Jesus Christ, Lord of the State and How That Informs My Voting

As a post-mil, “Thy Kingdom Come” kinda guy here is where my difficulty lies.  For a Christian to actively support a person for a position of authority over the State is to also promote that person to a position of authority over the members of Christ’s body, the Church. To promote a non-Trinitarian to that position is, I believe, very problematic. If God is Lord over the State, which I believe he is, then to elect someone within the LDS to the presidency is to give tacit approval to, or at least gross ambivalence toward, the doctrine of Joseph Smith and the LDS Apostles.

So, what is different between this case and supporting someone who advocates for example an unjust preemptive war or is ambivalent to homosexual unions? We all make compromises when we vote these days. What makes this more significant than Ron Paul’s ambivalence toward the Morning After Pill, Senator Santorum’s desire to treat Iranian nuclear scientists as Al-Qaida members, or Newt Gingrich horrid personal life?  Two things…

First, our primary call as Christians is to expand the Kingdom of Christ. We are his workmanship created for good works and the first and greatest work is that we should go out and make disciples of all men, teaching them and baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Why would we actively work to promote the Mormon god and his disciples?

Second, the other candidates I mentioned may be addressed within the governance of the Church and, God willing, one day with a state in submission to Christ. We can even call a man like President Obama back to the truth of his God as revealed in Scripture, pray for him as a Christian who may yet return to the Triune God of his Baptism. If our particular Church were in authority over him – we could discipline him in accordance with the Scriptures that he might repent.  None of these things are an option with a Mormon.

This is the key for me.

I welcome your thoughts…

 al sends

Why I Am Not A Voting A Mormon

The study of the Puritans/Pilgrims led by my friend Todd Leonard a few weeks ago was helpful in cementing in my mind why I cannot vote for a Mormon (or a Muslim, or a Jew, or a Christian Scientist) for president…. Here are my (and only mine) brief thoughts:

 While still on the Arbella, sailing to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, John Winthrop delivered or at least penned his treatise titled, “A Model of Christian Charity.” Without going into too much detail (you can find the entire text here:  (http://religiousfreedom.lib.virginia.edu/sacred/charity.html) I just want to point out that Winthrop was a governor in submission to the Lordship of Christ. So, when at the end of his sermon, says to the colonists that they “shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon (them),” we must remember that this is in the context of how they should carry out living justly, mercifully and humbly (Micah 6:8) in the land. He was quoting Christ and His description of how his disciples should effect the world for the kingdom.

 In other words they would have no light at all if Christ was not their Lord. If the government (of the people) is not in submission to Christ then any light they offer is ultimately a false light and the Church must call them back to repentance and faithfulness. This was how many of our fathers saw their work in building a new world, it was an extention of the eternal city – the Kingdom of God.

 When John F. Kennedy used the phrase “city on a hill” to describe America he moved away from the Gospel and found redemption within the borders of the US. When Ronald Reagan used the phrase even more narrowly, equating the “city” with the Republican platform of governance, the “city” shrank again.

 Here is where I get to the heart of my argument against voting for a Mormon to president. If our president is part of a Christian cult* (large, moral, nice, well dressed and no longer dogmatically racist to be sure, but still a cult), then he is not under the Church’s authority. There are no elders who will give an account for this man’s soul.

 If God lifts up another John Knox who will speak to those in power his audience at the Whitehouse will not be listening, at least not with the ear attuned to a conversation amongst the Trinity. The source of our submission to authority is rooted in the Trinity. As the Son submits to the Father and the Father receives the Kingdom from the hand of the Son and the Spirit is sent in submission to them both, we submit to them and to one another. Now, if you hold that the god of this planet was once a man like us (sinner like us?) and was elevated to rule – solo – the idea of submission has no foundation.

 If a Mormon is elected to be President I will submit to him as my leader.  To paraphrase John Knox to Mary, “If the (country) finds no inconvenience from the government of a (Mormon), that which they approve shall I not further disallow than within my own breast, but shall be as well content to live under (his rule) as Paul was to live under Nero.” Having said that, there is a world of difference between being ruled by someone and actively supporting their ascendency to power. 

 Even if we try to get Luther to say, “I would rather be ruled by a wise Turk than a foolish Christian” I would challenge anyone to defend the idea that Luther would campaign for a Muslim to be his Prince. Even Martin Luther and his Two Kingdom theology would not encourage a Christian to actively support putting a non Christian as the representative head of a people. (This is a bit of an anachronism, since the idea of representative democracy was outside of Luther’s paradigm.)

 Finally, let me say that politics is a tool in the hand of an almighty God; it is not the source of wisdom, health, blessing or salvation. So, I will not despair if our current President is reelected nor will I sit back and declare “it is finished” if Ron Paul (for example) wins in November 2012. No, but I will labor to show that Christ claims supremacy in every area of life and that will include national elections.

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 *I am using the term cult here to identify an off shoot of Christianity that claims to have discovered some truth the Church has missed about the Triune God revealed in Scripture, yet departs significantly and damningly from the Christian faith. Mormons in this case deny the Trinity, the eternality of God, the corruption of man and many other Christian essentials.

The Why of Worship

Let me start with a couple of things…  First, I am talking to Christians here, believers in the Triune God who is revealed in Scripture. If you do not have Christ you do not worship God. You cannot have God the Father outside God the Son. Jesus said that, not me. (John 14:6)

 Second, we are to gather together for particular worship. I am not talking about the idea of sanctified living, where everything we do is before the face of God. While that is true it does not make everything worship, for if everything is worship then nothing is.

 This series hopes to get into the details of why Providence Church in Pensacola does what it does as a body of believers gathered for a particular purpose. It is true that we live before Him 24/7, but in that living God requires that we set aside a time for the weighty, glorious labor of worship.

 So, with that in mind let proceed:

 Worship is a heavenly duty.

 God calls us to assemble in His presence, and thus the task of worship is both a serious and joyful duty. In light of this, every effort should be made to prepare oneself and, if applicable, one‘s family for the worship service. What we experience with God‘s people on the Lord‘s Day should not be confused with our other, normal activities. This is aspecial time the Lord has set aside to meet with His people.

 The Apostles gathered with believers on the first day of the week to hear preaching and to break bread: Acts 20:7 “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.”

 They urged the Saints to gather regularly:  Hebrews 10:19-25 19 Therefore, brothers since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through she curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

 As we worship we are brought, like John on Patmos, into God’s presence: Revelation 1 and 4. Joy is found in the presence of God. Come let us worship and bow down and kneel before the YAHWEH  our maker (Psalm 95:6). Heavenly duty indeed!

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testing a facebook thingy…

Back in Bid’ness

I was happier when I wrote stuff down… I was even happier when you read it and provided feedback. May both happen with some regularity again.

Here is what I have planned… To start this puppy up again I am going to write about the worship service at Providence Church in Pensacola, FL, the Church where Uri Brito and I pastor.  Why do we do the things we do and what does it mean for the life of the world.   You can find a copy of our Order of Worship here:  Order of Worship August 28th 2011. It is a tri-fold so start reading in the right hand column and then flip over to continue. 

I believe this series will last a bunch of weeks with a couple posts per week.  Give it a read and let me know what you think.

God Bless,

al sends

Good Friday Confession of Sin

God of all mercy,
we confess that we have sinned against you,
opposing your will in our lives.
We have denied your goodness in each other,
in ourselves, and in the world you have created.
We repent of the evil that enslaves us,
the evil we have done,
and the evil done on our behalf.
Forgive, restore, and strengthen us
through our Savior Jesus Christ,
that we may abide in your love
and serve only your will. Amen.

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through the grace of Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit .

{Daily Office}

What Causes Poverty?

Walter Williams writes:

There is very little either complicated or interesting about poverty. Poverty has been man’s condition throughout his history. The causes of poverty are quite simple and straightforward. Generally, individual people or entire nations are poor for one or more of the following reasons: (1) they cannot produce many things highly valued by others; (2) they can produce things valued by others but they are prevented from doing so; or (3) they volunteer to be poor.

Wilson on the Origin of Nominalism

“The real origin of nominalism is to be found in all churches that refuse to discipline in terms of their baptism, whatever their practice of baptism may be” (To a Thousand Generations, p. 7).

Doxology

 

Lenten Pastoral Meditation

Meditation:

Out of the most unlikely people in biblical history we discover the richest theology. The first century did not view the testimony of women as reliable. This is one reason the resurrection story is so fascinating, since the women were the first ones to witness the empty tomb. In the Gospel of John, chapter 11, Martha declares with great certainty that Jesus is not only the Lord of the living, but also of the dead. Martha is a type of the church. She demonstrates that our hope is not simply for this present world, but in a world that is fully resurrected by the Lord of life. Jesus is Lord over death and like Lazarus we too will be raised at the Last Day.

Prayer:

Gracious Father, You have raised your servant Lazarus from dead. You have overcome the tyranny of death. Teach us to see your resurrection power in our own lives as we live in light of your resurrection. For Christ’s sake, Amen!