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Naming the Powers

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Do you want your thinking about angels and demons to be blown out of the water? Read “The Powers Trilogy” by Walter Wink.

And then read them again.

If Wink is right, then pretty much everything we think we know about Satan, angels, and demons is completely wrong, everything we think we know about spiritual warfare is wrong, everything we think we know about the separation of church and state is wrong, and everything we think we know about sin and temptation is wrong.

I am going to do a three-part review, one for each book in the Trilogy. This review is on the first volume in the series: Naming the Powers.

Of the three books, this one is both the hardest to read and the most important. It is hard to read because it contains a lot of the Scriptural backgrounds and exegetical research for what is written about in the other two books. Some readers might find such content dry and difficult to wade through. However, since it deals with some of the primary Scriptures about Satan, angels, and demons, this book is the foundation for the other two. If you do not read this book, you may not understand where Wink is coming from in the other two.

So the book is hard to read, but is necessary if you fully want to grasp the argument that Wink makes.

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Tomorrow is the End of the World

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End of the World

Did you hear? According to Harold Camping of Family Radio, tomorrow is the end of the world.

I’m willing to bet him a million dollars he is wrong.

If he is right, I’ll pay him a million dollars on May 22. If he is wrong, he pays me a million dollars.

Will he take up the challenge. Of course not. Why?

Because he knows he is wrong too.

I guarantee he has already has his “I guess I was wrong, but here is why I’m still a great man of God” speech all written up. So why is he doing this? Because being a wacko is free advertising. He’s getting reported on in the media, interviewed on newspapers, and talked about on blogs.

Hey Harold! This is what makes Christians look like such fruitcakes! Stop it, will ya? You tried this stunt already in 1994. You were wrong then, and you are wrong now.

(Note: Eerily…this is my 666th published post!)

Steve Taylor – One of my Formative Theologians

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Sometimes people ask me which theologians have impacted me the most over the years. I have a few, but recently, I realized one who probably makes no one else’s list.

Steve Taylor

Ever heard of this theologian? Probably not. He hasn’t written any books of theology. He never got a Ph.D. (that I know of). He has long hair (longer than mine!). He doesn’t preach in any church, teach in any seminary, or even have a blog.

So who is he? How was I influenced by his theology?

Through his music. Steve Taylor is a musician. I didn’t realize how much his theology and ideas impacted me until recently when I pulled out some old CDs that I listened to twenty years ago, and was shocked by what I heard. He was singing my heart! The words of his song match the ideas in my mind.

So over the next few days, I am going to post a few of his videos, and make a few comments about them.

One Warning

If you decide to watch the videos, be warned. Steve Taylor sang in the 1980’s and his clothing and dancing reflect it. He’s kind of quirky. But deep theology and missional ideas are painted with words in nearly every song.

By the way, I don’t think any of his music is available on iTunes. He had a falling out with his Christian record label, and they refuse to put his songs on iTunes. Nice, huh?

Steve is no longer recording music. He is now a movie producer, and is coming out with his first full-length movie later this year. I am quite excited about it, and I’ll fill you in on a later post.

The first video I want to post today is “Jesus if for Losers.”

Lyrics:

If I was driven,
Driven ahead by some noble ideal,
Who took the wheel?

If I was given,
Given a glimpse of some glorious road,
When was it sold?

So caught up in the chase,
I keep forgetting my place.

Just as I am,
I am stiff-necked and proud.
Jesus is for losers.
Why do I still play to the crowd?

Just as I am,
Pass the compass, please.
Jesus is for losers,
I’m off about a hundred degrees.

If I was groping,
Groping around for some ladder to fame,
I am ashamed.

If I was hoping,
Hoping respect would make a sturdy footstool,
I am a fool.

Bone-weary every climb.
Blindsided every time.

Just as I am
I am needy and dry
Jesus is for losers
The self-made need not apply

Just as I am,
In a desert crawl,
Lord, I’m so thirsty,
Take me to the waterfall.

And if you’re certain,
Certain your life is some cosmic mistake,
Why do you shake?

And if you’re certain,
Certain that faith is some know-nothing mask,
Why do you still ask?

They don’t grade here on the curve.
We both know what we deserve.

Just as you are,
Just a wretch like me.
Jesus is for losers,
Grace from the blood of a tree.

Just as we are,
At a total loss.
Jesus is for losers,
Broken at the foot of the cross.

Just as I am,
Pass the compass, please.
Jesus is for losers,
I’m off about a hundred degrees.

Just as I am,
In a desert crawl,
Lord, I’m so thirsty,
Take me to the waterfall.

A Few Comments

Call us what you want. Sinners. Lepers. Losers. We’re all in the same boat, and until we recognize this, and accept the free gift of eternal life given freely by God’s grace through Jesus Christ, life is pointless.

Here are some other posts I have written about Steve Taylor’s music:

How to Get to Know Your Neighbors

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getting to know neighbors

Do you want to live like Jesus within your community but do not know where to start?

Sam at Grace Ground has the best series on this subject I have ever read. It is better even than any book I have ever read on the subject.

Seriously, if you want to love your community, reach out with the love of Jesus, and reflect Christ to your neighbors, you must read this series.

Here is an excerpt from a recent post:
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Is the Book of Job a Parody?

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The Book of Job

Sometimes I really do not like certain chapters of the Bible. Two of the worst chapters for me have always been Job 1-2.

They tell the story of a good and righteous man who becomes the pawn in a little game of Russian Roulette between God and Satan. Job is the unwitting butt of a cosmic wager.

While I do not believe that good and righteous people who love God will always have life turn out peachy keen, I nevertheless have a big problem with a God who uses humans the way that God uses Job in these two chapters. This is divine entrapment!

What would you think of a parent who conspired with a drug dealer to sell drugs to the child and threaten them with killing their parents and siblings to see if the child will stay true the parent’s instruction to “Say no to drugs”? What kind of a sick parent would do that? (See my previous posts about this here, here, here, and here.)

What would you think of a husband who conspired with a friend to try to seduce his wife just to see if she really loved him? What kind of a husband would do this?

Yet this is what God and Satan conspire to do with Job.

I’m sorry. I really do not like these chapters of the Bible.

Which is why I fell out my seat when I recently read this in Unmasking the Powers by Walter Wink (p. 13-14):
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God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics:

The Characteristics of Pharisees

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Characteristics of PhariseesAnthony Ehrhardt has a great series going on about the Characteristics of Pharisees for modern churches. I doubt any of think we are Pharisees, but the truth is that almost all of us have some Pharisaical characteristics.

I really like how Anthony is going about these, and writing with modern practices in mind.

Here are some of the posts from this series:

  • Pharisees seek honor among men
  • Pharisees bind heavy burdens on others
  • Pharisees do not practice what they preach
  • Pharisees seek to catch others in their words
  • Pharisees are easily offended

What is Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit?

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blasphemy against the Holy Spirit I receive a lot of emails and Google search hits about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and the unpardonable sin.

One of the more popular search strings has been “Is adultery the unpardonable sin?”

Let me answer that question quickly:

NO. Adultery is not the Unpardonable Sin

And while I’m at it, neither is suicide.

But please, don’t do either of these things. If you are thinking about doing either, and fear of hell is the only thing keeping you from doing it, please contact me through the contact form on my About page.

Here is a link to a short paper I wrote on the subject:  The Unpardonable Sin and Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Below is an excerpt from this paper:

If you, or your friend or relative is not a Christian [and are worrying about having committed the sin], then be encouraged. Almost nobody who commits the blasphemy against the Spirit wonders if they have. They don’t care about such things anymore. The unbeliever who commits this sin has become so morally and spiritually blind that their heart is hardened to the point that they no longer care about spiritual things and will never believe in Jesus.

But nevertheless, some people are afraid they have. To them, I would simply say, “Worrying about it pretty much proves that you haven’t. So in order to make sure you never will be able to, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Whatever sin you may have committed, you are still being convicted by it, which is good. God’s grace will cover over that sin, and all other sins if you will just believe in Jesus for eternal life.”

Are you afraid of committing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit or the unpardonable sin? Don’t be.

God isn’t out to get you, or set traps in your way so He can shout in triumphant glee, “Aha! Another one who will never experience my grace! Off to hell you go!”

No.

That is not the God of the Bible. That is not what Jesus was teaching in Matthew 12:31-32. That is not the message of Hebrews 6:1-8. God’s grace and what Jesus accomplished on the cross is greater than anything you can say or do. It is only when you come to understand the perfect love of God that all fear vanishes and you can start living for God out of love for Him, rather than fear about Him.

So what is the Unpardonable Sin or the Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit? I have a series of about 20 emails that shares more:

Do you fear that you have committed the Unforgivable Sin?

Fear not! You are forgiven. You are loved.

Fill out the form below to receive several emails from me which explains how you can know that you are loved and forgiven by God.

(Note: If you are a member of RedeemingGod.com, login and then revisit this page to update your membership.)

 

Giving God Crap

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You know what God wants from you? Not your holiness. Not your perfection. Not your righteousness. All these things He gives to you as a result of faith in Jesus. They are not things we give to Him.

Even our love, obedience, and worship are tainted and twisted with selfishness and pride. All our righteous acts are like menstrual cloths (Isa 64:6). Yes, that is what the verse says.

So what can we give God? The only things we have: our crap.

The pain, anger, suffering, frustration, disappointment, and fears we face in life. God wants that.

He also wants the addictions, the failures, the mistakes, and the sin.

We often think that God wants us to stop sinning, but what He really wants is for us to give our sin to Him. We will not and cannot stop sinning until we do so.

Here is how it works:

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Grilling Your Enemies

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Practice of LoveBack in high school I heard a pastor teach about heaping burning coals on the heads of our enemies. I don’t remember what the point of his message was, but the idea stuck with me. I often imagined the people I disliked running around like the headless horseman from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Although I never got the chance to heap coals on someone’s head, later that year, I decided to actually read Proverbs 25:21-22, the passage that contained this idea. And while the passage does talk about heaping burning coals on the heads of our enemies, the way to do this, according to Proverbs, is by giving them food when they are hungry and water when they are thirsty.

That didn’t sound quite as satisfying as striking a match to the hair of my enemies.

But I was still confused about the “coals on their head” part. It clearly wasn’t literal. I mean, I couldn’t very well invite an enemy over for a barbeque and while he has a hamburger in one hand and lemonade in the other, stuff his head into the grill. No, I decided that whatever it meant to heap burning coals on someone’s head, the image must only be figurative. But there was one consolation.

Whatever it meant, it sounded unpleasant.

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Seven Types of Commenters and How to Respond to Them

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seven types of commenters

I am a Guest Blogger at the Blog of Jeff Goins today. I met Jeff on Twitter (you should follow him), and started reading his blog. He has great things to say about writing and blogging, two things I love.

In my years of blogging, I have found that there are about seven different types of comments that people leave on your blog. Some you want to hug, others you want to shoot (…with a water gun…). The post is called “7 Types of Commenters and How to Respond to Them.” Head on over there and leave a comment… you will then be able to tell what kind of commenter you are by how I respond.

Just kidding. I’m sure you will all leave great comments. See you there!

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