s good grace. He simply says that these folks cease to bear the divine image and by their own choice become “beings that once were human but now are not.”  Whatever “hell” is in reality, none of us would ever desire such a place. The important thing Wright wants to note is that heaven and hell ought not be the focal point of the Christian message.

In the last part of the book, Wright does a wonderful job with making this challenge practical for us all. The resurrection and ascension is not designed to take us away from this earth but instead to make us agents of transformation, anticipating the day when, “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”

Wright looks at the themes of justice, beauty, and evangelism. What do these things look like in light of this radical message of hope?  What does this look like in retrospect to the resurrection of Christ and the promise that we will inherit the same? Wright believes it is “to live consciously between the resurrection of Jesus in the past and the making of God’s new world in the future” (pg. 213).

My only point of disagreement with this book is in the last chapter. Although I do believe there are nuggets of truth founded in Wright’s attempt to manifest our hope in church practices, his commitment to not only his Anglican heritage but to high church in general is reason enough to move beyond his conclusions and on to a narrative ecclesiology that mirrors the earliest disciples.

It seems to me that this is his only break from a legitimate concern for a Pauline hermeneutic. His hope in a revival within the church practices that came years after Paul, as evident in church history, is wishful thinking indeed. It is here that we begin to replace hope with doom and despair.

“Surprised by Hope” is an excellent book that breathes out an overdue challenge to believers in every corner of the earth. I do hope and pray that its message will start a move of the church to return to the Gospel that looks like Jesus and offers the world more than an escape from a devil’s hell.

N.T. Wright is presently one voice among many that is being heard and has earned the right to be heard in a post-Christian world of conflicting voices. How will we respond? Shall we cling to those chains presently dubbed as “tradition” or will we allow the resurrection of Christ to give us wisdom and understanding into that beautiful hope known as the age to come?

I am pleasantly surprised by the hope we have in Christ… for whose sake I am able to reimagine a world without evil.

 

*Please take the time to vote on this review at Amazon.

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January 5, 2009

The Problem with Modern-Day Preaching

By David D. Flowers

“Preach the Word (i.e. Christ; John 1:1-2, 14); be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage– with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” Paul, Second Letter to Timothy, 4:2-3

I write to you out of an observation of the great majority of today’s preaching from the pulpit and the pen. The pulpit may be bulky and made of solid oak, or a glass podium, or even a simple music stand… it doesn’t matter. From whatever pulpit… by whatever popular teacher or author… in whatever form… something is most definitely wrong with today’s “Christian” preaching.

In addition to bad hermeneutics and those who preach for monetary gain, there is a compromising of our faith being displayed in the sermons of many respected preachers and a capitulation to the surrounding culture.

I am writing to you from what I believe is coming out of the last few years of my life–out of an immense shift in my understanding of the centrality and supremacy of Christ. I believe this observation is born out of what I have dubbed my “renewed” Christology.

For me, it was a revolution of the heart. And this revolution has set into motion a great undoing for an even greater relearning. It has caused many curtains of culture to be lifted from my eyes. This light, I believe, is available to all that desire it. To those who knock, the door will be opened. To those that seek, they shall find (Matt. 7:7).

Let the heart of this examination be known to you who read. And together, let us seek the centrality and supremacy of Christ… especially in our preaching.

The Christian Life is Principles?

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” Paul, Letter to the Colossians, 2:8

According to most preaching today, a person could easily make the judgment that Jesus did not come to give us his life, but to give us principles to live by. Yes, it is fair to say that Christ is not the end of popular preaching today. It could easily be deduced from your nearest pulpit that Christ was a mighty philosopher who has given us morals, values, and principles to follow that we might find happiness on earth. It is often presented that if we will learn the right formula all will be well with the soul.

Let us at least be clear about this one thing, this is not the message of Christ or the first apostles.

During the last hours of Christ’s life, he prayed, “My prayer is not for them (i.e. 11 disciples) alone. I pray also for those (i.e. you and I) who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you… I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me.” Jesus, The Gospel of John, 17:20-23

The apostle Paul wrote, “God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” Paul, Letter to the Colossians, 1:27-29

When the Gospel of Jesus is reduced down to forgiveness of sin and going to heaven when you die… we miss the true message of the whole Gospel of Christ. When we talk about knowing Christ today and all we think of is Jesus dying for our sins, we fall short of the complete good news of God. We must move on and grow up into the fullness of Christ in us! We must commit to rereading Scripture with this as the primary concern of all of the apostles of Jesus. They understood that the message in all of Scripture was that God has given us his life through Christ Jesus his Son.

Therefore, the Gospel message is to preach that God has paid our sin debt in order that his life can reign in us. The only concern of the first Christians was to preach that the person of Jesus was the gift, not heaven. The Christian life is not a destination, it is a journey. It is not about principles, it is about a Person.

I am fully aware that today we have philosophers and motivational speakers sitting in the prophet’s chair. Clearly, these men preach human wisdom and use the Bible to polish their self-centered messages in order that they might label them “biblical.” It is very disturbing to see the multitudes that are being deceived by these men.

However, I would like to particularly focus my attention on those who preach principles while at the same time mixing Christian language in the message. They preach Christ, but through learning steps and principles… instead of learning of his Person. They do not present the message I have stated above. They speak of living Jesus’ life without first knowing his being. They see only the benefits of following Christ. They do not embrace his Person as the life force within them that will carry out his commands.

If we are honest with ourselves, much of the so-called “Christ-centered” preaching that we hear today is presented in expounding on principles taken from Christ’s life… instead of it simply being Christ’s life in us. It is an attempt to use Christ to achieve our ends, instead of knowing Christ to reach his own.

Yes, if we are honest… most Christians believe that Christianity is about following some guidelines (which translates into a particular way to eat, dress, live, love, vote, etc.)… and we never embrace the full Person of Jesus. Therefore, we attempt to sustain life by principles, fail to receive life from the Person, and we never see Christ come to full expression in our earthly lives.

Is this not evident by the bestselling books today? If you will look closely at a few of the most recent popular books you will notice that Christ is not central and supreme. In some cases, Christ is completely absent from the message. These books present Christianity as principle-filled instead of Person-filled (i.e. Christ-centered). The authors, as well-intentioned as they may be, are trading the Person of Christ for principles to live by. (Some have even denied Christ’s supremacy.) On top of that, these principles are presented in a very self-centered and hedonistic theology.

Life comes out of Christ, never out of principles.

This is what we must understand. If we desire to work out our salvation as we have been commanded… we must come to this: Christ is our salvation from beginning to end. Preaching worldly principles will clearly lead us to destruction. And preaching biblical principles that do not first come from knowing Jesus will stunt our spiritual growth.

This is why so many Christians are banging their heads up against the wall today. They are running from one pulpit to another, one book to another, and one emotion to another. They have not been taught how to grow up into Christ. It reminds me of a Credence Clearwater Revival song called, “Commotion.” There is a bunch of it going on, and seldom do we ever truly live. Let’s stop and rethink our Christology.

Trading Principles for a Person

A couple of years ago I was captivated by seeing Christ’s principles and teachings on the Sermon on the Mount in a new way. It was like I had never read them before or been taught its true meaning in all of my Christian upbringing. The Lord had opened my eyes to verses that we had ignored or watered-down for years.

I began to teach these things without fully understanding “Christ in you.” I believe that I had a brief understanding, but it was not yet articulated in my thought or life. It must have seemed impossible to my students, “How can we live this way?” I imagine this is exactly what Jesus’ audience was thinking when they heard it for the first time, “What is this man saying, ‘love my enemies’?… he is out of his mind!” No doubt, many thought he was crazy, even his own family (Mk. 3:20-21).

It didn’t take long for me to develop a renewed Christology. The Lord had been preparing the ground of my heart to receive a new revelation of his Son. It finally came upon reading Watchman Nee’s exposition of the book of Romans in his book, “The Normal Christian Life.” Nothing has been the same since. And I mean nothing.

I will not mince with words on such a critical issue. Living by principles will fail you. Your life is not found in following rules and guidelines and then waving to Jesus off to the side, saying, “Thanks for these wonderful principles my Lord! Now I can live a happy life and expect preferential treatment from the world.” Many of my readers may be thinking, “I would never say that.” Yet, we fail to see that we don’t have to say it. Our focus today and our faithfulness to these principle preachers have already condemned many of us tomorrow. We need to trade in principle-centered teachings for those that are first Christ-in-you-centered.

“But now that you know God– or rather are known by God– how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?” Paul, Letter to the Galatians, 4:9

Can we truly live the abundant life Christ gives by simply being mindful that we might die in 30 days? Will inspiration last by holding on to some cliché or our trust in 12 steps? Will legalism and ascetics save the day? Seriously, how long does that work for you?

This may help the world make it through the day, but our hope is not in worldly wisdom and things of men… our hope is in the Person of Jesus Christ. Has not Christ given us himself to be everything that we need to motivate and inspire, to fill us with purpose and a mission? Hasn’t he made a way to fulfill the law by embracing his Person? From what I am hearing today, apparently not. And I sincerely believe this great distraction of God’s people is fueled by the devil.

“How far Satan will go even in bringing about a kind of devotion to Christ, and promote a mystical, physical “Christianity” with elements of moral elevation, and yet hide within that very thing something which is of himself and, being of himself, savors of that which was in him from that time when he himself was hurled out of heaven, that thing which would take from the Lord Jesus the absoluteness of His place in the Godhead.”T. Austin Sparks, The Centrality and Supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ, p.38

If you listen closely, much of modern-day preaching is an attempt to fill the void in people’s soul by taking the back door approach to living victoriously. In the end, it undermines the absolute centrality and supremacy of Christ. Instead of preaching the depths and riches of Christ, his principles are taught in its place (not entirely of course, just those principles that fit our accepted cultural and theological ideas). To add to that… mix some new age self-help heresy in there and you completely lose anything that comes close to resembling Christ.

Christ has made a way for us to come to him directly. We should not concern ourselves with the effect (his living), until we begin with the cause (his life). Beginning with Christ will in the end give us those things that we see in his principles. We must concern ourselves with the being, instead of the doing. The doing will come naturally after we have locked on to his Person and understand that knowing Christ in spirit and in truth is our only concern.

Principles Out of the Person

About a year ago, I met a man and discussed with him that there are churches that believe there comes a time to kill enemies, despite what Jesus has said. Being Christ-centered and understanding “Christ in you”… he was befuddled and could not comprehend that there were professing believers that actually believed this.

He was so consumed with “Christ in you” he did not see an unattainable principle, he understood that the Person of Christ in him would never even entertain the thought of violating a teaching of Jesus. The same Christ that loved his enemies in the first-century was the same Christ living in him today. Although his reaction proved him to be a bit cut off from the outside world, I will never forget his reaction of complete shock.

When the Person of Christ has not been embraced and when we have missed the full message of the Gospel which is “Christ in you”… then of course, many of Christ’s principles and teachings seem absolutely ridiculous and impossible to expect adherence. This is why teaching principles without the Person can never lead us to Christ in the way he has prepared.

Ultimately, we fail to apply principles because the nature of the matter is to accomplish these things by doing in our own strength, instead of knowing and being the Lord in his strength.

When we falsely believe that forgiveness of sin is all there is to Christ, we will inevitably fail to see the world rightly through the eyes of Christ, for we have not fully realized that life within us. We must enter into his life before he can use us to manage his affairs in the church and preach the pure Gospel of salvation to the world.

We have to decide which it will be. Will we attempt to live out his principles apart from first knowing his life? Can a popular book on principles give me the life in Christ I desire? Can a sermon that says, “Principles in you, the hope of glory” save? Can this save you?

Should we not seek to understand Paul’s words, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The later will deliver the life that is promised. The first will only sell books and gather around men a great following of religious people. Outwardly, the hype might appear as success and fulfillment, but the people who go home empty in heart know better. We simply must be willing to be honest with ourselves and the Lord.

At the end of the day… pop culture Christianity is a mirage in a desert wasteland. We must cross over Jordan to Christ in this life… if we ever wish to enjoy the fruit of the land in the next.

emerging_church1It is evident in whatever form of church you find yourself in. Something is missing in it all. Where there ought to be spiritual life, there is death. Over the last decade or so I have noticed the church drama has been building. Have you? Everyone is offering up their “new” and “innovative” ideas to blow life into the church.

Yet, it would seem that many have not noticed that Christ is absent. He stands outside knocking… he is softly saying, “I would like my church back.” He calls to us in the wilderness, “I am the river flowing from the throne of God.” We must dance in the river if we want to see his life flow from ours.

A Renewed Christology

It was all about Jesus when you were born again. If it had not been… you never would have been saved and regenerated by his Holy Spirit. It would appear that the great problem in the church today is this: Coming to Christ in salvation and then moving off of Christ to fulfill passions, purposes, ministries, and movements by substituting the person of Christ with principles.

The problem with our lives and our churches is not solved in discovering our inner potential through motivational books and sermons. In fact, these messages actually take us further away from dependence on Christ’s life in us. Apart from the Person of Christ, you have no potential.

Likewise, the church’s problems are not solvable by new emerging methods for our narcissistic ecclesiology. It is not answered in bigger buildings, louder music, and marketing degrees. It is not found in being “seeker friendly” or adopting a new program of discipleship. The answer to all of our problems is found in Christ alone. Nothing else will do.

“I myself am the way and the truth and the life.”
Jesus, The Gospel of John, 14:6

It is time for us to return back to our “first love” (Rev. 2:4) We came to Christ in the beginning and we realized the love of the Father, that our sins had been forgiven. Now, we must continue to pursue him in all things and grow up into our salvation (Phil. 2:12). We must move on past the elementary teachings of our faith (Heb. 6:1). We must commit ourselves to rediscovering the Christ of the Gospels. We must move toward revolution instead of vainly attempting to bring life through reformation.

A Challenge

Here it is straight: We cannot fully know Christ’s true principles until we have been captured by Christ’s true Person. Just as you cannot fly a plane while sitting in the terminal… you cannot know Christ by living out principles born from your own will and determination. True Christ principles come flowing from the life that is consumed with: “the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Col. 2:2-3)

I challenge you to listen to the words being taught by men today. Is Christ’s life the Gospel being preached? With all of the preaching and teaching today, you have to wonder… wonder why there is not a clear distinction between the natural faith of Christ vs. religion. If Christ was all that was being preached, I have to believe we would see a different church.

I am convinced that the Lord is setting a new stage for the churches in America. The stage is filled with suffering and heavy persecution. The right response in preparation is to put our hope and complete trust in the centrality and supremacy of Jesus Christ. Let it be known that Christ is the main actor in this production. It is not the church. We are but mere stage hands. We must understand the implications of this if we are to persevere through what is to come.

Let us go to the Scriptures in search of the indwelling Person of Christ, not principles that we might mold into our corrupted theology of Jesus and the church. Let us pray like Jesus in the garden. “Lord, make us one in you. Prepare us for that Day that is coming. Come Lord Jesus, come!”

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” Jesus, The Gospel of John, 11:25

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January 1, 2009

John Calvin 3:16-21

By David D. Flowers

16 For God so loved the elect, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever of the elect believeth in Him shall not perish in the fire God created for those he hath predestined to burneth for all eternity, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent his Son into the world to condemn the heathen to hell and save only those who acknowledge they have no choice but to repent and do exactly as God says.

18 Whosoever be amongeth the elect is not condemned, but whosoever is among the damned stands condemned already because God’s sovereignty wills it.

19 This is the verdict: Light has come unto the elect, but all the other men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were predestined to be evil.

20 For everyone who doeth evil must hateth the light, and shall not come into the light because they have no choice but to doeth evil.

21 So he that doeth truth cometh to the light by the TULIP, that his deeds may be made manifest through reformed theology, that they are all forced by God.

NOTE: This article was first published in The Wittenburg Door, March/April, 2007 and was reprinted by permission in Christian Ethics Today.  Check out more satirical articles here at the blog:  “Romans 13: The Patriotic Version”…”The Sermon on the Hill (American Beatitudes)”.

41 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Satire, Theology