TULIP

I am a featherweight when it comes to the ocean that is theology. I am by no means a particularly scholarly person. I am no expert in, well...anything. I am trying to learn. One scholarly topic that I find fascinating is Calvinism v.s. Arminianism.

The five points of Calvinism (TULIP) are Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, and Perseverance of the saints. Basically, man is totally incapable of any good, God is sovereign in the smallest details, and everything in your life happens by God's divine choosing. The opposite (Arminianism) says that man is capable of choosing good, God is sovereign of important things, and everything in your life is a result of your good/bad choices. What a fun argument-- let's try and figure out how God, necessarily, works! There is always a pendulum swaying between one or the other being the right answer. Some of the best scholars of today are Calvinist, and some of the other best scholars are not. I don't have a resolute answer, but I would like to just lay some things out as a novice (truly).

I don't particularity like Calvinist theology. Ironically, I feel like I read more about it than the other, but I am not a fan. I think their Biblical evidence is, oftentimes, still cloudy. I think their best scholars are surprisingly arrogant. Also, I think they are more inclined to scoff at any other theology; after all, they are the Reformed theology. What are they missing? Calvinism is very therapeutic on the personal level. Only Christians understand Calvinism, and only people who see themselves as the elect even argue about it. They feel secure that they are saved, so this theology leaves them at great personal gain. All the injustice and pure chaos that occurs on earth is merely filed under sovereign choices, pushed to the back of their mind, and on they walk. I think there are some big questions on the macro level. If they are honest, I think they are confused as to why they need to do missions. If God elected someone, that person (so they believe) will be saved. Why evangelize? I have never heard a good answer to that (doesn't mean there isn't one). From the non-believer perspective, who wants to serve that God? Their sinful choices mean nothing because they are either elect or they aren't. It's very confusing.

On the flip-side, I know God predestines some things. I know the Holy Spirit sought me, and not the other way around. I know God is sovereign and is able to do whatever he pleases. I know I have been elected to serve as an agent of reconciliation in God's kingdom. I have no doubt that God called me. But I have also seen people reject the call. I have seen people turn their back on grace. I have seen people taste the heavenly gift, but spit it back in God's face. I have a hard time explaining such...craziness.

So what? I think this argument is stupid! People don't know that they are elect until they are. I don't know who the elect are, so I shouldn't have any reservation about spreading the Gospel to anyone I meet. People don't care to know if they were elected or if they chose God. People need Jesus. I hated hearing such a simple answer, but then I understand that there are some things I can't know. I don't need to know if every little thing is a result of God's direct intervention or not, but I know I want to walk inside his will. I know that I can best glorify God when I am most inside of his will. I want to be a part of his story.

Hebrews 6 warns the church against falling away. There are many interpretations, biases, slants, theories, etc. I don't care about those. I care about hugging God so tightly that I will never fall away. Whether I can or can't is irrelevant. I won't. I might be unconditionally elected, someone who fell away may have never really been a Christian, and we may all just be pretending that we are elect-- it doesn't matter. God is in charge, I am not. I will walk inside his will simply because he is God. I need no other reason to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God is God, and I will let him explain his sovereignty for himself. I am elected by God to be his servant, and I choose to stay that way every day. So, Calvinist or Arminianist? Christian.

Sex Life

I am getting married in less than a month! I'm very excited about that, and I know it's cliche but I am marrying my best friend. We have dated for 3 years and some change, and we know each other so well that it makes us laugh at times. I am just a young guy, turning 20 at the end of May, and Amy is a very young lady! Because we are so young there have been a few voiced concerns, and probably many more unvoiced. If you don't mind, I would like to explain why we are getting married in May (rather than August or December (as previously planned)).

We are crazy in love--duh. We have dated for a long time and fell in love very early on in our relationship. Our love has been growing greater daily and it is way deeper than I'd ever though it could be. We are exceptionally mature for our age, and I trust that you know me well enough to know that I'm not trying to brag; just explain. We are, of course, very anxious to be married, but we are not making foolish choices. And finally, of course we are excited for sex, but that is simply not our motivation. I heard a comedian once say that getting married for sex is like buying a Bowing 747 for the in-flight peanuts--it's not worth it!

We moved the date up twice because December is honestly just too far away, and May is better than August for tax reasons and for Pell grant. That isn't the prime motivation either, but it will help us out tremendously. Also, I will be interning in another state this summer and it would make sense to have my wife with me. All these things, in themselves, are not great reasons to get married, but they do add up to make a pretty good case.

The key reason we are getting married is because we know it is God's plan. We are not foolish enough to jump into one of the most important life decisions without God's blessing. Not only that, but we have the blessing from every godly person in our lives. No one even considers our age because they know that we are mature, but more importantly mature in Christ. We are getting per-marital counseling from Robin and Jayme Sigars, so you know they won't take it easy on us! Basically, we are doing everything to prepare for a covenantal marriage that will last until death does, in fact, part us.

We want our marriage to represent God's love for his people; that is our aim. We have the uttermost reverence for the covenant of marriage. So let me shoot down some possible doubts in your mind.

We are not trying to just go against the grain and be mature, or play house. We are not having sex, or on the brink of sexual activity, nor is Amy pregnant. All praise and glory to God because we can say that we have never had sex in our lives. It is sad that, even to us, it is hard to believe that anyone can be together for 3 years and not have sex. Of course we are excited for sex; we would be some massive weirdos if we weren't, but God has sustained us and provided us with what we need to stay virgins.

We have not been perfect and we have not always been as crazy about each other as we are now. We passed from the infatuation stage (where we think the other person has no flaws) into the rocky time where we had to question how committed we truly were, and that was two years ago. We are not going into this life-long marriage blind.

There it is- I drew you in with a provocative title, but now you don't have to question our motivation for marriage. I am so blessed by Amy and give full credit to God for any success in our relationship. Pray for us that we would grow in love for each other as we continue to love God more and make him first in our lives. Thank you for supporting and caring for us. See you May 26th!

[Proof-read by the Amy Gentry]

Disciples>Deciders

I love the church, and I owe my life to it. I owe my life to God, those he chose to disciple me, and the church that nurtured me. Before I go on, please understand my love for the church. I am offended when people just church bash, so know that that is not at all my aim.

I am afraid of something though. As a church, we are losing a lot of people to mediocrity. High school students, who are seemingly on Christian beast-mode, are getting into college and falling flat on their faces. It isn't even a long process. These former leaders in their youth group are easily swayed by popularity...maybe someone reading this is one of those people. What went wrong?

 We are encouraging people to make decisions all the time. At church, youth group, and emotionally charged camp environments we are asking a similar thing-- decide. Of course you have to make a decision at some point, but we make a lot of decisions and then what? CIY (no dog on them at all) is a prime example. Kids get all worked up and make grandiose decisions for God. Then they are at home, the dopamine has receded, and the same temptations/situations are in their lap. It's obvious how powerful the call was by how quickly the call is dropped. They have made a decision.

That isn't necessarily the bad part. The bad part is when they get home, we show slides at church, give them a Bible, pat them on the back, then send them back out. That is like giving a soldier a gun (that he doesn't know how to use correctly), giving them an army I.D., then sending them to war. It would be ridiculous to expect much out of that soldier. Why are we doing this to real people? There has to be discipleship. This is our responsibility and commission.

Discipleship takes time, effort, and passion. We need to be discipling people and filling them up. We can make all the decisions we want, but discipleship is the marker of a Christian. Post-modernity (the evil nemesis) would lead us all to think that faith is strictly personal, private, and relative. I'm calling you all out right now. Faith is NOT private, having an opinion and taking a stand are NOT always wrong, and it is NOT an option to apply Christianity to certain parts of your life and not the other. Christianity is who we are, not just what we do. How can people understand that if there isn't discipleship?

We need to be discipled, and be disciplers. If we aren't doing that, you can expect to be empty. If you are one of those people who have made a decision that hasn't moved you to action, don't give up. There is some reason you made that decision to follow Christ. Rediscover that reason and come be discipled. Some of my friends need to do this; you have lost sight of your purpose. Please come back. You have seen what God has done, don't forsake that for the flesh. God is not a decision you make in different situations, he is "Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."

(Credit to Chad Ragsdale, and therefore the Holy Spirit, for teaching me this concept.)

Post This, Post That

In America we are noticing an obvious decline in Christian prominence in politics. There is a lot of people wondering what happened to our so-called "Christ country." As you well know, we are in a post-modern society. If you didn't know that, then you probably don't know what post-modern even means. So, basically, it is a philosophy with the mantra "To each his own." In other words, don't tell me how to live me life and I will do the same for you. Morality is relative, values are relative, faith is relative, and we are all gonna die anyways.

If you thought that was bad, we are also becoming post-Christian society. We are moving into an interesting transition. The baby-boomers (people who are roughly 50+) are a group of people who grew up in church. On Sunday, you went to church with your family. That is simply what you did. Those people still go to church every Sunday. Everyone in that generation at least knows of basic Bible stories. Specifically in the Bible belt it means that everybody is "Christian." Christian is more of a cultural norm that a religion around here. But now kids aren't growing up in church. Lot's of kids never have even been to church. Most kids know nothing about the Bible and know nothing about the face of true discipleship.

That seems really bleak, doesn't it? Maybe not. Maybe this is a good thing? It is fine to disagree with me, but I would like to propose that it is perhaps not a good thing, but it is okay.

Post-modernity, if lived even semi-consistently, is open to interpretation. That is apathetic and pretty lazy, but could be helpful. The modern era, which we have moved out of, was much more rigid. That was the era of science versus religion. That was the era of mocking religion. Post-modernity is the era of "we'll see." There is a lot more curiosity, openness, and hopefully more honesty. It is refreshing to hear more of the answer "I don't know." People are starting to break away from the rigid and look for answers. I believe, as I hope you do, that Christianity has the best, most adequate answers to all of the most important questions in life. So I am not afraid to of openness, if I am ready to go out and get the lost. Take courage from that. There is an opportunity here!

The fact that we are becoming post-Christian is a little rougher, but I still see the potential. I said that everybody was "Christian" for the longest time in America-- it was just what we did (similar to Jewish or Muslim traditions today). Christianity was more of a uniting cultural norm that a sanctifying corporate faith. Now people are being forced to be more honest. I had a friend tell me that in the northwest of America you are either a Christian or you aren't; there is no middle ground. I would posit that that's how it should be. I think that when we begin to become more post-Christian we will be forced to either give up a no-longer-convenient faith and cash it in for the humanism that we have been practicing all along, OR we will have to take a stand for the radical calling of Christ. I think it could be revolutionary to the American church. It would shrink massively, but I am convinced more and more that size is a very limited indicator of discipleship. God desires true disciples, not numbers.

Like coffee, we will have to go through a filter. That filter keeps all the distasteful grinds from falling down into your hot coffee. only the coffee, the good stuff that has stayed on the narrow road that leads to life, will remain after the strain. It will eliminate worthless lip-service churches. It will scatter those who go to church for a social gathering. I think the church would be forced to be genuine or die.

I think that Christianity has been taken for granted and abused by us Americans, at times. However, I am hopeful that we will continue to head the right direction. I think the landscapes and the strategies are going to evolve, but Christ will remain the cornerstone of the true church. I am excited to have the opportunity to deliver the Gospel to the open minds of our generation. I would like to invite you to join in with me. If you aren't sure if your faith is genuine, ask the mature Christian who knows you because it's time to find out. If you are true, let's do our job and go out to get people. We have a mission field everywhere we step.

The Grind

If you are reading this blog right now, odds are that you are doing just fine. I'm doing fine, and if I know you half-way then you are probably okay too. Sure I have my problems, and I don't want to belittle your pains too much, but we're all doing okay.

I am being expanded in my understanding of the world lately. I lived in the suburban part of Topeka for 18 years and always drove past the "ghetto" with locked doors and rolled up windows. Out of sight, out of mind. Now I live in Joplin, a small town in southwest Missouri, USA. People are different here. There are a lot of homeless people here, and there are a lot who are close to it. There is a large working class here. There are lots of single moms, jailmate's children, and so many kids with a divided household. People are striving day-to-day to provide for themselves and their kids.

What I hope you realize is that we live in a fairytale. Everyone that I know, especially those willing to read my blog, is a capable, able-minding, physically stable person. I am ashamed to talk about any trials that I've had in my life. I have no horror stories, no drug-addicted parents, no homeless or foodless nights. I am ashamed of any complaint that I've ever had. We are living a fairytale in the sense that we have never been found wanting. Call me a liar after you turn off your computer and you lay in your own bed tonight. Also, in reality we are the minority. Most people are constantly grinding and striving for meager wages. I am sitting in a college dorm on my own laptop, none of which I paid for...don't take that for granted, but don't feel so "blessed" that you think the simple acknowledgement of your blessed status gives you the right to shrug an apathetic shoulder toward those in the gutter.

Now, my Christian family, there is even more to the story. I was doing some training for work, and my instructor told a story of a man who lost mobility from an accident. Another man in my class said, "Wouldn't it just be better to die? I mean you can't do anything on your own?" I laughed quietly, like a fool. Because I thought this guy was so short-sighted that it was laughable. That's because I've lost sight of the grind. People without Christ have no idea to deal with catastrophe. I am that arrogant jerk who forgot to relate to those lost people who need what I so readily take for granted. I'm know I don't deserve saving, but I really should give it to someone else who will love it more than I do. I need to beg for forgiveness for all that I have taken for granted.

Please friends, don't ever forget how fortunate we are; Christian or not you are not meant to serve yourself. Please don't read this and take it as "good thoughts." I don't care if this feeds your desire to think about how fortunate you are if you aren't going to do anything about it. Stop being afraid of homeless people and remember that society once considered them just as much "real people" as you and I. Let's stop turning a blind eye and staying in our dream world. Life is truly a grind outside our fairytale.