Clear Mission, Deep Commitment

When the mission is clear and compelling, deep commitment comes natural. I remember watching the “Band of Brother’s” series and being amazed by the ferocious commitment these men had to one another and to their mission of resisting the Nazi forces. Such commitment caused some of the men who had been wounded to leave the hospital and rush back to the battle-line before their wounds healed. Others chose to stay in combat even when they had a chance to return home safely.

They didn’t do this for the money or the fame. They did it because their mission was clear and compelling therefore their commitment was deep.

Jesus has given a very clear and compelling mission to the church - to lead people to life in Him. His exact words were “Go and make disciples” (Matt. 28:19). This mission is about seeing people’s lives radically transformed by Jesus as they find life in him.

I am so honored to be apart of a group of people at Life Church who are passionate about Jesus’ mission. Your deep commitment to this mission inspires me and creates in me a deep well of gratitude.

The new year of 2012 stretches out before us and I am thrilled as I think about what Jesus is going to do through us for His mission in Lancaster.

Fired Up

Christians get fired up for all kinds of crazy stuff. Some are fired up to get their candidate elected. Some are fired up to keep the 10 Commandments monument in the courthouse. Others are fired up to keep ‘messy’ people at an arms length. Some are fired up to judge others. Still others are fired up to hide their own screw ups.

I think Christians should be fired up. But let me suggest 2 things to be fired up about:

Jesus
Fired up for Jesus because he is zealous for us - and even though we screw up, he rescued us... Not because we’re awesome, but because of his mercy and through simple faith in him. (Titus 3:4) Getting murdered on a roman cross was his way of saying - “your a big deal to me.”

Good Deeds
We are the beneficiaries of the best deed ever preformed, Jesus’ death on a cross. We should live in response to that. People in our city should be talking about the Christians. They should think, “Wow! those people are so helpful. Sure, all they talk about is Jesus, but they’re kind, patient and help everybody out.”

Its hip and cool to talk about Jesus and do nice things this time of year. But lets be Christians who are Fired Up all year about Jesus and good deeds.

Morality or Mission?

When Jesus came he clearly told us he was on a mission. That mission was to seek and to save lost and broken people (Lk. 19:10). The most religious people of Jesus’ day (the Pharisees) were not focused on mission but on morality.

Jesus’ mission was not to make us moral - it was to save us. Growing in positive qualities like love, patience, joy, etc (what the bible calls ‘fruit of the Spirit) is a very good thing - but it is a by-product of Jesus’ work in saving us.

We all have some seriously jacked up parts of our lives - we always will. And one day Jesus will bring us a full and complete redemption. But until then, we should be on mission with Jesus helping as many people as possible begin a life with Him.

Someday we will stand face to face with Jesus. On that day what will be most fulfilling is not how high you got your moral meter, rather it will be the people whom you influenced - in one way or another - to place their faith in Jesus. I hope there will be many of these people around you on that day.

New Invite Cards Are Here!

Here is a sneak peak of our brand new invite cards. They make it so easy to invite friends to church. Grab a couple this Sunday in the back!

Grace draws a crowd

There is a discussion going on today about whether or not churches are supposed to attract people. My answer to this question is an emphatic YES! DUHH! Churches should be a place that people are drawn to. People who are hurting, confused, looking for direction, hope and people who want to make a difference in the world should be drawn into our churches. 

So what is it that draws them? Why would they come? Is it because you have a good band, rockin’ music, free coffee or some sweet stained glass windows? These things can help but it should rather be because Jesus is alive and his grace is at work in your church.

Grace draws a crowd - and Jesus is full of grace. Everywhere Jesus went he drew crowds. And when these crowds gathered, he spoke truth and offered grace.

If our churches focus on Jesus and his message of grace and truth - we will draw a crowd because Jesus and His grace are very attractive.

Good actions cannot erase bad ones

Good actions cannot erase bad ones

Isaiah 64:6
 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
 and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
 we all shrivel up like a leaf, 

 and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

Meet Jesus-

http://goo.gl/6tw77

Prayer for the wicked?

Pray for Osama Bin Laden? Pray for Muammar Gaddafi? What was this church Florida Church thinking?

Am I suggesting we or this church pray they hurt more people? No, what I am saying is that we pray for our enemies.

Why would anyone in there right mind pray for such evil men? I mean, the main reason I could think to pray for them is so that a bullet could find them! However the Bible has a different response: the death of a wicked man who hurt people should not be met with a sense of vengeance. Justice is to be done only by God, we can rejoice that people will not be hurt anymore by this man. However wicked this man was, he was an image bearer of God and a human being. Vengeance is always left to the Lord, however we can be happy that a bad man is no longer hurting people and pray that he finds Jesus and stops hurting people.


I love how the Resurgance website puts this:

The appropriate Christian response lives in the tension of these verses:

Proverbs 11:10 - “When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.”
Proverbs 24:17 - “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, & let not your heart be glad when he stumbles.”

What does grace do?


Grace puts us all on the same playing field as Dan Rockwell wonderfully used to tell me. I am just as deserving of hell as Bin Laden is. I have angered God, just like Bin Laden has. We all are sinners and we all are wicked. I can repeat that again, we all are sinners and no one on this earth is better then anyone else. You may think the Pope is better then Bin Laden or a drug dealer but that is not true.

The Pope may act more moral and ethical but in God's eyes the drug dealer and the Pope are both sinners.

If you say that one person is better then the other, you put yourself in a dangerous spot. Grace puts us all in the same boat and the same playing field. It labels us all as needy and sinful because in order to need grace you need to be in trouble. If at some point you want to say one human is better then another you have made a tactical error. You forgot that God sees only 2 types of people, Holy and Bad. In the Holy camp we have Jesus and in the Bad camp we have everyone else. 


We all deserve hell, and knowing that we all want mercy but when its someone else we want them to get vengeance. So maybe we should be thinking twice when looking down out that down and out person in prison. We should be glad they can't hurt anyone but also we should be praying they find Jesus because they are in the same place we are - broken and sinful.

So maybe we should pray for our enemies - pray they find Jesus and pray they stop hurting people.

Check out our sermon series - The DNA  of Life where Jason dives more into this topic of grace

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DNA of Life:Grace

Can we Trust the Bible?

This week starts the mark of a new sermon series at Life Church, and in preparation I wanted to get us thinking about the Bible and can we trust it.

The series of 3 blog posts are in rebuttal to an article written by Timothy Beal; My Take: There’s no such thing as the Bible and never has been.

Can we trust the bible? There are several good questions raised in this article:

1. Which version of the bible is the "correct" one? 
2. What books made it into the cannon and why, and what the heck is a cannon?
3. Can we trust that this bible is the truth? Did someone mess with it?

Here below are the following blog posts:

1. Which version of the bible is the "correct" one?
2. What books made it into the cannon and why, and what the heck is a cannon?
3. Can we trust that this bible is the truth? Did someone mess with it?

Also please be sure to check out our podcasts of the sermons starting May 22nd 2011

 

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Use Your Noggin' Series: The Bible part 3

Can we trust the bible? Is it just a giant game of whisper down the alley?

Historians have a bibliographical test which they can use to test an old document to see how reliable it is. So if a historian is given an old paper on an account of what happened during a certain kings rule he can have a way to judge it's reliability. 


The test can be simplified to this:

1. How many copies (manuscripts) do we have of the original document? How long after the original document was made were the copies made?
2. Are the internal statements in the document true?
3. Are there external documents that corroborate the original document?

Lets jump in with number 1:

The New Testament has about 5,500 Greek full and partial copies of the original books. The Old Testament has about 40,000 fragments and full copies, thanks in part to the 1947 Dead Sea Scrolls discovery. How does this stack up to other works?


J. Casear Galic Wars  
10 copies
Written: 100 - 44 BC
Earliest copy: 900 AD
Time span: 1,000 years

Homer’s The Iliad

600 copies

Written: 900 BC
Earliest copy: 400BC
Time span: 500 years

New Testament 

Over 24,000 copies/fragments

Written: 40-100 AD

Earliest copy: 125 AD
Time span: 25 years

Lets look at number 2:

The mass majority of New Testament writing were circulated very early after Jesus died.

Why does it matter about the time span? This is important because the small the time span the less time there was for falsehood to be added to the story. If falsehood was added to an ancient work and it was copied soon after the original, people who witnessed the events could pick out those lies and discard them. With a time span of 500 years a lot can be changed and know one would ever know.

With the New Testament only about four hundred (less than one page of an English translation) have any significant bearing on the meaning of a passage, and most are footnoted in modern English translations. Overall, 97 to 99 percent of the New Testament can be reconstructed beyond any reasonable doubt, and no Christian doctrine is founded solely or even primarily on textually disputed passages. Mark Driscoll

 To sum it up, the New Testament in unique in that, unlike other older books, when people read the bible back in 125 AD they could go and verify with first hand witnesses that what was written was correct. In other words a person could read how Jesus raised a little girl from the dead, he could then travel to that town and speak with the girl and her parents!

Luke wrote this about his account of Jesus: (Luke 1:1-3)

¹ Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, ² just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. ³ With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilu.

 Luke wrote his gospel for a rich man who paid him to go an investigate the first hand eye witnesses to Jesus' miracles.

Lets look at number 3:

 Jewish historian Josephus (37 A.D.–100 A.D.) recorded the history of the Jewish people in Palestine from 70 A.D. to 100 A.D. In his work Antiquities, he states:
Now there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the gentiles. He was the Christ and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him. For he appeared alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct to this day.

This is one of many acient historians that wrote about matters in sync with the Bible. Archeology also provides some detail into biblical accounts, there are many findings which lead truth to the accounts in the New Testament.

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Use Your Noggin' Series: The Bible part 2

What books made it into the cannon and why, and what the heck is a cannon?

The cannon of scripture is simply a list of books that are authoritative, trust worthy and reliable depiction of who God is. The Bible is made up of 66 smaller books, letters, poems, and lists that created our bible. The process of putting them all together has been one of great debate, however the complete and accepted list of books in the Bible has been set since around 170 A.D.

So the books were selected by a council of religious scholars during that time period and they chose which books they felt met a certain criteria. That criteria could be summed up below:

1) Was the author an apostle or close to one? Was the author reliable and authoritative?
2) Is the book being accepted by many different churches?
3) Did the book contradict other books or other well established teachings of Jesus?

At this point some of you may feel uneasy about the idea of men choosing what books went into the bible. This here is were a large part comes down to faith. If God is sovereign and ruling over the earth, you know He must have hand a huge role influencing what books made it into our modern day bible. Also we must remember that certain books were left out because they were clearly teaching falsehood (the Gospel of Thomas, etc). Ultimately the church did not decide what books to put in - God did. If God inspired these men to write the books of the bible then he also inspired those church leaders to choose the correct books to be put in his Bible.

In regards to the Old Testament and what parts were accepted there is little debate.

When it came to the Old Testament, three important facts were considered: 1) The New Testament quotes from or alludes to every Old Testament book but two. 2) Jesus effectively endorsed the Hebrew canon in Matthew 23:35 when He cited one of the first narratives and one of the last in the Scriptures of His day. 3) The Jews were meticulous in preserving the Old Testament Scriptures, and they had few controversies over what parts belong or do not belong.  source: http://www.gotquestions.org/canon-of-Scripture.html

Further reading:
The Canon of Scripture by F.F. Bruce.

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Use Your Noggin' Series: The Bible part 1

Which version/translation of the bible is the "correct" one? 

Depending on how one distinguishes a different Bible version from a revision of an existing Bible version, there are as many as 50 different English versions of the Bible!

How are there some many translations or versions? The answers comes from how the translator chooses to translate from Greek or Hebrew (the original language of the bible) to English. Any one who has studied Spanish or German in school knows that a sentence in Spanish does not translate word for word very nice into English.

Example in German: 

German: Das Wetter ist häufig in Florida sonnig
German to English (word for word): The weather is frequently in Florida sunny

Of course if you were translating that sentence for a non German speaking friend you would rearrange the words to say "The weather is frequently sunny in Florida." Now that is one way to translate it you, can also translate it to a more modern wording and say "The weather is often sunny in Florida." We also can paraphrase it and say "Florida has amazing weather!"

The same can be said with translating the bible. Translating from Greek or Hebrew to English is very hard, the first man to do it, John Wycliffe, had quite a task before him! The Bible John Wycliffe worked with was one that was already translated into Latin. Today we have direct access though to the original texts (old and new testament) in the original language. These original texts have even been scanned and are now becoming available on the internet.


The best thing to do is to get a few different translations and compare them while reading. Have one for study, and maybe another for light reading. Below is a basic layout of the different types of bibles:

Word for Word Translations: (make a special effort to carefully interpret each word from their original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic into English)

Examples: English Standard Version (ESV), the New American Standard Bible (NASB), and the New King James Version (NKJV)/(KJV)

Thought for Thought Translations: (may include words that were not included in the original text in an effort to give the same meaning that the reader of the original language)

Examples: New International Version (NIV), Today's New International Version (TNIV), and New Living Translation (NLT) 

Paraphrase Translations: (pay even less attention to specific word meanings than other translations in an attempt to capture the poetic or narrative essence of a passage)

Examples: The Message (TM), The Living Bible (TLB), and The Amplified Bible (TAB).

Here are some examples from the different bibles:

• Word for Word - (ESV) What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
• Thought for Thought (NLT) What are mortals that you should think of us, mere humans that you should care for us? 
• Paraphrase (TM) What are mere mortals that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? 

Sources:

Pastoral Reflections on Bible Translations (Mark Driscoll 2007)

http://theresurgence.com/files/pdf/mark_driscoll_2007-01-09_pastoral_reflections_on_bible_translations.pdf

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Meet Ray

Meet Ray, see Ray work and see Ray tire.

Ray is a man whom in sense embodies us all. I spoke to Ray one hot summer afternoon while taking a break from our jobs. He was physically exhausted and worn out. Ray, a few years back, was into all kinds of bad things and really got his life turned around. I asked him why he looked so fatigued. A weary look crept over his face, and he exhaled that he was trying to make up for past wrong he had done in his life. His works were literally wearing him down.

I think we all can be like that from time to time, we just want to work really hard so we can be presentable. We also can see those who are presentable and then work hard only to just end up in despair because we can't compete. I asked Ray about his faith and he told me he hopes one day he will be good enough to go to heaven. He hopes that one day he can outweigh the drugs and sin of his past with good deeds and a caring heart.

It made sense to me as a non-Christian, we work and then get paid, so we should work for God's love. Working for God's good favor made sense, I mean after all why would he choose to love us if we didn't help. Ray's forthright honesty an assessment of his situation may not be as clear as ours but we all have a little bit of that mentality with God. Ray failed to see that the only way to please God is with faith (Hebrews 11:6). This is because God is holy and trying to bride him with good works is silly. This is why one author in the bible says "Our good deeds are like filthy rags."

God is holy and just, the only way to satisfy his wrath toward our sin is to place our faith in Jesus. This is because Jesus was a sinless substitute who took our punishment for us. He is our shield and protection from God's wrath against our wrong doing. Jesus asks for faith and nothing else when we come to him.

Check out our sermon series - The DNA  of Life where Jason dives more into this topic of faith

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DNA of Life: Faith

Come Join us for Easter this Sunday

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1st Life Church Lancaster

EASTER SERVICE - April 24th at 10:30AM

Back to our normal time for Easter! Come join us and give us a shot for Easter!


We Have been very busy so check out what we have been up to:
We are running our second radio ad with the X and you can check it out:
Radio Advertisement on 105.7 the X
Jason and team have been filming some more videos for our YouTube page 
Easter YouTube Invite
We have finished our DNA of Life Church Sermon Series:
iPod or MP3
  And as always you can find our more info about Sunday here:
Facebook Event
www.lifechurchlancaster.org 

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What's Going on at Life Church this month???

BAPTISM - April 17th at 2PM

We are NOT meeting Sunday morning, our church service will be held at 2 PM at Manor Church for our baptism

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Support those at Life Church who have chosen to be baptized!

7 people are being baptized as of today, 4/14

NO Sunday morning meeting. We will begin at 2pm with some songs, a brief message from Pastor Jason, the baptism, and then PARTY! Food and drink will be provided, but feel free to bring a bagged snack to share with the group.

PLEASE ARRIVE AT 2 FOR THE FESTIVITIES!

If you're interested in being baptized please email - 

info@lifechurchlancaster.org

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EASTER SERVICE - April 24th at 10:30AM

Back to our normal time for Easter! Come join us and give us a shot for Easter!

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The Law of God

"We may depend on it, men will never come to Jesus, and stay with Jesus, and live for Jesus, unless they really know why they are to come, and what is their need. Those whom the Spirit draws to Jesus are those who the Spirit has convinced of sin. Without thorough conviction of sin, men may seem to come to Jesus and follow Him for a season, but they will soon fall away and return to the world."
- J. C. Ryle

 What is the law of God?

The law of God is His right and fair rules that He has laid down for humanity to live by.


What is the law used for?

To point people to Jesus

"When we merely say that we are bad, the 'wrath' of God seems a barbarous doctrine; as soon as we perceive our bad-ness, it appears inevitable, a mere corollary from God's goodness..." - C. S. Lewis

A great analogy by Ray Comfort:

    Lets say I walk up to you and say “I have some good news for you a 25,000 dollar fine has been paid on your behalf!”

    That’s not good news it is foolishness and offensive because You would say “I don’t even have a 25,000 speeding fine”, and I would be saying that you have broken the law when you think that you have not.     

If I say it this way it may make more sense. Today the law clocked you at going 65 MPH though a blind children’s convention, the speed limit was 25, there were 10 clear warning signs but you went right on though. The law was about to take its course when someone you don’t even know stepped in and paid your fine, you are very lucky.

    See taking the time to bring in the law and showing you what you did wrong first makes the good news, good news indeed.

 When you show someone there sin, the cure, which is Jesus, becomes much more clear and desirable.

Functions of God’s Law

1. Romans 3:19 -Now we know that what things what the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
2. Romans 3:20 - Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law [is] the knowledge of sin. (Romans 7:7 – I have not known sin but by the law)
3. Galatians 3:24 - Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. (The law leads us to Christ, the law doesn’t help us it just leaves us helpless. It leaves us guilty)

It is very important to show people their sin before you show them Jesus.

Holding back on God

Malachi 1:8-10

⁸ When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts. ⁹And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the LORD of hosts. ¹⁰ Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.

This passage was written to Old Testament Jews who were losing step in there covenant relationship with God but it can be just as powerful to us today. This hit me hard because it comes down to the issue of the heart and worship. In Romans the bible says that your life should be a living sacrifice and your life should be your spiritual act of worship (Romans 12:1-2). The truth is that my heart is often misplaced and so this passage is for me. The Jews were just going through the motions of worship and giving God the left over’s. They were not giving God their whole self which is what He wanted. Specifically these Jews were giving the “bad” sheep as sacrifice, and leaving the good ones for themselves. They reason they did this is because those bad sheep would not sell for much. They were giving second and third best. 

The same can be true for us, I know I often go to church and go through the motions or serve and help out but I do not have a humble serving heart. If God is my master and father then where is His respect and honor that he is due? Why do my actions and heart not line up? Why does this not bother me more?

I want to give God my all, I don’t want to be day dreaming while in church or saying a prayer to impress someone. I want an authentic relationship with Christ; this is what my heart longs for. Part of authenticity means giving Jesus all of you because this is what ultimately will fill our desires and longings. This is what we were made for; we were made to worship God.

We see God’s response to our lack luster worship of Him in verse 10. He gets sick of prayer meetings that only get used to gossip about other people, He gets sick of political power plays in church leadership, and He gets sick of people not being authentic and giving themselves wholly to Him.

In all of those cases we have a hidden problem. The problem is idolatry; we are worshiping something, or holding something in higher regard then God. The answer is to look at Jesus. There is no 10 step solution in order to give God your all. The solution is to become enthralled with Jesus himself, as He really is. Open your bible today and meet him. He is a good God who paid the penalty for your sin.

"Give Life Church a Shot"

This Saturday from 10 to midnight Life Church will be giving away shot glasses with a Life Church logo at “The Brickyard” sports bar in Lancaster City. Several of our team members will be there to answer questions that anyone has about God & Life Church.

So why would a church be giving out shot glasses at a bar? Well, for us it’s simple. At Life Church we really dig Jesus. We think he makes all the difference in life. But unfortunately most people don’t really know too much about Jesus because they are not comfortable showing up in church on a Sunday morning - mostly because they fear being judged or they figure they will not fit in. We understand that - cuz we don’t fit into church-world either. So our hope is to take Jesus out of the church building and bring Him to places where people are comfortable and can engage in conversations about who He is and what He has done for us.

So if your in Lancaster on Saturday, Head to the Brickyard and come talk with us. It will be easy to find us, we will be wearing the “Give us a shot” t-shirts.

Lastly, be sure to come check us out on Sunday at 10:30am in the Lancaster County Convention Center.

Pastor Jason.

Who Killed Jesus?

It seems this controversial topic has been struck up once again. This time the current Pope Benedict XVI writes that the Jews did not kill Jesus. He claims that a subset of the Jewish community, the "aristocracy of the Temple," killed Jesus and all of the Jews should not take the blame. For many years people have blamed the Jews for the death of Jesus. I know this issue is highly contended and the debate has been going on for quite some time.

It does not matter who killed Jesus, because the truth is that the only reason Jesus was in that position was because He put Himself there:

Jesus was not murdered, he willingly laid his life down. Jesus was on a mission

¹⁷ The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” (John 10:17-18)

 Jesus was not shocked to find people coming to kill him, nor was he expecting anything different. Jesus laid His life down because He had a singular mission that was much bigger then doing good works on earth. Jesus came to earth with a single goal in mind. Still though the truth that He laid down his own life raises questions, like "Why did He lay his own life down?" or even "Why did He not stop it? He could have done a lot more good on earth." So who killed Jesus? Why did he lay his life down?

Well, I am part of the reason Jesus laid His life down, and you too are part of the reason that Jesus came to this earth and died. You see we have the blood on our hands because we are ultimately the reason Jesus had to die and we are also the reason that Jesus died. He had to die for us because we broke relationship with God and ran from Him. Jesus came to earth on a mission to fix that relationship by taking away our sins. 

So ultimately you and I killed Jesus, we killed Jesus because we are perverted, we killed Jesus because we get angry and we have tempers. We killed Jesus because we are proud and hated God. We sinned and rebelled against God and because God still wants relationship with us He sent Jesus to come down and die a bloody humiliating death on a wooden torture device. The big question now is why? Why death?

God will not simply wink at sin and let it slide. That is not fair, God loves justice and so he must punish sin and wrong doing. We sinned and rebelled against God, and in a stunning act of kindness never before seen God sent Jesus to come here on earth and lay His life down as the payment for our crimes. Our crimes called for the death penalty and Jesus stepped in and laid His life down for us.

You see the person or group of people who takes the blame for killing Jesus should be us. You cannot blame the Jews nor the Romans because we killed Jesus - you and I. The Jews and Romans may have worked together to actually do the deed but the reason Jesus was killed lies on us. He laid His life down for us willingly.

So you see why I can say that you and I killed Jesus, I was part of the reason He had to come. I do not care what group of people killed Jesus 2,000 some years ago because that is not important. Jesus came to earth to die, that was the main reason why He came. Instead of pointing fingers at people let's point them back at us because we were part of the reason Jesus died.

You can accept that or not but right now we are in a period were Jesus is offering amnesty to the rebels who ran away from Him. We should be turning to Jesus in faith and thanking Him for laying his life down.

Religion vs the Gospel

 

What is religion? What is grace?

Religion - You earn god's favor by good works, which classifies most world religions

Christianity (Grace) - This is what makes Christianity different, we are accpeted by God because of what Jesus did

Enjoy this collection of Religion vs the Gospel by Pastor Mark Driscoll

• Religion says, if I obey, God will love me. Gospel says, because God loves me, I can obey.

• Religion has good people & bad people. Gospel has only repentant and unrepentant people.

• Religion values a birth family. Gospel values a new birth. 

• Religion depends on what I do. Gospel depends on what Jesus has done. 

• Religion claims that sanctification justifies me. Gospel claims that justification enables sanctification. 

• Religion has the goal to get from God. Gospel has the goal to get God. 

• Religion sees hardships as punishment for sin. Gospel sees hardship as sanctified affliction. 

• Religion is about me. Gospel is about Jesus. 

• Religion believes appearing as a good person is the key. Gospel believes that being honest is the key. 

• Religion has an uncertainty of standing before God. Gospel has certainty based upon Jesus’ work. 

• Religion sees Jesus as the means. Gospel sees Jesus as the end. 

• Religion ends in pride or despair. Gospel ends in humble joy.

3 Reasons Why We Don't Sing Romance Songs to Jesus

I know many times I will turn on the radio and be enjoying a song which I believe is about a guy and girl in love. I am not afraid to admit that, however as the song ends, horror washes over my face as I hear the radio station announce itself as Christian. Christian worship songs can often get a little out of hand with the touch me, hold me tenderly Jesus lyrics. We want to view Jesus as he really is - a King and Lord. There is nothing OK about singing overly romanticized songs to Him.

Here are the 3 reasons why:


1)  Men will not stand for it:

    Men do not want to worship someone they could beat up. Most pictures of Jesus makes him out to be a cuddly cute sissy. Men are leaving the church and one factor could be church is rather feminine and they are saying things like "now don't you hit or wrestle." Men do not want to sing love songs to Jesus. Men do not want to hear about being tenderly held by the king of Kings. Shirts such as "Jesus is my boyfriend," just will not fly with us.

2) Theology Matters:

    Having a correct view of Jesus is imperative to how you live your life. If you read through the New Testament, the same thing is presented in the scriptures: Theology first, then call to action. Paul always will talk about your standing then what to do. If you think of Jesus as soft or your romantic lover, your walk with Jesus will be impacted negativity because you will be worshiping the wrong Jesus!

 3) We want to Worship Jesus:

      In 2 Corinthians 11:4 Paul says “For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached...” Paul is saying is that people will try and present a different kind of Jesus to you. The best and most clear picture of Jesus is in Mark chapter 4 and then chapter 5. We see Jesus, in chapter 4, as a strong, authoritative leader who would not back down from a fight. In chapter 5, however, we see Jesus being tender, compassionate and loving toward a little girl and a sick women.

     Jesus is both the Lion - strong, and the Lamb - compassionate. We need both for our Christology - Jesus has to be seen as a warrior king and as a one who offers amnesty, who abdicates for us.

The Problem is Inside of You

It is pretty frustrating doing what you know is wrong or doing what you hate doing and not being able to stop. Getting mad at a spouse, cheating at work or school, or harboring jealous thoughts. Something inside of us tugs at us and tries to tell us to stop. Maybe you can join in the same lamenting as Paul does:

Romans 7:17-20 - As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Paul struggled with being a Christian and having these conflicting desires. One side wanting to do good and one side wanting to do what pleases self. This is the old devil and angel on your shoulder. Some people call this the conscience.

This same idea is played out in the famous short story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In this story Dr. Jekyll, literally tries to separate the sinful side of himself from himself. Mr. Hyde is the "sinful" side of him, which he transforms into when he wants to blow off some steam and release his sinful desires. In the end Dr. Jekyll dies and learns that you cannot separate the two, he was flawed from the inside. 

But I was still cursed with my duality of purpose; and as the first edge of my penitence wore off, the lower side of me, so long indulged, so recently chained down, began to growl for license. Not that I dreamed of resuscitating Hyde (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by :Robert Louis Stevenson)

 Dr. Jekyll wrongly assumed you could separate the two sides, visit the sinful side for a short while and then transform back and have altruistic motives.

The sin problem is inside of you, and Jesus is the person who can deal with it. You cannot separate them but you can kill the one.

Romans 6:6-7 - For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.  

Jesus, lived and died in place for your sins because your sins are not just pricks against your conscience. They are actually crimes against God. Jesus died to pay the penalty on your behalf for those crimes. He offers himself and new life to anyone who comes to Him in faith.

The problem is inside of you and the solution is outside of you in Jesus.

Guilt or Gospel?

A Guilt Trip - You know it when someone does it to you. Sometimes its your boss, your roommate or your mom or dad who lay it on. You can hear it in their voice, you and feel it in your gut. Before you know it you hear yourself say, "Okay, Okay - I'll do it!"

Many churches and religions function on this same principle. They twist your arm, try to persuade your conscience, hammer you with guilt and shame - all with the hope of getting you to stop doing bad stuff and to behave how they want you to. “Don’t you know you shouldn’t do that?” “I can’t believe you would do such a thing.” “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

Religious leaders are playing a great “wack-a-mole” game with your sins. But every time they wack one down - another pops up. The problem is the mallet that their using is guilt and shame - not the gospel.

If guilt is a mallet, the gospel is a stick of dynamite. What do I mean by gospel? The Gospel is the one word that describes the heart and soul of the entire Biblical story. It is one word that captures the heart of who God really is. It means simply: “good news.”

In the gospel Jesus shows up and says that He is not going to hold your wrongs against you. He wants to be restored with you. Because of His great dedication to you He has dealt a death blow to what was between you and Him - your sin & rebellion.

The bible says that Jesus nailed your record of wrongs to his bloody cross. The warrant for your arrest was sealed in his grave. He paid for your wrong - so you could go free. It cost him everything. It costs you nothing - just draw near, accept it & believe. No shaming, no guilt trip, no arm twisting, no yelling and screaming for you to behave yourself. You can’t earn it. You can’t buy it. He accepts you, cleanses you, and redeems you - when you simply come to him.

That’s the good news. That’s the gospel. It’s dynamite for your wack-a-mole games. When you come to Jesus and begin to understand how much He suffered on your behalf, and you see how He freely extends life and forgiveness to you - it will change the way your heart works. Not because of guilt - but because of the gospel. Then the moles will start dropping like flies.

Use Your Noggin' Series: Fallacies - Straw Man

Logical Fallacies

What is a logical fallacy?
It is a false or deceptive notion within a logical argument. It is an error in reasons while making an argument. It is not simply just being wrong about a statement, it is a statement where your premise does not provide sound logic or support for that conclusion. In other words, your statement that you make before you come to a conclusion is not grounded in logic.

Why learn them?
Because you want to be able to present and defend your faith and views with intelligence. The main goal ultimately being able to point people toward Jesus while gently helping clear some confusion about Jesus

Today we will be looking a fairly common and easy to spot logical fallacy. After this you can go impress your friends and look really smart when your sister is making fun of you.The logical fallacy is:

Straw Man

This logical fallacy is by far the most popular today. It is when a person makes a claim and then instead of attacking the claim it is ignored, misrepresented, distorted, or exaggerated. You will see many TV show pundits doing this or even comedians like Bill Mahr. This is because the claims that are made, when twisted or distorted can be very funny.

After a straw man fallacy is committed the original claim is often muddied in the mind of those listening. This is because when a claim is presented (claim A), the alternate claim or the straw man (claim B) is attacked and not the actual claim made (claim A).

Example:

Person A: I think we should have to raise certain taxes in order to help pay off new government spending

Person B: Why do you want to lead us into another depression?


Example 2:

Person A: I think the new fee for garbage removal is outrageous what do they expect me to do with my trash I have now? I just can’t eat my trash can I?


These types of fallacies cause a lot of headaches because it takes a good ear to hear for the twist or distorting of the original claim.

Identity in Christ

The Internet was ablaze last week with shocking news for anyone who follows zodiac signs closely. A Minneapolis astronomy instructor,Parke Kunkle, claimed that the earth's wobble had shifted the zodiac signs around. For those of you who do not know, Astrology is a belief that the sun's position relevant to certain defined constellations at the time of your birth date affect your personality.

Now I am not here to confirm or deny the claims of Astrology. The effects though could be felt in the quotes:

“Darn it, the whole time I thought I was an introvert, now to find out that I’m an extrovert. I’m going to need awhile to unravel my life.”

 “I’ve known myself to be a Sagittarius, I believe, since I was born. So to come up now with some new sign? It’s unacceptable!”

Some claim this may have just been a harmless joke by astronomers to pick on astrologist, but the effects still can teach us something. Peoples identities are inextricably tied into these signs. People will seek anything to identify or define themselves.

We at Life Church want to be defined as Christians, people who follow Jesus. If my identity is linked to that then I am where God wants me to be. If my job title is my identity, then I will be in despair if I do not get promoted. If my knowledge is my identity, I will be distraught when I am proven wrong. If my identity comes from a person or who I love, then my "life" ends when the relationship does.

 We love to label ourselves, it's how we feel valuable.

I want everyone to know Jesus and get identity from Him. At the end of the day rest easy and say "I'm in Christ and His child." I fight to believe that everyday and I always try to come back to the gospel. When the sun sets it does not matter my job title, my income, what I have done, or even how many people look up to me. I can rest easy knowing that I am accepted by God because of what Jesus did.

Forgetting Jesus Summary

Here is the wrap up for the 4 types of Christians who often can end up forgetting Jesus in their walk. Forgetting Jesus can lead to a lot of problem in our faith walk because Jesus is not just Christianity 101, or how you get saved. He is everything in our faith and the main central focus of it. He is the one who provides our growth, joy and help.

Intro

The Distracted Christian

The Chruchy Chrisitan

The Spiritually Blind Christian

The Defunct Christian

Don't just think Jesus is in your company and your walking along with Him fine. Take some time to step back and examine your walk

Forgetting Jesus: The Defunct

Matthew 26:47-50 "While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: 'The one i kiss is the man; arrest him.' Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, 'Greeting, Rabbi!' and kissed him. Jesus replied, 'Friend, do what you came for.' Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him."

Some Christians forget Jesus and ultimately just end up walking away from Him. Things get hard, times get tough and God seems far so they throw in the towel. This can be quite troubling to watch, especially if you know the person who is walking away.

Jesus gives warning to this in a parable, which is a story used to explain a theological concept. 

Luke 8:5

A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up

The parable here is Luke 8-4-15 and in this part Jesus is speaking about a farmer sowing seeds. The seeds represent the gospel message of Jesus and the way the plant develop after having each seed planted show the condition of the soil. The plant is representative of the person. So the seed which does not grow up or even take root is analogous of a person who chooses to follow Jesus but then just gets hammered by life and throws in the towel.

The soil for your salvation must be solid in order for you, the plant, to grow up big and healthy. The soil must contain the idea that you are a sinner before a just God who has every right to punish you. Instead though he provides amnesty through Jesus Christ whom lived a perfect life on your behalf and dies in your place for your sins. He then rises from the dead 3 days later to give you his perfect life so that you can stand in judgment before a holy God and pass because you have Jesus' perfect life.

A case could be made "If he walks away from the faith he lost his salvation" or "if he walks away he was never really saved." We will not dive into either here today but just leave it at this:

2 Timothy 2:19
....Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,”....

Bottom Line:

What is your motivation for following Jesus? Please do not believe the lies that following Him will make you rich, happy, save you marriage and everything will be great. You may come to God and those things may happen, but more then likely they will not. In fact things may get even harder for you when you become a Christian. The foundation and core motivation for you becoming a Christian must be this: That you are seeking salvation from your sins and God's wrath toward them. With this motivation and a deep seated love for Christ, when troubles you will not want to leave. This is because you would be leaving your salvation and shelter. Hard times will come and no one is saying it will be easy.

Forgetting Jesus: The Spiritually Blind Christian

2 Peter 1:9

 ⁹ But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. 

This is the Christian who you could call carnal or immature, he is a Christian but he hides it really well. Every opportunity for growth toward God he seems to pull the emergency brake and slow down. He has forgotten that his sins were paid for and he is nearsighted or blind to what that cost.

The flip side of the coin is the Spirtually blind Christian who has forgotten what Jesus has done and this leads to legalism. When Christians forget Jesus' work on the cross then can slip into moralism and legalism.

This type of forgetfulness can play itself out in one of two ways: one the Christian will be walking on spiritual egg shells around God because he still feels that he has to help God pay for his sins. The second way, the immature way, it plays out is the Christian who never really grows up and just keeps taking from the church, he lolly gags in his sins and shows no real concern for growth.

Characterized by:

• Subjective roller coast relationship with Jesus
• Constant fear of dying, unsure that he has done enough to make God happy
 

or

• Very immature, still playing around in his sins and he is hesitant to leave
• Not looking to give only to take from the local church

Futility of the Christian:

For the first Christian he has forgotten that Jesus died for all his sins and that he  needs to rest in that.

For the second Christian he has forgotten that Jesus is Holy and Lord. He has not allowed the gospel to penetrate his heart and produce motivation to repent, grow and serve

Bottom Line:

Look to the gospel for both cases. To forget that Jesus has forgiven your sins will lead to either despair and trying hard or it will lead to lazy living and sin. They both are bad and come from walking along and forgetting Jesus.

When Jesus said on the cross "it is finished" he meant it and all sins - past, present and future were dealt with. The immature Christian simply needs to grow up and contribute to the local church and stop taking and complaining. He will complain about the church but never lift a finger to help, he will take the free stuff but never give. He will be playing around in his sin and resisting God's push toward growth.

Forgetting Jesus: The Churchy Christian

Rev. 2:2-4

" ² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

   ⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first."

 The churchy christian no doubt will offend some of you because I listed him among the ones that forgot Jesus. He could also be called religious or borderline Pharisaical. This Christian has been going to church his whole life, he never lets you forget it, and does not do the "bad things." He can keep up the skin deep Christianity that allows everyone in the church to praise him. Inside though he is rotten and has never seen himself as a sinner in need of Jesus. The key to this Christian is that he acts but does not know why and he has become lukewarm and half into in his walk.

Christians go to church but the primary purpose of the church is for outsiders. This type of Christian has forgotten Jesus because they do not interact with non Christians because it is frowned upon to hang out with people who smoke. They also go through the motions at church almost like it is a country club for people who dress and think like them.

This person can often get so caught up in church and doing this and that, that they often forget why they are doing it in the first place!

Characterized by:

• Thousands of church actives and go to about them all but never really any deep change
• Looks down on those outside the church because they might stain his sweet sweater vest
• This could also be the guy doing everything right and trying real hard to “play by the rules”
• Going on mission trips, serving, staying late but not knowing why, mainly doing it because all his friends are doing it.

Futility of the Christian:

3 problems:

• No interaction with outsiders
•  Forgets church is for the people outside the walls, those who do not know Jesus
•  Not understand culture or arguments against Jesus and thus ineffective in giving the gospel in a way that is culturally relevant 
• So wrapped up in church you forget why you are actually serving

Bottom Line:

This Christian forgets two main things:

• Jesus loves the outsiders, so we need to love them too and not care what it does to our "image."
• Why he does he do different church activities, why does he serve, why does he stay late? Is it to impress others for a shallow positive judgment or is it to help the church reach outsiders?

Forgetting Jesus: The Distracted Christian

Luke 10:38-42

 ³⁸ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” ⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Martha here is very busy.  She is even too busy to sit around and hear Jesus teach.  When Jesus see this he calls her name twice to get her attention. Martha was very busy with work and totally forgot about Jesus.

Today this could be the guy/girl climbing the corporate ladder, super into work or even just too busy watching movies and playing World of War craft to spend time with Jesus. It might not even be busy or productive things, it could be just getting distracted with hobbies. Am I saying that Christians should go home and have no fun? No way, what I am saying is remember Jesus and take time to rest. 

The bottom line is this person is very distracted with life and really does not find a lot of time for Jesus. I mean picture Martha, worrying about dishes when the Son of God is teaching in her living room! Think about us, too busy with You tube when God wants to teach us from the bible and use us to serve!

Jesus gives a stern warning about the distracted Christian in Luke 8:5-16:

^“….7 the Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants.”

Jesus then explains what the parable means for the 3^rd seed:

^“…14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.”

They get choked out by life, things get too busy and they don’t have time for Jesus! Martin Luther once said “I am so busy now that if I did not spend three hours each day in prayer, I could not get through the day.” Pretty intense dude!

This type of Christian is characterized by:

• Always busy with … car, pc, movies, sports whatever… it is all they think about and mostly what they spend most free time and money on
• Complain about others not being busy (like Martha did). They moan about how they work so hard every day while other people enjoy a weekend rest. They could also be just the opposite, they sigh because their friends are off working and they have no one to play video games with.
• Usually they could drop what they are doing and spend time with God but they hold the actives more important than God. The reason they do is because they may be false functional saviors. A false savior is a functional item or activity you create to get you out of a little personal hell (credit: Mark Driscoll). This could be a man who needs to find fulfillment in work and what he can accomplish and it becomes a little God to get him out of the “hell” of being unimportant.  It could also be the guy who wastes his days watching movies or screwing around. This Christian is distracted and has no time for God.

Futility of this Christian:

⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Spend some time with God each day, the distracted Christian often can forget Jesus in the daily hustle of life.

Bottom Line:

Your hard work will not get you closer to God, simply resting at His feet and listening to what he has to say. This means when you read your bible open it and ask Him to show you what he has for you each day. Do not get so distracted that you forget what this life is all about.

Forgetting Jesus

 Luke 2:41-49:

“…⁴³ After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. ⁴⁴ Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him…”

 We see here while Jesus is a boy and traveling with his parents and they leave him behind by accident! What a mess to be in, and I often think "how can you forget the son of God?" It seems pretty silly to be walking along and then all of a sudden stop and say "Wow where is Jesus, the savior of  the world?" I would like to submit that it happens much more often then we would like to admit it our own lives. The forgetfulness though is very subtle, so this week we will take a look at 4 types of Christians who have forgotten Jesus. 

I think we should meet Jesus first:

Everyone has one thing in common, we are all not who we are supposed to be. We were created perfect in the garden of Eden in perfect relationship with our creator. God allowed us to rule the garden and do with it as we saw fit. He established only one rule which was don't eat from a certain tree. Adam and Eve ate from that tree, disobeying God and sending human history into dismay disarray. We have been trying everything we can think of to restore that relationship with God, including more sin. The fact of it is though that God himself came to earth to restore the relationship that we botched! He came as a man, Jesus, and took the penalty for our sin. He became our sin and suffered hell for it. Why did Jesus need to die? He needed to because God is holy and He cannot let sin go unpunished, murders, rapists and those who break his law have two choices: pay for your own sins or let Jesus pay for them. Those who wisely choose the latter can live a new life a joy and in response turn from there sin and worship God. It is not just "bad people" though who have problems with God, because we all have sinned. God's standard is perfection, which means those of us who lie, get angry or are proud are counted as sinners. Jesus took the wrath we deserved and is a great and good God.

OK, little check did you read all of that? Did you just brush it off as "Christianity 101?" Often forgetting Jesus starts with forgetting the gospel.

Here are some questions to get you thinking:

• Are you more focused on performance then on Jesus? (Trying to do this or not do that, instead of worshiping Him and letting that change you)
•  Do you rest at the end of the day or look forward to trying harder? (At the end of the day is it Wow I need to step it up or God will get mad)
• Are you trying to prove your not all “that bad?”(Want to show that you are something and you’re not a “bad sinner” like other people)

Does the truth of what Jesus’ death on a cross impact your life daily?

Check back this week and see how Christians can forget Jesus!

Use Your Noggin' Series: Fallacies - Ad hominem tu Quoque

Logical Fallacies

What is a logical fallacy?
It is a false or deceptive notion within a logical argument. It is an error in reasons while making an argument. It is not simply just being wrong about a statement, it is a statement where your premise does not provide sound logic or support for that conclusion. In other words, your statement that you make before you come to a conclusion is not grounded in logic.

Why learn them?
Because you want to be able to present and defend your faith and views with intelligence. The main goal ultimately being able to point people toward Jesus while gently helping clear some confusion about Jesus

Today we will be looking a fairly common and easy to spot logical fallacy. After this you can go impress your friends and look really smart when your sister is making fun of you.The logical fallacy is:


Ad hominem tu Quoque


Commonly called the You Too fallacy! This type of logic fallacy occurs when a person uses a event, view, or previous statement to attack the speakers argument.


Example:

• Person A: Presents several claims about a topic
• Person B: Shows several past statements or events that person A said or did which are inconsistent with Person A's original statement
• Therefore Person B claims that Person A's original claim is false.

This is a fallacy because past events or statements cannot be used as a way to side step current issues brought up in a claim. Past events or statements are independent of current claims made by a speaker. Inconsistency in speakers claims do not automatically render all current claims false.


In other words, let’s say speaker A for years says "We should not sign a nuclear treaty with Russia" then lays out 5 good points as to why we should not. If speaker A then votes in the Senate to pass a bill allowing an arms treaty, it does not nullify his arguments against it. If you want to nullify speaker A's claims against not making a treaty you must attack the claims not the person’s actions or past contradicting statements.

Example:

• Doctor tells patient “Don’t smoke it will give you cancer
• Patient says I saw you smoking earlier it can’t be that bad
• Patient arrives at the conclusion that smoking is OK, because the Doctor does it

Again, this type of fallacy is committed because actions are inconsistent with words. This could also be called acting like a hypocrite, but just because someone does not do what they say does not discredit what they are saying. It should give way to further examination but my statement of A cannot be discredited by my actions with are on the contrary of statement A.

The truth of a statement must be judged on the statement not against the person delivering it. Attacking the person delivering the statement is another fallacy listed below. This is important because too many people make this error when entering into debates or discussions.


Example committed commonly by non Christians -

Non Christians will often attack Christians caught in a sin and point to that instance to say “see look the bible is not true and Christianity is a shame!” This is incorrect logic obviously as we learned above. The fact is, Christians sin and that does not disprove anything in the bible.


Example committed commonly by Christians -

In the book of Galatians, chapter 2, we see an error committed by many Christians in the life of Peter. Peter is telling these new Christians one thing, you do not have to obey Jewish customs, and when Jews come around he is going back on what he said and acting in complete contradiction to his teaching.


When many of us read this we miss the hypocrisy but I promise it was not missed by the Galatian church. The incorrect response to Peter would be to disregard all of his teaching. The correct response would be to call him out on it and lead him to repentance, read chapter 2 to see what happens




More to follow