St. Paul’s United Methodist Church – their May 2011 newsletter teaches (p. 3):

We are continuing our series this month on “What do United Methodists believe?”  Sometimes it is easier to understand your beliefs when you contrast them with what other people believe.  One belief that separates Methodists from other denominations is the doctrine of free will.  There are churches that teach that an ‘elect’ group of people have been chosen by God to be ‘predestined’ to be saved.  This doctrine of ‘predestination’ is found in many Baptist, Presbyterian, Fundamentalist, and Evangelical churches.  One problem with this view is that if God elects some for salvation, God must elect others for damnation.  John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, strongly disagreed with this belief.  He argued that if God has predetermined who is saved, all preaching is vain.  Predestination does away with the need for Christian revelation and practice,  because nothing could change the eternal decree of God.  Predestination makes God into a false, unjust one who condemns many who earnestly desire salvation.

Wesley taught the following three key points fundamental to Methodism:

1. Man is free not only to reject salvation but also to accept it (free salvation) by an act of human will.
2. All people who are obedient to the Gospel according to the measure of knowledge given them will be saved (universal salvation).
3. The Holy Spirit assures man of his salvation directly, through an inner ‘experience’ (sure salvation).

But let me ask this question:  Why should I let man’s logic require that I have to believe in a double predestination?  That God predestines people to be conformed into the image of His Son and live with joy in heaven forever and that likewise God predestines people to be conformed into the image of Satan and live with agony in hell forever?  Why?

This is a crucial question in the I-15 Corridor.

I liked what Kristin Glaser from Cornerstone Pentecostal in Idaho Falls wrote in the recent Cornerstone Pentecostal newsletter (2011):

We are well on our way into 2011 and I can’t help but rejoice in the things that I was able to leave behind. As I have thought of all I was able to let go of, I realize that there are some things we just can’t get rid of so easily. The one thing that comes to the forefront of my mind is the “refining” process that the Bible tells us so clearly that we will go through. First, we have the refining process of gold. Job 23:10 says “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” The process in which gold is refined is both complicated and expensive. Sounds like the trying of our faith doesn’t it? We question God at every turn to find out if this process is necessary. Does it have to be done this way? So uncomfortable? So hot? And the price of refining is expensive, it costs us our lives, dying to ourselves. When gold is refined, the furnace reaches 2100 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s hot! That temperature is necessary to remove the impurities, the junk. The gold is heated evenly for 2 1/2 hours, and then some of the impurities are tested to see if any gold remains. If there is any trace of gold in the impurities, the whole thing is placed back into the furnace until the gold and impurities are separated completely. “When he has tested me” and the impurities are removed, then, and only then, can I “come forth as gold.” Malachi 3:3 says “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” To refine silver, the silversmith needs to hold the silver in the middle of the hottest flames to burn away the impurities, a process different from gold refining. A silversmith not only has to hold the silver in the flame the entire time, but he also has to keep a close eye on it because, if its left in the flames a moment too long, the silver will be destroyed. A women once asked a silversmith “How do you know when the silver has been refined?” “Oh that’s easy,” he replied, “When I see my image in the silver.” What a wonderful picture of what God is doing in us during the times we spend in the fire. He is making us a reflection of His image. I have been in many refining furnaces, and one thing I have learned is that they don’t last forever. God’s word tells us that He will never give us more than we can handle. The flames will never bring us to the point of destroying us, although sometimes it can feel that way. As He holds us in His hand, His eyes are never removed from us, and, at just the right moment, never too late, He brings us out and, as He looks at us, He can see His reflection. C.S. Lewis once said “Often the key to conquering suffering is the willingness to suffer.” So, give up! I’m not saying to jump out of the fire. Give up to God. When we cry out to God, “I can’t do this on my own, I need you, I’m giving you my hurt, my pain, my anger, my way of doing things!” That’s what He is waiting for. At that point, you can feel the Refiner’s grace wash over you. Sometime it’s immediately and sometimes it’s slowly, but we will be taken out of the fire and looking a little more like Jesus.

And by the way, young Michael Glaser looked good in the big pic on the front page of the sports section of our local paper, today.  Congratulations on his home run in Skylines’ 12-2 win over rival Idaho Falls.

That is usually not a tough question to answer for those living in Southeastern Idaho.

Christopher asks the question over at The Juvenile Instructor.  Professor Charles Cohen offers an answer.  Cohen suggests “cultural similarity is not theological, doctrinal, and liturgical similarity.”

That sentence is worthy of exploration by a book to be written by someone living within the I-15 Corridor.  Actually, books could be devoted on both the popular and scholarly level.  We need some clarity on the issue.

James White (reformed Baptist) vs. Daniel O. McClellan (LDS)

I think they are at the tail end of their discussion.

Here are two of the latest that I have read.

1.  The one declared, “Jesus loves Bikers”.  Is that so?  Maybe that is why I have had the hankering to get a motorcycle.

2.  The other said, “In case of rapture, the car is yours.”  Which makes me think . . . will there be cars in heaven or the new earth?

For ten years, I emailed “Issues of the Heart” to a gracious mailing list.  I began the writing in 2001 and ended the email circulation just recently.

Brother Mike Powell, lead pastor of University Bible Church in Pocatello, Idaho, shares with you a plethora of Scripture on “Issues of the Heart“.

Lifted from Hope Lutheran‘s online April 2011 Newsletter . . . 

 From Martin Luther

Truly, our knowing is more passive than active; that is, it is more a matter of being known by God than of knowing God. Our ‘activity’ is to allow God to do His work among us. He gives the Word, and by apprehending a divinely given faith, we are born as sons of God. Therefore the statement, ‘You are known by God’ (Gal 4:9), means ‘You have been visited by the Word; you have been granted faith and the Holy Spirit, by whom you have been renewed.’ Therefore even with the words ‘You have come to be known by God’ he is disparaging the righteousness of the law and denying it is possible to attain the knowledge of God on account of the worth of our own works. ‘No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him’ (Mt 11:27). And again: ‘By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities’ (Is 53:11). Therefore our knowledge about God is purely passive.” Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians

Thoughtful exegesis.  Our men’s Bible study looked at Galatians 4:9 last Monday morning during Passion Week.  This week, we covered Galatians 4:12-20, line by line.  It is detailed gospel discussion every week.  Hope Lutheran’s newsletter has inspired me to dig out my Galatians commentary by Martin Luther.

Also, the Lutheran minister, Scott Murray shares:

Theologians of all generations have struggled to distinguish between law and gospel. One of the aspects of that struggle is simply the brute fact that the way of the law and the way of the gospel are contradictory. Luther says they are “non plus contraria,” that there is nothing more contrary or opposed to each than the law and the gospel. Certainly, that contradiction must be left to stand. The law must remain the law. The gospel must remain the gospel. There is no need to straighten out or rationalize what God can certainly take care of on His own. We should be found preaching the law and the gospel. He uses the law to destroy our impious self confidence that presumes we can avoid the punishments of the law by obeying it and keeping it. We cannot obey it or avoid its punishments. Because of its implacability, the law burdens us so that there must be a new way of righteousness that comes apart from the law. The law kills. Somehow there must be life. The law condemns. Someone must pardon. The law accuses. There must be a stilling of that accusation. The tribunal of the law finds us guilty. Someone must defend us against it. Only Christ and a different message from God will do. Only the gospel will suffice. The gospel proclaims us righteous. It cries that our warfare is accomplished. It speaks the law silent. It sings the verdict “not guilty.” This is the meaning of the Bible’s doctrine of justification. For Christ’s sake, our heavenly Father has proclaimed us righteous in His sight and He has done this without reference to the law. The law only shows our need, it does not bespeak us righteous. Only another word of God, the gospel, can do this. These are the two “high points” of what Paul writes to the Romans, not only that we are acquitted by the gospel, but also that such acquittal comes apart from the law. The righteousness we have is not our own, which would make it subject to the law. It is the righteousness of God; making it certain, because it depends on the divine promise. How can there be a righteousness apart from the law? With God there is nothing that is impossible. Paul is not making this up. He wants his readers to understand that this was the eternal faith of the church as testified to by the Old Testament. He is not just pulling this out thin air, but is claiming it was always the way of salvation. The God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever is standing behind this promise. The righteousness is none other than His own. This is why it is so dependable. It’s not ours, but His.

Not Ours, but His.  May the Gospel of Jesus Christ flourish in Idaho Falls.

I took my family to the celebration on Saturday at Tautphaus Park.  We went to the zoo.  We looked at the exhibits.  We watched the skaters and bikers in competition.  In the afternoon, I even took my youngest boy to the latest DisneyNature movie, “African Cats.”  (I had a free theatre ticket.)

In retrospect, I think this would be a good theme for Earth Day:

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross (Col. 1:19).

Don’t you?

1.  Yesterday morning, our church family ate a delicious breakfast together and worshipped the Lord.  We listened to “The Prodigal” and celebrated the power of the risen Christ.  A sister in our church family compiled Isaiah 53 readings, journal entries of a 1st century Jew (which she wrote), and musical selections that centered on the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Thank you to all who sang and served yesterday out of love for our risen Lord.  In the afternoon, a group of us climbed the North Menan Butte  outside of Idaho Falls; and I read the Gospel of John account where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

2.  My wife and some of my kids enjoyed the Arise Easter musical at Calvary Chapel on Saturday evening. 

3.  Yesterday, Pastor Tim Rupp at Alliance preached on “Connecting the Dots” from John 20:1-16.  There is a dividing line in what people believe.  Do you look for the supernatural or natural explanation for the empty tomb?

4.  Last week, Pastor Kirk Bailey, over at Calvary Baptist spoke on the suffering servant from Isaiah 5o.  One of the first aspects he touched on is “the tongue of the teacher” . . . “the instructed tongue.”  Our Lord does give a “a word in season to him who is weary.”  This reminds me of Sharon Lindbloom’s ministry, “Word for the Weary.”

5. For the month of April,  Pastor Dan Smouse has been preaching a series on “The Bible:  What We Study“.  The Bible is a ballad about God.  (p.s. – And like Dan, I like chanting monks.  I really do like Gregorian chant.)  What is the theme of God’s song?  God’s glory.  What do you consider to be main theme of the Bible?

______

Today, it is cold and windy in Idaho Falls.  But our hearts are warm through the vibrant presence of the Son.  Jesus Christ is everything.

I hope you all had a good day, yesterday.

The Christ is alive in the Corridor.

Hallelujah!