Hermeneutic Extreme Make-over

Yesterday I preached the second part of a two part mini-series on our handling of the Word of God. My main theme over the past several weeks has been on the idea of deepening our relationship with God instead of having a superficial, surface one (title - Running Deep In Shallow Times). Yeah, I got the idea and title from Lynn Anderson at Tulsa this year. Don't worry , I gave him credit. For this part of the series, my belief is the approach to Scripture we have inherited from our forefathers is flawed in certain areas and has put some barriers in our way in regard to our work and identity as God's people, namely the command, example and necessary inference hermeneutic. It has led to us drawing lines of fellowship that God never drew, making laws that God never made, and nullifying what God actually said (see Mark 7:1-13). Those are some serious missteps that our church, and a few others I can think of, has needed to deal with for a long time. It seems to have been well received for most, a struggle for some, but needed if we are to move on and get serious about kingdom work. Pray for us.

I closed with this quote from Rick Atchley: "We are not responsible for the church handed down to us from our parents. We are responsible for the church we pass on to our children. " Well said.

CENI Blunders

I found a little article by a guy named Dwaine Dunning, who wrote sometime in the 1970's about the authority of the Bible as gleaned by command, example, and necessary inference (CENI). Here are some of his thoughts on the power (or lack thereof) of "inference".

"For many years, Bible questions have been discussed from the standpoint of a given viewpoint having 'command, example and inference' in support. Such use, listing three types of argument without distinction as to value, has given the impression that all three are equal in value. This is not true! Thomas Campbell, who developed the system, wisely limited it and showed that the third area of 'authority', that of inference, was of such a nature that questions affecting fellowship should never be determined by using inference, or argument by logical process."

"A vast majority of 'unity problems' are in this third area of 'authority'. There is little disagreement among Bible-believing people about what God said. There is some disagreement about what should be made of apostolic practice or precedent. There is a lot of disagreement on non-commanded, non-precedented matters where human reasoning is the factor by which the position of some individual or group is determined. This is precisely what we should expect. If a process of reasoning, a logical procedure, is properly the grounds upon which unity may be extended or withheld, then unity is at the absolute mercy of the weakest intellect and the most uncharitable dispositions in Christendom."

" To say 'direct command, approved precedent, and necessary inference' without distinquishing between them, thus giving the impression that all are of equal strength, is to do violence to the insight of the the man who contrived they system."

So where the Bible is silent, being silent might be a good thing, not speaking where God has not spoken, keeping your beliefs between you and God, and keeping the lines of fellowship open between those who differ with your contrived belief. Peace and unity just might spill out.

Restoration Blunders

Those of us in the Church of Christ, and others, have roots in the Restoration movement. There was an attempt many years ago to bring people together around the Bible and only the Bible as the sole source of faith and knowledge of the will of God for us for us to be better able to evangelize the world. It is a noble plea and a worthwhile one. There were some great catch-phrases that came out of that era. Speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent. No book but the Bible. No creed but Christ. No name but the Divine Name. In matters of doctrine, unity. In matters of opinion, liberty. In all things, love. Call Bible things by Bible names. These all pointed us in the direction of unity for the cause of Christ.

But it seems, at least in my tribe (cofc), we have woefully abandoned those ideals. Our motto seems to be today, "Where the Bible speaks, we speak. Where the Bible is silent, we speak even louder with more passion and conviction". We have splintered the body of Christ mainly because of our abuses of the word of God and how to understand it. We have a flawed approach not only to Scripture, but to restoration as well. The "command, example and necessary inference" approach comes up terribly short in exploring and understanding the heart of God. I think there is a better way. I'll write more later. Pray as I work through some of this with my people here in Idabel. It needs to be addressed.

Conspiracy Theories

Someone came by my office the other day and dropped off several DVD's they wanted me to look at. My secretary was here, I wasn't, so I have no idea who this person was. The first one had to do with 911 and how every event that happened that day was not the result of terrorists but our own government. The plane that flew into the Pentagon was not a plane at all but a missle. The fires that raged in the WTC towers were not the result of jet fuel, but of some other mysterious explosive. The plane that crashed in Pennsylvania was not flight 93, but another mysterious plane caught on radar in the same area at the same time. I read the other day where this meteorologist from Idaho or somewhere thinks all the contrails in the sky from airplanes are really marking points for a weather weapon that is being used by the Japanese mafia to wrought destruction on the U.S. They used this weapon to stir up and steer all the hurricanes that hit us this past year. I just finished a book by Dan Brown, author of the DaVinci Code called Deception Point. (*Disclaimer here...... If you want to read this book, stop reading this post or I will ruin it for you) ...............................................It is the story of how a certain government official orchestrates this elaborate hoax of finding proof of life on other planets in order to save NASA and help a struggling President of the United States get re-elected. Sounds weird, but it is a great read of fiction, as are other Dan Brown books, but still, c'mon.

What's the deal with people these days? Have we been watching too much TV or something? Nothing is as it seems. Everybody is evil. There is a grand, wicked plot behind everything. Conspiracy theorists must be the most miserable people in the world, thinking that deception hides around every corner.

Lord, please deliver people from cynicism.

Well, I better go. I heard a noise in the other room. I think it might be an NSA operative planting a bug in my phone.

"I'm back in the saddle again....." bum chica bum chica bum chica bum

A few months ago I made a difficult decision to go part-time, half-salary at my church and work during the week in town to make ends meet for our family. Well, that was probably not the best decision I have ever made. The contracting work became more and more consuming, requiring more and more to make things work, and it was taking me more and more away from the ministry work that the church here needs done and away from my family, and I was not happy with any of that. So, I asked for a do-over, and my elders have graciously allowed me back. It was announced yesterday what their intentions were and I was warmly and lovingly embraced again as their "full-time" preaching minister. I love these people. We are going to make some deep cuts, selling the house, some other things to make it work here. I've heard that a minister's best and most productive years with a church don't really start until the 5th or 6th year. This is our 5th. I don't want to ruin it. We see bright days ahead for this church and the kingdom work it can do. Please pray for us.