Category Archives: General

Flash: Not as Evil as Bad Coders

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I’m tired of the argument that Flash crashes browsers, consumes CPUs (and thus electricity and your laptop battery), and keeps your fan going.  Guess what?  Bad code outside of flash, and in HTML5, can do the same thing!  Open Google Chrome and launch Twitter, Facebook, and Google Reader and check your resources.  Is Chrome eating up system resources?  You’ll probably not be surprised to discover that it is.  Advertisers are using Flash and they’re using it in intensive ways.  Flash by its nature sits as a plugin for most browsers (Chrome actually being an exception) but those browsers and Flash rely on developers doing certain things.

Worse, in HTML5 web workers you can set up a loop that will take a machine to its knees even if it doesn’t do anything.  I’d make a demo page, but someone will undoubtedly use it for evil, so just trust me that a bad coder doing bad things can use non-flash things to take down your computer.  I can do it without HTML5, too.  I can probably write bad code in every programming language and probably take down every machine – because it’s bad code.  Don’t blame the messenger [AKA Flash]!  Blame bad coders and people who are using it irresponsibly.   There are bugs, there have been security problems, but Flash is just as vulnerable as the browsers, and even your word processing software (ahem, Office + Macros).

I should also point out: I don’t code/program in Flash.  I have nothing to gain from Flash being anywhere (except of course when I play Scrabble on Facebook, which I quite enjoy). I just don’t like it when people point their fingers at one technology or another like has  happened to Flash pointing to the middle of the problem instead of the root.

I Call Shenanigans on Legalists

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I’m tired of hearing folks beat up other believers over some thing they need to be doing.  The latest one I just watched part of (until I couldn’t take any more and had to shut it off) was about how Christians need to be really overt and blatant about being Christians on Facebook or MySpace.  I’m not sure how your religious status on Facebook ties into your actual walk.  I am sure how your life and status updates in general can reflect your walk, but I’m pretty sure that they’re not the things that show your spiritual growth.  I love the idea of folks wanting to see passion in the lives of believers, but what about growth?  Growth is not just that you can quote Bible verses to people.  Growth doesn’t mean how intense you are about others “living according to the Bible” (by which they almost always mean rigid rules and standards).  Growth has very much to do with what Peter closed his second Epistle with:

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

There are subtleties in these last two verses that make me want to scream and shout at legalists.  The apostle is warning the readers to watch out for those who twist God’s word to their own destruction in the verses leading up to this thought.  He warns them with this in full view so that they would watch to not be carried away by the error of unprincipled men.  In the context of Paul there are two ways I have seen people take the message out of context: 1) Paul really was a closet legalist and wanted to see people burdened by the Law  or 2) Paul was too gracious (as in Romans 5 & 6).  Here’s the real deal: If you’re not being accused, like Paul, of saying people should be liberated to sin because you’re teaching grace like Romans 5 & 6 state clearly, then you’re not preaching grace appropriately.  And like Paul writes in those very same chapters: sin should not abound because grace is a motivator and motivates us to stop sinning and to be living a life of abundant abiding.  The measuring stick is not the Law, it’s grace.  Grace is a tough measuring stick because it is infinite.  Deal with measuring growth by grace like Peter suggests: grow in your understanding of it.

If you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, not just by studying to be better, but by pursuing Him and His grace, you will grow in a measurable way: in context of grace.  Grace, as a motivator, leads us to righteousness, but it doesn’t lead us to a rigid system that burdens and beats up.  Grace leads to conviction unto relationship, legalism leads us to guilt and more flesh based works to try to make up for past failings.  I call shenanigans because there is no good deed that goes unpunished in a legal system.  Its not good enough.  It isn’t meritorious, it isn’t paying God back.  Grace is always sufficient.  Always.  Because its our justification in Christ that brings about our measurement in grace, it always measures up infinitely.

Christ when speaking to the woman at the well in John 4 talked about living water.  The woman at the well was obsessed with getting that living water and which well it came from.  Christ was referring to spiritual things that brought life abundant.  When legalists bring out their rulers for success and growth I scoff.  I used to have one of those rulers.  I used to pull it out, measure myself by it in front of other believers, and then go back to my sinning in private.  The legalist has outward works to judge by, but the heavenly minded believer doesn’t even see the ruler.  The legalist can sin in private without being caught (until they’re being caught and are then found in scandal) while the grace based believer finds himself out of fellowship and quickly comes back to the Father through the past forgiveness of sins due to the totally adequate work of Christ on the cross.  The legalist is constantly looking back wishing with regret that he had never sinned before while the gracious believer is constantly looking back at awe that the Lord forgave such a sin as the ones the believer committed.  One would give anything to change the past, the other sees that Romans 8:28 is true: God can use anything, even shenanigans, for good.  Give up the Law my Christian friends and the rulers that come with it, instead walk by faith in grace, grow in your knowledge of Grace, because it gets it definition, its source, and its motivation from God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Things You See Looking Down:Position, Not Just Condition

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When you’ve got a heavenly perspective you don’t mind seeing believers as co-saints, no matter how gnarly they are, because you have an eternal perspective.  In fact the fact you get to fellowship with someone who is a co-believer is exciting.  A positional aspect is judging a lot of extraneous stuff that just doesn’t matter, but a heavenly, positional aspect builds up the believers and they rejoice in their eternal security, their eternal position, and their seating with Christ in the heavenlies.

A Couple Instrumental Tracks

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I recorded a few instrumental tracks that I made for a documentary on my grandpa Peterman.  While they’re for the documentary, I thought I’d share them here:

1) Instrumental Jam.  This tune is one I’ve been playing to myself for years but never performed for anyone but family.

2) When I Survey.  This is a traditional song arranged by myself and is roughly based on the way I have played it at church for background music during communion.

Things You See Looking Down

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I’m going to start a new series of posts called “Things You See Looking Down.”  This is based on Colossians 3:1-3 which tells us that we’re seated in the heavenlies with Christ.  This calls us to have a heavenly viewpoint on earthly scenarios.  Thus, we’re looking down from a heavenly viewpoint on life.  This will be a series of short posts and I don’t know how long they’ll last, but as I see things from a heavenly perspective, I’ll try to post them here.

Substitutionary Atonement: One for All

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This year I’ve really gotten into watching baseball.  I think its in part because of my brother-in-law Kurt’s excitement for sports and my grandpa’s love for baseball.  Baseball is a pastime in this country and I am a fan.  I live near the Colorado Rockies’ stadium in Denver (20 minutes or so away) and I keep track of their activities with some regularity.  This last Friday their head coach, Clint Hurdles, was released from his position and was replaced by their bench coach as the interim coach.  This change is one I don’t agree with as a fan, but they didn’t ask me.  Here’s where the theology comes in: the first basement Todd Helton, a believer, was interviewed and had this to say:

“We should be held just as accountable as anybody. Obviously, he takes the sword for us.  He didn’t have any bad at-bats, he didn’t throw any bad pitches. He’s the same manager he was two years ago [editor: when the Rockies went to the World Series]. We realize that. We realize that ultimately we are the reason he got fired because we played bad baseball. We definitely feel responsible.”

There are times when one person takes the fall for a group.  Christ, being the only acceptable sacrifice for the sins of mankind made the sacrifice.  We all deserved the penalty for our not ‘playing well’ – there is no minor leagues for real life where you get to figure out this being a human thing and then bring it to the big game.  Instead you get to screw up in front of everyone, blow it miserably in front of anyone, and ultimately stand before God as having failed to live up to His glory (Romans 3:23) – accept if Christ took your place in judgment on the cross.  Then you were identified with His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, ascension and seating.  The Rockies players know that they were saved from being dropped into the minor leagues because of their coaches sacrifice.

We know that without the sacrifice of Christ we would have nothing to stand before God with that would give us any confidence.  Instead of the worry of judgment for punishment, we look forward to a judgment for rewards.  One where heaven will become a place for a bride and the bride groom.  It will be a perfect game, one with no outs, endless innings, and no injuries.  Oh, and I think that there will be no stealing of bases 😉

Preserving the Unity

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Recently at Bible Study I had the opportunity to teach through Ephesians 4:1-3.  The verse reads, “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” in the King James version.  What struck me about this was that I had failed to endeavor keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace on so many occasions that I was hardly qualified to speak on the topic from experience.  Instead I would have to humbly teach with examples of past failure: my life being an example of what not to do.  Without going into every failure, which could take far more time and introduce too much confusion, I abandoned unity because I had learned that doctrine divides and that good doctrine was to be prized above all and at the cost of anything.  While I’m still passionate about doctrine, the Lord has humbled me with the doctrine of Grace and its application in my own life.

You see Paul doesn’t start chapter 4 on its own, instead he starts it after a prayer that outline believers as family.  And before that he outlines who the individual is in Christ.  Nothing about the context of Ephesians allows for my radical and aggressive departures from various churches due to doctrinal differences.  Paul reminds the believer in 4:1 that he should be walking in a manner worthy of the calling to which he was called.  What calling is that?  The life of Christ being lived out through moment-by-moment relationship.  Each believer is called to this relationship with God first and foremost.  That way the life of Christ can be manifest in a daily walk.

Paul, not wanting to stop with the profundity that is a walk that is worthy of our calling, hits the believers up with an immense request in verse 2, “With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;”  BAM!  Its as if Paul was shooting for the very foundation of the fleshly nature and goes in for the kill: no more pride.  Pride is what hits me and causes me to want to be right and dogmatic about things.  I have dear friends who have endured this pride and still love me (and my family) despite this intensity.  My parents told me growing up that I should consider being a lawyer because I loved to argue.  Over time my love for arguing has disappeared.  I’ve seen the arguments tear people down, destroy relationships and ruin church bodies.  It is not that the doctrine was not important, it was, but that the way that things were discussed rapidly escalated to the point of injured soldiers who were wounded from once friendly fire.

Paul writes that the believers should be lowly or humble, meek or gentle.  With patience the believers should forebear or tolerate with love.  Love!  I hate the term tolerance because it is so often used outside of the context of love.  We tolerate neighbors with house colors and decorations we don’t care for, but we don’t often love them.  Worse is that in the church we could ignore love and simply tolerate brothers and sisters whom we should know intimately enough that we could pray for them without ceasing (I Thes. 5:17), and as the Lord does things in the life of the body we never stop rejoicing (I Thes.5:16).  What wound can be caused between friends when they’re gentle and humble with one another?  What blow struck with the slowness of patience can be described as cutting and haughty?

It is with this attitude of moment-by-moment relationship, walking in a manner worthy of our calling, being humble, gentle, patient and tolerating in love that we are called to then endeavor or preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  If I were to say, “Hey brother (under the Father Eph.3:14-15), I have been walking with the Lord and meditating on His word and contemplating this doctrine for a while (in patience), and I think that we don’t see eye-to-eye and I would love to spend some time going over God’s word with you to see what He says about it so that we can preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” then you would say that I have come with a noble and yet humble attitude.  I didn’t come with a sledgehammer, but instead with graciousness and love.

Doctrine is critical.  It is the clear delineation of what should be God’s revealed truth.  But doctrine does not give us the right to depart or destroy others in the body at the onset of a disagreement.  Yes, there are biblical grounds for separation.  Yes, there are times when believers should part ways because one or more of the parties involved are not behaving in a manner worthy of the calling, but we don’t jump to that conclusion with haste.  We rest in Christ, we seek to preserve the unity.

The Greek for the word preserve or keep there implies a guarding or maintaining of something that is whole, to prevent the decay of that thing.  Unity is fragile, but in Christ it is not only positionally existent, but very easily possible for Him to preserve.  The Holy Spirit has preserved His word for thousands of years and there is not much of a chance that you or I could ruin that.  We’re called to a life that is rich and abundant together.  Consider that togetherness the next time you start to feel your blood pressure rise.  Consider tolerance in love.  Consider the opportunity you may have one day in the future where your failures could be offset by the illustration of God’s work in your life to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Tithing – An Old, Temporary Law? You Betcha!

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It is true that I think that 10% is an awfully small amount of money to do the Lord’s work. On the scale from 0% to 100% you’ll find me racing with a passion to the 100% side of the scale. You see I don’t think that ten percent is enough because of a desire to see people give more to God’s work, but instead I view that all of what the Lord has in your life is His. My friend and brother in Christ, Tony, once called me and told me that, “Someone ran into God’s car.” I chuckled because it was a great way for him to express his understanding that the car, which has monetary value, is God’s. The house that he and his bride are raising their three children in is God’s. Even the three children are God’s. There is no question on his mind that all things are God’s.

This brings us to the question of whether the tithe should be grasped as a New Testament concept. I’ll grant other Christians hold to a reformed view of theology which says that the church is the Old Testament’s Israel brought into a new covenant and therefore the things which aren’t done away with in the New Covenant are still valid for New Testament saints. I disagree with this view as a dispensationalist and I don’t want that to be confused so I’m going to just state it plainly: None of the Old Testament Law is for the New Testament believer. Lets take a look at why the tithe is also not acceptable in the eyes of the New Testament authors.

Pre-New Testament Passages and Thoughts to Consider

Adam never paid a tithe. Not one bit of what Adam had went to a tithe. Adam’s relationship with God was personal and there were no priests to go between he and the Lord. The sacrifices portrayed in the early chapters of Genesis show a relationship with God that clarify a respect for God’s ownership of all things that man worked for (as a result of the fall). By the time of the flood and God’s provision of Noah God still owned everything and even though it was Noah and the other seven on the boat as well as many, many animals they were all God’s. God had brought them all to the boat and when they got off of the boat it was at God’s direction. Noah sacrificed animals to God in recognition of God’s protection and provision for all that God owned. No tithe there. Surely Abraham must have tithed. Nope. There was no tithe in Abraham’s time, just sacrifices of praise and obedience. In fact Abraham had no written Law to observe, he merely had his conscience! There was no tenth offering, he knew God had provided all that he owned.

When the tithe was finally instituted it was for the nation of Israel it was given as a percentage to support the Levites and for the fatherless & the widow. Go ahead and read Deuteronomy 14:22-29. There you will see that the tithe was:

  1. Ten percent of their yearly gain
  2. For the nation of Israel (and not surrounding nations) which was initially a theocracy
  3. It was a gift of agricultural things and livestock. Other material possessions were not involved.
  4. It is not the same as first fruits (see: Exodus 23:19, Leviticus 19:23-25)
  5. The tithe was to be administered by the people and not the priests.

I think that its clear by now that the often cited tithe is not what we often call an offering or tithe by New Testament practices. With that in mind, lets look at what the New Testament shows us.

New Testament Giving Principles

The book of Acts starts out the church age with an amazing display of generosity between believers in acts 2:42-47 being the slightly greater context. Specifically verse 45 says that they began selling things to provide for one another’s needs. That’s not a ten percent offering. Its a whatever percent provision of grace. The recognition that all things were God’s things helped the believers get past any sense of possession that we often face as New Testament saints. From that point forward you’ll find other instances of giving as needed including Romans 12:13 further encouraging the believer to give as other saints have need and to be hospitable (hospitality will need to be a post of its own).

Philippians 4:18-19 covers the use of sacrifice in a New Testament metaphor, but it is merely a reference to the gifts of the New Testament saints being sent to the apostle Paul. It is not encouraging a literal sacrifice of animals or grains as previously used in Old Testament times. Instead verse 19 goes on to outline the fact that God has used the Philippian saints to provide for Paul’s needs. If we look for the application from this passage we see that

  1. God has given Paul a need
  2. God has the abundance and ability to fulfill that need
  3. God has blessed the Philippians with their resources
  4. God has given the Philippians a desire to give to Paul’s ministry
  5. God is glorified by the Philippians’ generocity
  6. God is glorified by Paul for His work through the Philippians

None of those things involves a set ten percent or a monetary percentage, but instead comes from the heart of an abiding believer. One who is resting in his or her relationship with Christ in the heavenlies (Col. 3:1-3). Because the saint is aware of the need the saint seeks out a way to fulfill it. This leads me to believe that the church is to focus more on getting to know one another than they are to focus on financial things!

One scenario that I read about just today discussed tithing in the context of debt. Since the debt is a prior obligation it should be noted that the believer should first pay the debt and with whatever is left over seek the Lord’s direction for the money to be given. Debt should be avoided in the life of the believer so that this problem goes away (while this is something I know I am currently attempting to get out of debt. I have walked in the flesh, too, and understand the need to abide in my stewardship of God’s money. Lesson learned). Giving during debt isn’t a required Law, but instead we should see that we have relationships within the body where we can see needs, both financial and physical, and give to those needs rather than believers being put into debt due to lack of resources. In this particular case I would recommend the believer give only what the Lord has provided in excess beyond the needs of paying creditors. Right now I am currently giving less than I would like, but instead of feeling guilt I rejoice that the Lord has given what He has and I look forward to the day when I can give even more to various needs in the body of Christ.
Conclusion

In conclusion the Tithe is an outdated Law that has been done away with and instead the New Testament saint is to focus on relationship and fellowship and looking for ways that the Lord may use them to provide for the needs of others. There is nothing in the New Testament that calls us to support a ten percent giving command, but likewise nothing says not to do it. Giving falls under Christian liberty (See Romans 14 and 15) where we are to give what our conscience feels is right. If that is fifteen, ten or one percent for you, then give what the Lord has put on your heart.

Whatever percentage you give, let it be with a heart of gratitude and thanks! May you give graciously because God graciously gave His mercy and love to you. Don’t tithe out of compliance with the Law, but instead walk in His grace and give as He provides.