Drinking the Kool-Aid. (August 23 [Everybody])

Note: The following list is taken directly from http://www.acts29network.org/about/distinctives/. I have not altered, manipulated, or in any way/shape/form changed the information that is to be presented. I merely copied and pasted the pieces that I found particularly interesting. They are in the order that they are found on the website, but without all of the information. This is not an attack on this network, nor an attack on people who feel these things to be true. Merely an expression of some of the thoughts that these lines have produced in my mind. By all means, feel free to think what you want—I am but one man! There are also other churches who present similar views, just take a few minutes and google some churches and read their belief statements. They are out there, you just have to look!

THE DOCTRINAL DISTINCTIVES OF ACTS 29

Acts 29 is a network of church-planting churches that stands in the tradition of historic evangelical confessionalism. While we believe it is vital that the Elders of each of our local churches determine where they stand on doctrines of second importance, we do wish to make known our convictions on the following five distinctive theological foundations.

1. We believe the gospel is the good news of what God has graciously accomplished for sinners through the sinless life, sacrificial death, and bodily resurrection of his Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, namely our forgiveness from sin and complete justification before God
   
   1. This Gospel is not only the means by which people are saved, but also the truth and power by which people are sanctified
      
   2. The salvation offered in this gospel message is received by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone; no ordinance, ritual, work, or any other activity on the part of man is required in order to be saved.
      
2. We believe that through the work of the Holy Spirit, God will draw the elect to faith in his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, graciously and effectually overcoming their stubborn resistance to the gospel so that they will most assuredly and willingly believe.
   
   1. We also believe that these, the elect of God whom he gave to the Son, will persevere in belief and godly behavior and be kept secure in their salvation by grace through faith.
      
3. The Holy Spirit who indwelt and empowered Christ in like manner indwells and empowers us through spiritual gifts he has bestowed for the work of ministry and the building up of the body of Christ.
   
   1. We all recognize that they are divine provisions central to spiritual growth and effective ministry and are to be eagerly desired, faithfully developed, and lovingly exercised according to biblical guidelines.
      
4. Both men and women are together created in the divine image and are therefore equal before God as persons, possessing the same moral dignity and value, and have equal access to God through faith in Christ
   
   1. Therefore, women are to be encouraged, equipped, and empowered to utilize their gifting in ministry, in service to the body of Christ, and through teaching in ways that are consistent with the Word of God.
      
   2. God has given to the man primary responsibility to lead his wife and family in accordance with the servant-leadership and sacrificial love characterized by Jesus Christ.
      
   3. The Elders/Pastors of each local church have been granted authority under the headship of Jesus Christ to provide oversight and to teach/preach the Word of God in corporate assembly for the building up of the body.
      
   4. The office of Elder/Pastor is restricted to men.
      
5. We are called to make Christ known through the gospel and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to bring his lordship to bear on every dimension of life.
   
   1. The primary way we fulfill this mission is through the planting of churches that plant churches and the training of their leaders
      
   2. We also believe we are responsible neither to retreat from our culture nor to conform to it, but with humility, through the Spirit and the truth of the gospel, to engage it boldly as we seek its transformation and submission to the lordship of Christ.
      

Welcome to the (near) fall. The time of year that things begin to change. The weather cools. The leaves turn colors as the trees prepare for their yearly slumber. The birds start flying to their more habitable vacation spots. The animals start gathering food more fervently as to stock up for the coming months. And I. I begin to get back into academic mode. I begin to search out the tough questions that my soul feels need answering. I begin to yearn for new knowledge and new insights into things that I previously felt I had a grasp on. I begin to rethink my theological stances, and divine understandings.

This is the time of year, about when school starts back up, that I begin to dig into the mainstream faith systems of people I know and respect in order to make sense of it. This is usually some random piece of Christian theology that seems to contradict itself, or at least my understanding of the faith tradition.

You see, I like learning things. I like making people uncomfortable by presenting information about their faith system that they may not get exposed to during their weekly romp with the divine. However, it should be stated, that I am no expert—by any means. I have a bachelors from a Lutheran school, where I studied religion, but this is not a worthwhile credential. I has provided me with a little foundation to better explore the world of theology. My mentors and friends have provided me with tools and insights that have allowed me to look into the abyss that is theology, and I like to use those tools and insights to stir up trouble.

With all of that being said, I would like to address some things that I have come across lately. Maybe it will be interesting, maybe it will be stupid. What matters is that I share it so that maybe my mind will let go of it enough for it to slip past. I have a firm grip on it right now and it is beginning to hurt my mind hands, so let us journey into the darkness that is my mind in hopes of providing some relief to my tired sour. Fasten your seatbelts, this is going to be fast and dirty….

Grace is a free gift provided to the world by god through the sacrifice of his only begotten son.

Grace has to be fully and knowingly accepted in order to be fully passed on to the recipient here on earth.

This grace is talked about in the gospels, which translates as good news. So, it is only good news to those who knowingly and fully accept the gift, which is free… but requires us to accept it first in order for it to be ours.

When we accept this not-so-free gift, we are given special powers, which have to be used/monitored/whatever by scriptural standards, which may/may not be found in the gospels.

These special powers also allow men to be leaders and women to the loving/caring side of Jesus.

Women, then, cannot be leaders in the church because they should be loving/caring for their husbands and such.

Then, we're supposed to bring in people and teach them these things so that they might go forth and create more like-minded folks.

Now, like I said previously, this is just one manifestation of a faith system that people live out and push forth into the world. I paraphrased, or rather interpreted what they had posed on their website in the lines above so that there is a basis for what comes next. You see, this is one of the problems with today's churches. They bring people in, they create like-minded folks, and then send them out into the world so that they can do the same. I am not against churches; I am not against pastors; I am not against longing to be a part of a community; I am not against a lot of things in this world, which is probably the cause of a lot of my problems.

I do have a problem with people taking advantage of the lay folks in their communities. They know that the people sitting in the pews, or the chairs, or whatever, do not have an interest in understanding what the bible really says about things. They know that the average person doesn't have a vested interest in the life of ancient Jews or people living in the Middle East 2000 years ago. They know that the people want to hear the gospel, and then go on about their lives for the rest of the week. So what happens? We tell them the things that we want them to think the bible says. We tell them the things that will make them feel comfortable in their shoes as they walk through the rest of their week. We create in them a sense of pride and prejudice—a veritable list of what's ok and what's not ok so that they do not stray too far from the line we want them to toe.

In the modern era of America, it is all about toeing a line: in church, at work, in friendship circles, on the internet, in our faith systems, in our belief systems, in our political stances, etc. There are expectations, and the church leaders are one source of the rules and regulations.

We have to train our congregations in the way of the good follower: men are the leaders; grace is free only to those who accept it; God will send you to hell if you do not accept his free gift of grace; women are supposed to the loving/caring partners to men; we are also supposed to sacrifice ourselves for the good of god; we are supposed to convert people to think like us; and the list of things to accomplish in your community, in the name of god goes on and on forever. Depending on the church, the denomination, the pastor, or the network that a church belongs to the lists differ slightly, but it is always a list of things that they believe should be carried out in the world today.

However, I would urge the church leaders to take a more realistic approach.

Claiming that the bible is the inerrant word of God written 2000+ years ago by several different authors; whose books were chosen by a series of staunch old men sitting around a table with a specific agenda; and is a series of guideposts for life in the 21^st century is a dangerous road to travel. However, we do it so well that it is scary.

Inspiration à Inerrancy is the vein of thought here.

The Bible is written by men, who were inspired by God, which makes it infallible.

Hopefully any semi-educated person can see the failed logic in these accusations.

One can be inspired by a god, and be wrong.

The crusades; the holocaust; the war on terror; the war on drugs; the American dream; the isolation, desolation and desecration of many nations all over this country and beyond; all inspired in some part by a god… does that make them right or infallible, or inerrant? No. Most people would say that these were horrible events in the history of people. However, some churches would have us believe that such events are God's wrath being displayed in our world in order to keep us inline. It shows us that god's willingness to torture and torment us if we do not obey his commands, which were supposed to be fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

There are holes in this logic and it makes me wonder: what are we really supposed to be doing here? Are we supposed to be living to avoid the wrath of some vengeful deity that simultaneously send his love and smack the shit out of us? Or are we supposed to take the love that has been given to us and spread it like wildfire to those who surround us; like Jesus said, "Love thy neighbor." There are 2 parts to the Bible: old and new, and the theme of love is everywhere, but we are supposed to fear a vengeful god will condemn us fully and eternally to fire and brimstone.

I don't know.

The grip of my mind's hands is slipping.

My understanding of this will never be fully developed, because as long as there are people willing to take the Bible and create doctrine and stances there will forever be logical flaws.

Be careful when looking for a church, if that is your thing.

Do some reading.

Do some studying.

Do some real thinking about the messages that are being sent into the world by the people who are leading the herd.

We have to love people. Grace is free. Women can be pastors. Look it up, it's there; over and over again.

This is the modern era, and we shouldn't be taking life cues from a culture, religion, and people that lived 2000+ years ago. It is a collection of essays, letters, poems, and random writings pieced together to support a particular agenda—keep this in mind when your church leader starts quoting pieces of these writings as absolute truth for your life today.

Mottos, morals, and words of wisdom are one thing… condemning people today, because of what was customary then is something else entirely.