Jesus was a friend of Atheists?

“I tried atheism for a while, but my faith just wasn’t strong enough.”

  Can I vent for a moment? It really irritates me when I see Christians caricatured in the media. It seems like every time the Media portrays a Christian, typically it’s someone with a redneck accent who’s a hypocrite running some scam financially, sexually or both. Or, they’re some mystical type with a spaced out look and their feet planted in midair.

  Since the media is the gatekeeper of public information, the way Christ-followers are portrayed influences the public perception of Christianity. 25% of the respondents to a recent Barna survey said they were unable to remember any positive contributions from Christians during recent years. It doesn’t help, according to the Pew Research Center, a mere 8% of national journalists and 14% of local ones indicated they attend a place of worship every week. Inaccurate stereotypes perpetuated about Bible-believing Christians frequently stems from insufficient religious education and interaction with true Christians…it hurts to be so terribly misconstrued.  

  Yet sadly, we Christians frequently do the same thing to atheists. It’s also very unfair. Most atheists I know are not anything like the Freedom from Religion Foundation, nor are they acerbic like Richard Dawkins. In fact, and I say this unapologetically – some of my best friends are atheists. I love them, pray for them and have great respect for them, though I’m sure sometimes I drive them crazy.

  In 2013 researchers from the University of Tennessee found atheists run the range from vocally anti-religious activists to nonbelievers who observe religious traditions. In other words, atheists are a very diverse group. While not a scientific study, these are some of the types of atheists I’ve met.

  Fad Atheists. Often, these are teens or twenty-somethings. Their parents are often very religious. Most young people want to distinguish their identity from their parents and want attention. What better way to get some “shock mileage” than to declare “I’m an atheist!” They usually love to argue to impress others with their atheistic intellectualism. Wise parents just love them and for the most part, ignore it.

  Wounded Atheists. These are often individuals who have suffered greatly. Sometimes they’ve been molested or abused. Some have a debilitating disease or have seen terrible atrocities like war. Some have been horribly treated by parents who hypocritically hid behind their religion. The parents may have gotten divorced during their formative years or Dad abandoned the family. And since for most of us our concept of God is colored by our relationship with our father, if we reject Dad – God is usually next.

  Perverse Atheists. When someone feels guilty, the best way to attempt to discard a sense of guilt, is to seek to eradicate God. With someone evil like a Stalin, a valid question is – which came first, the atheism or the evil action? When someone is living an evil or perverse life, atheism can be an attempt to keep from feeling accountable to a transcendent authority?  

  Angry Anti-theists Atheists. Unfortunately, this is the group most Christians are familiar with. They’re on all the talk shows. They’re the ones bringing lawsuits against municipalities for Nativity scenes. They regularly speak out against religious beliefs. They view religion as the ultimate ignorance and any individual/institution associated with it as backward and even socially dangerous. They’re very confrontational, believing obvious fallacies in religion should be aggressively addressed. Yet, I think you’ll find, they’re a small minority. Most atheists I know don’t want to bother anyone or be bothered. They respectfully disagree and want to be treated with the same respect.

  Apathetic Atheists. Personally, this group concerns me the most. They don’t involve themselves with either religion or anti-religion. As long as they’re basically happy and nothing rocks their world, they don’t invest time thinking about life’s big questions: Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? What’s the point? Religion plays no role in their life. They don’t believe much of anything. Their absence of faith means the absence of anything religious in any form in their mental spaces. Some even sit in churches week after week. Some in ones just like ours. Some don’t really believe in God, some merely give lip service to Him. But God has no true effect on their life. They may like the social relationships or find the moral teachings beneficial for themselves or their children. They may not even acknowledge they are atheists. But for all practical purposes, because God has no place in their lives, they’re atheists.

  Unanswered Questions Atheists. I think this is probably the largest percentage of atheists. Many of them think and feel very deeply. They see tragedies like 911, babies born with birth defects, a young mother raped and murdered and they can’t get past there could be a God who allows such suffering. They read the Bible and discover passages where God commanded the destruction of whole people groups. It seems horribly unfair and cruel to them. They refuse to believe in a God who’d command such things. They can’t believe God is good or loving, and still sends people to Hell.  Many are intellectual. Evolution and scientific theory make more sense to them than a God who created everything out of nothing. They have many unanswered questions and unbelief makes more sense.

  How do we deal with atheists? Love them. Let God love them through you. Are you attracted to someone who is hateful and angry? Why would an atheist ever embrace the faith of a hateful Christian?

 Pray for them. It’s God who opens up eyes, not slick Christian arguments. No one will ever be argued into heaven. Sadly, I’ve seen Christians win the argument but lose the relationship.

  Be honest. We don’t have all the answers. There are many we can’t answer. And it takes faith to be a Christian, even in the face of unanswered questions, so just admit it. Of course, atheism also takes faith.

  Live like Jesus. The truth is I know I’m a mess so I admit it. Yet, by God’s grace, I seek to be kind. And I’ve never regretted being too kind. 

  I think Jesus is greatly pleased when the worst thing an unbeliever can say about us is: “I hate them. They’re just too kind, honest and gracious!” So live so much like Jesus even the greatest skeptic can’t argue with your life! 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Why Christians must fight for Muslims!

“Protection of religious freedom means considering the faiths and beliefs of everyone involved.”   Mike Quigley

  Summer officially ends this coming Thursday. There was an important summer story that, perhaps with all the other news stories, was overlooked. Worse, it didn’t garner the needed attention of the Christian community. Yet, it was very important and has far reaching implications for the Church in America, our 1^st Amendment rights and the future of religious freedom. Let me ask some “religious rights” questions. (Answer Yes or No.)

1. Should the Amish be allowed to drive buggies on public roads? 2. Should Muslims be allowed to have a public call for prayer? 3. Should we allow a mosque to be built in our community? 4. Should Jehovah’s Witnesses be allowed to proselyte door to door? 5. Should a teacher be allowed to have a Koran on her desk?

  How did you do? The answer to all of them are all “yes.” Please understand, and this is very important, it’s not the Bible that gives us these rights, it’s our United States Constitution. Most people, even most Christians, aren’t familiar with our 1^st Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” Most are more familiar with Thomas Jefferson’s often misinterpreted statement, “a wall of separation between church and state.” Many ignorantly believe that it’s part of the Constitution. It’s not!

  Unlike the United States, which historically has protected religious freedom, France does not. This religious freedom war is being waged on French beaches. Local police officers are storming French beaches to free women of their clothes. You’ll find pictures of armed cops standing over Muslim women until they take off enough clothes to make a secular French society happy. A mother of two was informed she’d been fined because she was wearing leggings, a tunic and a headscarf on the beach. Her ticket said she was not wearing “an outfit respecting good morals and secularism.”

  So we freed the French from the Nazis so they can violate Muslim women, forcing them to take off clothes so that they feel immodest according to Islam and violate their religious convictions. Sadly, because Muslims aren’t overly popular in the West, most media and worse and much more serious, most Christians have ignored this violation of religious rights! Why?

  Very few people want to stand up for Muslims, particularly in France…or in much of the world right now. Even as we’re told we have nothing to fear, it appears fear is exactly what keeps us silent. More importantly, France has a policy of secularization. France bans outward religious symbols in public, including burkas and Muslim swimwear, burkinis. Somehow, so far, nuns wearing habits have escaped punishment.

  In a country obsessed with the liberalization of women from oppression, burkinis are, to a secular French mind, a blatant symbol of marginalization, put in place to protect men from seeing the bodies of women. A culture committed to empowering women finds itself in a dilemma. Where is the oppression? Is the religion that states they must wear it in the wrong, or is it the government that forces them to remove it in the wrong?

  But it’s not about clothes, it’s really about the right to religious liberty. I’m so glad I’m an American, not French. That right is the very first one in our Constitution — in the 1^st Amendment — for a reason. Our histories and revolutions had very different outcomes which produced very different approaches to religion in our founding documents. Religious tolerance qualified by secularism is not religious tolerance. It’s religious tolerance as long as it conforms to the ideals of the secular state.

  Do we really want to strip Muslim women of their religious rights by making them remove their clothes? The pretext that burkini bans were put in place to prevent violent reactions from those offended by the modest bathing attire is idiotic. It’s based on the ludicrous premise that if you’re living according to your faith, and ignorant people who don’t like it act inappropriately, the person of faith is to blame. That’s the idiocy of the new French “religious police.” And religious liberty hangs in the balance.

  If you and I do not speak out for religious freedom, Muslims in France will not be the only ones stripped of their religious liberty. We can’t stand idly by today because it’s not “our” religious liberty. As secularism continues marching across the West, it will soon be us.

  Tragically, our own President doesn’t get it, though he swore to uphold the Constitution. Recently, President Obama said (and rightly so) that San Francisco 49er’s quarterback Colin Kaepernick is “exercising his constitutional right” not to stand for the national anthem. While I disagree with Kaepernick, our Constitution gives him that right. Yet, unbelievably, the President opposes those who want their Constitutionally protected religious liberty like Hobby Lobby or the Little Sisters. One can’t be selective in who has religious rights and who doesn’t, as long as it fits our values and worldview. Limited religious liberty soon means religious liberty for none.

  Do we really want Muslim women forced to strip off some of their clothes under the watchful eye of the police? Or, Catholic adoption agencies stripped of their participation in Massachusetts’ adoption system because of their views of marriage? Or, a baker stripped of her business because she did not want to participate in a wedding with which she disagrees? 

  This act on the shores of France is a beachhead of the new intolerance threatening the liberty of all who don’t march to the beat of the secularist drum. As Christians, we must speak up, even for those we disagree with in their religious beliefs, whether it’s a burkini or a mosque or an addition to the local Kingom Hall. Let them know they have your support. Let your local government officials know religious individuals/groups have your support. It may mean attending a government meeting or zoning hearing on their behalf. Because first they came for the Muslims in the burkinis…

Update: I learned from a missionary friend in France that the courts there have now struck this attack on religious liberty down. 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Are you ready for some "Church History"?

“Church History is the record of God's gracious, wonderful and mighty deeds, showing how by His Spirit and Word He rules His Church and conquers the world.”   Nils Forsander

It’s hard to believe that it’s been fifteen years since 911 and the attack on the United States by Islamic terrorists. 911 mastermind, Osama bin Laden, described the United States’ war on terrorists as a “new crusade against Islam.” In a sound-bite world, a crusade became a term used by both sides to resurrect past conflicts between the two major world religions.  Christians often find themselves apologizing for the Crusades as some sort of diplomatic maneuver when they share Christ, particularly with someone who’s Muslim. You’ll never understand the Crusades or the current tension between Christianity and Islam unless you’ve first studied Church History.

  Church History permeates our culture. It doesn’t matter what your religious background is, you won’t understand today’s Western world—including its wars—unless you know Christian history.

  So many aspects of American culture come from Christian sources. Biblical expressions are embedded in our language. Ethical positions were often birthed in Church History, i.e., Just War Theory. Many assumptions about who we human beings are and our purpose on this planet, though fragmented and unmoored from biblical theology that once anchored them. Musical styles, even Rock, owe much to the spirituals of slaves. You won’t understand the holidays unless you know Church History—Easter, Christmas…even Halloween. While they may include “pagan” elements, their frame of reference was always thoroughly Christian…and please don’t forget St. Patrick's Day! What about art? Stroll through almost any art museum and try to avoid Christian references, explicit and implicit. Even science, many believers were fathers and mothers of the scientific revolution. American culture is soaked in “leftover Christianity.”

  Next week we’re beginning a several week DVD study of Church History. We’ll watch the DVD and then break into age appropriate groups to work through the material.

  Why are we doing this? Why do we believe it’s important for our church? First, because most believers have very little knowledge of Church History. You can’t understand today and be prepared for tomorrow, unless you have some knowledge of Church History. While we won’t become bogged down in minute details or endless dates, this study will be an overview of key events in each era with a brief explanation. We’ll look at why these particular events are important, both theologically and historically. Hopefully, it will open up opportunities for you to discuss with your family that day or later in the week about what you believe and why it’s important. Here are a few reasons why we should study Church History.

  The Bible exhorts us to know our past. The Old Testament in particular is filled with references to God commanding Israel to remember His deeds of the past. He instituted ceremony after ceremony, festival after festival that caused His people to look to what He’d done in the past. The events of the past are powerful reminders of God’s faithfulness. They increase our faith, reassuring us that as God has acted in the past, He’ll act in the future.

  It helps us understand the present. The study of Church History is a humbling experience. It allows us understand and sympathize with the plight of those who came before us. It helps us appreciate the blessings we take for granted today were often not enjoyed by our brothers and sisters of yesterday. It keeps us from developing a view of the faith too narrowly focused on our day, ignoring the long, storied history of the Church. It shows us we’re not all that different from believers in the past and helps us avoid some of the sins and blunders they’ve made.

  It helps us prepare for tomorrow. As we see the patterns of the past, we can begin to formulate ideas about where current trends will lead. By understanding the past we start to understand the future. When we understand where our current trends are taking us, we can react to avoid heading down paths that have been shown to be disastrous.

  It helps us to trust God more and see His hand at work in this world. Throughout history God has revealed Himself in mighty ways, continually providing for His people through trials and persecution. As we study the past, we see the many ways in which God’s providence has been displayed. It’s a vital teaching tool to prepare us to face trials or persecution in our day. It spurs us on to greater love and gratitude of God and deepens our confidence in His promises. As He’s been faithful to His people in the past, He’ll be faithful to us and to our children.

  It helps us be alert for theological error. In many ways the history of the church is a history of action and reaction. Much of Christian theology has been developed and then strengthened in response to error and heresy. When we study the past, we see how errors developed in the Church. This is valuable as we face inevitable error in our own day. Many Christians repeat the same battles over doctrine, yet could spare themselves a great deal of trouble by being familiar with the past. By studying what’s already happened, we can avoid future errors and the patterns that precede error.

  It helps us understand people. While we can’t speak with Christian heroes who’ve lived before us, by studying history we can better know and understand them. We see the parts of their lives that brought glory to God and the parts that didn’t. We can learn much, not just from history, but from specific people who lived in a period of history.

  It helps us be faithful and to persevere. As we see how men and women, and even children persevered throughout the history of the Church, it encourages us. Since Jesus ascended into Heaven, believers have lived in anticipation of His return. Those who lived in the 1^st century expected this event would be imminent. Yet, two millennia later, we continue to wait. As we look at Christian History, we arm ourselves with the knowledge Christ’s return may still be far off but like them, by His grace, we can persevere. His grace that met their needs is available to us, too.

  Please make our series on Church History a priority for you and your family. It will help you grow spiritually and be better prepared for both today and tomorrow. 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Willy Wonka and a biblical worldview of work

“We meet God the Creator as a worker in Genesis 1:1 – 2:2. The image of God in man means man is to be a worker. The way we work will reveal how much we have allowed the image of God to develop in us.” R. Kent Hughes

The world grieved this past week when it was reported Jerome Silberman passed away after a three year bout with Alzheimer’s. He was 83 and a 1951 graduate of Washington High in Milwaukee. Always, a great admirer of Thornton Wilder, he first became interested in acting at age 8. His mother had been diagnosed with rheumatic fever. Her doctor told him to “try and make her laugh.” It’s when he began to realize how much he enjoyed making others laugh and knew he “was successful when I made her run to the bathroom.” Ultimately, he played 37 different roles but it was his mother’s illness that first got him into acting. He may be most famous for his role in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. While he may not have known it, Gene Wilder, lived out God’s Creative Mandate: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.” (Genesis 2:28). He “subdued” the earth, living out the abilities God created him with.

  Work is not part of the Curse, yet many Christians have a pagan worldview of work. Since it’s the Labor Day weekend, can we have a brief chat about a biblical worldview of work? I’m not suggesting I have all the answers, yet many commonly ones accepted by believers are unbiblical.

  Livin’ for the weekend is not a biblical mentality. We’ve been fed a lie that pleasure and fulfillment come from non-work time. It can quickly devolve into a repulsive narcissism of, “Me Time.” For the believer, work is as much worship as Sunday morning church. The polar opposite is just as wrong. One can make an idol out of their career and it becomes their number one priority. Their relationship with God takes a back seat along with marriage and family. Relationships become secondary to work. Life is filtered through: “What impact will this have on my career?”

  It’s helpful to envision that behind every company and employer stands the Lord Jesus. He sees everything we do. He appreciates it and will reward us, regardless of the type of work we do. We need to see the most menial job as a labor of love for Jesus. He notices it even if no one else does. In other words, work for an audience of One. As believers, we’re to view work as God’s good gift to us! He gave Adam and Eve the responsibility of cultivating the Garden, exercising dominion over the world before sin entered it. We’re created to work and to work for His glory (Eph. 6:5-8).  

  For the child of God, there is no “this world” retirement plan. Should Christians keep working until they unwrap their fingers from the keyboard? Absolutely not! Yet, read Scripture from Genesis to Revelation and you’ll never find “retirement” as most picture it. Work venues may change. The pace may slow. This outlook though I’m going to travel, golf each day, play cards, etc. and enjoy life for ME is selfish and sinful. While we may retire from our vocations, we never retire from serving the Lord, though the way we serve Him may change. Scripture overflows with accounts of elderly saints who had their greatest ministries after they were supposedly put out to pasture. Then, Titus 2 commands godly older men and women to teach, by example, younger men and women how to live for Jesus. It’s a biblically proactive choice instead of grumbling about younger people.  

  Scripture minces no words that an elderly person who lives for pleasure is dead while alive (1 Timothy 5:6). This is not to say retirees can’t enjoy pleasurable pursuits, but it’s wrong when it’s the primary focus of one’s life at any age. Many retirees miss their last best opportunity to invest in the spiritual welfare of their children, grandchildren, even great-grandchildren because they’re self-absorbed. Most plan an inheritance. Yet, the greatest thing to “save up” for is one's spiritual heritage, to be passed on generationally. Future generations can be impacted by the godly example and faithful prayers of an elderly patriarch or matriarch.

  Labor unions are not evil…they’re a response to evil. (Jeremiah 17:9) I’m not suggesting Unions don’t sometimes go out of control. Personally, I’d be a bigger advocate of Unions if they’d self-monitor members, rather than having management go through hoops to terminate someone who’s slothful and irresponsible. Years ago I worked for UPS for a brief time. I remember thinking, “I’m glad we’re Teamsters. If we didn’t have a union, they’d kill us.” Unions are often a needed tool to protect workers from evil employers. I’ve worked for a few. Some sadly called themselves “Christians.” Our first loyalty must always be to King Jesus, not the Union.

  Government mandated increases of minimum wages is a political ploy with marginal results. Scripture states, “The laborer deserves his wages” (1 Timothy 5:18). When the government becomes involved, it usually complicates things. Recently, I attended a conference where the barista only cost Starbucks electricity. It was a computer. Raising the minimum wage primarily hurts small companies. Even $15 an hour isn’t a livable wage for most, particularly someone living in an urban area or a married couple with a family. Unskilled labor is worthy of an unskilled wage. Raising the minimum wage will limit job opportunities for young people.

  If government wants to make a true societal difference, eliminate marriage penalties, increasing benefits to those who marry. Study after study corroborates that children raised in married, two parent homes do much better than those raised by a single parent or a cohabitation situation.  

  Personally, I believe it’s wrong when CEOs are paid exorbitantly while their employees are paid minimally. Yet, it seems hypocritical to complain about corporate CEOs, while those in the arts or sports are given a pass. Jennifer Lawrence may be a good actress but $205 million in one year is over the top. Is LeBron James really worth $100 million annually? And that doesn’t include his off court deals. Add to that, taxpayers are frequently asked to fund business remodeling for these millionaires, i.e. Miller Park. Yet, those same taxpayers often can’t afford to attend events their hard earned money is being extracted for by government edict. 

  Work isn’t part of the Curse. It’s God program for Kingdom advancement. For us to embrace this, we must take time to study Scripture, educating ourselves in a biblical worldview of godly labor practices. 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.