Wir sind bettler. Hoc est verum.

Grab your pitchforks, iron up your flint, and pitch your hay we are going to talk about science and religion! As the mob grows and the fires burn, I feel the sweat dripping from my brow, for such subjects ought not to be address by morals who value their lives, or at least the approval of others.

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When one thinks of the phrase “quenching the Spirit” one does not immediately think of Pentecostals. After all they are the ones who usually are criticized for being too “Spirit” focused. I am also sure that most evangelicals would reject the notion that their churches too, often quench the Spirit. So, the question is, do they? I believe they do quench the Spirit more often than not, and it has to do with rightly understanding how He (the Spirit) works.

The job of the Spirit is to fill and comfort believers after Christ’s ascension. To spread the word and create the Church. He works from the command of Jesus and the Father. So, if we look at Scripture how do we see Him normally working? We see Him working through pretty ordinary means, although there are some significant exceptions, we never see the exceptions made into the rule nor do we see them lifted up as needed to be in future generations. I propose that the Spirit mainly works through ordinary means such as: Word and Sacrament, while in rare cases works through other means.

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In contemporary Evangelicalism the Altar Call has become the Third Sacrament, and sometimes the only sacrament as it often replaces both baptism and communion (by making baptism and communion be only human responses and not heavenly blessings). The problem is: no where in Scripture are we given a command to have Altar Calls; they are a creation of man not God. I know this position will inflame many people, and upset others for it seems by stating such, I am attacking the heart of the Christian religion. After all, how can one preach the Gospel and expect it to save anyone unless they give an Altar Call right? In a word: wrong, scripture never has demonstrated nor commanded an Altar Call. Let us define our terms so that we are all on the same page.

When I speak of a Sacrament I am speaking of an ordinance in which God works to confirm heavenly realities, grace, and spiritual blessings. The only two taught us in Scripture (sorry my Catholic friends), are Baptism and Holy Communion. Baptism in the most basic of explanations, confers to us the New Covenant, by making us members, and all the spiritual blessings there-in. As a covenant sign like Circumcision in the Old Testament, baptism is to be given to our children, because they are in the covenant, and thus need the covenant sign applied to them. Now please note it doesn’t save, and it doesn’t confer regeneration, but non-the-less there are real spiritual benefits with-in baptism, and to reject it, is to reject God’s covenant (and thus Salvation). One’s baptism, as a believer, can be one of the greatest anchors in which to assure ourselves of our salvation, not because it demonstrates our commitment to God, but His commitment to us within the Covenant.

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As I have grown throughout the years in my Christian faith, my tastes for worship songs have changed. Often I have wondered if the change is merely subjective, or if there is some objective growth to be found under the surface. Am I growing closer to God’s ideal for worship, or am I growing father away? Like any sane person, I consider my changes in tastes and preferences over the years to be an improvement, rather than a de-evolution, in maturity.

This article is my attempt to discuss some of the reasons behind my changes in taste, and why I think more people ought to change with me. I will assure you that my thinking is not bubbling from a latent and invisible arrogance, but rather springs forth from what I am convinced God, through Biblical revelation, desires of His children. If I have gained any truth or maturity in Spiritual things, I acknowledge that God is to be praised and not I.

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“Grant what thou commandest and then command what thou wilt.” With those words Augustine enraged Pelagius. The idea that God would command something of men, of which they cannot do apart from Grace, on the surface enrages all of us, and perhaps rightly so. “That isn’t fair” or “I don’t believe in that God” and perhaps even “God would never do that” are some of the complaints we have made to the idea that God commands men to repent and have faith in Jesus, when no man is able or willing to do so. Thus we argue that either God doesn’t require it of all men, or men must be able to do what he requires apart from Grace.

To many of us this seems as absurd and evil as commanding a cripple man “walk or die”, and so it is in that light we look at God’s commanding of us to do what we cannot nor will not do.

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As many of you know the New Atheists (as they are called) not only believe that God doesn’t exist, they believe that religion is evil and ought to be extinguished. They love to especially attack Christianity, because it is so bold as to blatantly tell its opponents that they are wrong. There are many things I can say on the subject, but I would like to address just one small flaw in their thinking.

Many of them, such as Sam Harris, have a distorted logic in how they argue against the existence of God. I will simplify their arguments here for times sake and just point out one of the huge flaws of it. See if you can spot the flaw before I demonstrate it. Remember they are assuming God exists for the sake of their arguments.

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1 Timothy 3:2a “Now the overseer must be above reproach”. Recently there has been some discussion in the world I walk in as to what being “above reproach” means, specifically for us leaders in the church, namely for Elders and Pastors (of which I am neither). Set in the context of some “super” sin, what does it mean to be “above reproach” (although I believe that the Bible teaches degrees of sin, there is a sense in which all sins are “super” since they offend a Holy God, what I mean by “super” is essentially the sins God seemingly point out as greater: murder, adultery, theft, etc. which are essentially listed in 1 Timothy)?

Some people argue that if you commit any of these “super” sins at any time in your life, then you are ineligible to be an Elder or Pastor, due to being not above reproach. Others argue that it is ok if you commit these sins before your vows as Elder or Pastor, but not after. And still others argue that Grace covers all these sins so that even after committing these sins as an Elder or Pastor there is a chance, although slight, that one might eventually be able to be an Elder or Pastor again. Personally I do not think Scripture is clear in support of any of these sides, thus we must appeal to something else and Scripture at the same time.

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To understand the destructive, dreary, and dismal side of Government jobs we must first condescend to the origins of Government. Why do we have Government in the first place and why does this Government have jobs? The answer is extremely complex; allow me to state it simply. Government is nothing more than the people working together for the common good, and it is nothing less than the common good working for the people. It is the will of the people, created by the people, to rule the people by people. Laws define it and it defines the laws. It is circular, it is organic, and it is a machine.

We the people create the Government and in return the Government creates us. After we gifted some of our freedom, our humanity, our responsibility, and our creativity to it, it thanked us by redefining humanity and the boundaries in which we can act it out.  It is necessary and it is tyrannical. It saves lives while destroying them, and it abolishes freedom to protect freedom. It is the giving of lesser things, to protect the greater things. It is a necessary evil, to control and protect humans, but it was not always so.

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There seems to still be a debate as to whether Christianity is a religion or not. Personally I don’t understand what the big deal is, and why some people fight to say that it is not a religion. They give reasons like: “religion is man trying to reach God” and thus “Christianity is God reaching man” so they affirm that it cannot be a religion. But is this how God sees it? Is this how God defines religion and does He see Christianity as a religion?

James 1:26-27 “²⁶If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

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There are many people out there who call themselves 4 point Calvinists. Calvinism has often, and wrongly, been simplified to the 5 points of Calvinism, or TULIP. I say wrongly because Calvinism does hold to TULIP, but it holds to much, much more, and to say that Calvinism is basically TULIP is to over simplify the teaching of Calvin, or what most people mean – reformation theology.

Most 4 point Calvinists reject the L in TULIP usually because they believe that it removes people’s “free will” or responsibility, and it destroys the idea that God’s offer of salvation is real and not pretend. But before I craft my response allow me to quickly explain TULIP for those who do not know what it means:

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