Applied Doctrines

So, I have been thinking about a lot of different things lately. One item of interest that has been occupying my time lately is how do biblical doctrines apply to our lives. For instance take the doctrine of the Trinity, this is a foundational Christian doctrine, yet how does the Trinity effect the way that we live our lives. It seems that there are some big implications of this, and I think that I will try and sort some of them out tomorrow.

Two Thousand Years of Beautiful History

One think that frustrates me more than anything else is the neglect of orthodox Christian docrtine. By orthodox Christian doctrine I mean biblical doctrine, that is doctrine that one must believe in order for one to be a Christian. Christianity has been around for 2,0000 years and there have always been beliefs that Christians have held. So it always confuses me when people or churches find a new biblical teaching. Other times they just neglect Christian doctrine all together and just imply that we ought to act like Christians without doctrinal beliefs. I often wonder if I know what a Christian community looks like because I don't know if I have ever seen a genuine Christian community. I'm very concerned that the Christianity of America is not the Christianity of the Bible. I don't know why we ignore the basic biblical teachings in the Bible, but this is a serious problem in the U.S.

Peace

I think that I am beginning to understand the following verse:

28 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Matt 11:28-30 (NASB95)

When we understand who God is and the relationship that we have with God through Jesus we realize that every situation is a learning experience. What does this mean? Well, God is soverign, therefore God knows what He is doing. Whenever we find ourself in a difficult spot or position it is because God has put us in that position. If we are having a difficult time it is because God is going to teach us something through that difficult time. I realize that nothing in my life is an accident, nothing is random, but everything is well-ordered and designed so that I may progress in my relationship with God. This is what brings me peace. The fact that God is in control and God is molding me into the person that God wants me to be.

I went to church and a rap concert broke out...

Has anyone heard the joke that goes along the following lines: I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out. What makes this joke funny is that there is so much fighting in a hockey game that the two are considered inseperable. Fighting is a part of hockey and vice versa.

Well, the other night when my wife and I were flipping through channels we watched several minutes of a church service. In this service the pastor/preacher was exhorting his congregation to clap, yell, and stand up among other things. Most rappers/rap groups have something called a 'hype man'. The paradigmatic example of a hype man is Flavor Flav. Flavor Flav's whole purpose was/is to get the crowd excited and cranked up. Joe C. was the hype man for Kid Rock. The hype man generally has no talent of his own other than to get the crowd's energy level to increase. This pastor/preacher my wife and I saw on T.V. seemed to have the sole purpose of increasing the crowd's energy. I really don't know how God is glorified when people that attend church to worship God get hyped up by the pastor. However, this pastor seemed to believe that he was getting these people in the pews to worship God. The most disturbing thing about the previous night is that this pastor is not alone in being a hype man for God. Many pastors are hype men for God. Church has become entertainment where people go to get emotionally hyped, then go home to continue with their lives as before.

Life

You know life is a funny thing. If you stop to reflect upon what has happened, you begin to live in the past. If you think about the future you neglect the present. And, if you just live for the present, well, you mess up your future and eventually ruin your present. It seems the best way to live life is to emphasize all three aspects of one's life not neglecting any one over the others. However, even if one does this it still seems that life just slips away, this is where Christians seem to have hope. This is not all that we will experience, we will have eternal life. Yet, sometimes this eternal life seems so far away, so difficult to grasp, almost like a willow wisp. All too often Christians that I observe get caught up in the present life, what must I do to be happy, what are the seven keys to happiness? That type of concern. However, we cannot be so caught up in the future eternal life that we neglect this life either. It seems that the Christian life is a life of balance. So, we must realize that we ought to be willing to forsake all in this life for the sake of the future life, yet not neglect this life entirely due to our forward thinking about the future life. Both are important and ought to be considered when one makes a decision.