DOES "ALL THINGS ARE PURE" INCLUDE LENT, EASTER, ETC.?

 

Christians United Church, Indianapolis

I'm sure you've heard it all. Lent and Advent are nowhere mentioned in the Bible. Jesus was not born on December 25th. Easter was named after the goddess Ioster, filled with fertility rite symbols like rabbits and eggs. Jeremiah 10 condemns the pagan Christmas tree. And I haven't even gotten to the Satanic holiday of Halloween or the equally ungodly customs of Pride Month!

There is little I disagree with in the above paragraph. There are ungodly roots in many of our holidays. I smile when a cartoonist friend of mine had his protagonist place a "Y" in front of a church's Easter banner (following the pattern that "yeast" always has a negative connotation).

On the other hand, my regular blog readers know that this is not the first time I've tackled the subject of holidays. My hunch is that the believers that are up in arms about holidays are not as concerned with loving others as they are in being more "Biblically correct" than their brothers and sisters in Christ, emphasizing the letter that kills rather than the Spirit that gives lives.

Titus 1:15 says, "To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure." Romans 14:14 reads, "But I know and am convinced in the Lord that nothing is unclean of itself." Yes, there are days that are rooted in the demonic or the completely rebellious against God and evil is called good. But there are debates about other holidays.

As I said, I've blogged about this. So why do I have to write another one? 

Actually, it's because I learned something. ERLC posted a list of things about Lent. I knew it was 40 days, but I thought it started on Ash Wednesday (I'm correct about that) and ended 40 days later on Palm Sunday (I missed that one). Actually, the 40 days of Lent don't include Sundays. 

I was amused at the article. I have never been in a church that celebrated Lent, and most Baptists tend to ignore it at best. But the Southern Baptist ERLC (Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission) article seems to be written to say that Lent fits in Southern Baptist belief and almost gave the impression of trying to get more Baptists observing Lent.

Mind if I tell a joke here? I heard of parents telling their son about Lent and encouraging him to give up something for that season, like candy. He asked his parents were giving up, and they told him they were giving up liquor. The son then asked about the wine they drank at supper, and they explained that it was hard liquor they were giving up. The boy thought a minute and said, "Okay, I'll give up hard candy."

Sometimes observing holidays are just ritual and not done out of love for God, and yes, that mere observance can be called pagan. But it can be observed as worship. Once again, we should be more concerned about loving our brethren (John 13:34-35) than trying to get them to give up something they enjoy to satisfy your "holiness."

ASH WEDNESDAY, LENT, UKRAINE, AND PERSECUTED HYMN WRITERS

Joy of All Who Sorrow Orthodox Church, Indianapolis, IN

On the 63 Ash Wednesdays I've lived through, I've only been to one (as far as I know). Part of that might be my work schedule; a bigger part could be that I've never regularly attended a church that celebrates Ash Wednesday or Lent. When Becky served as a chaplain at Eskenazi Hospital here in Indianapolis, Becky and I went to a lunch time service at the chapel there, officiated by her supervisor, Father Robert Lyons.

There have been a couple of times I did give up something for Lent, though I'm not sure how kosher my observance was. Once, I gave up creamer in my coffee, and once I gave up condiments/sauces on my sandwiches/entrees (may have been same year). Now, I did continue to use sweetener in my coffee, and I excluded horseradish from the abstinence list. But adding cream to my java or putting BBQ sauce or mustard or some oriental sauce were more luxuries.

But a fair question is what does giving up for Lent accomplish? One of those times, I linked it with praying for someone's salvation for those 40 days. But does merely doing without draw you closer to God? The same with fasting. I remember a blog titled "Fasting or Hunger Strike?" Are we making sacrifices to earn favor from God? Sorry, it doesn't work that way.

I've been taught the primary reason to fast is so you have the time you'd normally be chowing down to pray, and sometimes a fast is for a particular need. This leads me to Ukraine. We definitely need to be praying for that country. The ERLC has an article title "4 Reasons Why Christians Should Care About What's Happening In Ukraine." You can click here to see the whole list in detail, but allow me to give two items that have my attention:

1. Russia's invasion could cause a refugee crisis in Central Europe, and
2. The Ukrainian Church, which faces possible persecution.
   

This is why I pictured Joy of All Who Sorrow Orthodox Church (part of the Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Diocese). Christ is the joy of all who sorrow, and those in Ukraine deserve that joy.

Allow me to conclude with a tie-in with my two previous posts, reviewing biographies of Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley. Both were preachers and both were hymn writers, in both cases writing the words but neither writing original music. Both, however, lived under persecution.

Isaac Watts' father was in jail when he was born. Why? Because the senior Watts was a deacon of a dissenting church. Several years later, while the younger Watts was still a child, his father was removed from his family for two years because of the same issue. Laws changed as the younger Watts grew up, but because he wouldn't join the Church of England, he wasn't eligible to run for office, and he could not attend the elite schools like Oxford and Cambridge. (The irony is later on, these schools and also Yale used the book on Logic Watts wrote.)

Technically, the Methodist movement was part of the Church of England. However, this did not spare Charles Wesley from persecution due to issues including open air preaching. Rioters tried to break in, Charles and others were beaten, and if the local law enforcement did more than watch, they usually assisted the rioters.

I know. Today's blog rambled a bit, didn't it? But let me state that we in the U.S. should not expect to avoid the persecution our brothers and sisters are experiencing around the world. We should also take Hebrews 13:3 to heart: "Remember the prisoners as if chained with them - those who are mistreated - since you yourselves are in the body also." (NKJV). 

Allow me to add Psalm 69:33 (again, NKJV): "For the LORD hears the poor, And does not despise His prisoners."

What are your thoughts on what I covered? How are you reacting to the Ukraine crisis? Are you observing Lent, and how?  

RACIAL RECONCILIATION SUNDAY, 2022

 

I remember a few years ago seeing a calendar for events from the Southern Baptist Convention. Well, let's say I noted them in an on-line calendar I had. That's different from remembering, because I had forgot I did it. That is, until I noted the calendar yesterday.

When I was a member of an Assembly of God church in the '80's, I observed the denomination's weekly magazine declaring each week to have a special designation. Southern Baptists aren't different though to be fair, there might be other groups observing the same days. For example, the third Sunday in January is Sanctity of Life Sunday. In this case, the second Sunday in February is Racial Reconciliation Sunday.

As I changed my profile picture as I do at times, I also look at various frames for that photo. Surely somebody did a frame for Racial Reconciliation Sunday. Anybody? No? You mean I have to create one for next year?

As with any reconciliation, it takes two parties who, as it says in Philippians 2:4, look out not only for their own interests but those of others. In the reference, it appears to be talking about the individual, but it can also apply to your "tribe", whether we're talking skin color, nationality, gender, political party, church denomination, theology, alma mater, sports team, favorite cola, etc. 

Now some people will give a hearty "Amen" when I speak of the need for reconciliation (allow me to be speaking of any form of reconciliation, including but not limited to racial). However, they have a different picture than I do on a couple of issues:

1. They don't think I'm making enough effort, and that I should give at least 100% of my energy to it, though probably more than that.
2. They also disagree with me that they should make ANY effort. 

Do they want reconciliation? Not really. They would rather have power. They want control. They want to dictate the terms of agreement.

Let me state: Racism is real and a bigger problem than most whites are aware of. Some of that is conscious prejudice and some of it is unaware. And Christians are called to speak out against that evil. 

However, is it possible that words like "racism," "sexism," and "homophobia" are used in situations they don't fit and become a form of bullying? 

You may have heard about Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes' prayer to help her hate white people. Could she have a legitimate reason for the anger? Yes. Should we listen and learn? But is this aiding racial reconciliation? Is judging white people because of their skin color any different than us treating people with dark skin as inferior? I doubt it. Us vs. Them never solves the problem.

I've heard people comment that the most segregated places are churches on Sunday morning. Is this an example of racism? Not really. Sometimes it is based on who lives close to a church. Other times, it is people normally feeling more comfortable with people like themselves. The churches I've been in are welcoming of people of different races and nationalities (a former church had Korean, Filipino, and Mexican attenders as well as an African-American) yet are still pre-dominately white. But the key is being willing to welcome anybody.

What are you doing to promote Racial Reconciliation? Are there things we should start doing we currently aren't, or things we are doing that are a hindrance to this goal? How do we keep moving forward to this goal in spite of those who favor power to true reconciliation?

The ERLC (Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission) of the Southern Baptist Convention are strong advocates for Racial Reconciliation. If you are interested in additional resources, click here for a list from the ERLC.

When One Of My Heroes Changes Jobs

  

 

Maybe I should make a list of living heroes of the faith. Of course, that would include me taking the time to rank them. And with living heroes, I might debate giving an alphabetic list so if one of those heroes reads it, he (or she) may not be disappointed they weren't higher. If I did a list like that and ranked them numerically, I would be shocked if Russell Moore is not towards the top of the list.

Yesterday, Dr. Moore announced he would be resigning as President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), effective June 1. He has been hired by the magazine Christianity Today as full time Public Theologian and in charge of their new Public Theology Project.

I have had the honor of hearing Dr. Moore on three different occasions while he was dean at The Southern Theological Seminary in Louisville, and even had a chance to ask him a question in person. (The third time was when he was a guest on a live performance of Southern's President Al Mohler's radio program, and they took questions; they answered both my question and Becky's.

I enjoy Dr. Moore's sense of humor. At a Q&A session at an apologetics conference he was part of, someone asked if Mohammed was mentioned in the Bible. Dr. Moore said, "Yes. It says false prophets will come."

In 2013, Dr. Moore succeeded Richard Land as head of the ERLC. In 2015, he authored Onward: Engaging the Culture without Losing the Gospel, which was my favorite non-fiction book that year. 

Another thing I like about Dr. Moore: he's not afraid to be controversial. There was talk about the Southern Baptist Convention defunding the ERLC because Moore committed what was considered the unpardonable sin by many evangelicals - he criticized then candidate and later President Trump. Actually, I had concerns about Trump that matched Moore's concerns. After the DC Riot, Moore dared to say the President should have resigned because of it.

One other controversy occurred when Moore and the ERLC filed a friend-of-the-court brief when a city was requiring a new mosque to have more parking spaces than they asked churches to have (and didn't always enforce it with churches). True religious liberty is not only for my religion, but for all others as well.

Moore has appeared on national programs as well, such as Face The Nation.

I will admit - I'm not a Christianity Today fan. Some consider the magazine too centrist theologically. But I'm still praying for my hero in his new endeavor.

Sources for my story on his new job:

 Russell Moore announces departure from ERLC helm by George Schroeder, Baptist Press

Russell Moore, head of Southern Baptist public policy arm, leaving ERLC for Christianity Today by Holly Meyer, Nashville Tennessean, Wed. May 19, 2021