This YouTube video was taken a few years ago on my campus. The preacher apparently makes rounds to all the colleges in the area, preaching hell fire and brimstone to all the students. In this particular video he gets into an argument with a lesbian woman. It is very interesting to observe the two completely opposite views of Christianity and salvation, both of them wrong.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5yuXStr6Io
On the one side, the preacher claims that everyone is going to hell if they don't start living their lives right. Apparently Jesus didn't do a whole lot according to him, because we still have to be perfect to get into heaven.
On the other side is the guy making the video and the lesbian. According to them, their friend Jesus loves people just the way they are. It doesn't matter if you're living in unrepentant sin, Jesus loves you anyway.
I though it was pretty interesting to see both of these confusions of law and gospel portrayed in this video.
(On a side note, this is also really interesting to me because it happened right in front of my dorm. You can see the window to my room in the background. I wasn't there at the time this happened, but I wish I had seen it.)
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Monday, December 22, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Food
I can now say that I am a true college kid: I will do almost anything for free food. I will attend informational meetings about groups on campus, or even join clubs that meet over the lunch break if food is offered. In fact, I will even listen to Baptist preaching for a quick bite of lunch. It's really a matter of convenience. On Thursdays I simply don't have time to run 15 minutes to the cafeteria, wait in line, eat, and get back in time for my next class. However, I do have time to run three minutes to the Baptist Student Union, pay two dollars for a home cooked meal, and listen to a speaker while I eat.
This is a very clever tactic that the Baptists use to draw in students such as myself. We get food, and at the same time we get to find out how to live our lives more like Jesus. We hear all about how God wants to give us His power in our lives, and He will give us His power if we just do our part. We learn all about how great our lives will be if we just allow God's power to enter our hearts. Jesus usually gets honorable mention, if that. It's a bit depressing to listen to, but the food is really good...
There is also a Lutheran Student Fellowship on campus. Of course it's very small, maybe seven or eight people, but we meet every Monday night. Pizza is included of course. The Lutheran pastor here is very mission minded. Church, Sunday school, and Monday night... meetings, are very focused on making the church more inviting, accessible, dare I say relevant. I can't call what we do on Monday night a bible study, since we never open a bible, and we don't discuss theological topics. We use a Methodist program that discusses issues more 'relevant' than God's word. Our first study was about whether gambling is bad and whether the church should accept money from gambling. The second one was about how to make people with disabilities more comfortable at church. These are interesting topics to ponder, but our pondering never leads to God's word. Jesus doesn't even make honorable mention in these studies.
Last night a friend invited me to a Reformed University Fellowship bible study. They are a group of reformed Presbyterians and Baptists, more conservative than their mainstream counterparts. My friend told me they would sing some praise songs and then do a lecture style bible study. Based on afore mentioned experience, I wasn't expecting much. But it was something to do, so I decided to go see what they were all about.
It was true that they did sing songs with a guitar and a beat, but I was very surprised at the songs they choose. They were hymns, same words, same tunes, songs that can be found in LSB. They syncopated the beat and added a guitar, but otherwise nothing was changed. That was surprising, but after the songs was the message, and I settled in, ready for half an hour of headache. The study opened with a prayer, and again I was surprised. There were no "I just want to... (fill in the verb) Lord" phrases. The prayer could have easily fit into a Lutheran church! We prayed that the Holy Spirit would reveal God in His word, and that He would bless the study and make it fruitful. No verbs for us!
Then the leader, Ben, handed out sheets with a reading from Mark. I was surprised again, this study was actually bible based! As Ben started teaching the lesson I could feel my eyes bugging out. My jaw must have been close to the floor. A quick summary of the lesson: We are all sinful and our sin is the only thing that seperates us from God, but Jesus came to forgive that sin and restore our relationship. Time and time again the people try to figure out what they can do to get rid of their own sin, but Jesus continues to turn their world upside down by showing that all their good works amout to nothing. Without Jesus' forgiveness they are left dead and so are we.
It was amazing! I listened closely for the punch line, for Ben to say 'now here's what you need to do, here's why Jesus isn't enough." It never happened. The study was far more biblical and in line with Lutheran teaching than anything I've heard from the Lutheran church in town!
The situation is ironic: the Lutherans here are so worried about being relevant that they have ditched God's word, focusing on what we do rather than what Jesus does. They do this out of a sincere desire to grow the church (the pastor has said as much). So far the pastor has brought in five or six kids. The Reformed Presbyteriean group is focused on God's word and Jesus' saving work for us. Ben was not saying good church growing things- he was telling us how sinful we are an how we can't do anything about it. There were at least thirty or forty kids in that room.
Forget the numbers- Give us the Word, that's the food we really need.
This is a very clever tactic that the Baptists use to draw in students such as myself. We get food, and at the same time we get to find out how to live our lives more like Jesus. We hear all about how God wants to give us His power in our lives, and He will give us His power if we just do our part. We learn all about how great our lives will be if we just allow God's power to enter our hearts. Jesus usually gets honorable mention, if that. It's a bit depressing to listen to, but the food is really good...
There is also a Lutheran Student Fellowship on campus. Of course it's very small, maybe seven or eight people, but we meet every Monday night. Pizza is included of course. The Lutheran pastor here is very mission minded. Church, Sunday school, and Monday night... meetings, are very focused on making the church more inviting, accessible, dare I say relevant. I can't call what we do on Monday night a bible study, since we never open a bible, and we don't discuss theological topics. We use a Methodist program that discusses issues more 'relevant' than God's word. Our first study was about whether gambling is bad and whether the church should accept money from gambling. The second one was about how to make people with disabilities more comfortable at church. These are interesting topics to ponder, but our pondering never leads to God's word. Jesus doesn't even make honorable mention in these studies.
Last night a friend invited me to a Reformed University Fellowship bible study. They are a group of reformed Presbyterians and Baptists, more conservative than their mainstream counterparts. My friend told me they would sing some praise songs and then do a lecture style bible study. Based on afore mentioned experience, I wasn't expecting much. But it was something to do, so I decided to go see what they were all about.
It was true that they did sing songs with a guitar and a beat, but I was very surprised at the songs they choose. They were hymns, same words, same tunes, songs that can be found in LSB. They syncopated the beat and added a guitar, but otherwise nothing was changed. That was surprising, but after the songs was the message, and I settled in, ready for half an hour of headache. The study opened with a prayer, and again I was surprised. There were no "I just want to... (fill in the verb) Lord" phrases. The prayer could have easily fit into a Lutheran church! We prayed that the Holy Spirit would reveal God in His word, and that He would bless the study and make it fruitful. No verbs for us!
Then the leader, Ben, handed out sheets with a reading from Mark. I was surprised again, this study was actually bible based! As Ben started teaching the lesson I could feel my eyes bugging out. My jaw must have been close to the floor. A quick summary of the lesson: We are all sinful and our sin is the only thing that seperates us from God, but Jesus came to forgive that sin and restore our relationship. Time and time again the people try to figure out what they can do to get rid of their own sin, but Jesus continues to turn their world upside down by showing that all their good works amout to nothing. Without Jesus' forgiveness they are left dead and so are we.
It was amazing! I listened closely for the punch line, for Ben to say 'now here's what you need to do, here's why Jesus isn't enough." It never happened. The study was far more biblical and in line with Lutheran teaching than anything I've heard from the Lutheran church in town!
The situation is ironic: the Lutherans here are so worried about being relevant that they have ditched God's word, focusing on what we do rather than what Jesus does. They do this out of a sincere desire to grow the church (the pastor has said as much). So far the pastor has brought in five or six kids. The Reformed Presbyteriean group is focused on God's word and Jesus' saving work for us. Ben was not saying good church growing things- he was telling us how sinful we are an how we can't do anything about it. There were at least thirty or forty kids in that room.
Forget the numbers- Give us the Word, that's the food we really need.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
A Time for Prayer
School has definitely started. I've gotten through two weeks of classes, meet-and-greets, and orientations. Things have been extremely busy, and to complicate matters even more, I got a nasty virus last week. I don't expect the pace to slow down much. Soon there will be papers due, club functions, and all manner of busy college life to keep up with.
It is interesting to note that, with seemingly fewer and fewer hours in every day, my sinful human nature is quick to cut prayer out first. My daily devotions, which had become a habit over the summer, have been the first things to get shortened or skipped altogether. "Real life" keeps getting in the way! For example, I have made a commitment to exercise for half an hour every day. No one is making me do this, I am doing it on my own because I know it will give me great health benefits. However, when it comes to God's word, which delivers greater benefits than any amount of exercise, half an hour seems unreasonable. I weasel it down to 15 minutes if that. My old adam refuses to make time to be daily drowned in God's word!
Fortunately God is gracious, and so far He hasn't fried me to a crisp for ignoring Him. Instead He keeps calling me to repentance and offering his forgiveness. Fortunately He will not send me to Hell for going out for some late night ice cream instead of saying my prayers. Thank God that my salvation does not depend on how much I pray. Rather, prayer is a gift of faith receiving the promises of God. The question then is why would I refuse the gift of prayer?
It is interesting to note that, with seemingly fewer and fewer hours in every day, my sinful human nature is quick to cut prayer out first. My daily devotions, which had become a habit over the summer, have been the first things to get shortened or skipped altogether. "Real life" keeps getting in the way! For example, I have made a commitment to exercise for half an hour every day. No one is making me do this, I am doing it on my own because I know it will give me great health benefits. However, when it comes to God's word, which delivers greater benefits than any amount of exercise, half an hour seems unreasonable. I weasel it down to 15 minutes if that. My old adam refuses to make time to be daily drowned in God's word!
Fortunately God is gracious, and so far He hasn't fried me to a crisp for ignoring Him. Instead He keeps calling me to repentance and offering his forgiveness. Fortunately He will not send me to Hell for going out for some late night ice cream instead of saying my prayers. Thank God that my salvation does not depend on how much I pray. Rather, prayer is a gift of faith receiving the promises of God. The question then is why would I refuse the gift of prayer?
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
In a Lost Crowd
A word about where I am and where I'm going. My dad graduated from Ft. Wayne Seminary four years ago. He got his call to a very small congregation in the deep deep south. I've come to realize why the congregation is so small, and why this is actually the norm in this state. There are no Lutherans down here!
Imagine the culture shock, leaving an almost entirely Lutheran community, and moving to a wilderness of Bapti-Methocostals! My high school was grades 10-12, and had about 1500 students. A very large school by any standards. My sophomore and junior years, I was one of only two Lutherans at the entire school. My senior year the number picked up to one of six. Six out of 1500. Now there may have been other students who called themselves Lutheran, but since they do not regularly attend any of the churches in the area they don't count in my statistic.
Not only that. I was amazed to find that very few of my fellow students knew anything about Lutherans. I was quite regularly bombarded with questions like: "Lutherans, aren't you guys a cult?" "Are you even Christian?" "Don't you worship Satan?" "You guys aren't much different from Baptists are you?" It was mind blowing how uninformed these people were! And I'm pretty sure that everyone is required to study the Lutheran Reformation in World History!
Sometimes I feel very overwhelmed by the false doctrine pressing all around me. Outside of my small church community, no one shares the beliefs that are so fundamental to my entire life. I'm sure this will continue on into college. In fact, I'm told it will probably get worse. However, unlike most of the kids who are getting ready to set out on their own in a matter of days or weeks, I have a defense against the relativism of the college campus. I have God's word as an anchor of absolute truth, and as a shield to protect me from the attacks of the world and of Satan. Though I am vastly outnumbered, God is with me, and He will guide me through this wilderness.
Imagine the culture shock, leaving an almost entirely Lutheran community, and moving to a wilderness of Bapti-Methocostals! My high school was grades 10-12, and had about 1500 students. A very large school by any standards. My sophomore and junior years, I was one of only two Lutherans at the entire school. My senior year the number picked up to one of six. Six out of 1500. Now there may have been other students who called themselves Lutheran, but since they do not regularly attend any of the churches in the area they don't count in my statistic.
Not only that. I was amazed to find that very few of my fellow students knew anything about Lutherans. I was quite regularly bombarded with questions like: "Lutherans, aren't you guys a cult?" "Are you even Christian?" "Don't you worship Satan?" "You guys aren't much different from Baptists are you?" It was mind blowing how uninformed these people were! And I'm pretty sure that everyone is required to study the Lutheran Reformation in World History!
Sometimes I feel very overwhelmed by the false doctrine pressing all around me. Outside of my small church community, no one shares the beliefs that are so fundamental to my entire life. I'm sure this will continue on into college. In fact, I'm told it will probably get worse. However, unlike most of the kids who are getting ready to set out on their own in a matter of days or weeks, I have a defense against the relativism of the college campus. I have God's word as an anchor of absolute truth, and as a shield to protect me from the attacks of the world and of Satan. Though I am vastly outnumbered, God is with me, and He will guide me through this wilderness.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Waking Up
Well, It's finally time to face the facts. My childhood is nearly over. I'll be leaving for college in 10 days, and finally enter the world of the grown-ups.
For the past 18 years I have lived in a cocoon of love and support. My family has nurtured me, and sheltered me from the harsh realities of the world. My parents are strong Christians, who have provided a safe haven to nurture my faith in God, and to let the Word grow my faith and my understanding. They have brought me up in the Lutheran Church, teaching me according to the Lutheran confessions.
Over the years I've learned many lessons. Don't touch a hot stove, play nice with others, work hard in everything you do. I've learned to save rather than spend impulsively. I've learned how to study and rejoice in knowledge. I've learned the importance of God and His Word, of Jesus Christ and His saving work, and of the Holy Spirit who works faith. Now it is time to take these lessons with me as I enter the secular college campus.
I feel that in many respects, I am nearly an adult. I can drive, get a job, and balance a checkbook. However, though my faith is growing, it will continue to need support and a strong guiding hand. I will never be able to launch out and support my faith on my own. I can never take my salvation into my own hands and expect to hold onto it. For that I must rely on God. If I ever leave the church or the Word, my faith will be lost. Therefore, though the world sees me as an adult, God willing, my faith will remain like that of a little child. Trusting in God for all things for body and soul.
For the past 18 years I have lived in a cocoon of love and support. My family has nurtured me, and sheltered me from the harsh realities of the world. My parents are strong Christians, who have provided a safe haven to nurture my faith in God, and to let the Word grow my faith and my understanding. They have brought me up in the Lutheran Church, teaching me according to the Lutheran confessions.
Over the years I've learned many lessons. Don't touch a hot stove, play nice with others, work hard in everything you do. I've learned to save rather than spend impulsively. I've learned how to study and rejoice in knowledge. I've learned the importance of God and His Word, of Jesus Christ and His saving work, and of the Holy Spirit who works faith. Now it is time to take these lessons with me as I enter the secular college campus.
I feel that in many respects, I am nearly an adult. I can drive, get a job, and balance a checkbook. However, though my faith is growing, it will continue to need support and a strong guiding hand. I will never be able to launch out and support my faith on my own. I can never take my salvation into my own hands and expect to hold onto it. For that I must rely on God. If I ever leave the church or the Word, my faith will be lost. Therefore, though the world sees me as an adult, God willing, my faith will remain like that of a little child. Trusting in God for all things for body and soul.
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