Basic Training

Spirituality Column #99
September 30, 2008
Current in Carmel - Westfield (IN) newspaper

Basic Training
By Bob Walters
Author of Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

The most important thing I did as I began my walk with Christ in earnest not so many years ago was to read the Bible … Genesis to Revelation.

Did I understand everything I read? No. Parts of the Bible are great stories, parts of it are stultifying lists, parts of it are depressing truths about mankind, parts of it are scary truths about God, and parts of it are glorious truths about God’s love, hope, faith and salvation. There’s not one part of it that doesn’t serve to teach us about the light and love of Jesus.

All of it I accept as God’s truth, even the parts I don’t entirely understand; even the parts I understand but can’t explain. The Bible is a treasure of truth God has provided. As Christians, it’s where we dig for treasure every day.

Yet, reading the Bible isn’t enough.

So many people either stay away or turn away from Christ, from religion, from church, from the Bible. I’ve yet to encounter a believer whose faith hasn’t been challenged by someone they loved or respected.

Reading the Bible end-to-end may provide some street cred in ecclesiastical circles, but learning apologetics – how to defend one’s faith against the challenges of an all-too-disbelieving world – is time every bit as well-spent as learning scripture.

Apologetics (think C.S. Lewis) means “defense” and is the arena where my faith and trust in Christ Jesus encounter the doubt, distrust, disappointment and even hostility of non-believers. It’s where the rubber meets the road of a Christian walk; it is basic training for being in the army of God.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) originally wrote this in advance of an apologetics conference in the area that was later cancelled.  But ... he posts this as a Classic now because Walters began his walk in faith 11 years ago this weekend, on Sunday, Sept. 2, 2001, at East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis.  It was his first time in church in nearly 30 years and that morning amounted to the "hour he first believed."  It just so happened that very day at E91 was the 50th anniversary of Russ Blowers' ministry at E91, and both Russ and senior minister Dave Faust - who two and a half months later baptized Bob - shared the E91 pulpit that day.  Russ preached on 1 Corinthians 13.  Bob's never forgotten that.  And, a special thanks to Bob's older son Eric (Carmel, 2010), who a couple weeks earlier had suggested the family attend church.  It's funny how things get started ...

Politics, and God's Funny Bone

Spirituality Column #98
September 23, 2008
Current! in Carmel (IN) Newspaper
Current! in Westfield (IN) Newspaper

Politics, and God’s Funny Bone
By Bob Walters

God shows up in funny places in American politics.

Republicans include God in politics, but that’s not always a good idea. Pray for wisdom, sure. But the way churches fight about religious practices, worship and doctrines, they could never achieve consensus in government.

Democrats include God in politics when it fits a momentary need, then go back to outlawing public prayer while defending gay marriage and abortion. Democrats can say outrageous things about religion and get away with it because hardly anybody thinks they understand what they are saying.

Libertarians are true to their roots … they never want to hear anything about God in politics or government, period. Call them the irreligious right.

(FYI, for a religion that includes its own government, look up “Islam.”)

Feminists lost Hillary for president and now, dealing with family-values pitch-perfect Sarah Palin, are losing their minds. Wanna-be philosopher celebrities spew daily invective against a caring mom and accomplished, corruption-busting governor.

Then there’s the media, the wretched Fourth Estate (lowest caste) of the cultural order. Since Mrs. Palin joined the Republican ticket the media has proven it is absolutely and possibly irretrievably out of touch with the depth and breadth of Christian belief, intellect and – yes – kindness residing in majority America.

Democratic “talking points” for a recent news cycle were about Jesus Christ being a “community organizer” (reference to Obama), and Pontius Pilate being a governor (reference to Sarah Palin).

The media thought it was clever. Republicans would never compare anyone to Jesus, and I remind the Democrats Bill Clinton was a governor.

Actor Matt Damon – in an Associated Press video interview – grimaced and stammered as he contemplated the “bad Disney movie” horror of a potential Palin presidency. Damon vapidly posed, “does she believe that dinosaurs were alive 4,000 years ago?” He really said that, smacking of what I perceive to be the unspoken epilogue, “like the rest of those nutty Christian Creationist right wing lunatics.”

I don’t remember Mrs. Palin ever mentioning dinosaurs. Damon’s implication was that, because of her faith, Mrs. Palin is stupid. I’m not sure when there were dinosaurs, but then I don’t “believe” in dinosaurs; dinosaurs as “belief” don’t matter.

I believe in Christ; Christ matters. Mrs. Palin thinks integrity matters. The media thinks Matt Damon matters.

Mrs. Palin’s pregnant teenage daughter? She is accepted and loved by her family, her church, most of America, and of course, by God.

Only the Democrats, feminists, celebrities and media seem to be mad at her.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com), a closet political junkie, thanks Mrs. Palin for her candor, her faith, and for finally making this year’s election interesting. You go girl.

Jesus: Who IS This Guy? Part 2

Spirituality Column #97
September 16, 2008
Current! In Carmel (IN) newspaper
Current! In Westfield (IN) newspaper

Jesus: Who IS this Guy? Part 2
By Bob Walters

From last week’s Part 1:

… Jesus is mankind’s only link with a loving, personal God; Satan promotes our separation from God.

“Only link?” Yes. The only one.

Jesus is entirely unique in history because He is the only human religious figure who ever said He was God, and by His resurrection, proved He Himself is God. Nobody else … nobody, before or since … has even made that claim, let alone proved it.

Christ is also the only religious figure who ever said God was about love, not power. About freedom, not law. About faith, not works. About a personal heavenly father, not an impersonal, transcendent master.

If you disagree or think someone else made these claims, they didn’t. There are lots of religions, unique in their own ways. It’s important to know how Christ was unique.

In a recent newspaper story about another religion there was a quote that said Jesus was a prophet like another religious figure, Muhammad. It was left, incorrectly, as a “fact” by an editor who likely didn’t know the difference.

Jesus? Only a prophet? C’mon, that’s the World talking. Christ is the object of prophecy. Jesus is the coming of God on earth; the eternal Creator God entering our human time-space-feeling continuum.

It’s neither precise nor Biblical to describe Jesus Christ as a prophet; and even simply “religious figure” sells Him short.

Prophets come to teach; Christ came to save.

Jesus Himself never said He was a prophet, and only rarely inferred – by veiled question or agreement – that he was God or the Messiah (e.g. Luke 9:17-21). That’s because the point of His being on Earth wasn’t to tell us He was God; the point was that God cared enough to come to earth to save us from our sins. The point was for us to learn and have faith that Christ is the truth.

As Christians, we have to do better than spout Bible verses and platitudes about Christ. We have to be able to explain our relationship with Him and what that relationship gives to us: hope and strength for now, perfect love and eternal life forever.

That’s how others will know that we know Christ is real.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) reminds all to look at 1 Peter 3:15 and, for good measure, 2 Timothy 4:2. Be a witness. Pray for guidance and wisdom.

Jesus: Who IS This Guy? Part 1

Spirituality Column #96
September 9, 2008
Current! In Carmel (IN) newspaper
Current! In Westfield (IN) newspaper

Jesus: Who IS This Guy? Part 1
By Bob Walters

(First of two parts)

Can you explain who Jesus Christ is?

No, I mean, seriously, if someone tells you Jesus was just a prophet or was just a man in history famous for giving good advice and being crucified or was a “sinner like me” or isn’t really God or is “my homeboy” or is a myth or is just “your personal opinion,” can you explain who Jesus Christ is, really?

Without your face turning red and your tongue getting tied?

We Christians tend to mangle our message and get our feet tangled up in church buzzwords and scriptural chimera when we attempt to explain Jesus Christ to non-Christians. They have no idea what we’re talking about. “Blood of the Lamb … Huh?”

Or we get mad. The irony is that Satan thrives on both the misinformation that makes us angry, and the fact that anger makes us poor witnesses for Christ. Funny how that works.

Our efforts are further hampered because the world … that would be the Fallen World which is the turf of Satan, you know, this place where we all live … works overtime to confuse the issue of who Jesus truly is.

So who is He?

For this conversation, let’s start with the fact that Jesus is Satan’s Public Enemy No. 1. Hence, the world works hard to confuse us about Jesus’ identity. Non-believers are easily suckered into accepting – and too many believers are not equipped to refute – incorrect information about the basic facts of Christ.

It is critically important that Christians are able to explain that …

… Jesus is God in human form. He is God’s expression and assurance of love, and our invitation to a relationship with God. Jesus is God’s proof that God created and loves each one of us individually. Jesus really lived, really died, really came back to life, really ascended into heaven and He really lives.

… The Cross – Christ crucified and risen – was about God’s love, not about God’s wrath.

… Jesus is mankind’s only link with a loving, personal God; Satan promotes our separation from God.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) will explain the “only link” remark next week in the conclusion of this column.

Not for the Faint Hearted

Spirituality Column #95
September 2, 2008
Current! In Carmel (IN) newspaper
Current! In Westfield (IN) newspaper

Not for the Faint Hearted
By Bob Walters

My daily thirst for Bible instruction and faith commentary is well-watered by the online blog “SeriousFaith.com,” written by Brent Riggs.

I’ve mentioned Riggs before and will probably mention him again. His daily email commentary is not for the Christian faint-hearted. He’s a Bible guy, not a denominational guy. He pays attention to what scripture says, not what we want it to say. His focus is on what God wants from us; not on what we want from God.

Riggs isn’t a minister, at least not the ordained kind. He’s a former Army drill sergeant raising a family in Tulsa, Okla., who teaches Sunday school and has obviously paid attention to some very fine theological mentoring. His actual business is graphic design and website development.

It occurs to me that I laud his efforts due at least in part to the fact that he is not an actual minister; I’m not either. Riggs is a church member with a passion for God’s truth and a gift for communication. We should all be so Christ-centered in our energies.

I don’t agree with Brent every day, but his arguments are always well constructed and his Bible citations flawless. He recently (Aug. 13) excoriated and called heresy The Shack, a book I immensely enjoyed and saw as an exceptional story describing God’s love for humans.

Riggs also panned The Message version of the Bible, even though there is Aramaic (language of Jesus) precedent for street language scripture (the Targum).

Nonetheless, Riggs presents solid, serious Biblical devotions and teaching. He emails daily, and writes fresh entries two or three times a week. His easily accessible online archive has exceptional content, for example ...

... Where in the Bible does it say Christ “descended into Hell”? Well, it doesn’t. At SeriousFaith.com, search “descended into Hell.” Fascinating.

... Sick of “prosperity Gospel” and “personal victory” preachers? So is Brent. On his website search “Give Me, Fix Me, Restore Me, Bless Me.” Great stuff, especially considering Riggs has a young adopted daughter named Abby for whom I hope you will pray. She is battling leukemia.

SeriousFaith.com. Take a look at it and sign up for Brent’s free daily emails if the teaching gets your attention.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes that theologian George Bebawi’s class on Romans resumes Wednesday, Sept. 3, 6:30-7:45 p.m. at East 91st Street Christian Church in the Great Room.