Blogging friends are real friends too...

I posted this almost a year ago on Tony C Today. When I started thinking about our subject matter this week, this post immediately came to mind...and holds true today. God has blessed me beyond what I could have ever imagined with the connections I've made with other Christians literally around the world. For me, it's not so much about sharing my insignificant story as it is sharing what God has done in my life to use me for His glory. I'm both humbled and empowered. Like many of you, I blog to shine His light of love through my life...hopefully.

As you read the post from last November, know that I would truly love to add your name to the list of blogging friends. Besides...talking about Jesus is pretty cool.

(November 2009)

I don't typically post on Saturday, but the teenager's gone and mom and little one are into an afternoon siesta...so I've got a moment or so to enjoy to myself...well...with you.

I started writing a post every Friday over on Kingdom Bloggers which I really love. There are three of us currently writing for the blog, and we mutually decide on a topic for the week and write from a personal perspective. David Johndrow from Fire and Grace and Dave Tvedt for Woe is Me are my co-contributors. Both of these guys are serious about their relationship with God and take the verse about pray without ceasing to heart.

You've got to take time to visit Matt at The Church of No People. He has a fresh outlook on what it is to be a Christian in the world today. I honestly find myself laughing out loud and saying 'that's right' when I read his blog. The same goes for Kathy at Hey look, a chicken!, who also contributes on Fellowship of the Travelling Smartypants, and Bud at Bud Beverly.

Maybe surprisingly to some of you, I follow several blogs geared for the fairer sex. Leigh Ann at Lulaville is a complete riot, and I enjoy reading about Shauna at Blah Blah Blog who has a very touching family story that proves all does happen for the glory of God. A couple of new follows are Bridget at Bridget Crumbley and my old friend Michelle at Finding Michelle who is new to blogging but definitely has a knack. Oh...Sherri at Everything in Moderation has given me several kicking good recipes.

I often find inspiration and encouragement from Jennifer at Getting Down with Jesus and Mesha over on HE's the potter, I'm the clay.. MOLD ME. Tracy at Abundant Living leaves some of the best comments...along with NC Sue from IN HIM WE LIVE AND MOVE AND HAVE OUR BEING. No way I can forget the Burkulater at It's Time for the Burkulater or Nadia at narrow path home.

Misty Rice, who blogs at Wind Beneath My Wings, is great to follow. Her and Laretha at Beauty Unveiled have visually pleasing pages that also contain heart-felt, quality substance.

There are a number of you I read...but you don't post very often (Derek, Chris T, Dave, Luke, Julie, Lori, BethAnne just to name a few). I wish you wrote more because you each have great stories.

There are also way more of you that read and rarely, if ever, comment...unless I run into you at the grocery store. Most of you don't write blogs and just follow. I'm very thankful for each of you that take a moment or two to read the thoughts of a rambling writer with a passion for what God has done and will do in his life.

I ask you to take just a moment more and think about this...I don't personally know any of the people I've mention with only a few exceptions. Yet, I feel a connection with each and every one. The common denominator is pretty obvious...

I hope you each have a blessed weekend.

But this is America...and I speak American!

Only one other post on Tony C Today has drawn more visitors than this one. Again, not a lot of theology...but at least it shows a God-fearing, Jesus lover can make fun of his many shortcomings in this life. God bless, and I look forward to getting back to topic writing next month!

The one with the cute little umbrella straw please...

I'm not a coffee drinker...

Wait, let me start by saying that I've laid off political and religious subjects this week in respect to Easter. It seemed like the WWJD thing to do. So...

I'm not a coffee drinker. Never have been. But, I live with two females that love the stuff. We could debate if a 13 (soon to be 14) year old should be drinking coffee...but I won't go there. I accept the argument that a cup of coffee can't be any worse than a bottle of soda. Moving on...

So from time to time, I find myself at the local Starbucks, which might as well be eastern Slovenia for me. It's like a completely different world...a make-believe world where people speak a pseudo-foreign language and pretend to be high society...or hip...or something I'm apparently not. Now, I understand the Italian connection with the origin of many coffee drinks coming from Italy, and the implied chicness of the whole fiasco called Starbucks, but what I don't get is the absolutely ridiculous sounding process for ordering.

I'm not Italian illiterate either. Aside for the Learn A Language While You Drive cassette series I played for months before an Italy trip that fell apart the day prior to departure, the Sopranos were a weekly ritual at my house. I know Italian...well...some Italian. I know latte is Italian for milk, I know grande means large. What I don't understand is why a grande iced vanilla latte at Starbucks isn't a large cup of milk with vanilla flavor. What gives?

So, this morning I find myself alone in the drive-thru at Starbucks filled with anxiety. Since I love my wife more than any earthly thing, I'm doing this for her. For me... it's virgin territory. I refuse to order when we all go together, making my wife or the teenager do the honors...and..always making fun of the process. I want a frappa mocha latte ventior some other ridiculously sounding fictitious concoction. But here I am...ready to order.

Speaker: Welcome to Starbucks. Would you like to try one of our fancy-smancy new sandwiches?

I'm frozen. What did she say she wanted?

Just a minute please.

Speaker: Take your time and order when you're ready.

I'm sure the seven hundred and twenty cars behind me want just that...me to take my time. I glance over the menu board looking for some type of trigger word...but it's all so...foreign.

Uh, uh mocha, latte, venti,frappachino,cappachino...before I even realized, I say...out loud...

Frappa mocha latte...uh

Speaker: Excuse me sir?

Nothing would do my heart more good than to break into a speaker rant over why Starbucks had to stop selling the black and white cookie...it's all I ever liked there! But I have loved ones waiting in the balance on me performing this simple task.

Text message! Thank you Jesus! She sent what she wanted in a text message! A few quick clicks...

I'll take a iced vanilla latte venti please. Not a perfect delivery...wrong indefinite article grammatically...but hey...I'm a rookie.

Speaker: That will be $4.33. Thank you pull forward.

$4.33! For a cup of coffee! I'm I picking this up IN Italy? That's an entire #1 Value Breakfast Meal WITH a large iced tea at Mickie D's.

As I'm pulling forward, I notice the 'Coexist' bumper sticker on the BMW in front of me...nice...this is now the company I keep...very nice.

She's got a way about her...(September 2009)

From September 2009- not a lot of theology...but it exposes a few things about me. Hope you enjoy:

As many of you already know, I'm a very fortunate man. A blessed man with a beautiful family held together by the family nucleus...Mrs. Tony C. It's no secret. I don't deny it. The two girls and I are just electrons spinning wildly around that solid center. I accept and embrace her role in our...nuclear family (sorry, that was too easy).

Although we share a very strong set of core beliefs, there's just enough variations in our individual way of thinking to keep life interesting in our marriage...without causing major strife. For example, I'm an ice cream fanatic while her food fix is bread. She likes the sheets all tucked in tight before we sleep, and I find the constriction a sure recipe for insomnia. I detest reality TV, and she...okay...I'm lying. I love reality TV too...but not the Kardashians!

However, never were our differences more apparent than the day this commercial aired while we were watching the Discovery Channel:



Tony C: That was the creepiest thing I believe I've ever watched...on a number of levels.

Mrs. Tony C: Really? I liked it.

Tony C: No way! Was it a car commercial or a promotion for a socialist society that embraces synchronized child labor?

Mrs. Tony C: Don't be so sarcastic. It's a representation of humans as nature to suggest we are one with our environment.

Tony C: Okay! Here we go...the tree hugger makes an appearance! It was freaky. They're little kids...or midgets...little people...whatever...

Mrs. Tony C: It was probably done digitally.

Tony C: ... or in China. After that Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing, we got good insight into how 'extra' people fit into a socialist society. Poor Chinese kids were probably beat for missing the cues.

Mrs. Tony C: The whole point of the commercial was to get you to buy an environmentally friendly car. Why is that so bad?

Tony C: I believe either your parents ran around butt-naked at Woodstock with the rest of the hippies or you have a Gore gene somewhere in the family tree.

Mrs. Tony C: Woodstock? Weren't you there?

Tony C: I was five!

Mrs. Tony C: Hey, you watched an Inconvenient Truth...

Tony C: Stop! We promised never to discuss that...ever!

Mrs. Tony C (chuckling): Yeah...we did...

Yes, my wife's a tree hugger, at least a part-time tree hugger. An environmentalist. She reads and believes National Geographic. In a way, I admire her commitment to recycling, conservation, and protecting the planet God entrusted to us. But, the conservative in me won't let it show. Her motives, on the other hand, are genuine and sincere. Just don't tell her I said so...

Tony C (having a nightmare): The kids! Midgets! Waves and waves...falling, falling! Toto! Where's my dog! My dog!

Mrs. Tony C:(awake from the commotion): Tony!

Tony C (groggy): Whoa! That was weird. Really weird. I was in that creepy Prius commercial...

Mrs. Tony C: It's okay. You can tell me about it in the morning. I love you...good night.

Tony C: Oh...okay. In the morning...(sigh)...stinking Prius. (Kicking wildly) Why... are... these... stupid sheets tucked in at the bottom so tight!

Mrs. Tony C (under her breath): ...idiot...

Tony C: What?

Mrs. Tony C: I love you.

Tony C: Oh...love you too. Hold me?

Mrs. Tony C: Don't I always...

Disclaimer: I have never watched or read An Inconvenient Truth. If anyone says otherwise, you should consider the source to be a pathological liar, unless I happen to be married to that person...which would still mean she lied...well...at least to me.

Do We Really Believe the Bible?

As a Christian, most of us want to grow in faith, or do we? Have we received a series of teachings or done Bible studies that put God in a box? Over the years I have had pastors tell me that certain Bible passages were difficult. Here are a couple of examples:

Matthew 27:51-53 (NKJ) 51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.


This text in Matthew is authentic, and as much as I have researched, I have never found it contested. For what reason has it simply been avoided? Honestly, I have heard more preaching about Lazarus' grave clothes. Why? Because the verse about Lazarus gives us a wonderful illustration of the work that Jesus does in salvation. All while avoiding the obvious message. Lazarus came to life after he died and started to decompose! He was raised form the dead. Jesus said "Lazarus come out!" and he did. If He had just said, "come out", the entire cemetery would have been awakened!

What is difficult, is that this verse does not appear to be difficult in Greek or English-- just supernatural.
Here is another verse that pertains to you and I.

Mark 16:17 "These signs will accompany those who have believed : in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues ; 18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover ." 19 So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.] [And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. ]

This particular verse, if you read your NIV study notes, "does not appear in all reliable manuscripts." It is contested as an authentic scripture. Therefore; it shouldn't be in the Bible? Or it should? Or we can't determine if it is really God?

Let's take a closer look to see if there more authoritative scriptures than this. We'll look at each portion of the preceding passage and see if we can verify it, or dismiss it.

Regarding Signs and Wonders (Miracles):
Acts 2:43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.


Acts 4:16 16 saying, “What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.


Acts 5:12 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch.


Acts 14:3 Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.


Romans 15:19 in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

2 Corinthians 12:12 Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.

Regarding Casting Out Demons:
Luke 10:17 ESV The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!"

Luke 8:2 ESV And also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

Mark 3:11 ESV And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God."

Matthew 17:14-20 ESV And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, said, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him." And Jesus answered, "O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me." And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. ...

Matthew 12:22 ESV Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw.

Regarding Healing:
Luke 8:47 NKJ Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.

Luke 8:48 NKJ And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace."

Luke 5:17 NKJ Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

Regrading Snakes:
Mark 16:18 They will pick up serpents; and [even] if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well.

Luke 10:19 Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses]; and nothing shall in any way harm you.

Acts 28:3-6 Now Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and he was laying them on the fire when a viper crawled out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. 4When the natives saw the little animal hanging from his hand, they said to one another, Doubtless this man is a murderer, for though he has been saved from the sea, Justice [the goddess of avenging] has not permitted that he should live. 5Then [Paul simply] shook off the small creature into the fire and suffered no evil effects. 6However, they were waiting, expecting him to swell up or suddenly drop dead; but when they had watched him a long time and saw nothing fatal or harmful come to him, they changed their minds and kept saying over and over that he was a god.

Regarding Poisonous Food:
2 Kings 4:38 Elisha came back to Gilgal during a famine in the land. The sons of the prophets were sitting before him, and he said to his servant, Set on the big pot and cook pottage for the sons of the prophets. 39 Then one went into the field to gather herbs and gathered from a wild vine his lap full of wild gourds, and returned and cut them up into the pot of pottage, for they were unknown to them. 40 So they poured it out for the men to eat. But as they ate of the pottage, they cried out, O man of God, there is death in the pot! And they could not eat it. 41 But he said, Bring meal [as a symbol of God's healing power]. And he cast it into the pot and said, Pour it out for the people that they may eat. Then there was no harm in the pot.

You, see, the Bible is an amazing book, the human owners manual. With a little effort, faith is not really that difficult. It is accepting the supernatural as a way of life that can be beyond the average believer.

God's love can be found in Grandma's wisdom...

One of my favorite childhood story post from February 2009. That month I was doing song titles for each post all month...

By the way, my grandmother is still with us today thank the Lord!

For What It's Worth- Buffalo Springfield 1967

"You're carrying high, so your baby will be born on a Tuesday and have freckles..."

Mamaw C to a pregnant Mrs. Tony C in 2007

I love my grandmother. She will be 95 glorious years old this June...'Lord willin.' Being from the South, she is affectionately referred to as Mamaw. Now that's a funny name to people not from here, but no more peculiar than 'Meme' or 'Nene' is to most Southerners. She's part of the greatest generation in modern history. Lived through wars, a global depression and a standard of living people today would declare third world.

Many of the things I've learned in my life can be directly attributed to my grandmother, however, she has also been the source of much misinformation. Allow me to explain...

From an early age, I listened to her counsel and took it in without contentions.

'Don't eat those watermelon seeds, you'll grow one in your stomach.'

'Don't cross your eyes! They'll get stuck like that.'

'You get back inside with that wet hair! You'll catch your death!'

How could anyone argue with such sound advise. Better yet...how could anyone argue with her... about anything! My grandmother, even to this day, has the innate aptitude for hearing what she wants, when she wants...and only when it agrees with her opinion on the matter.

I love my grandmother. I have many fond memories of growing up in the house right next to her. As a matter of fact, here's one:

While working in the little garden behind our house one teen-aged summer day, my focus was interrupted by the sound of my grandmother shouting scripture or at least pieces and blurbs of scripture...in a rather angered fashion. Naturally, I was perplexed and investigated. What I witnessed was a scene torn directly from the comic strip BC, as my grandmother repeatedly whacked a helpless, misguided black snake with a baseball bat us grandkids had left in her yard from a Sunday's game.

'Get thee'...whack...'behind me'...whack... 'Satan! I will'...whack...'bruise'...whack...'thy head'...whack!!

Rushing down to her, I somehow managed to get the bat away and avoid the receiving end of her wrathful swing. What I saw next was a sight that will never leave me...ever. That poor black snake of about 4 feet had been beaten so maliciously that the upper third of its body, including the head, look like a custom designed dinner plate you would find at the home of someone like Ozzie Osbourne or Marilyn Manson.

Tony C: 'You okay?'

Mamaw C: 'Take that snake and hang it on the fence over yonder...'

Tony C: 'Why would I do that?'

Mamaw C: 'Just do it! It will keep the other snakes away!'

Tony C: 'Mamaw...where'd you hear that?'

Mamaw C: 'It's in the Bible! Now do it!'

I bent over to pick up the poor flattened snake...'Don't touch that snake!' She yelled.

Tony C: 'But you just told me...'

Mamaw C: 'That snake can still bite you until after sunrise tomorrow...'

Tony C: 'Mamaw, that snake ain't ever biting anything again.'

Mamaw C: 'Don't tell me...it's in the Bible.'

Now, we all know there isn't a passage in the Bible about makeshift snake wards or afterlife snake biting, and through the years, I've mentally filed those along with her other Bible misquotes like 'Cleanliness is next to godliness' and 'To thine own self be true' (which I believe actually comes from an episode of Gilligan's Island). I would never call my beloved grandmother out on any of these...it would serve no useful purpose.

I believe (or hope) God overlooks such trivially random matters too. In fact, we really don't give Him enough of the credit He deserves...and He deserves it all. Penicillin isn't mentioned in the Bible, yet God gave Alexander Fleming the talent to develop the wonder drug. Now, I'm by no means advocating or even suggesting that matters of a vial, vulgar origin should be attributed to God Almighty, but proverbs or axioms that promote stronger moral value do have purpose. We just have to be cautious and never cross an authoritative line that conflicts with God's actual Word.

Okay, snake related issues don't really fall in the 'stronger moral values' or 'changing mankind for the better' categories...but I do love my grandmother.

Victory to Victory

The third chapter of Joshua tells of how Israel crossed over the Jordan on dry land. In the sixth chapter of Joshua, Israel conquers Jerhico. From one miraculous victory to another.

Imagine living that sort of life!

I believe what Israel did in chapters 4 and 5 are examples of what we can do after achieving breakthrough or victories in our own lives. In the fourth chapter of Joshua, immediately after the victory, Israel gave tribute to what God had done by building a memorial using rocks from the Jordan River. But sometimes it isn't enough to just give God our praise and thanks, sometimes we need to give him more. We need to give Him our everything.

In the fifth chapter of Joshua, they rededicated themselves to God. Now as a grown male I can imagine how quickly the celebrating ended after Joshua told of God's plans.

At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time.”

Joshua 5:2

Thankfully Dr. Thede did that for me when I was a couple of days old, so I can only dreadfully imagine the pain those men endured . However, what God will ask of us is that we circumcise our hearts. As you may know, when Jesus focuses His attention upon a part of our lives that has not been surrendered to Him, it can be very painful. No matter what it may be in our lives, if we continue to hang onto something Jesus has asked us to surrender, we are being proud and stubborn.

God wants little to do with the proud. If we don't turn to His ways, He will give us over to our own selfish ways. It is up to us to yield our hearts to Him. By saying Yes to Him and no to our own ways we are actually allowing Him to circumcise our hearts. Our walk is continually like our Salvation. At His leading, we have to acknowledge that He is God and we are not. His way is the only way and our ways lead us away from Him.
So after a any Victory or a any breakthrough, no matter how great or seemingly insignificant, we need to acknowledge Him who is the giver of all good things. Then, we need to open up our hearts to His correction, His love and allow Him to circumcise our hearts and just like in Joshua 5:8, we must allow time for healing.

Instead of using flint knives to go from victory to victory

(thankfully)

we can simply begin by praying:

How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
Don’t let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.

May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Psalm 19:12-14

Remember it is God who does the work!

We merely have to be willing to yield to His correction, His way.

The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.

Deuteronomy 30:6

A break from politics...let's talk God.

A post from Tony C Today (October 2008) right in the middle of the Presidential election.

Over the 18 months of managing the http://www.stickwithjesus.com/ website (sorry, no longer up), I received a number of interesting emails from both atheist and agnostics. For me, it's easier to relate and respond to the agnostics, because I've been where they are spiritually at a point in my own life. The arrogance of atheists, however, really bothers me (I know, that's not very Christ like…I'm working on it). I had a conversation of the atheist variety this past weekend.

Atheists always want to bring up Pascal's Wager in discussions. Of course, the lack of scientific evidence is also a popular point for atheists, but responding to the point that there is no proof God exists is too easy…"Prove He doesn't exist." I think Thomas Aquinas covered this best almost 800 years ago in Summa Theologica.

So what is Pascal's Wager? Here's a quick refresher for you:

Blaise Pascal was a famous French mathematician, physicist and religious philosopher in the mid-1660's. People my age probably remember the computer programming language named after him in the late 70's and early 80's (and the only subject in college I made a D, thanks Blaise). Needless to say, he was a pretty smart fellow. His philosophy, however, took on a very rigid, structured matrix that didn't allow for more pliable principles and concepts.

In his Wager, Pascal attempts to provide an analytical process for a person to evaluate options in regarding belief in God. This is often misinterpreted as simply believing in God or not. As Pascal sets it out, the options are two: live as if God exists, or live as if God does not exist. There is no third possibility.
Therefore, we are faced with the following possibilities:

You live as though God exists (and follow His word).

• If God exists, you go to heaven: your gain is infinite (best case).
• If God does not exist, you gain nothing & lose nothing.

You live as though God does not exist.

• If God exists, you go to hell: your loss is infinite (ouch, not good).
• If God does not exist, you gain nothing & lose nothing (no time to gloat either).

With these possibilities, and the principles of statistics, Pascal attempted to demonstrate that the only prudent course of action is to live as if God exists. Now that's a nutshell version of the Pascal's Wager, but if you want more detailed information, click on the link above. For those mathmatically challenged, like me, best leave it here...just trust me.

Atheist, for some reason, rally around the Wager as the only possible explanation a rational person could believe in a 'fantasy' like God. When backed into a corner during a heated debate on God, it will come flying from an atheist out of no where…"You're just hedging Pascal's Wager on heaven and hell!" Then you'll get a 'top-that' look in their mind that surely closes the deal…well, not quite.

You see, my belief in God has little, if anything, to do with the fear of going to hell. Besides, you can't base your committment to God on just logic. He wants your love willingly and true. God knows your heart, so you can't bluff or hedge your way into heaven.

I love God because He is gracious enough, merciful enough to love me…yes me. That still blows my mind! The Creator of all that is, all that was, and all that ever will be cares about the most insignificant creation He made…me. Wow!

And how do I know? Because I talk to Him every day. I feel His presence in my life every day. I have His word that has stood the test of thousands of years to read from daily. I don't need the logic of Mr. Pascal and his mathematical equation to tell me to put my faith in God. Jesus took care of that long before Blaise…Hey, maybe we need a programming language based on His teachings.

It would at least be crash-proof.

May God bless you today in your walk with Him.

When is it OK to judge?

By now you've recognized that this is "greatest hits" month here at Kingdom Bloggers; we're all posting some of our past favorites from our own blogs. The reason the following was a favorite of mine on my blog was simply because this topic interests me, your responses interest me; so please let me know your answers to the questions I raise at the end of this post.

When is it OK to judge?

I have a problem with judgmental Christians. I've been hurt by them.

I know I'm not alone in this.

Many non Christians are turned off toward Christianity due to these often well meaning people. Many Christians have suffered great pain due to insistence of how "right" their brothers are concerning issues where they do not agree. Some Christians have even wandered away from God in their pain induced by the self righteous judgmental attitude they've experienced in the body of Christ.

My defining experience with judgmental Christians was when I was in my late teens. I went away to a Christian college. I won't say the name of the school because the pastor who has been president of that school for decades is a very well known Christian author, speaker, preacher and evangelist. I've seen many people come to Jesus through this man's ministry and when I look at his doctrine, every single bit of it is accurate. But when I hear him preach, there's always this under current of judgmentalism; this feeling that he's very interested in you and he both being "right" way more than he likes you. My experience at that college was that there was a constant expectation that everyone was to believe all the time in a very specific manner, questioning was not something encouraged. Issues such as if dressing fashionably was acceptable, if it was a sin to go to the movies, if one did watch movies (at home of course) what movies were acceptable, the "fact" that drinking alcohol or dancing were unquestionably "super sins", the need to follow rules to the letter - these were the big issues of the day. This environment left my heart hollow, parched and damaged; so I ended up transferring to a University of California for my last two years. There I joyfully participated in Bible study groups on campus, engaged in meaningful relationships with non-Believers, questioned my professors about everything of interest to me, exultantly wrote papers discussing issues of faith when appropriate, and generally grew greatly.

I think Galations 5:1-6:10 really speaks to the heart of this issue. When I read this passage I'm overcome by a profound gratitude at how great God's incredible grace is toward me. This passage refers to the law of Moses, that law which shows us right behavior. The fact that none of us could ever measure up to this exact standard of right behavior is underscored. I see these words in Galatians 5:4-6(MSG):

I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens. When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace. Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit. For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love.

I already know from Ephesians 2:8-9 that it is God, in His supreme goodness, who gave me the ability to believe/have faith in Him. It is His great love that drew me to Himself and His salvation. For me to start this microscopic focus on the external life, on my own and others' behaviors, is to go back to the law which can only bring condemnation. God wants my life to be about loving Him and loving others. In Matthew 22:36-38 I read how Jesus said that loving God and loving others are what makes the rest of the law work.

So, is it always wrong to judge? Is there ever a time when exercising judgment is correct? Do I have a responsibility, out of love, to tell others when they are in error?

Let me tell you what I think, and then I'd be very interested in hearing your thoughts on these questions:

1. Each of us must judge doctrinal truth for ourselves.
1 John 4:1-3 tells me to test for doctrinal truth. I believe that I'm to be a student of scripture, to compare passages with other passages, to be in prayer, to let the Holy Spirit guide me into truth, rather than to just believe what ever someone tells me. I can not read this particular scripture in any way other than to see it as addressed to the individual Believer. I do not see this specific scripture as a call for me to go around judging others doctrine so I can tell them where they are in error, but rather as a call for me to be accountable for what I believe.

2. My role in judgment regarding those who do not know Christ is to proclaim the Kingdom to them.
In Matthew 9:36-38 I see Jesus telling His followers that people are in great need of Him, He directed His followers to pray that God would send out laborers to bring people into His kingdom. I believe that there is the implication here that we should both pray for laborers and be laborers to show others how they can come into God's Kingdom.

3. One of my roles in judgment toward other Believers is to help them learn to judge scriptures themselves and to grow in their faith.
I see the model established in 1 Timothy 2:1-3 where we are to teach others who have chosen to follow after Jesus the scriptures. The entire 17th chapter of John shows how Christ's followers are given His Holy Spirit to be their guide and teacher; to help them understand God's truth. I believe that after someone has come into a relationship with Christ, that the Holy Spirit will reveal truth to that person through God's Word. God will grow that person in His timing and it's not up to me to force my time table onto someone else.

4. Another one of my roles in judgment toward other Believers is to care enough to see if they are caught up in sin and to try to help them out of it.
There are times when a brother or sister in Christ gets caught up in sin. Galations 6:1-10 tells me that that my response to these situations should be about restoration. It's interesting to me how that word "gently" (New International Version) from the first verse is translated - in the Message paraphrase it's says "forgivingly restore him", in the New Living Translation is says "gently and humbly help that person back", in the New American Standard Bible it states "restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness" - every translation or paraphrase that I can find has this tone of kindness. I do not see a heavy handed I'm gonna tell you the truth and you'd better get in line with it attitude; instead I see a kind, compassionate, considerate approach. The goal here is to stay in relationship with the brother/sister in Christ, to live together and help one another; not condemn one another.

There is also the whole thing of church discipline toward one who confesses to be a follower of Christ who is dead set on continuing in sin. But there is so much to in that whole discussion that it requires at least one post all to itself. These 4 points are in no way meant to be all inclusive and to completely cover this topic; these are more of a starting point in my own thoughts on this matter.

So, now that I've shared my thoughts, I'd be interested in hearing yours:
Is it always wrong to judge? Is there ever a time when exercising judgment is correct? Do I have a responsibility, out of love, to tell others when they are in error?