Category Archives: Living the Word

Adam & Eve: Those Idiots!

Bible Talk, Church Culture, Living the Word, ,

adam and eve

Teaching Bible to children is a delightful experience for me. Throughout my careful, thoughtful lessons are numerous ah-ha! moments… I can only hope there are a few in the minds of my small charges, as well.

One day, as I was sharing the age-old history of the first man and the first woman with whom God dwelt, I arrived at the place in the report at which I was compelled to relate the extremely disappointing news that both Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit, bringing about a tragic situation for humankind.

Of course, what followed was a series of excited interjections, a few in the form of questions: “No way! Couldn’ they ‘ave just had peanut butter and crackers if they were hungry?” “ Yeah… And there was prob’ly candy!”  “An’ now we’re all in trouble… those idiots!” And with the slow, deliberate shake of a little head, “Anybody knows you can’t trust a snake.”

Now, while their observations were not completely without merit, their remarks did indicate restricted vision. Children tend to view The Word of God through a narrow lens, and for the most part, limit themselves to two colors- black and white. Though this is sometimes appropriate, and often provides the needed dramatic emphasis; it is at other times limiting, and the need for a more expansive view is obvious. Adam had turned to worshiping the creation rather than The Creator, a grave sin indeed, and Eve exchanged the Truth of God for a lie; sins in which we all would have readily participated, had we been in their place. Their actual eating of the fruit was an outward display of the garbage that had taken residence in the heart.

As adults, we should be equipped and able to switch to a broad scope and to embrace a full spectrum of light, permitting our perspective to be imbibed with every possible hue; in so doing we may find the liberation of our souls!

Certainly, there are various hindrances to a person’s being able to think As an adult:  Natural and appropriate immaturity as in a child, general immaturity, or specific immaturity such as emotional, social, intellectual or spiritual immaturity. There is retardation and there are developmental delays and disorders which affect the capabilities of some, and of course there is the weak will.  These are real obstacles which cause some of us to genuinely exist in a fledgling state, or less able to think and to behave as an adult, despite our historical age.

But for most of us, a simple willingness to take the initiative in the sanctification process will prove to bring about the gracious help and kind generosity of Our Heavenly Father, and He will mold and grow the soul longing to be fully freed by The Truth of Scripture. Though we will remain imperfect while we are attached to these bodies, we will be free in the sense that we are comprehending Scripture and are able to apply it appropriately in our lives.

Furthermore, this is to be a beautiful benefit to those who are less mature, in that according to Scripture, the more mature are entrusted with the supervision and careful consideration of the others. God has truly designed and is orchestrating by His Spirit a perfect system, by which the needs of His children may be perfectly met in this fallen place: The Church. When we are functioning optimally– keeping first things first, keeping our eyes on Jesus Christ and by His grace obeying Our Father- we are the best thing that ever happened to this planet- for we are in sime sense, Christ on Earth!

And yet we display a tendency to divide and to argue one with another, sometimes to the exclusion of serving a broken world as we should. For example: We deliberate over the literal versus the metaphorical in Scripture which is in some instances necessary, however  it is apparent to me that Our Great God, to whom and with whom all things are possible, could easily have dictated a perfect document in which many or all things are both. For instance: Proverbs 31 speaks of a godly woman as one who keeps the oil in her lamp burning throughout the night; she is not idle. I believe that this is literally true throughout many seasons in her life as she is never one to neglect her duties, as well as metaphorically true, in the sense that the oil is representative of The Holy Spirit who is ever present in, and never extinguished from her life. (Please note that I am not saying that there may be a metaphorical meaning for something that is historically understood and consistently presented as literal, instead of the literal, only that there may be a metaphorical meaning in addition to the literal.)

I have found a world of beautiful possibilities by studying The Word with these things in mind; however I am by His grace, ever aware of The Absolute Truth, and of the consistency with which God’s Word will reveal Itself , in other words, the unwillingness of God to contradict Himself, and His unwillingness to confound and exasperate His children.

Therefore, the more I study, the more grateful I become to Him who has rendered the plight of the idiot, glorious!

©L.L. Shelton, 9/27/2011

Be Gone, Delilah!

Living the Word

Who or what is your Delilah?

Pilgrim, on this Good Friday, what is sapping your strength? Who is stealing your joy? Identify it or him.  If it is a thing, you are under no obligation to love it.  Put it away from you!

Is it a person? Is it your neighbor? Your spouse, your parent, or  your child? If you have identified a person, you must love him or her, but you are to do so while knowing that he or she holds no power over you, and allowing none other than Christ to hold ultimate sway over you.

You may serve but one master, and it is to Him that you owe allegiance.  Obey Him.  Lavish your affection upon Him, as He continually lavishes his upon you.

Come what may!

Be gone, Delilah!

 

 

 

A Word on Francis and Frank

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Unlike former Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, I have read Crazy for God, by Frank Schaeffer, as well as Whatever Happened to The Human Race, by Francis Schaeffer. I have also thoughtfully read and considered The Tapestry, by Edith Schaeffer, wife of Francis and mother of Frank. Also dissimilar to Governor Huckabee, I see a great deal of Frank’s parents in him.

He is honest and forthright about his ideas and about who he is- about his own perceptions of the life he has lived, and of the world in which he has lived it. This is quite in concordance with who his parents were; and in this sense Frank is commendable.

I am praying for Frank, out of respect for his father and for his father’s ministry which has had a terrific impact for good upon my life, and on the lives of so many Christians. I hope others will continue to ‘knock on the door’ for Frank.

My thanks to Governor Huckabee for sharing his favorites list- I certainly appreciate some of the same books, and may God be continually near to him, as we are thankful for his life of dedication to the public good.

About This Emerging Church Thing

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This one’s for you, Jill. And it’s better late than never, huh?

I’ve been a part of church culture all of my life, and it occurs to me that in some instances we are apt to throw the baby out with the bathwater. And there may be a baby emerging from this Emergent Church thing. If so, right after we dry it off, properly clothe it, and snuggle it- we need to go ahead and throw out that bathwater…

Please consider that reason is not absent because experience is present. Words do not loose their importance in the company of image- words often conjure image. All that is external does not become meaningless because of the worth of what is internal. Feelings are not without significance in the face of the tangible. These things are true.

Now, the presence of Truth does not indicate a lack of love; nor does it indicate an intolerance for ignorance of its existence. On the contrary! As Christians, we are bound to acknowledge, in fact compelled to heed the undeniable presence of Truth, and to lovingly point others toward it.

For Our LORD has declared Himself to be Truth incarnate; therefore the pursuit of absolute truth is the most rational, the sanest occupation for any man.

Of course, it is true to any thoughtful person that much of what we think we know- we do not know, and that we may even in glorified state not know it all; however this does not negate the value of what we do now know.

And the pursuit of Truth most certainly does not breed arrogance. It produces confidence. It is sin that breeds arrogance, a lust to be right, and the desire for control. Nevertheless, the loving quest for what is true will often produce righteous leaders. This is not to say self-righteous leaders, and the distinction is important.

For what we actually know, should be determined by no less than a clear eye focusing a penetrating gaze upon The Word of God; and then filled with reasonable passion for Him who has declared Himself to be Truth, that eye must strive to maintain an unclouded view of the world and all that is in it, through the lens of The Spirit of Truth.

Thus, it should be understood that the awareness of and love for Truth, will no more violate the experience of Faith, than being alert to the existence of water and desiring it, will ruin the experience of swimming.

That said, I should also say that a swim in a cool, clear creek on a hot summer’s day is a delight, but a swim in dirty, lukewarm bathwater is another thing all together.

Copyright 2011, L.L. Shelton

Who I Am

Living the Word

I have been pondering for some time on this subject. The title to the page was suggested with the site, as was the idea that I should display some biographical information. Of course, any of you who know me are aware that a request of this nature will suggest to me a pause for deeper consideration… and so the site has been up awhile as I have been attempting to formulate a thoughtful response.

Also, those of you who know me personally are aware that I am a dedicated wife and a homeschooling mother of seven. But this will be news to those readers with whom I am not acquainted. Our children range in age from twenty-three and graduated from college, to three and in the nursery. I genuinely love my friends and my family, and I attempt to live as a good citizen within my various societies, great and small. But… who am I?

I considered simply typing in my written testimony of salvation, self-published in nineteen ninety-four, but that seemed to be a bit of a cop out on the opportunity presented. I mean, only cyberspace people would actually arrange for this type of intimate assessment of one’s self, impose no deadline, and make available the medium for the world to observe the outcome. Maybe I should explore this inquiry- Who am I? – in depth, present a truly well contemplated answer…

First, a few words about who I was:  I was she who ate the fruit.  I was the blind beggar, unable to know what caused my foot to stumble.  I was the paralytic…  the woman at the well…  the leper…  the one overcome with fear of the storm.  I was the one with a dreaded disease.  I was the one sick and unable to heal myself-  or to find The One to heal me.  I was the one lost and alone with no knowledge of how to escape my personal hell on earth.  I was the one dead- unaware.

Then…  Jesus found me.  He revealed to me Himself, in all His loveliness, in all His purity, in all His perfection.  He showed me that He is The Way and The Truth and The Life, leading to Light and Love.   He displayed to me His generosity of Spirit, and His wisdom.  He made plain to me the will of The Father, which is His Holy Word.

And I became no one.  I am nothing.   Apart from my Savior, I have no good thing.  I…

I am hopefully dying a bit each day as He transforms my mind-my self into His mind-His self; molding me and making me the self He originally designed me to be, but whom I would never have embraced before He made me His own.

Who am I? I am His.

And the question ever begging to be asked is:  Who is He?

A Note to The Westboro Baptists and to All Who May Have Misunderstood Christmas

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While I may not be compelled to label you as goats, as you are and will be labeled appropriately by One greater than us all, I do stand with Danny Akin and others who have considered the possibility.

Are you unaware of the Absolute Truth and Authority of Scripture? Is it possible that you do not consider the entire Word?

Have you considered the Word of The Lord in Matthew 2:8, 9:4, and 12:25? God knows your thoughts! Are you as angry with yourself for your own evil thoughts, as you are at the openly homosexual for his? Have you considered the Word of The Lord in Luke 5:22, Luke 6:8, 9:47? Have you thought about His Word in Mark 2:8, 8:17, and 12:15? How about John 2:23?

Is one man’s sexual offense greater than that of another? I am sure from Scripture that God hates fornication, adultery, homosexuality, pedophilia, and the like. He also hates gossip, envy, and divorce. God hates sin because He loves man and sin destroys man.

Is one man’s thoughtful or behavioral response to any temptation weighed differently in heaven than another’s? Is one man’s illegitimate desire or action more offensive to God than that of another? I submit to you that the answer is no.

And so we have Christmas! God came as Christ to be with man, so that the man who is with Christ will no longer be ultimately destroyed by his sin! Hallelujah! God with us!

I do believe there is Scriptural evidence to support our understanding that heavenly rewards may be adjusted according to our record here, and there is tremendous empirical evidence to support the fact that the natural consequences of sin vary greatly and are certainly destructive according to the degree of depravity displayed in the offense.

However, whatever the natural consequences of sin, our mandate as individual Christians is to love in Christ, all of humanity; and to call one another to account as well as others, in The Spirit of Love. (Luke 6:27-36)

Of course, we must consider that it is NOT loving not to call ourselves and one another to account when we are obviously offending God, according to His Word; as then we would be helping ourselves and one another along the path to evil, to compounded sin, or to hell.

This is why it is so important for each of us to remember that we are unable to effectively call another to repentance when we have sin that we have failed to forsake in our own lives, thus we must daily confess our obvious and secret sin, seeking forgiveness for all that is in us that has offended God and then receive that forgiveness. Only then, may we be ready to assist the next man. (Luke 6:39-42)

And one conspicuous way to assist each other is to meet the need we all share as human beings for love, grace, encouragement, companionship, and tenderness.  Some say that we cannot offer these things to those outside the church because we are not to fellowship with the unbeliever. If you are one of them, I submit to you that we have a tendency to misunderstand the term “fellowship” in this instance, as it is intended to imply that we must not engage in those things that are an offense to Our Wonderful God no matter our company or our circumstance, however we are encouraged by the example of Scripture to engage any human being in the love of Christ Jesus Our Lord.

Furthermore, we can offer these things to one another more readily without falling into sin ourselves if we are keeping up the spiritual disciplines in our own lives! My friend, and brother in Christ, Dr. Don Whitney, has written a most excellent and readable guide for today’s Christian called Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. It has been a benefit to me and I highly recommend it to all.

May God help us this Christmas and always to remember that Christ is Christmas! And may He assist us in our attempts to aid one another in His Almighty Love!

The Christian Critic

Living the Word, ,

Some who read this title  may immediately feel that these terms are contradictory:  Christian and critic.  I would answer- may it never be!

We Christians are called to examine first of all ourselves, not to the point of morbid introspection, but to the point of getting at the Truth.  Secondly, we are instructed to adopt the view that Christ in God takes of the world, and this includes all things in and of it.  Now, this would necessitate the application of our critical thinking skills at whatever level that we are able to employ them.

I am certainly not suggesting that we behave in a manner that is unbecoming of Christians; harping on the negative, maintaining a harshness of spirit, cultivating a divisive attitude.  I am suggesting that we carefully consider our own character, and that of the church, to determine moment by moment whether or not it is in keeping with the character of God in Christ.

We cannot expect from the world anything other than a life lived in sympathy with sin.  Those who do not live within the Faith, will live outside of it.  They will live according to the standard dictated by their own nature to sin.  They will make decisions based upon their own rule of truth, which is the dictate of the sin nature.  When they do good, it will be based in their own idea of good- in other words, their motives will be some other than the glorification and enjoyment of God (i.e.,  in obeying a law of traffic, I may do so because I do not wish to die or to injure another, but only due to reasons pertaining to my own convenience to self).

However, from ourselves and from our brothers and sisters, we can and should expect a great deal more.  We are The Bride of Christ! We are never to live in sympathy with our sin nature.  Instead, we are to live in triumph over it! Now this will not be the case in every moment; as we are being sanctified, as we are struggling in our physical constraints, we will stumble on occasion, and it is then that we must in the spirit of Christian criticism call one another to account.

And we should welcome that calling to account, as it is our path home! It is our way out of our flesh and back into His Spirit! Now, this is not to say that His spirit is ever separated from us, once saved.  We are able though, to quell His Spirit within us by our nature to sin- still present, but dominated most often by His Spirit.  Truly, one great and compelling evidence of our own salvation is the immediate desire to return home, once we are confronted and are made to acknowledge the error of our ways.

The one who is lost- is really lost.  He has not merely stumbled and slipped off the right path for a momentary excursion into pleasuring self, and is then able to be shaken out of his stupor to be set right again, rather he is completely misguided and may even believe himself to be on the most direct route to where ever it is he considers himself to be going.  Thus, an awful struggle will many times ensue as an attempt is made to convince this one that he is quickly traveling the road to his own demise.

Yes! I believe we should all be Christian critics, and yet in the Spirit, thus in the prevailing attitude of loving consideration for God Our Father, for brother, and for sister.  Most importantly, we should begin with ourselves, with our own motives, and we should be delighted if other members of the body love us enough to question our lives.

Yoga or Human Cloning? How Do I Choose?

Church Culture, Living the Word, Politics, , ,

Yesterday, a couple of things were intriguing enough to inspire me to type. First, a good friend sent me a link to a story on yoga and Christianity, which calls to account a man for whom I have the greatest respect, Dr. Albert Mohler. And so I was off in the direction of spiritual and physical connection- will, intellect, emotion, body- distinct and yet one…

Oops! Suddenly called away from this train of thought as when on my lunch break I am made aware (thanks to a tweet) of Mississippi’s Initiative No. 26 and the highly interesting language used therein: “…from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the functional equivalent thereof.” Awesome! Maybe Dr. Seuss is right- A person is a person no matter how small!

Now what was it that I was thinking over… that I was going to blog over? Oh, yeah! Dr. Mohler’s aggravated assault on yoga… Never mind that, now! What about human cloning?!

Wait just a minute here… Are these two things truly so unrelated? Is anything truly unrelated? Think. Think. Think.

We humans are definitely a combination of will, intellect, emotion, and according to faith- spirit, all housed within and inextricably intertwined with a physical body- until that moment in which the physical body dies… And even should teleportation become possible we would still be simply a collection of physical particles soon to be reassembled (hopefully), in the proper order (again, hopefully). This means that we would still maintain physical property.

And isn’t an embryo, or a newly made fully developed human body, according to Holy Scripture, the physical house of will, intellect, emotion and spirit for someone? Where is the evidence, Scriptural or otherwise to support the theory that the house has to be developed to a certain point before it contains these other elements common to a human? Or that the house must go through a certain order of development to become the house of the man? And we thought abortion was an ethically tough issue to wade through! For our children and our grandchildren: I hope we’ve been thinking on this cloning stuff…

And Dr. Mohler, surely we must admit that yoga does not present a real threat for a True Christian, as he is, according to much Scriptural evidence, currently and for eternity possessed by the Holy Spirit of God and therefore is undergoing a transformation that will not fail- a transformation that will result in His own likeness.

I know that when I practice yoga… okay… I don’t really practice yoga, but I know that if I practiced yoga… I would be terrible at it… but that’s not the point. The point is this: I would not connect in a spiritual sense. It could not possibly be anything but a physical exercise for me, as I belong to One who governs my spirit with His own, and should my will decide to participate in yoga, or whatever- my spirit remains yoked with the Spirit of God. This is the primary reason that I hate my own sin.

Those who participate in yoga without His indwelling presence, those who do not know Him, are risking a spiritual connection, but not to The One True God. They may get connected to something … I mean- have you seen Poltergeist? Wandering around spiritually without Jesus is definitely risky!

But, back to this cloning thing and MS Initiative 26… what is the functional equivalent thereof anyway?

As the church, we need to be ready with some hard Scriptural evidence to support the ethical stance we will take as the church on the primary issue of human cloning and on all of the secondary issues which will flow from it. God has given us everything that we need in His Holy Word and we should be a step or two ahead of the world- not a mile behind it.

From Playing Church to Loving God

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Part One

I grew up Southern Baptist and remained a member of the denomination until a few years ago.  In fact, Trafalgar Village Southern Baptist, in the suburbs of Memphis, was the first place I ever walked the aisle. I was nine years of age. I remember being emotionally disturbed by the time of the invitation, as I felt certain that my behavior wasn’t altogether good, and that there did exist a God, a heaven, and a hell- and I was as sure as rain just after you water the garden that I wanted to miss the latter.

My grandfather, my mother’s daddy, was a Southern Baptist minister from Texarkana, Arkansas. He preached in his own pulpit, and occasionally in the pulpits in the rural area surrounding Texarkana. We were a close-knit extended family, and this meant that I spent a great deal of time, especially in the summers, running in and out of pews with my brother and usually a cousin or three, in an empty sanctuary. Every now and again, we’d stop some other trivial sport to play church. Some of us would gather on the pews and listen to my brother preach, while another would lead the singin’. Once in a while, there was even a solo- and some of us could boast a truly pleasant voice, which meant it wasn’t a painful experience every time.

Sometimes, when we were feeling especially bold, we would hold a baptismal service. These moments were of course more extraordinary than those when we had no new converts, and often times there would be quite a lot of discussion surrounding whose turn it was to dunk the neophyte … though we never dared to fill up the baptistry… so a healthy imagination was required to participate.

It was a different story when we got together for our family camp. This event, held each year on a crystal clear lake in Arkansas, when the weather was about as hot as weather could get, was ruled and presided over by my four foot ten and a half inch, Irish-American, Granny. She cooked three meals every day in the camp kitchen for she and her husband, their four daughters and their husbands, fourteen grandkids, and eventually a whole slew of greats. She served the goodies up buffet style in the dining hall, just following the blessing; which was most regularly delivered by my Uncle George, a Southern Baptist minister himself, who had a voluminous bass voice which reverberated such, that most of us were pretty sure the fish were prayin’ for ears just so they could plug ’em up.

As soon as the amen was sounded there went up myriad cheers and grateful comments, as each one dove into the piles of steaming hot biscuits, eggs, and pork bacon if it was breakfast; or fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and slaw, or some other mouth-watering combination if it was supper. Much of the bounty upon which we feasted was collected from my grandparent’s large garden- seeming to enhance the flavor ever further.  Nothing seemed to please my Granny more than watching her large family enjoy the work of her hands.

Each morning, we took off for the lake as soon as we swallowed the last mouthful of Granny’s (and God’s) wonderful provision, and we swam like turtles in the cool, shimmering water until hunger claimed us for a second time. Now, these swimming sessions were when our mock church services would get easier for those who were less able to employ a flight of fancy when we played. In the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost, we dunked one another until we were either silly with lake water, or fussin’ to beat the band. We were enjoying being young and alive in those days and we didn’t give much thought to anything else.

Eventually adolescence arrived, as it has a habit of doing, even in those of us who put up the greatest struggle. I was a member of the youth group at Berclair in those days, and my most interesting memory- next to the time we experienced the earth tremors from the New Madrid fault which runs just underneath west Tennessee, and pretty much felt like it ran directly below the church fellowship hall- is one in which our brand spanking new youth minister, fresh out of seminary, elected to teach us to practice meditation and centering. We didn’t talk too much about The Bible, more about social injustices and getting in touch with ourselves.

I was fourteen years old when I attended the Billy Graham Crusade in Memphis, and I had never felt more out of touch with myself. It was nineteen seventy-eight and a tumultuous time in the life of my family, as my parents were beginning to fight the final battle for their highly complicated marriage. I’m not sure what I was expecting when I walked the aisle in that stadium with hundreds of other people. I don’t remember what were my thoughts when I collected my packet of information, which included a phone number that I was told I could call for further counseling and prayer. I only know that I was overwhelmed with the sense of how big was the world, with all its joy and suffering, and how small was I.

As time moved forward, my family moved to rural Arkansas. I attended my last two years of high school in a tiny town of three hundred, while my parents proceeded to divorce. And as there are fine people everywhere, if a person cares to look, I made some truly good friends. Still, I remember those years as the most emotionally difficult of my life, and often joke that Bill Gates himself couldn’t offer me enough money to return to them.

By the time I was twenty-two I had piled up enough personal trouble to frustrate St. Peter, and soon was compelled to walk a third aisle-and this time the motivations of my heart, present and witnessed therein, were different indeed.  Though again in a Southern Baptist church, this third experience proved to be unique. I walked the aisle because I was exhausted with myself. I was begging The Lord God to save me from my sin, from my self. I had a new and proper understanding of His position, as well as of my own in relation to Him. I needed saving- not from hell (though that would certainly be a benefit) but from me. I needed a ruler to tell the fool what to do every minute. Certainly, I didn’t immediately understand all things or even some things… more like a little something new everyday. It has been and continues to be a process. But I did immediately begin to want to understand. I desired to please this new found Love.

Today, I am a dedicated wife, mother of seven wonderful children, daughter, sister- and friend to many; but He, Jesus, The Redeemer of My Soul, remains my First Love. I do not please Him perfectly, but He is faithful, forgiving, and loving, and restores me to right relationship with every slip. At this point, I have studied through The Holy Bible a few times, a bit each day, prayerfully pondering each word and wondering at my Savior. And I remember my childhood with particular fondness, as well as with great sadness, as I have realized over the years that in all of our sincerely church-focused moments, we were subscribing to a convoluted view of The Scriptures that was bound to unravel our faith- if we ever got to thinkin’ very hard.

Part Two

The view I am referring to is the view of a man by the name of Joseph Arminius (1560-1609), whose followers published his teachings in a paper titled The Five Articles of Remonstrance. A close inspection of The Scriptures reveals that it is in error, and has I fear been a culprit behind many turnings from Truth ipossibly including the apparent change in perspective surrounding Islam which we have witnessed in the Reverend Billy Graham. This explanation of The Holy Scriptures fails to consider the entire Word in context, and as a conceptual whole.

The Arminian view states that man is a creature created with and always in possession of a free will, and who if he chooses to believe in Christ, is therefore granted election into the kingdom as a result of that choice; and also teaches that man is unable to do any truly good thing with his free will. It supposes that the creation is therefore able to resist the grace (the supernatural call) of his Creator God and choose his own way, and so that some men will not choose God and will remain forever under His wrath, and yet also that every man’s sin is forgiven. It teaches that a man in the Faith may not continue in the Faith, but may fall away and not return, and yet sites the very verse which states that none of whom Christ has been given will be lost; and that God has forgiven every man’s sin. Obviously all of these things cannot at once be true. For instance, I am sure all would agree that God in Christ alone may forgive sin, and that if one is forgiven his sin, then he is released from the eternal or supernatural consequences of his sin. (However not always from the natural or earthly consequences of his sin.) Now, if one is released from the eternal consequences of one’s sin, it is necessarily implied that one’s sin is forgiven. If one is forgiven then God has forgiven him in Christ. This is salvation: To be rescued by God in Christ from sin, and therefore released from its eternal consequences. Thus, it can be clearly seen that these arminian ideas will continue to lend support to the rise of the heretical teachings of open theism and universalism in the church.

Man has a free will and yet cannot exercise that will for good? Then that will is not free. Either the will is restrained or it is free- it cannot at once be both! Either one is capable of good (as defined by God-pure motive) apart from God, or he is incapable of it. Either man elects himself for salvation by his own good works as he sees fit to do, or God elects him by HIS own good works as God sees fit to do. Either repentance and the forgiveness of sins is necessary for one to inherit salvation, or it is not. Either one is transformed and made a new creation with salvation, or one is not. Either God is Supreme Ruler of All, subordinate to no one and to no thing, or He is not. Either God’s Word is true or it is not.

The Arminian view of Scripture is dangerous in that it diminishes God and magnifies man. This is the antithesis of what God’s Word is most intended to do, as its greatest purpose is to identify God and so to exalt God and to humble man, which will serve to bring man into right relationship with God.  If at any moment, I hold in my core the opinion that God is small and that I am large- then I am in a state of confounded spirituality due to pride; here I am utterly useless to the kingdom of God- be it for a moment, for an hour, or for a lifetime.

Of course, many men of the reformation era of history did take into account the entire Word in context, and did consider It as a conceptual whole. Their explanation of The Holy Scriptures is quite different, and is logical, as it permits for Scripture’s interpretation of Scripture- therefore allowing It to prove Itself.  The view of these men, including John Calvin (1509-1564) and his followers, states that man was created with a free will, but that he lost that gift in the garden when he chose evil with his free will and fell from grace. They taught that man then became a slave to his sin nature, thus was totally incapable of anything purely good, and so needed a Savior to restore to him through Salvation his free will, that he may be capable of what God considers good, and so may volunteer for it. Therefore, they taught that God chose whom He would have mercy upon and rested His grace upon those, and that they, unable to resist His supernatural call, responded and followed Him; and were therefore forgiven of their sin. (As is stated in The Scriptures, repeatedly, God in Christ grants to His followers both repentance and the forgiveness of sins.) It was also taught that they would never again be in that fallen state from which they had been redeemed, due to His ability to save and keep souls perfectly. Also, that whomever was not chosen for mercy would be under the wrath of God forever, and that this is according to the Sovereignty, to the supreme authority of God. These things can all at once be true.  Also,  these teachings do not lend to the errors of open theism or universalism.

However, many people are confused about what it means to be reformed, or to be a Calvinist, today. This is understandable, as it actually means different things to different people in this postmodern period. Personally, I would not profess to be a Calvinist, unless I had read his giant thesis put forth in his institutes and had agreed with it. It is enough to have read and studied every word in The Holy Scriptures and to have agreed with all put forth there, and to call oneself a Christian. However, I do occasionally refer to myself as reformed, because I agree with the five solas of the The Reformation, as well as with the five spine doctrines of Calvinism, sometimes referred to as The Doctrines of Grace .

There are, also, those who agree with Luther’s soteriological thought (teachings regarding salvation), which differs a bit from Calvin’s, who may also label themselves reformed, as well as reformed Presbyterians and those Presbyterians whom I’m sure Brother Knox would consider to be running amuck. Contemplating all of this, we may be tempted to ask ourselves- why does it matter?

I do believe it is a matter of great importance, because next to being assured of one’s own salvation by faith, nothing fires the passionate love of God in a man, or establishes a man more firmly and aids him in his stance more fully when the trials of this life are at their most difficult, as does knowing what he believes to be true about The God who has saved him, and why according to The Holy Scriptures, he believes it is true.

For those of us who exist in the western world today, extremely harsh treatment and physical persecution due to our faith are unheard of- thanks be to God! But our freedom from this particular brand of suffering is not guaranteed.  We must be ready should our time of grave persecution present itself..  Those who stay true to The Word in such circumstance are those in  whom passion for God burns the brightest.  Our right to freely assemble and to worship as is pleasing to us, has been hard-earned in the past and continues to be a state of being which we must work to preserve. I pray that we will never become comfortable to a fault.

These things being stated, most importantly in light of all that we know of God from His Holy Word is the sure mandate that as Christians we are to love and to be a blessing to all, within the church and outside of it; and we are to be discerning of  evil that we may either flee or resist it.

Today, I am a thankful member of a non-denominational evangelical church where The Word of God is faithfully and carefully preached Sunday by Sunday, and heresy does not mar the pulpit. However, I am forever tied- if only by mere sentiment- to the largest protestant denomination in the United States, the precious Southern Baptist, and I long for her continual reformation around pure and sound doctrine.

©2010, L.L. Shelton

Numbering Days and Counting Blessings

Living the Word

For Don Elliott, in Christ’s Love, as he is practicing being thankful in all things:

Today, I am thankful for the life that I was granted in Massachusetts and Ankara. I am glad that I was born in that place which is known for being the location where those who loved Him gave us the name Christian. I am delighted to have been born to a faithful soldier, that I might be transported back across the sea to the land that I love in the arms of my mother.

Today, I am glad that I was brought to the southern United States, to Texarkana, to experience the ups and downs of close-knit living among extended family- both my mother’s relatives and those of my father- all in one stew. I am a person of greater depth for having lived clannishly among those colorful members whose blood stirs in my own veins.

Today, I am thankful that we moved to Memphis when I was six, and strangely grateful for the move to Arkansas that I thought had surely ended my life, when I was three days shy of my sixteenth birthday. I am happy to have experienced the fragmented formal education that was my own as I bounced between county, city, protestant, and catholic schools during those years in Shelby County, Tennessee.

Today, I am glad to have been delivered into the hands of those in a tiny rural county school in Poyen, Arkansas for the final two years of my learning as a child, and to have been the President of our largest campus club- The Future Homemaker’s of America!

Today, I am thankful for the perilous years closely preceding and nearly following the final breakdown of our home, and for the emotionally chaotic years that ensued. I am grateful for each event that transpired during those turbulent and often sad times, as even those most regrettable are part of who I am now- a fierce God-lover.

Today, I am grateful to be married to one who loves me, and who is learning to be the person that God has created him to be, as I love him and am learning to be the person God has created me to be; and I’m happy- again oddly as the many moves involved many hardships- to have followed him around the country for more than twenty years- from Foley, Alabama to Little Rock, to Houston, to Liberty, Missouri. I learned, studied, and grew under each pastor to whom we were given during the course of the journey, and I was privileged to be able to home school our children- allowing me to place great focus and quantity of time on the study of The Word of God, and on many of the great minds of our faith.

Today, it appears that I have come nearly full-circle, as I am currently living in Memphis. I am delighted to be the mother of seven wonderful children, and to continue in home education of the younger ones. I am loving and learning here, as I have in each place I have traversed. I am glad to have pieces of my heart strown from here to yonder, planted- I hope- in the hearts of friends collected at every bend and turn in the road. I am enjoying my God, and I am confident that He is continuing to mold and to make me into the one that He intends for His heavenly purpose.

And I am most thankful because it is becoming increasingly obvious to me that He has used every incident in my life for this present moment, and for those to come in which I will see more of His likeness and less my own; and so I understand as Joseph did, that whether a fellow traveler meant it for evil or for good, or though my own hand was the evil, was of no matter to my Savior, for He has meant it all for good.

©2010, L.L. Shelton