The Leukemia Tapes: 3 Minutes with Shammah

Posted on 07/19/2011 by Paul Pavao

Rather than writing everything, I’m devoting some time to some videos on some basic misunderstandings in modern Christianity. I’m limiting them to 3 minutes or less.

(That explains “3 Minutes with Shammah.” I’m calling them “The Leukemia Tapes” because I’m doing them while at Vanderbilt Cancer Center on chemotherapy for my “rare and unusual” form of acute leukemia.)

So far, I’ve covered Romans 2:4 and the kindness of God leading to repentance. I’ve covered Titus 2 and sound doctrine, which is an extremely important basic idea. Finally, I’ve covered 2 Timothy 2:19 and God’s foundation, which is very related to what sound doctrine really is.

I’ve started with those because modern Christians love to argue that sound doctrine is important, but I think it’s indubitable that they have no idea what the apostles meant by sound doctrine. So we fight and divide over things that would not qualify as sound doctrine to the apostles, but rather would be mere strife about words, empty chatter, and an unhealthy obsession with dissension.

You can see the Titus 2 tape here, and the rest are easily found when you get there.

If you like it, and you have a Facebook account, please click the “like” button there at YouTube. Those I irritate think about clicking the “thumbs down” button, but those who enjoy it don’t think about doing anything to indicate that. I understand that, as I’m the same way, but it would help me get listeners if you “like” or “thumbs up” the video.

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Grace and Faith

Posted on 07/17/2011 by Paul Pavao

I consider it possible that this discussion is too much about words, or too technical, to be very important. But anything that drives the real definition of grace home for modern Christians, very few of whom know what grace means, is pretty crucial.

Grace is the power of God that enables you to … well, just about anything. Grace is used to describe the power behind spiritual gifts (1 Pet. 4:10-11), serving God acceptably (Heb. 12:28), help in time of need (Heb. 4:16), and resisting sin (Rom. 6:14).

Grace is not mercy. Mercy is God choosing not to punish sin or giving us something we don’t deserve. Grace is power. Grace teaches us not to sin (Tit. 2:11-12).

So grace, obviously, is this incredibly wonderful thing that all of us should want. Grace not only provides salvation, for all intents and purposes it is salvation.

How do we get grace? By faith:

By [our Lord Jesus Christ] we have access by faith to this grace in which we stand. (Rom. 5:2)

Ephesians 2:8 says it similarly:

For by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. (Eph. 2:8-9)

The gift of God mentioned here, by the way, really has to be a reference to salvation in general. In Greek, as in most languages except English, the gender of a word like “that” (as in “and that not of yourselves”) matters. Grace is feminine, faith is masculine, and “that” is neuter. So “that,” which is not of ourselves but is the gift of God, cannot be grace or faith. That really only leaves the possibility of a general reference to salvation.

Either way, Scripturally faith gives us access to grace, and grace is really, really incredible.

A Little Rejoicing in Grace To Cap Us Off

That’s why Ephesians 2:8-9 leads naturally into Ephesians 2:10:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to go good works.

Another great description of just how great grace is can be found in 2 Peter 1:3-4 …

His divine power [which the apostles like to call “grace”] has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue. Though this we are given exceptionally great and precious promises, that by them you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Okay, one more; a favorite of mine, though not from the Scriptures:

For our own Ruler, the Divine Word, who even now constantly aids us, does not desire strength of body and beauty of feature, nor yet the high spirit of earth’s nobility, but a pure soul, fortified by holiness, and the watchwords of our King, holy actions, for through the Word power passes into the soul.

O trumpet of peace to the soul that is at war!
O weapon that puts to flight terrible passions!
O instruction that quenches the innate fire of the soul!
The Word exercises an influence which does not make poets;
It does not equip philosophers nor skilled orators,
But by its instruction it makes mortals immortal, mortals gods
And from the earth transports them to the realms above Olympus.

I don’t know if I’ve ever talked about why the early Christians regularly say that we’re to become gods. It’s stunning to find out such terminology was common in the apostolic churches, but once you find out why then you can get your breath back.

Posted in Modern Doctrines | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

The True Church

Posted on 07/15/2011 by Paul Pavao

Many of my friends will wonder why I’m writing about the true church and apostolic succession again.

Well because there’s hardly a week that goes by that I’m not presented with arguments either that I should join the Roman Catholic or Orthodox Church or explanations from someone who is going to join them.

I think that many people, even ones who oppose apostolic succession with me, don’t understand the church, the Scriptures about the church, nor why they are part of the church.

So that’s why I’m writing about it again.

This is a shortened version of a longer page that has many more references.

The True Church Is the Local Church

The true church is supposed to be able to do some things:

  • Be delivered from seducers by revelation from the anointing. (1 John 2:27)
  • Possess and diligently maintain a unity of Spirit. (Ephesians 4:3)
  • Grow together into the fullness of Christ, come to unity of faith, and be delivered from men who are skilled in deceit by speaking the truth in love to one another, something they are trained to do by leaders appointed by God. (Ephesians 4:11-16)
  • Be the pillar and support of the truth (which I believe happens from the first 3 points — 1 Timothy 3:15)

The local church can do all these things. An organization uniting many local churches can’t do any of them except possibly the last one if it’s interpreted as holding to a dogmatic statement of beliefs.

Thus, it is more than a waste of time for a local church to join an organization uniting it to other local churches; it is a grave danger. There is a danger of losing the ability to seek and trust answers given by “the anointing” and trusting decrees from the organization instead, and there is the danger of replacing the guidance of the Spirit with confidence in some set of interpretations of the Scriptures.

Remember, no one–not even any righteous people–were able to interpret the Scriptures well enough to recognize Jesus from the Scriptures. The Pharisees used the Scriptures to reject Jesus, something he rebuked them for (John 5:39-40), and others recognized him by a recognition provided by God (Matthew 16:17).

That really ought to be enough said, but I want to attack two things: the false interpretation of apostolic succession by the Orthodox and Catholics and the false and, let’s face it, bizarre interpretation of Matthew 16:18 by the same groups.

Apostolic Succession

I harp on this all the time. No sense banging heads with those who can’t be honest enough to see the obvious. For those of you who can, it’s better if you read it yourself.

The following link is Irenaeus’ argument from apostolic succession, for apostolic succession is an argument, not a doctrine. Irenaeus (c. A.D. 185) and Tertullian (c. A.D. 210) are the only early Christian writers to argue from apostolic succession.

Irenaeus’ most well-known passage is in Against Heresies III:1:1 and forward. Read it for yourself and determine whether he is arguing for truth or promoting an organization whether it holds to the truth or not.

Tertullian addresses the subject throughout a whole book called A Prescription Against Heretics. I think chapter 28 makes it clear what he’s talking about. And if there’s any doubt about what constitutes a true church, those who hold the truth or those who hold to an organization, try chapter 32.

(Just to add a little more, try reading Cyprian’s 67th epistle (as numbered by The Ante-Nicene Fathers set. The 3rd paragraph addresses what to do when the leaders of the church are sinful. Then try reading about the 7th Council of Carthage, called by Cyprian and attended by 87 bishops who got together solely to reject the bishop of Rome’s claim to be a “bishop of bishops.” You won’t have to read far to see what they think of that claim.)

Matthew 16:18

“You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

First, let’s address the Protestants. The fact that Peter is petros and rock is petra does not matter. Peter is a man, and so in Greek his name has to end in -os. He can’t be called petra. It doesn’t matter if there’s a difference in definition between the two words, Jesus is obviously calling Peter the rock, and we sound pitiful when we say he’s not. It’s embarrassing.

However, this is in no way a promise that “the church” will never fall.

Gates are not offensive weapons. The church is not in danger of being attacked by the gates of Hades and collapsing.

Jesus is saying that the church will be able to overthrow death (however you want to interpret “death” here).

Amen. It will. But only if it is healthy and thriving.

If it is not healthy and thriving, then Jesus might “remove its candlestick” or “vomit it from his mouth” as the letters in Revelation 2 and 3 put it. Even Ephesus, the great church founded by Paul, was in danger of no longer being a church.

And the fall of a church, many churches, nor even all churches does not contradict Matthew 16:18.

Posted in Church, Roman Catholic & Orthodox | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Evolution, Grace, Logic, and Algebra: Why X – Y = Abundant Grace

Posted on 07/14/2011 by Paul Pavao

I couldn’t resist putting the following exchange up as a blog post. It happened in the comments section of “Evolution and Romans 5:12.”

I’ll just give you Monster’s one comment, and my reply. I chopped out a section his (marked with …) for obvious reasons:

Monster’s Comment to Me

“And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,

“Which was the son of Matthat …

“Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.”

So which one of these in the line of Jesus were made up characters? Just Adam? Perhaps Seth, or Enos? How about Noah? Why stop at Adam, let’s just throw out the Great Deluge as a fairy story as well. Seriously, where do the real people start and the made up people end? Where do the made-up events stop and the real events start? If Adam was a real person, just from a long line of sinning cavemen who died, then why does he take the rap for sin? That’s not very just; in fact, I would call it false witness.

Your watered-down version of Genesis just doesn’t add up.

My Reply

I know that Christians love to reason from “if x is true, then y.” For Christians, if they don’t like y, then x must not be true. I’ve started referring to such Christians as AI Wits (meaning “Anything I Want is True”).

I can’t do that. Wishful thinking doesn’t work for me. I like to take a good, long, hard, and evens years-long look at the evidence to determine whether x is true. Then, once I find out whether x is true, then I deal with y.

In this case, x is true, or at least has so much evidence for being true that we have to deal with it. Evolution at least seems to have happened, whether we like it or not.

This affects our interpretation of Genesis, whether we like it or not.

This means we have to deal with the question you asked, not complain about having to deal with it and throw out evolution because we don’t like it.

As it turns out, the question you ask–”Which one of these in the line of Jesus were made-up characters?”–is a really important question that can start the process of leading us out of our modern version of Christianity back into apostolic Christianity. What do I mean by modern version of Christianity? I mean the one that is powerless to produce “love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith” but instead “straying from these into fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions” (1 Timothy 1:5-8, NASB).

The approach we have to Genesis, which you are offended to have questioned, is part of the reason that our Gospel, with some exceptions, can’t produce “the power of God to salvation” (Rom. 1:16) so that saints are “zealous for good works” (Tit. 2:14) and rarely have love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith.

X (evolution) shocked me back in the mid-90’s. The incredible power of leaving American Christianity’s rigid, novel, and mostly powerless approach to Scripture (Y) shocked me even more.

Amazingly, in this case, x-y=z, where z is abundant grace and faith.

Posted in Evolution and Creation, Modern Doctrines | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Can This Really Happen in America?

Posted on 07/13/2011 by Paul Pavao

Last night I went to a Bible study. Most of the people I’d never talked to before. The topic was faith and works. Everyone agreed with me.

It wasn’t a dream.

I couldn’t believe it was happening. I’m somewhat scared to mention that they were all Baptists because maybe their church isn’t supposed to find out! I’d hate to expose them!

They were Bible believers, only they were reading and talking about the parts people really don’t want to discuss. Here’s some things they said:

  • People get offended and don’t even want to discuss whether Genesis 1 might not be literal, but they’re constantly explaining Jesus’ words away by interpreting them figuratively. (“He really didn’t mean that.”)
  • When Jesus said we need to cut things off if they cause us to sin, or when he said to forsake all our possessions, those are the places we need a more literal interpretation.
  • “Faith alone” is the ultimate American doctrine, but as far as I can tell, the only place it occurs in the Bible is James 2:24, where it says “not by faith alone.”

At one point, I said to them, “So, you’ve already embraced the modern heresy that James meant what he said, and tonight we’re just working on reconciling all the things the Bible says about faith and works?”

They all nodded like that was a perfectly normal thing to hear at a Bible study, especially one consisting mostly of Baptists.

Now, keep in mind that my blood cell counts are half what they’re supposed to be. They’re so low that I’m going in to get two pints of blood at the hospital in 40 minutes. I can’t rule out the possibility that I hallucinated all this.

Gideon went along, though, and my wife seems to know I went to a Bible study.

By the way, beyond finding fellow heretics, I found men that deeply loved God, and in the midst of all the discussion of faith and works was a humble pursuit of how to better please God through faith and an exuberant praise for the mercy and power of the Lord Jesus.

It was so good that it’s just hard to believe it even happened.

The Impossible Part

I mentioned that my blood counts are low enough to need a transfusion. Sitting up for an hour and a half, unless I’m in a recliner, is exhausting. I walk around really, really slow so that I don’t get light-headed and my forearms and legs don’t burn from the effort.

Last night, though, I participated in robust, excited conversation for two hours, and when I was done I was full of energy. I had more energy than before I went in.

I’m the one living in this body. I can tell you that’s simply impossible. Mere enjoyment could never produce that.

Now impossible I don’t have any problems believing. Things just work right when God’s presence comes. I remember a diabetic missionary who used to remark that whenever we came to visit him he never needed insulin. He would check his sugar levels, and they were always good, even when we visited for several days.

I walked out of that Bible study wondering if I still really needed the transfusion.

(Um, this morning, it feels like I need a transfusion, though I still feel better than I did yesterday.)

Ok, gotta go.

Posted in Leukemia, Miscellaneous, Modern Doctrines | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

My Leukemia Blog

Posted on 07/11/2011 by Paul Pavao

This really isn’t meant to be a leukemia blog, so I started a new one called Thrilled to Death. It’s sort of an online journal, so I’ll be talking about the whole process and what I’m going through there.

I have no way of knowing what that will be like. I’ve never had leukemia before.

I’m scheduling this blog for July 11, though it’ s only the 1st. I already have other blogs scheduled until then. Quick fatigue and the possibility of going into the hospital for weeks at any time has forced me to eliminate a lot of my responsibilities, so I have time on my hands do what I love to do: research, learn, and write!

One more blessing of this wonderful gift!

So, back to the Rest of the Old, Old Story on July 13, and if you only care to (or have time to) read what I have to say about leukemia, and not the faith once for all delivered to the saints, then you can switch to the other blog and be delivered from this one!

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Leukemia: Humbled To Be Found Worthy

Posted on 07/09/2011 by Paul Pavao

This post won’t go up until July 9. By then I should be in the hospital, just finishing chemo, with no bone marrow and no immune system, and starting a 4-6 week recovery.

My 50th birthday is July 11. Happy birthday!

Tonight, though, June 29, I’m sitting in an RV, and except for the miracle of modern medicine, I’d be dying very rapidly. I may still die, I suppose, though I believe God has told me that’s not the end of this leukemia path for me.

Still, I think about death and eternal life. Even though I know it’s happened to thousands and millions of people, it still amazes me how our lives can go on and on for decades, seemingly so stable and normal, and then death quite suddenly shoves its way in.

So now I have this dread disease. Cancer.gov refers to it as “highly responsive, but usually fatal.” The time frame is usually under two years. At that point, you’re cured or dead.

I don’t want to die.

I don’t mean die on this earth. Everyone’s going to physically die. No sense worrying about that.

I mean I don’t want death to be the end. I want to live forever. The thought of disappearing into blackness is scary to me, and that thought, on occasions in my life, even as a Christian, has really shaken me.

And now, here I am, with a lot of reasons to think about death, and God is so close.

Today, it’s no problem to picture disappearing into the light of God because I’m already there. Today, it’s no problem believing Jesus’ promise of eternal life.

In fact, today, it’s no problem believing that the issue of life after death won’t be an issue for me for at least 20 years or so, even though doctors are going to wipe out my bone marrow and immune system next week.

Why should I be so unworried? Why should this time be the time for me to have the most peace I’ve ever had?

For the same reason those Vietnam POW’s gave thanks to God when they were released.

Because God is real, and his Gospel is real.

And so I sit thankful. I have been given this incredible peace, and such a wonderful opportunity to talk about it.

All because God thinks I can handle having leukemia dumped on me.

I feel honored, and I feel humbled.

I remember making rank once in the military after I refused to study for my test, choosing instead to devote myself to the study of God’s Word. The test scores required to make rank that cycle were lower than any before or after for several years.

I cried on my bed when I was told.

The rank didn’t matter that much to me, but that God would give me such a gift was overwhelming.

You can pray for me. You can think I’m strong. You can think I’m a good Christian, but I’m really not a very good Christian. I can give you lists of people who have lived lives of constant self-denial, while I’ve spent too much time in restaurants, occasionally failed to “get around” to giving, and simply indulged at times when I should have denied myself.

Can I really claim to have “buffeted” my body as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 9:27?

I doubt it, unless you apply the modern term “buffet,” as in a really indulgent restaurant, to the verse, which really isn’t a very funny joke.

People like Mother Theresa cause my conscience to be stricken. Amy Carmichael once wrote a book called If. I couldn’t read it. I’m in the church now, which has done some very positive work on my weak will, so now I can at least read it. Though it convicts me, I can see where God has moved me forward in things that book talks about.

I’ve traveled, and I’ve met foreign missionaries who have hung out all night in jungles being eaten by mosquitoes, then swam a dangerous river towing bible wrapped in plastic, all to bring the Gospel to those who don’t have it. Me? I’m a self-indulgent, wealthy American. Such men make me wonder whether I qualify as a Christian.

May God have mercy on me.

Only I don’t have to say “may.” God has already had mercy on me. He’s let me feel the process of dying, and he’s held my hand and told me he’s with me.

If leukemia kills me, the only thing that will matter is the terrible hurt that will cause my family. May God allow me to teach my children to trust God the way that he is teaching me to trust him. There is nothing like walking in the Spirit.

For me, though, all I can think is the wonderful kindness of being shown eternal life by God because leukemia is destroying my blood.

Why is this happening to me? Why is God allowing me, of all people, to bear this, to experience such wonderful assurances? Why is he choosing me, of all people, to get to carry this disease and talk about the power of Jesus Christ, who never leaves us nor forsakes us?

I do know why. I’m not a very good Christian, but I am a Christian. I am a man of faith, and I have chose to learn from Jesus.

It’s far better to be a lousy disciple than a non-disciple.

Don’t fool yourself, though. To get the blessings, you do have to make a choice to enroll in his school, to choose his ways, and to give up what you want.

Yeah, I know. It’s a terrible price. Your dreams of being a pilot, your college, your exercise, your business, and even your parents, siblings, wife, and children, all don’t mean much to him except as they are put in his service.

Of course, he made them all. I suppose that gives him a right to them.

Personally, it’s a price that today I regret less than ever.

Posted in Holiness, Leukemia, Miscellaneous | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Attack of the Cloned Mutant Giants

Posted on 07/07/2011 by Paul Pavao

Note: This post ignores all the questions about what the body of Christ is. This applies whether you’re including everyone who claims to be Christian and all churches that claim to be churches or not.

Further note: While most of the details of this post are still accurate, I actually have Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm (that link’s to my explanation of the disease), a particularly rare and aggressive lymphoma.

I’ve got a larger army of immune cells than you do. In fact, I probably have almost double the amount of those microscopic disease-destroying cells than you do.

And my cells are bigger than your cells.

What an army!

They’re killing me.

Those large cells are useless against the viruses they’re supposed to be fighting. They look impressive, so large and out in such intimidating numbers. But they have a couple of big problems.

They’re from the wrong source. My lymphocytes, the virus-fighting cells of the immune system, are all clones of one another. They did not come from the proper source, being made anew by my bone marrow. They have gotten their DNA–their programming and their growth–from one rogue cell, and they just march on … unchanged and unchanging.

They’re useless against the real enemies. Because they’re abnormal, they can’t recognize or kill viruses. They just tour my blood stream, looking impressive.

They’re crowding out everything else. These cells don’t like other cells being around. Neutrophils are smaller cells that fight bacteria. My blood has antibodies to destroy neutrophils. Apparently, only viruses are the real enemy now, and my white blood cell army only pretends to fight those.

Platelets are blood cells that thicken blood and join together to stop bleeding. My blood has antibodies that kill platelets. But what’s probably worst of all, that army of massive, mutant lymphocytes is crowding out the only cells that can really give life: the red blood cells. I have only 70% as many as I had 9 months ago when I was healthy.

The Body of Christ

This post isn’t about me. My problems are sent from God to open doors for ministry and to help me live by the only real life there is, that spiritual life from God which is fed to us by the blood of Jesus Christ.

But there are so many accurate analogies between my body and the body of Christ that it’s not funny. In fact, it’s scary.

Currently, the body of Christ has lots of people running around defending it. They’re large, and they are numerous. Their targets include works in any form as part of the Gospel, anything that doesn’t come from the Bible (and, in fact, anything which doesn’t come from their interpretation of the Bible), evolution and anything else they don’t agree with from science (like the earth going around the sun?), and homosexual marriage among non-Christians.

Their power is to defend a system that provides weekly speeches by professionals, a mix of professional and amateur musicians to lead singing, and a school with a few teaching positions for particularly gifted laymen. By and large, though, it’s a very small percentage of Christians that have an active role, or even an opportunity for an active role, in the system we have today.

So why does a system that is so clearly unscriptural and ineffective survive and thrive from year to year, decade to decade, and generation to generation?

Because the multitude of giant but mutant defenders of the faith are too busy opposing the works that Paul said Christians must maintain (Tit. 3:8), that Jesus died for (Tit. 2:13-14), and that James said are required for salvation (Jam. 2:14-26) to take on the real enemies of the faith.

In the meantime, the voices of true defenders of the faith are drowned out by the multitude of shouts of the cloned mutant giants. With warnings and threats, they have raised up an army of passive, ignorant, and superstitious Christians functioning as antibodies to drive out all other disease-fighting parts of the body of Christ.

The ability to fight invaders, the ability to stop the bleeding, the recognition of the real enemies, and, above all, the flow of life from the real blood of Christ are stifled.

We’re killing ourselves, led by the multitude of cloned mutant giants.

A Brief Addition on the Blood of Christ

The real blood of Christ is life-giving!

Let me tell you about the incredible difference between having life-giving red blood cells coursing through your veins and having those same cells crowded out by mutant, giant, cloned, and ineffective white blood cells, possessing no life in themselves.

In 2006, I ran a 31-mile course on a small mountain near Huntsville, AL. One of the loops, which we ran (well, mostly walked; it was littered with big rocks covered by leaves) 3 times, had a steep hill at the end of it. I ran up it the first time, but by the 3rd time around, I was happy to walk the quarter-mile or so, breathing hard at the top, loving the feel of the mountain air, and feeling alive with the trees around me.

When I got home my legs were so sore that I stopped in front of the porch to plan how to get up the two steps so I could go in the house.

But I was charged with energy; thrilled with my success; delighted with life.

I’m living in an RV right now, and without running any miles, some days I breathe hard after I climb its two steps to get inside. My legs aren’t sore, so I don’t have to plan how to climb those steps. My energy wanes regularly, and I’m thrilled with life only because I choose to be.

Friends, that’s what traditional Christianity is doing to you!!!

Can you understand that’s why John says that if you don’t keep Christ’s commands, you don’t know God?! (1 Jn. 2:3-4).

John was angry at "those who are trying to seduce you" (1 Jn. 2:27) because they were robbing the people of God of life. They were teaching the people of God to fight the wrong things.

Seeing the Problem

You can’t see my disease. If you walked in my office to see me doing barbell rows (yeah, I keep a barbell in my office) or to see me on the floor doing twists to keep my back from going out, you would think I was a normal, healthy individual.

Well, okay, you probably wouldn’t think I was normal.

It’s not until you ask me to function that you’d see something was wrong. I wouldn’t be able to keep up with you in a soccer game. If we work on a carpentry project all morning, it wouldn’t take long for you to notice that I’m resting a lot and that I don’t look right.

It’s starting to show in other ways, too. I’m growing my third plum-covered bump on my torso as of yesterday. That’s the product of my body attacking itself, my immune system doing damage to perfectly good tissue.

Are you catching the analogy?

Have you seen the plum-colored bumps on the body of Christ? Have you seen those clusters of damaged people, beat up and rejected by an immune system run wild and led by the cloned mutant giants?

The mutant giants want you to pay attention to all the good flesh. The parts of the body they have not yet damaged.

That’s as stupid as my pointing out that I can still walk many miles as long as I don’t get too fast while ignoring the massive drop in energy and endurance I’ve experienced. That’s as stupid as my ignoring an inch-and-a-half wide raised purple bump on my back and the two that have come after it. (I have to be honest and admit I ignored the bumps for weeks until the drop in energy became obvious and a friend ordered me to go to the doctor.)

Leukemia’s an excellent picture of what’s happening to the body of Christ.

Correcting the Problem

Thank you to the West Clinic in Corinth, MS and to the men and women who have devoted their lives to healing people like me.

But who’s devoted their life to healing the body of Christ? And are they gathered together in one clinic, reviewing each other’s work, and helping each other to work toward one common goal? Do they know what that goal is?

The people who are fighting Leukemia are studying. They’re researching. They’re learning all the time. They’re looking at the problem and discussing it.

But before they ever began, they made sure they knew how a healthy body is supposed to work, at least as well as humanly possible. They went to college, and they got in a degree in some medical field.

But Christians can’t just go to college. Too many Bible colleges have studied the modern body, riddled with diseases. They don’t know what a healthy body is like.

Am I being judgmental?

I don’t think so. I think it’s bizarre that we would read that the early Christians devoted themselves every day to the apostles teaching, to the breaking of bread and to fellowship, and that we would ignore the fact that we don’t even encourage daily fellowship.

I think it’s bizarre that the book of Acts would say that the early Christians had all things in common, and that we would claim that was only in Jerusalem without doing any research to see if that’s so.

I think it’s bizarre that the earliest church manual in existence says we ought to seek out the faces of the saints every day and be prepared to share everything with them, and we would act like tithing (Of all the laws that we could drag into the church from the Old Testament, why that one?) at a weekly speech to support a professional staff and a building is the same thing. Good grief, that’s morally reprehensible.

I think it’s bizarre that Justin in the mid-2nd century could talk about living familiarly with one another and Tertullian in the early-3rd century could talk about sharing everything except our wives, and that we would ignore what was obviously the normal Christian life of the 1st and 2nd centuries.

We’re diseased, friends!

No wonder we marvel at John’s statement that those who are born of God do not sin. We rightly point out that the Greek of that verse means something to the effect of “continually sin,” but that doesn’t change the fact that, really, we don’t understand the grace that takes away sin’s power any more than I can understand the endurance that would have allowed me to run the 10K I was scheduled to run with my secretary.

Help! Is there a doctor in the house?

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Tithing, the New Testament Church, and Hucksters

Posted on 07/05/2011 by Paul Pavao

I’ve always had a problem with tithing because it’s the only Old Testament law that fundamentalists want to push on their members.

Or so I thought.

Today, I read a blog, which I’ll link in a moment, that gave me a better reason why tithing has always bothered me.

First, though, let me say that rejecting tithing on a Scriptural basis has always been easy. The arguments that Christians should tithe are so pitiful that they are hardly worth refuting. The same people who reject the Sermon on the Mount as part of the law will argue that Christians ought to tithe because tithing is mentioned in the Gospels.

Ridiculous. And shameful. Money lovers.

What I enjoy doing is sending those people to Deut. 14:22-29. Yes, let’s tithe, but let’s do it according to the only thorough description of tithing that’s in the Bible.

Here’s a quote from THE BIBLE about what to do with your tithe:

thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household … (Deut. 14:26)

That’s the good ol’ KJV. The next verse adds that you need to have the Levites with you.

So, you can take the pastor down to Buffalo Wild Wings with your family for beer and wings, but you don’t have to give him that tithe!

Note: That’s a joke. While I don’t object to Christians drinking alcohol, and I occasionally take the family to Buffalo Wild Wings (where I will also usually order one beer), we’re not to indulge the flesh or love the world. For the most part, there are a lot better things to do with our money.

Okay, that said, this blog (that’s the correct link, just read down a little) expresses my real problem with tithing better than I’ve ever been able to express it to myself. It’s the opposite of Robin Hood! It’s the rich taking from the poor! We’re no better than John Tetzel!

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Keeping Track of Miracles

Posted on 07/03/2011 by Paul Pavao

Because of the sorts of things I do online, I end up running across atheist arguments or in debates with atheists, at least occasionally. It can be amazing how confident they are that Christians’ prayers don’t get answered.

I’m so used to answered prayer and to small miracles, that I find it impossible to keep track. My memory is such that recalling such things can be hard, unless it’s really amazing stuff like praying for my nephew’s eyes.

There’s a pretty awesome story that a dear friend and mentor put on his blog.

That was from a previous trip to Africa. On this current trip to Kenya, he had one of those awesome experiences that are not really all that rare. He writes:

As most of you well know, every time I come to Africa there is a great fight for my mind. Discouraging thoughts, oppressive feelings are always there to meet me in abundance. This time before I came I asked God for help that I might overcome these formidable attacks before they got a hold on me.

Those of us who know him know how he can struggle with discouragement.

This time, though …

I went to my computer and found this email from a man I met for 2 minutes in Africa 5 or 6 years ago in India.

That’s from an email. He gives the man’s name later in the email, and it’s an Indian name. I have no idea what the “in Africa” part is there for, as Noah wasn’t in Africa 5 years ago, just India. Also, the man’s email, which Noah forwarded to me, says he met Noah in India. I suspect the “in Africa” is a typo. I haven’t asked Noah because he’s in Africa.

Anyway, Noah explains what this email was like:

As I began reading this letter it was as if this man had been in my head reading my mind. He addressed every discouraging specter in my head. I was ecstatic! I could not believe this was happening. A brother I barely knew in a distant country was awakened by God in the middle of the night to let me know that God saw me and had arisen to come to my aid. I don’t even know if he knew I was in Africa.

The email to Noah is written like this:

I woke up in prayers this morning and when i was praying the lord was dealing with my life,it was deep in the spirit that you cant imargin,i saw the heavens opened and when i bowed down he remindend me you,i saw you in a deep cloud of wondering,you were in africa,i dont know if you are doing anything there!am not going to any church!is like you are in africa now,the lord has sent you there with your wife and your seeying that whet is a head is imposible!remove doughts in you! he is able to acomplish,he is with you in that mission,BE STILL,THE LORD IS WITH YOU!

You can read the whole thing at Noah’s blog. (Just press on past the suitcase story, but also follow his blog! That’s something you won’t regret.)

Having traveled to Africa with Noah two or three times, I recognize how perfect that email was.

Just a reminder that we are not alone. There’s good reasons for believing in God, and living the Christian life is a not a fantasy. It’s a powerful life. It doesn’t matter whether we can explain it if we can walk in it.

For the kingdom of God does not consist of words, but of power. (1 Cor. 4:20)

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