Doctrine and History: Do They Matter?

Posted on 12/01/2010 by Paul Pavao

I mentioned yesterday that I’ve studied theology and history for 28 years, devoting a large amount of time to it. But are they really helpful for anything?

Where Theology and History Are Not Helpful

When you’re trying to build the church, whether that’s by making new Christians or by bringing Christians into the unity that they need to grow (Eph. 4:11-16), theology and history are not helpful. They are just things for Christians—who ought to be focusing on maintaining the unity that is created only by the Spirit of God (Eph. 4:3)—to argue, fight, and divide over.

When you’re building the church, there is one thing that matters. Although what I am about to write is going to sound like two or more things, it’s really just one: Christ.

Christ, the Gospel, and obeying the Gospel. That’s what matters. That’s what will create born-again people who have the Spirit of God and who, thus, can have unity and be the family of God.

2 Tim. 2:19, which to me is one of the most important verses in the Bible in the light of our modern problems with division and proper focus, says, "For the foundation of God stands firm: The Lord knows those who are his, and let those who name the name of Christ depart from iniquity."

On that foundation we can build.

That verse is part of a letter to Timothy about what he should be doing to establish the church in Ephesus while Paul is gone. Don’t lose focus, he’s telling Timothy. Theologians are always finding unimportant things to argue about (profane and vain babblings, 2 Tim. 2:16) in order to fulfill their lust for glory, money, and division (1 Tim. 6:3-5).

Yes, we lust for division. Don’t fool yourself. Not only is division a natural product of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21), but it’s a convenient way to dodge the emotionally painful task of working things out and getting along.

Sound Doctrine

Doctrine is important.

The problem is, we don’t know what doctrine is important.

When we think of doctrine, we think of all those things modern Christians divide over: real presence in the Eucharist, dunking vs. sprinkling, speaking in tongues, eternal security.

Paul exhorts Timothy and Titus to fight over doctrine, but he makes it clear that there is one doctrine he is concerned about: the doctrine according to godliness.

Both Timothy and Titus are exhorted to teach good works to the saints. Paul specifically tells Titus to teach the church to "be careful to maintain good works" (Tit. 3:8). A little earlier he told him that Jesus died to produce a people that are zealous for good works (Tit. 2:14).

In fact, in Titus 2, Paul does us a favor and defines sound doctrine.

Read it. (That link gives you 4 versions to choose from.) It verifies everything I’m saying.

Unity of Spirit as the Route to Sound Doctrine

We can’t come to good doctrine on our own, anyway!

Ephesians 4:3 tells us to diligently maintain the unity of the Spirit. That’s first and foremost.

If we can do that, speaking the truth to one another in love, then together we can come to "the unity of the faith" and avoid being tossed around by every doctrine that blows through (Eph. 4:13-14).

Spiritual unity first; doctrinal unity after.

John addresses this, too. He talks about people who are trying to seduce the church (1 Jn. 2:26). Then he says what to do about it.

What to do about it is not study the Bible and come to our own individual conclusions. What to do about it is together to be led by the anointing.

That’s what he says! We may not like it, and I assure you, Protestants don’t like it. Most of them, while telling me that they are going to trust in the Bible instead, reject the Bible’s answer for doctrinal error!

Both Ephesians 4 and 1 John 2 tell us to learn together by the guidance that comes from God from heaven. One talks about people as a gift from Jesus Christ speaking the truth to one another in love, and the other talks about the Anointing that comes from God and that leads us—together because all those yous in 1 Jn. 2:27 are plural—into what is "true and not a lie."

700 words. This is plenty long and plenty to chew on.

Tomorrow, when doctrine and history do matter.

Posted in Church, History, Modern Doctrines, Unity | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Do Doctrine and History Matter?

Posted on 11/30/2010 by Paul Pavao

I came out to Auburn, California with another family to help get "real" church started.

By "real church," what I mean is Christians that are really family to one another. They take care of one another financially, emotionally, and spiritually; they seek the will of God together; and they plan to keep track of one another for the rest of their lives.

That’s what family does, and no family should do it better than the family of God.

The lonely who come to Christ should never be lonely again, and that should not mean that they only have spiritual fellowship with the invisible Christ, the head, in the heavens. It should mean that they have real fellowship with the visible Christ, the body, on the earth. The Scriptures don’t only say that the hand needs the head. The hand needs the whole rest of the body (1 Cor. 12:12-27).

One more Scripture reference: We grow as we speak the truth in love to one another, each part doing its share, not just as we learn the truth from the Bible and the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:11-16). In fact, the Bible teaches that if we only learn the truth from the Bible and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we’re likely to be deceived by our own sinfulness (Heb. 3:13).

I guess that was two Scripture references.

In the spirit of keeping my posts shorter and more regular, let me quit there. If you consider not just the accuracy of what I just taught, but also what it means as far as carrying that teaching out, then this post is a lot to chew on.

Introduction to Tomorrow

I titled this post "Do Doctrine and History Matter" because theology and history are subjects to which I have devoted immense amounts of time over the last 28 years. Thus, it would be natural for me to want to correct the doctrine and history of others in order to accomplish the building of the church that I’ve described above.

I do think there’s a role for doctrine and history, but is it in building the church?

That’s tomorrow’s subject.

Posted in Church, Modern Doctrines | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Apostolic Succession, Unity, and What Really Matters

Posted on 11/29/2010 by Paul Pavao

I have a friend that I’m certain thinks I talk about apostolic succession and other Catholic issues too much. On the other hand, I get regular emails about the subject, and "When Protestants Become Catholic" remains my most read post.

So here’s one more. This is an answer to an email I received. It addresses not only apostolic succession but results and unity, and it introduces a subject I want to talk about tomorrow: How do we build the church in 21st century America?

Or, maybe, more pertinently, the subject could be called "America Needs More Missionaries."

Also, there’s enough links is this post to make a fair history lesson if you follow them.

Anyway, here’s the email:

Email Concerning Whether We Should Find Elders with Apostolic Succession To Submit To

I guess we’re both looking for something. What I’m looking for will not be provided by submitting to elders with apostolic succession. In fact, it will almost certainly be prevented.

I’m looking for fruit. Christians are to be known by their love. If even an apostle preaches a false gospel, he is to be anathematized. We are to fellowship with those that meditate on God’s Word and separate from the world.

Those sorts of things matter to me.

I was a Roman Catholic. I was raised in it. For 18 years I faithfully attended mass, CCD, and even a couple short youth retreats.

In 18 years, I may have met one Christian in the Roman Catholic Church. Every single one of the others I met in 18 years, 3 countries, and 3 states were not even trying. I’ve met more Roman Catholic Christians since leaving the RCC than when I was in it.

Yesterday I was reading The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience. It says that 26 % of Evangelicals do NOT think that premarital sex is wrong. Then, a paragraph later, it says, "Green [Prof. John C. Green of the University of Akron] finds that Evangelicals fare better than mainline Protestant and Catholic Christians on theses issues."

That’s pretty much what I would have figured. Roman Catholics, in general, know almost nothing about the Bible’s teaching on following God. (Most of my relatives are Roman Catholic, by the way, because my dad is from Hawaii and is Portuguese by descent.)

On top of that, the RCC’s unscriptural and unhistorical teaching on celibacy in leaders has led to vast amounts of sexual immorality. Both the Council of Nicea and the Council of Arles—in 325 and 268 respectively, before celibacy was even common—said that live-in females were a problem for "many" bishops and elders.

I was an altar boy. Lack of kindness, a bad temper, and sipping the leftover Eucharistic sherry among priests was a given, accepted and talked about by altar boys and parish members alike.

Now, let me ask you. If my goal is to teach Christians to follow Christ together, in holiness, as one people, why in the world would I ask them to submit to mostly unsaved leaders in a mostly unsaved church and why would I do so myself? That would be completely contrary to my purposes?

And as for yours [i.e., his purpose, which was to be "in unity"], do you really believe that because you’re submitting to elders with apostolic succession, that you are somehow now living in unity? With whom?

Unity is not agreement about which organization to belong to. Unity comes from the Spirit first, and it is destroyed by members who don’t even know that they are not supposed to have premarital sex! 26% don’t even know among Evangelicals, and it’s worse among Catholics!

Jesus said there would always be few who will find the path; I want to be in unity with those few. It doesn’t matter to me that there’s a carnal, fleshly counterfeit organization out there claiming to be the church and claiming a succession that isn’t scriptural, isn’t historical, and that didn’t really happen. (There was no bishop in Rome for nearly a century. Several men in France claimed to be the bishop, while never even seeing Rome, and then there were 2 or 3 competing men for another 50 years. Succession in Rome is long broken by this and by successions that happened by imperial appointment or assassination of the previous bishop.)

Cyprian said that a church leader who lives in sin should be rejected by the people or they will be contaminated by his sin (To the Clergy and People Abiding in Spain, Epistle of Cyprian 67 in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. V). How much more true is that of a prelate who preaches a false gospel of sacraments, confession to a priest, and attendance at mass because he’s never heard the true one of Christ’s call to lay down our lives, hate our families, leave our possessions and follow him?

I’m sorry but Roman Catholic leaders with a pretended succession are not a route to unity; they’re in the way of it. Unity is only going to happen by the Spirit of God and among disciples (Eph. 4:3).

That’s the only unity that matters. All other unity is just words.

Division Versus a Corrupt Church

One final word. What’s worse? The divisions of Protestantism or the complete corruption, both politically and spiritually, that was Roman Catholicism in the late medieval period?

Keep in mind that Luther and Calvin did not leave Roman Catholicism. They were put out of it for speaking things that were undeniably true. For Martin Luther, the purpose was to save poverty-stricken Germans from being milked of the nothing they had by evil salesmen threatening cruelty from God, then selling release from it. It was literally extortion!

These were sent by Pope Leo X in order to build the luxurious St. Peter’s Basilica.

Don’t think the division between the Lutherans and the Catholics had anything to do with theology. It had exclusively to do with money that the pope and his henchmen were wringing out of emaciated people to build a cathedral.

So, should Martin Luther—possibly mentally ill, but at least caring about the extortion he was witnessing—have just submitted to the minions from Rome? His local elders were on his side!

Things get very complicated when we reduce things to carnal, earthly ideas like a succession that involves fleshly men. The succession of the early church fathers involved men who preserved the truth in holiness, and it was the truth that was on their mind, not the men.

The Roman Catholic Church has lost the truth, so they’ve lost the succession.

The proof is not in arguments about transubstantiation and infant baptism. The proof is in the pudding. The RCC rarely produces Christians [as a percentage; among their 2 billion members, there are many devoted to Christ], and most of the Christians it produces in the 21st century are influenced by Protestantism. Protestantism is corrupt as an organization, but it has produced most of the Christians in the world, even if they have gone to the RCC and Orthodox over ecclesiastical ideas.

I’m often told: "How can you dare to make such sweeping generalizations!"

I make such sweeping generalizations for the same reason Gallup and Barna make sweeping generalizations. Once you have a certain sampling size, your poll becomes reliable to a certain margin of error. My sampling size for what I said in the paragraph above is significantly larger than most Gallup or Barna polls.

Further, we’ve tried asking an entire continent to submit to the elders and bishops who had the apostolic succession we’re talking about. That experiment went on for centuries. It’s known as The Dark Ages.

What Matters

Anyway, the point of this is that I’m after results. I’m certainly not chasing an organization. Where’s there any Scripture for that? Let us go after Christ with a whole heart and preach the Gospel Jesus preached, and let us serve alongside all who name the name of Christ.

There is one foundation, according to Paul, and that is Christ. On that foundation is one inscription. It says, "The Lord knows those who are his, and let those who name the name of Christ depart from iniquity."

Listen, I’ve probably sounded real forceful, perhaps rude, in this email. If you can submit to elders with apostolic succession, and then, as a result, show me a people gathered in the power of the Spirit, obeying Christ together, and each of those who are a part knowing what Christ calls them to, then I’ll acknowledge we may need to do that, too.

Of course, we already have that situation in Selmer, Tn, and I’m devoting efforts to making that happen in Auburn, CA, so I guess even if you succeed by submitting to such elders, I can’t say that it’s mandatory to do the same. But at least, having seen it, I would be more open!

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

Knowing the Will of God

Posted on 11/28/2010 by Paul Pavao

So you want to know the will of God for your life.

A friend and mentor once told me that it is the job of a parent to make his or her will known to a child. It’s not the child’s job; it’s the parent’s.

God is the best Father of all. He is able to make his will known to his children.

We write books about knowing his will; we analyze how to know his will; and all our analysis just gets in the way.

We have only one thing to work on: how much do you want to do his will.

Sometimes the will of God is the most delightful thing that could ever happen to you. Sometimes it seems like the most painful thing that could happen to you.

What are you going to look at? The will of God? Or the cost of the will of God?

If anyone wants to do his will, then he will know of my teaching, whether it is from God. ~ Jesus Christ
Posted in Holiness | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Power of the Church: Never Be Lonely Again

Posted on 11/27/2010 by Paul Pavao

I was reading The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience again this morning.

Scandal documents the terrible testimony that we Christians are giving to the western world. The book is important. It will do us no good to pretend that there is not a problem. We need to change. If we do the same things we’ve always done, we will get the same results we’ve always gotten.

This time, however, I read it knowing that there are people doing something about it. There are people preaching a true Gospel and offering real change.

Examples that I know of are Francis Chan, who has been preaching simple obedience to Christ and modeling it with thousands of people in southern California, though I understand he has moved on to new fields of service. I hear heartening and inspiring stories from David Platt’s church in Birmingham, AL. I’m also hearing very encouraging stories both secondhand and firsthand from Memphis, Tn, where I know of an inner city church and even politicians getting involved in helping troubled youth at great expense to themselves in order to honor Jesus Christ and the Gospel.

Here in Auburn I’ve run across a denominational church trying to bring its people together in real service, real fellowship, and a real relationship with our Father in heaven. The steps they’ve taken are working, at least for now. I’m going to their men’s breakfast in a few minutes, and it’s encouraging to be with those men.

The Need That Still Exists

The reality is, however, that most Christians are still detached. Even if they attend a church, they’re lonely, independent, and many struggle to maintain a holy life in the midst of the incredible temptations offered by our modern world and its easy access to just about anything we want.

I’m in Auburn because I know people who are active—very active—in their churches, but they see the fellowship we have at Rose Creek Village and say, "We don’t have that. What do we need to do?"

I’ve visited Kenya, India, and Myanmar. It’s incredible to see the response to the Gospel from simple, poor people and the great joy that the Gospel brings to their lives.

But it’s also disheartening to see Christians in those places come together, get help from westerners, obtain some security and wealth, and then begin to focus on nice shoes and tailored suits. Leading pastors from humble backgrounds seem to suddenly have as much distance between themselves and their poor flocks as visiting American preachers do. Prestige and position seem to matter more than fellowship with their brothers and sisters in Christ.

Is it any wonder that obtaining the same prestige and nice clothes is as important to their flock, or more important, than obeying Christ, loving others, and living a life of service?

The Change

We have to purposely work at focusing on the right things.

It does not come naturally to walk the narrow path. There is a reason that "deny yourselves" was right at the start of Jesus’ preaching.

But what do we focus on? What works? How do Christians come together in unity?

I keep telling people here that I have one goal, which is that no one who embraces the Gospel would ever have to say they’re lonely again.

How do we achieve that goal?

Part of what is necessary is knowing what the Gospel is. God did not call us to follow Christ alone. God has always wanted a people, not just scattered persons.

We have some idea of what it means for Israel to be a nation. Their capitol city, Jerusalem, was destroyed in A.D. 70, and they were forbidden to enter the rebuilt city …

for 1870 years!

It is simply astounding that the Jews maintained their national identity for almost 19 centuries while scattered among other nations. Is there any others story like that in all of world history? Nations and peoples are conquered all the time, and they are integrated with their conquerors.

The Jews had a national identity, and it came from God. When they went to new nations, they considered themselves first and foremost a part of the nation of Israel. They no longer had a land, but in their eyes, they had God. He was their King, and he had promised them a nation.

But we don’t have the same idea with Christianity.

Somehow, the Gospel has been distorted so that we believe that following Christ means, primarily, having a personal relationship with him.

It’s not so. God wanted a people under the old covenant. He wants a people under the new covenant, too. The church, according to the New Testament, is God’s family. It is a nation. In fact, it is the new Israel, and being a heavenly people with heavenly citizenship, it ought to have a stronger sense of identity than old Israel, not a lesser one.

God’s Family

Somehow, it makes a difference when we say the family of God versus saying God’s family, even though grammatically they’re exactly the same thing.

"The family of God" is a nice religious phrase. We sing about it:

I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod

But how real is that?

Isn’t it true that in most churches, if you lose your job, go broke, and have your home foreclosed upon, it is your parents or some other relative that you’re going to go live with, not your church family?

We have a wonderful opportunity in the current recession. People have lost jobs and homes. Lots of people, and some of them are Christians.

I watched one church trying to take advantage of it. They gave 20 minutes of a service for members to tell their stories of what this recession did to them. In a few cases, there were responses of others who weathered the recession better. They offered jobs and told each other of places to stay.

Good start, but it’s not enough.

The Gospel calls for a complete commitment, but it’s not just a commitment to pray in our rooms to a private God. The Gospel is supposed to offer a people to commit ourselves, too.

A real family; God’s family.

Shouldn’t God’s family be the best family in the whole world?

Where Does It Start

I don’t know that I’m saying any of this in the best way or even a good way.

I do know that I want to call us to begin to live like family.

Where does it start? It starts with 2 or 3. It starts by deciding we will believe the Gospel, that we will acknowledge that Christ calls us to a narrow path, forsaking our own needs, and seeking first the kingdom of God in faith that God will provide all our other needs.

That’s hard enough, but it’s the Gospel, we have to do it, and it’s only the beginning.

Faith needs to be working. Faith needs to produce action.

It begins with 2 or 3. Christ has promised to be in the midst of 2 or 3 who gather in his name. People who promise themselves that together they will go after Christ, following him by his Spirit and obeying his commands.

Maybe not everyone can do that. Those of us who can need to.

If we are going to be able to say that following Christ means entering the family of God, then we need to provide a family for new believers—and old ones who’ve never experienced this—to join themselves to.

Posted in Church, Gospel | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Interesting Odds and Ends in Auburn

Posted on 11/26/2010 by Paul Pavao

Here’s a couple things you may find interesting.

Thanksgiving Turkey a Couple Days Early

Yesterday, I had to go to an RV repair place. As I left their office, I saw this:

Turkey on road in Auburn, CA

In case you can’t see it well enough. Here’s a closer, clearer picture:

Turkey in road, Auburn, CA

There’s lots of turkeys in the foothills of the Sierra. This one wandered a couple blocks from the nearest woods. It’s only about 40 feet from Highway 49, the busiest road in Auburn.

Bad timing for the turkey. This was just two days before Thanksgiving!

(It was alive when I left.)

A Park?

One of the weirder things I’ve run into out here is this, uh, park?

I first noticed this park as I walked past an alley between two stores in an outdoor shopping center. I looked to the right, and I saw a trail going up to a sign that you may not be able to see in this small picture. It’s at the top of the path.

Is this a park?

I got closer, curious what sort of sign would be at the top of a trail behind a dumpster at a shopping center.

Park sign behind shopping center

At least now you can tell it’s a sign. You probably can’t read it, though. It says:

PARK HOURS ARE 6 AM UNTIL ONE-HALF HOUR AFTER SUNSET. IT IS UNLAWFUL TO ENTER OR REMAIN IN PARK WHEN PARK IS CLOSED TO PUBLIC.

Park???

I couldn’t resist. I climbed to the top of the path and took this picture:

A park with nothing in it in Auburn, CA

There’s nothing in this "park." Past this picture, straight ahead, is a fence and then a freeway. To the right is a drive-through fence that’s always locked and then a highway.

There’s no other entrance to this "park" other than the path I’d just climbed and …

this, to the left from the last picture:

'Park' entrance in Auburn, CA

This is the other "entrance" to the park. I went down it. From the bottom, It looks like this:

'Park' entrance in Auburn, CA

Those are the only two entrances to this park.

That’s not all! Yesterday I ran at lunchtime, and I chose a path (on purpose) that went through the park. I snapped this picture:

Homeless bed and grave in 'park' in Auburn, CA

Once again, this picture is probably too small for you to see, but at the left of the picture is a GRAVESTONE. There are two graves in this "park" and this caved-in mattress is one of three places that look like a mini homeless camp.

Would You Like a Manicure with That Web Page?

One more thing to show you. This is in that outdoor shopping center:

Manicure and internet

Do those two things really go together? Do you really need free wireless internet during a manicure?

There’s probably something I don’t understand about manicures or modern technology, but all I can picture is a woman typing on her ipad with her nose while one hand dries and the other is being clipped and painted.

Hmm. No pictures of that. I should have hung around longer …

Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Kenya Kingdom Hikers: Something To Get Excited About

Posted on 11/25/2010 by Paul Pavao

Missionaries are awesome. Thank God for every one God has called, from Paul and Barnabas to ones that are leaving today.

What every missionary wants, however, is something more than someone coming from a foreign country to preach the Gospel. They want indigenous churches in that country that are fired up for God, preaching the Gospel, and bent on changing their nation.

Well, this is one group of kids doing that in Kenya.

Check them out! Leave them a comment of encouragement and help inspire them to keep up the commitment they’ve zealously adopted.

Posted in Gospel, missions | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Who Invented the Internet? A Word from the Real Inventor

Posted on 11/23/2010 by Paul Pavao

Scientific American has an article by the guy who really did invent the world wide web: Tim Berners-Lee.

He says the freedom of the internet needs to be defended, and he has some pretty interesting thoughts, especially if you’re "techie" enough to understand it all. Even if you can’t understand it all, he’s got some things to say about Facebook and other such "communities" that ought to be heard.

I guess he’s been fighting a bit to keep the internet free, and he suggests there are more attacks on that freedom than we realize.

Anyway, I wanted to do my part to spread this information.

If nothing else, there’s something unique about reading an article on the internet written by a guy who, just 20 years ago, had the only web page and only browser in existence on his computer.

Posted in Miscellaneous, news | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Healing Testimony

Posted on 11/22/2010 by Paul Pavao

I thought y’all would like to hear this story …

I met a guy here named Todd. When I met him, he was wearing shorts and was missing a very noticeable chunk out his calf. I asked him about it, and here’s his story. I’ll keep it short.

He was on a motorcycle, riding passenger behind a friend, when they were broadsided by a truck. I forgot to ask whether that was a pickup or semi!

Anyway, he was launched down the road about 60 feet and broke ribs, his leg in several places, punctured his lung, and some other things I don’t remember.

The story here is about his leg, which was twisted sideways, torn open, and not healing, even in the hospital. The doctors were telling Todd that his leg was gangrenous and that they would almost certainly have to amputate to save his life. They told him he’d never walk on it again whether they amputated or not.

Then a pastor, John Cowan, whom I know and I mentioned in a blog as the nicest man I have ever met, came in and prayed for him. John said that he was thinking about James 5, where James says that the elders of the church should anoint a sick man with oil and pray for him. John simply wanted to obey that, so he brought olive oil with him, anointed Todd and prayed for him.

Todd said he doesn’t remember the time frame, but over the next hour to several hours, his leg slowly straightened and the pain dissipated.

A few hours later, the doctor came in to check on his leg and make sure they didn’t have to do an emergency amputation. He looked at the leg and asked what happened.

Then he called in several other doctors, and they were all stunned.

The end of that story is that Todd walks just fine, though all his other injuries just healed over time, and he has back problems to this day.

Arguments with Atheists

I used to write on an evolution versus creation message forum a few years ago. I got in a lot of discussions with Christians about evolution and with atheists about the historicity of Christ and miracles.

Atheists, especially ones that study science, love to ask for verifiable scientific studies, especially "double-blind" studies. Otherwise, they say, they don’t believe these miracles ever happened.

They also add that these miracles always seem to happen to a friend of a friend or some distant relative that the person giving the testimony has never met.

Hmm. Not my experience. I’ve met dozens of people with stories like Todd’s … not friends of friends, but people I’ve met with the most incredible stories of God healing them.

No, these will never be subject to double-blind studies. What are you going to do? Break a few people’s legs, twist them around, and then send John Cowan in to anoint them with oil?

After a while, it becomes not scientific but stupid to ignore such stories.

And it certainly becomes stupid to say miracles "cannot" happen, as though you’d conducted your own double-blind studies to prove they’re impossible. Funny how you only need those double-blind studies to prove God works. They don’t seem to need double-blind studies to pronounce them impossible.

Anyway, grace and peace to y’all!

Posted in Testimonies | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Slip Sliding Away

Posted on 11/20/2010 by Paul Pavao
RV accident

Oops!

Brilliant, huh?

Breaking the RV: The Earthly Stuff

It has been raining here in Auburn, but we needed to take the RV to the RV park and empty the holding tanks. I should have learned my lesson when we were leaving.

My kids have more pictures and their own descriptions on their blogs. Their stories are shorter. My children get to the point way better than I do. Must have gotten it from their mom.

Manuha’s Musings
Leilani’s Pipsqueak Blog (She’s 8, and she didn’t write on the RV, but on gold panning yesterday.)

I tried to back out of the yard we’ve been staying in, but I couldn’t make the turn around their garage (which is in the picture) and out the gate. I ended up having to turn the RV around in their yard, which is a hill. We’ve been parked on just about the only flat spot in the whole yard.

Turning it around was some serious mental work, but we did it. Then driving out was not difficult at all.

When we came back, I decided to back in so that I could retrace the same route I took out. But as we made the small turn around the garage, the back wheels kept slipping.

Apparently, I’ve got some sort of brain deficiency, and I still thought I could make it. My son and I decided we would try backing just a little further, and if we slipped anymore, we’d give up and park out front.

We slid too much.

There was nowhere to go, and when I tried something, the side of a small ditch caved in and we tilted right onto the corner of the garage.

The garage was never really in danger. It’s an old oak thing, almost like a barn.

The RV, however …

We were very fortunate. The corner of the garage came into the RV about a foot, and it chose a large sliding window to do so rather than a wall. If the window had been open, the only damage we’d have had would have been the screen on the window.

It was closed, however, and the window just exploded.

Okay, Now the Spiritual Stuff

I have a pretty bad temper. Rose Creek Village has really changed my life in that respect, as I’ve had a lot of input and help controlling it. I’m almost like a nice person now.

This little incident enraged me, though. There was no one to be mad at except myself, so I said some pretty awful things about my intelligence to myself and anyone else I could get to listen—which was just my family. Fortunately, my wonderful wife was offended at the statements. It would have been disappointing if she’d shrugged and said, "Yeah, that’s what I think, too."

I was excited, though, about the fact that I treated everyone else reasonably well.

I was also somewhat panicked. How in the world would we get this RV off of the garage? The garage isn’t even mine! I’m at someone else’s house!

Amazingly, I quickly got my mind set on God, and I sat in a chair, letting all the horrible, painful emotions that had flooded my body and mind fade away. I immediately started wondering what I should learn from this.

Oddly, the first thought that went through my mind was, "There’s nothing to learn. This was just a chance incident; things happen; and there’s not any purpose to things like this."

That only lasted a moment. I’ve lived for 49 years thinking there’s a purpose to everything and that God doesn’t let anything happen to us by accident. We can be stupid and insensitive and learn nothing, or we can pay attention, learn quickly, and not have to go through the same problems over and over and over.

That’s worked really well for me. Though there’s plenty I don’t understand, I’ve never experienced or heard anything that’s made me feel like I need to give up looking at life that way.

Lessons

So here’s what I think.

1. I think the devil doesn’t want us to have it easy out here. I was really encouraged by the thought that he actually sees us as a threat.

2. I have a lot less problems than most people in the world, and it’s really important that I don’t get sucked into the American “Disneyland” mentality that says our purpose in life is to live in comfort.

3. If I will keep my mind on what is my purpose, following our Father and doing whatever he’s doing, this might not have happened. Before I ever drove to the dump station to dump the tanks, I had thought briefly about how easy it would be to just park out by the road. I didn’t pay enough attention to that thought to hold it before God to see if that’s what he wanted.

Life’s simple. You walk in the Spirit all the time, and you do what he leads you to do.

That’s an oversimplification, but it is, nonetheless, exactly what being a Christian is all about. We get to be spiritual people, walking with and knowing God. It’s foolish to get distracted with the things of this world just because we’re Americans with a lot of money, excellent shelter, constant climate control, and more food than necessary.

The End of the Story

Oh, after I let all the emotions run out, I called a tow company and asked them to send me a genius out to help.

Really, I asked for a genius.

The lady laughed, and she said she would send their “guy” within about 45 minutes.

He showed up, and he looked like Jason Fitzpatrick, that missionary to Mexico that I’m so impressed with.

Turns out he was a genius. He simply used a tree to winch the rear end of the RV around until we were pointed at the gate. That probably didn’t require genius, and any tow truck guy could have done it. The genius was the way he handled me.

I asked him, “Is there hope that this will work?”

He said, “Hope? I’m not hoping. I know this is going to work.”

He was careful, slow, and utterly confident, even though he was pretty young in my eyes. He was totally in charge and very friendly. He never once told me I was an idiot. In fact, he never made me feel like one. He acted like this could have happened to anyone.

It could have … to anyone who is overconfident in his ability to drive in mud and trying something he shouldn’t be trying.

Anyway, I got out of it for a very reasonable tow bill and a broken window. Incredible.

One Final Comment

My wife just got done with whatever she was doing on her computer. She got up and said, “All in all, a really good day.”

I have great people around me.

We’re in California trying to help Christians make a choice to live in such a way that everyone can have what I have and what the Gospel is supposed to promise: great people around all of us because we’re together and including everyone who embraces the Gospel.

Posted in Gospel, Miscellaneous, news, Testimonies | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments