Pastoral Ponderings...

Welcome to the 'Pastor's Page' of the 

Oelwein Evangelical Free Church. 

Here you will find ramblings from the 

Church's pastor, Dan Driscoll.

Aren't we free?

The Supreme Court refused to hear a case recently that might possibly have cleared up a Constitutional question over which there is a great deal of judicial confusion. I say 'judicial' confusion because anyone with a lick of common sense could figure this out in about 2 seconds. We are a free people. That means that we can say what we want when we pray. The government has no business trying to control the content nor the affiliation of prayers offered. It is ludicrous to assume that members of a County board forfeit their freedoms when they convene.

Here's the report from "The New American" website:

As reported by The New American, in 2007 the ACLU sued the Forsyth County Commission on behalf of a group of individuals who complained that the invocations offered at the Commission’s meetings were heavy on Christian vernacular. As an example they cited a meeting in December of that year during which a local pastor “thanked God for allowing the birth of His Son to forgive us for our sins and closed by making the prayer in the name of Jesus,” according to the Associated Press.

In July the 4th Circuit ruled against the county, noting that fully three-quarters of the prayers at the Commission meetings between May 2007 and December 2008 had been offered by Christian clergy, whose prayers were peppered with such Christian-themed names as “Jesus,” “Jesus Christ,” and “Savior.”

Writing for the majority in the two-to-one court decision, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III explained that “in order to survive constitutional scrutiny, invocations must consist of the type of non-sectarian prayers that solemnize the legislative task and seek to unite rather than divide. Sectarian prayers must not serve as the gateway to citizen participation in the affairs of local government. To have them do so runs afoul of the promise of public neutrality among faiths that resides at the heart of the First Amendment’s religion clauses.” (emphasis mine)

Dear Judge Harvie thinks 'religious neutrality' trumps freedom. He is sorely wrong.

Who's Responsible?

As parents, we often joked that there was a small ghost living in our house called, "Not Me." Not Me did all sorts of things, usually disobedient or irresponsible things. Our children never saw him/her/it, but they were always quite sure that 'Not Me' was the culprit!

The desire to evade responsibility and accountability is something that is a natural expression of our fallen character. As a young man my wife and I had a conversation about the pattern of our marriage. We admitted that our '50/50' design was not consistent with the Biblical model we found in the New Testament. And so we agreed that we would try to restructure our marriage after the lines of the Biblical model. Later, when I was alone with God, I said to Him, "I don't want to be responsible for her!"

And as I tried to learn what it meant to be the leader in the home and our relationship, and later with the children, I injected a great deal of stress and frustration into the situations because I was so dense. My gracious wife put up with a lot to see me grow up.

In the New Testament, believers are treated as adult children. God gives us a community (the church) and a purpose (global discipleship). God gives us commands and directives that are for our good. He tells us what the consequences of disobedience are. And He entrusts us with the duty to do His will - like you would an adult!

But often, believers are like me in my responsibility to my wife: "I don't want to!" Failing or refusing to take responsibility is immaturity.

As we have studied the book of Acts, we have  seen that disciples were developed into men of competency, character and calling. That is, they could handle the Word competently, they expressed a Christ-like character and they 'owned' the calling to global discipleship as their responsibility. They understood that discipleship is a function of community (the church), but they were willing to accept that they, themselves were responsible before God for the achievement of that function.

The challenge that emerges from these truths is three-fold. We are responsible before God to take the gospel to the world, from our house to across the globe. We are responsible before God to seek His grace to develop into a Christ-like character. And we are responsible before God to develop a competency in Scripture. It starts with the Scripture. Competency in the Scriptures will build our character which in turn will sustain our calling.

There are three questions you should ask of every text: What is it talking about? What does it say about its subject? And, Why did the author write it? If you can answer those three questions accurately, you will be well on your road to Biblical competency.

Politics and Ethics

It was once said that only a Christian populace could manage the system of government we have. Our republican form of democracy requires more than just religious rhetoric, though. It requires a people who are not willing to allow the government to do evil for them.

It is wrong to steal. Most would agree with that. But is it wrong to allow the government to "redistribute wealth?" Is it proper that the government be empowered to seize the property and capital of some for the benefit of others? That's the system we have today, and it violates the eighth commandment just as surely as a gunman in a convenience store.

So do subsidies. I remember when the state of Iowa gave tremendous grants to an egg company that proved to be a train wreck - and an unfairly advantaged competitor in the market as well. Hardworking, taxpaying, local and self-financed egg farmers were forced to subsidize their own cutthroat competition. That's thievery.

So, when Democrats declare themselves to be Republicans so they can influence a caucus (as local Democrats apparently did in Oelwein this week), or when Republicans falsely claim to be Democrats so they can influence a Democratic selection process - isn't that pretty much equivalent to lying?

The ethical principles of the Bible are not just individual mandates. They are social, corporate mandates as well. They are, without question, the highest moral and ethical system that the world has ever seen. And yet we hear people saying all the time that 'Christians are trying to ram their religion down our throats.' Are those people saying that they are in favor of lying or murder or theft or rebellion?

"You don't have to be Christian to be moral!" they exclaim. True enough. So, then, both Christians and non-Christians are in favor of moral and ethical behavior. The Bible presents the highest and noblest ethical and moral system the world has ever seen. So, we should reject or resist it - why? Or, we should settle for something inferior? Maybe Sharia law?

I believe that it was John Adams who claimed that a Christian population was necessary for a republican democracy to survive. Looks like whoever said it was right.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas and Easter are really the only two examples of the 'Church Year' that we observe. I read recently that the Christmas holy-day was of greater importance in the Roman Catholic tradition because of their greater emphasis on the incarnation being an element in the salvation work of Christ.

Of course, Protestants also see a great significance in the incarnation, but more as a pre-requisite to the cross. the humanity of Jesus means that He is able, as the 'New Adam' to suffer the penalty of death for sin that was the fruit of the disobedience of Adam in the Garden.

So, however one comes to the Christmas holy-day, it is a time of great rejoicing and happiness. God, in His infinite mercy has truly acted to rescue sinful man from the curse. Jesus, being the  sinless, perfect sacrifice, has done for us what we could not do for ourselves - He has suffered the death we deserve, and we are free in Him to respond to God with holiness and thanksgiving.

It is my prayer that you will find great joy in Jesus this Christmas season, and may your faith grow stronger and stronger in the coming year.

- From our house to yours - Merry Christmas!

Silliness posing as erudite scholarship

I read an article the other day on a popular news site that posited the idea that the Apostle Paul was attempting to bribe the rest of the Apostolic company by the 'collection' he gathered from the Gentile churches to assist the Church in Judea as it suffered through a famine.

If the author hadn't been serious, the idea might have passed as a sick kind of humor. But the fellow was serious.

What he was not serious about was allowing the texts of the New Testament to speak with the voices of the original authors. Paul says in 1Corinthians 15 that the message of atonement through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ was 'the faith.' He says that message was the message of the Apostolic company: "Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed." 1Corinthians 15:11 NASU) .

So, either our friend is mistaken in his assessment, or Paul was mistaken, or Paul was a liar. But regardless, the only testimony we have is the New Testament - anything else is mere invention by someone. And the testimony of the New Testament is clear. simple and unambiguous - the Apostles, including Paul, preached a message of justification through faith based upon the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus the Christ.

The author of the article was just being silly while posing as a scholar.

One greater than Elisha

Reading through 2Kings, the accounts of Elisha's miracles filled me with a certain amount of discomfort. Most of the miracles in the Bible seem to be for signs or confirmation of the messenger. But in Elisha's case, the miracles are so frequent and so seemingly random, that as I read them, I got more and more uncomfortable.

And then as I read on, I saw Elisha feed a large number of people miraculously - and in this man, I saw Jesus, feeding the 5000.

One greater than Elisha, and suddenly I was not uncomfortable at all.

The Mission of the Church

In a way, the Church is defined by her mission. At least, in a negative sense, a Church that has lost her mission, or is confused about the nature of the Lord's command to her will probably end up being deeply confused and ineffective.

A lack of clarity about the mission has quite often led to unwise and unsuccessful efforts. I recently read, on an evangelical website, that the average American church dies after 70 or 80 years. That's two or three generations. That's a travesty.

An established church should endure through many generations. If my grandchildren are taught what I taught my children and I taught my children the essentials of the faith, my grandchildren should be trustworthy to teach their children a Biblical, enduring faith.

While it is the primary duty of fathers to teach their children, it is the duty of the Church to teach the fathers - to disciple them so that they can reproduce their faith in their loved ones.

What will it take to develop fathers with the character, competency and vision to invest in their children?

Homosexuality and Christianity

November 30, 2011

I had a conversation with an individual the other day who said about homosexuals, "It's not their fault, God just wired them different."

The problem with that thinking is that were homosexuality a genetic result, it would become less and less frequent, rather than increasing. Indeed, if homosexuality were genetic and homosexuals were consistent - the whole demographic would disappear after one generation.

The idea of 'sexual orientation' is an error, anyway. Sexual behavior is not an orientation, it is a behavior. And behavior is a matter of choice. Neither heterosexual nor homosexual nor bi-sexual nor any other 'stripe' of sexual behavior is individually necessary.

God has given all humans sexuality. The expression of that gift is a moral choice. One can either express his/her sexuality in a way that pleases God and advances the human race, or one can express it in any number of ways that are destructive to the individual and society as a whole. As a culture we are quite tolerant of adultery. And adultery, with its consequent broken marriages and divorce, has done far more harm to our society than homosexuality.

Now it may be true that there are those in Christian circles who would count every homosexual as beyond redemption. And there may be some homosexual radicals who would demand that homosexuality be normalized. But for the most part, people in homosexual relationships are unhappy with their behaviors. Contrary to the prevailing cultural blame-fixing, that unhappiness is not the 'fault' of society in general.

Sin, whether it be homosexuality or adultery or fornication or theft or lying or rebellion or covetousness, separates us from God. And separation from God makes people miserable. The cure for all sin is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Faith in Him and His work yields a reconciliation between a holy God and sinful humans. Therein is the path to joy.

Advancing The Gospel

November 29, 2011

We talked last Sunday about the obligation of advancing the gospel. It is one thing to say that we believe it is the duty of the Church to proclaim the gospel. It is quite another to affirm that the proclamation of the gospel is our duty.

First we should begin by defining what we mean when we say 'gospel.' For many, the term 'gospel' conjures up a moment in time when a person is confronted with the message of salvation and accedes to that belief. But that moment often has no particular bearing on the life of the person who confesses, except that he/she might become more 'religious.'

But the New Testament gospel is transformative - not just in an eternal sense  (transferring a person from Hell to Heaven), but also temporally - transforming the life of the believer into conformity with the character of Jesus.

"Do and live - the Law commands;

But gives me neither feet nor hands.

Better news the gospel brings;

It bids me fly - and gives me wings!"

So the gospel is the transforming message of salvation that enables the believer to live out life in time and fallen creation in the likeness of Jesus' character.

Proclaiming the gospel then, is telling the good news of the transforming power of Jesus, Who has by His death secured our release from sin's dominion, and by His resurrection empowered our transformation. It is a heraldic exercise - not a sales pitch, but an announcement of an accomplished fact.

Is it our duty to do that?

Martin Luther held that the 'Great Commission' was fulfilled by the Apostles and thus the Church already had accomplished that duty. In more recent history, the duty of proclaiming the gospel has been  seen as the responsibility of the individual. With the advent of the 'Missionary Agency,' the Church has become almost a vestigial organ in the advancement of the gospel.

So, whose duty is it? Is it the individual's duty? Is it the Church's duty? Is it the responsibility of clergy? Or of specially called missionaries? All the above?

Given that the Church is made up of individual believers, what is the individual's duty will also be the duty of the group. Likewise, clergy and missionaries are (or should be!) representatives of the Church.

If it is our duty, what are we doing to accomplish the task? As individuals are we preparing ourselves for the opportunities that God will provide? As a church, are we encouraging believers (one another) to take advantage of the opportunities that God provides?

I think it is important that we, as individuals, and more importantly, as a church, own the duty of proclaiming the gospel. Frankly, unless we personally and corporately acknowledge the proclamation of the gospel as our duty, we just won't do it.

But we need to 'get it right' as well. It is important that we do God's will - and that we do God's will, God's way. The contemporary evangelical emphasis on simplistic, emotional gospel sales pitches has proven extremely unfortunate.

The goal of evangelism is not conversion, but discipleship. Repentance and faith commitment are steps in that process, but if we are merely seeking converts, we are missing the point. Evangelism without relationship is not the ideal. we need to think and prepare and act with the proper goal of making disciples in view.

Does that mean that we should all resign our jobs, pack our bags and head for the nearest (or farthest) cross cultural situation we can find? No, it is the mission of disciple-making that is our duty. Wherever we are, at home or away, our goal is to be: Make Disciples.

Not every soldier shoulders a gun and marches out against the enemy. but every soldier, at the front or in the rear, is involved in the achievement of the mission.

So, what is your conviction about the advancement of the gospel? What role does God want you to fulfill? How can your gifts and talents be best utilized to accomplish the mission? Who are you partnering with? Who is holding you accountable?

 May the Lord bless you as you seek to follow Him.