What is Christian Fundamentalism?

OK, I’m begging for comments here. Cheap shameless plug to get more comments on my blog, but I am sincere with the question. I have read several forum discussions, blog posts and the like recently about what Fundamentalism is (specifically Christian Fundamentalism), and I’m curious as to what people think. I wish I had a larger readership because I would love to get a more wide-spread answer.

Now, I’m looking for a practical definition, and maybe either examples or comparisons. I know about the “Five Fundamentals”, but I think Fundamentalism as it stands today is more than this.  I would also be interested in where you consider yourself and/or your background.

So what is Christian Fundamentalism, or better yet, what makes a Christian a Fundamentalist?  I look forward to your replies.

CC

Command Number 1

If ye love me, keep my commandments – John 14:15

Christ’s First Command – Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matt 4:17)

How often we fall into the trap of forgetting or ignoring our own sin while we are quick to see and point out the sin in others. I know I am guilty of this, to my own detriment. It is interesting that the very first command of Christ to us is to repent.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us – I John 1:8

Pride is so easy and subtle that it can take over before we know it. I’m certain that if we take the time to examine ourselves, we will all see many things we have to repent of. We want to believe that we will be fine dealing with the “mote” in someone elses eye while ignoring the “beam” in our own. Indeed, we need to remove the “beam” from our own eye.

Lord, help us to show our love of you and repent.

CC

Instruction

Proverbs 4:13 – Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.

We often think of Proverbs as a place to go for wisdom, and it is, but it is so much more.  This little gem jumped out at me this morning as our family read Proverbs.  Instruction in this verse means correction.  Seems an odd definition, but consider the child who is sweeping the floor.  Most children need to be instructed in the correct way to do it.  We correct their method, and while in some cases correction implies discipline, that isn’t true in all cases.

So are we open to correction?  How often do we think we “have it all figured out” and don’t need someone to correct or instruct us?  And yet, Solomon here tells us that being open to this is our “life”!  We need to be open and teachable in all things.  We need to be willing to accept that we may be out of balance, have a blind spot, or may need correction/instruction in our lives and our beliefs.  Yes, this even applies to our doctrines, but no, it does not mean we need to compromise.

The Bible is the only source of truth, and we should always be willing to evaluate and re-evaluate our beliefs and positions in the light of the Scriptures.  If we have evaluated Scripture properly to begin with, we can confidently re-evaluate and have no fear in our beliefs being incorrect.  If, however, we have evaluated incorrectly, we should be anxious for God to teach us His truth through His Word.  Allowing God to teach us, using whatever method He deems best, is part of taking “fast hold of instruction”.

Often we want to reject the thought of re-evaluating beliefs because of the source of the question.  We need to be reminded that God used a donkey to speak to Balaam (and Balaam still didn’t get it), so He can use many methods to speak to us.  The key is to always remain teachable.  We risk God resisting us when we don’t, because at the heart of the attitude that believes “I have it all figured out” is pride.  And that is true whether that attitude is a belief in general or our thoughts about a specific subject.

Be open to God’s teaching and leading today, regardless of the source.  Look for His instruction in every area of our lives.  Our faith in Him includes believing that He has our best in mind and is working to bring that into our lives.  We need to trust Him more and be open to His instruction.

CC

I’m Will, Who Are You?

General Houzit was known for his straightforward and no-nonsense ways.  He and his civilian aid, William Smith,  were sent to garner favor with the locals in a rural area.  The local people were wanting to help in the liberation of their country, and the General was supposed to provide military equipment to support these freedom fighters.  However, because of economic pressures, the military support could not be simply given away, the General was tasked with getting something of value in return.

After several days of negotiation, the General and the local chieftain finally came to an agreement.  The General was a hard bargainer and said he would only supply one armored assault vehicle for ten of the local bovine.  With the agreement struck, the General ordered the first shipment, only there was a problem.  There was a design flaw in the military vehicles. 

After delivery the chieftain and his people discovered the flaw and complained to the General.  “These are bad; you need to replace them with good ones.”  The General apologized and agreed completely.  He reported the flaw, and the fix was made and a new shipment sent.  The chieftain was happy; the general was happy; everything was good.  The General then moved on to the next local chieftain.

The next chieftain, however, had already heard from the first chieftain.  The first chieftain gave the advised his counterpart to be bold and firm in the negotiations and to not accept the “bad” stuff from the General.  So the new chieftain decided to take matters into his own hands.  He strode into the Generals tent with purpose, but the General wasn’t there.  The civilian aid met him as he entered.

The chief announced, “General Houzit!”

The aid greeted him, “I’m Will, who are you?”

The chief replied firmly, “Good tanks for oxen!”

[I'm sorry, I had to do it.  If it helps, read the last three lines aloud and remember the hou- as in house.]

CC

Julia Vess – Update

Thanks for everyone who has been praying.  Just a quick update.

Unfortunately, they found Julie’s body sometime this past Sunday.  Not many details are known right now, but there are no reports of “foul play” yet.  After two weeks missing, I’m sure this must be a difficult blow to the family.

Please continue to pray for the family as they deal with this difficult situation.

CC

Julia Vess – Missing

Wow, it has been a while since I posted.  I have so much going on between work and the kids baseball (and the rabid fox).  Very busy time of year.  I hope to get another post up over the weekend about Jonah.  We are studying the book on Sunday’s at church, and it is very convicting of how we are, always whining and complaining to God about our situation and not simply doing what God wants us to do despite our circumstances.  Anyway, that is another post for another day.

Today I want to pass on information about a situation here in our little Simpsonville for which I would appreciate your prayers.  A lady that I used to work with, Julia Vess, has gone missing from her home.  She has been gone since Sunday, and her family is very concerned (obviously).  The police are working with the information they have to try and track her down.

Although I don’t know what happened, and I don’t know what will happen, I do know that God is in control of this (just like everything else).  Please pray for Julia and her family that He will work through this in their lives.

CC

Honor The King

Not so very long ago, one of the men in our church mentioned that he had gotten the Bible on CD and was listening to it when he walked on the treadmill.  This inspired me to break out my Bible on CD.  While I’m not as productive to listen on the treadmill (I need something a bit more distracting me while I’m walking), I have put the New Testament in my car and I’m listening as I drive to and from work/baseball/CAP/etc.  It has been a great blessing, but also difficult at times.

Last week, I decided to listen to the “General Epistles” (Hebrews, James, I & II Peter, I – III John and Jude).  We often overlook these great books in favor of the meat that is found in the letters Paul wrote, but there is meat to be had in these books as well.

I said it was difficult  earlier, and what I mean is that there are things that I hear when listening that are not always easy to apply to my life.  This was the case when I was listening to I Peter last Thursday.  After listening to I Peter 2, I had to do some additional study when I got home.  I was convicted by what I found.

Let me again say that I am not generally a political person.  I’m not fond of the direction I see our current administration going, and I will often freely hint of this to people I’m speaking with.  Especially with those whose political ideology is close to my own.  However, I’m not so certain this is the right response.  There are several places in the New Testament where we are taught how to respond to our leaders, but three in particular refer to how to relate to our overall leader.

I Exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers,  intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.    ~  I Timothy 2:1-2

The teaching here is very clear.  We should be in prayer for those in authority, especially for the civil leaders.  Paul says that this is so we can live a “quiet and peaceable life”.  This is not the life that some Christians strive for.  We believe that in order to have our religious freedoms protected, we have to fight for our rights.  However, God tells us here the key to living a “quiet and peaceable” life is that we pray.  If we spent time praying for our leaders like we should, perhaps there would be less of a need to fight over political issues.

Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake:  whether it be to the king, as supreme…    ~  I Peter 2:13

Here we find the main principle taught in the New Testament about authority.  Submission is repeated over and over as our correct response to our authority.  Since the election of our new President, I’ve heard several people make comments about how “they better not come to take my guns, or they’ll have a fight on their hands!!”  Brothers and sisters, there is no Biblical right to have a gun.  “I have a constitutional right to by guns!”  Yes, that is so, but you also have a Biblical responsibility to submit to your leaders, even if they contradict themselves.  Let me remind you that this passage, as well as Romans 13 (which begins “Let every soul be subject to the higher powers…”) were both written either during or after the reign of the Emperor Nero.  It was in this environment that Paul and Peter both command us to live in subjection to civil authority as long as it doesn’t violate God’s law.

Now, I get to stand on my soapbox and pick out one of my pet peeves.  Although I have to be careful to remember that it has only been a few years since God showed this to me and before He did, I was a grievous offender.  That pet peeve is quite simply the Speed Limit.  This is a law established by our civil authorities that we easily find excuses to disobey.  “Well, they don’t pull you over if you are only five miles over.”  That is not an excuse to disobey.  “But I’ll be late to church if I don’t speed.”  So, be late and remember to leave earlier next time.  Just something to consider.  Obedience doesn’t just mean we don’t murder or steal, it also means we don’t speed or disobey traffic laws as well.

Honor all men.  Love the brotherhood.  Fear God.  Honour the king.          ~ I Peter 2:17

This was the verse that started me on this path.  This was the verse that, when I heard it last Thursday, convicted me.  “Honour the king.”  It is such a simple phrase, and yet so difficult when we disagree with the “king”.  Let me remind you that when Peter wrote those words, Nero was either the Emperor or had recently been the Emperor.  Remember that, according to historians of the time, Nero was the first Roman Emperor to begin extensive torture and execution of Christians.  This was the man that Paul and Peter said to submit to.  This was the man that Peter said to honor.

Just to clarify, the word honor there is the same Greek word used in Ephesians to refer to the commandment “honour your father and mother”.  Remember as you think on this, do you want your childred honoring you the way you honor the “king”?

CC

All About Love…

We have a family in our church that is going through a very difficult time.  Without getting into specifics, I will simply say that there was public sin involved and while there has been repentance, there is still much to be worked through.  Because of the public nature of the sin, it has placed a burden on our church as we collectively and individually work through these issues.

Through this difficult time, our elder is consistently reminding us that, while God didn’t want the sin to occur, He is using it to further develop the character of Christ in our lives.  I believe the phrase he used it that “God is multidimensional” enough to use these events in all of our lives to His glory.  Our duty, then, is to agree with God and work with Him to achieve His ends.  But what are God’s ends?

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.    ~ Galatians 6:1-2

And what is the law of Christ?  Christ’s command was for us to love one another (John 13:34, 35 & 15:12).  I was reminded as we discussed these issues recently of the passage in I Corinthians 13 dealing with love.  I was amazed at how well it ties in with dealing with someone who has offended us through sin.

(Love) Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.    ~ I Corinthians 13:7

Beareth all things- When we are offended, our tendency is to become, well, offended.  In our sinful nature, we want to hold a grudge.  But in doing so, we allow bitterness into our lives and place more than ourselves in danger (Hebrews 12:15).  We must maintain a spirit of forgiveness and not hold onto offenses.  The Greek word translated beareth means to protect something by covering.  This is not to say we should cover sin, but we need to cover over any offended feeling in our hearts and forgive, even before we are asked.

Believeth all things - Satan wants us to think the worst of each other.  When someone repents, especially someone who has offended us, our sinful nature drives us to doubt the sincerity of their repentance.  I suspect this has a lot to do with the nature of our own hearts and lives, we doubt others because we ourselves have a lack of sincerity in our lives.  However, true love believes the other person.  When we have been offended and the offender repents and asks our forgiveness, we should believe their request is sincere.  The Greek word believeth means to put trust in.  We should place trust in God’s working in the other person’s life and in their sincerity.

Hopeth all things - Hope in the sense here, and as it is often used in the scriptures is not anxious and nervous concern that what we want to happen might not happen.  Hope in this sense is a confidence of what will happen.  We have a “hope of eternal life” (Titus 1:2), and the verse says that God promised it and He “cannot lie”.  This hope as it relates to the one who has offended us means that we have a confidence that through God’s working they will be able to overcome and be restored.  Restoration is not instant, nor is it always easy.  However, God’s desire is that the offender be restored (Galatians 6:1).  We, likewise should have hope (confidence) in God’s ability to work.

Endureth all things – When someone offends us and repents and is trying, with God’s help, to forsake the sin that created the offense, sometimes they will fall.  When that happens, we need to endure in our loving response.  That means we need to bear the offense, believe them when they repent, hope in God’s redemption and restoration.  God even tells us how long we should do this (Matthew 18:22 – although I think the word endure is pretty clear).  Personally, I don’t think God intended for us to have an accounting ledger keeping track of how often individuals offend us.  Rather the implication of the verse is that we simply continue forgiving whenever we are asked.  With repeated offenses, restoration may require more, but forgiveness should always be granted.

When we are offended, our duty is to be forgiving.  Christ teaches that if we are unwilling to forgive others that we will likewise not be forgiven of God (Matthew 6:14-15).  We are to love those who offend us.  This is difficult, but is necessary.  Remember Christ, whose image we are trying to conform to, forgave the very men who were crucifying Him.  How much more should we forgive those who offend us.  Christ loved those who were crucifying Him; He loved them enough that He died for them also.  How much more should we show love to those who have offended us.

I Corinthians describes a church full of cliquish, unrepentant, better-than-thou people.  The book begins with Paul correcting them regarding the cliques.  Later, he addresses the open flagrant sin in their midst.  Even later, he teaches on spiritual gifts that the people were trying to use to “one-up” each other.  In the midst of this, there would have been plenty of room for offense.  Paul leads into his description of God’s love that should be evident in our life by saying, “… and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.”  (I Corinthians 12:31)

Our lives should be evidence of the “more excellent” way of Christ, especially toward those who have offended us.

CC

Whatever Happended to Reporting?

OK, I don’t usually delve into politics, especially not on the Internet, but I can’t avoid it this time.  (One day I will run an Internet only campaign to be president, but not today.)

The title is really the true question today.  Am I alone in thinking that the news media should report the news and not become the news?  I understand that this is one of the foremost principles of journalism.  However, this is not the case today.  I know that no matter what happens, anyone with a brain will taint information with their perspective, but journalists are supposed to be the most trained in avioding this.  Yet, twice in as many days I see that CNN has taken a forefront in the news, not in the news reporting.

The first item I heard about on the way home from baseball practice.  I was trying to find the Braves game (yeah, you know me), but they must have played in the daytime because a talk radio show was on.  The host was talking about a CNN reporter, Susan Roesgen.  Now, I’m well aware that the host of news radio shows tend to be overly biased to a viewpoint, so I didn’t spend too much time thinking about what was being said.  I found some humor in the tirades (both the host, and the audio of Susan Roesgen’s reports), but other than that, I simply filed the information away as another radio host embellishing for the ratings.

Then today I found another news article about the events and it even had the CNN video.  You can read the entire article here.  This was my favorite (if I can use that word) paragraph…

CNN took a different tack. They sent reporters to at least some of the Tea Parties. Roesgen was at the Chicago Tea Party and apparently wasn’t one bit happy about it. She was belligerent and confrontational with protesters. She asked questions without giving time for answers and spouted out left wing talking points aggressively. She seemed angry to see Obama referred to as a fascist. She declared it wasn’t a family friendly gathering and verbally hammered the man who had the sign. However, Newsbusters has a video of the very same Susan Roesgen covering an anti-Bush rally in New Orleans and seemingly having no problem at all with President Bush being portrayed with horns and a Hitler mustache. Different standards? Lack of objectivity in reporting? Say it ain’t so!

That was interesting enough, but then I played the video.  WOW!  Here is the journalist (I say that with apologies to real journalists everywhere) inserting herself into the news.  She is rude, belligerent, and overtly biased (and I didn’t even look for the ant-Bush video).  I was shocked and amazed that after she forces herself into a debate with the man with his child, she then refuses to let him finish until shouted into submission by the crowd.  Finally, unable to answer his comment, she tries to move on, but her security steps in and shuts the man up.  I hope eveyone who sees that video understands it for what it was.  It was a blatant example of a reporter shoving herself into the story rather than simply reporting the story.

I could almost find it in my heart to forgive CNN for this, even is she isn’t punished (although as the article says, she is probably being praised).  However, when I first looked at the news today, I saw that CNN was in a “friendly” competition with Ashton Kutcher over Twitter account numbers.  Now I don’t Twitter.  I don’t even Facebook or My Space.  This simple blog is really enough for me.  All that being said, I won’t pretend to understand all of what the numbers were about, but that doesn’t really matter.  What is important to note here is that it seems CNN is breaking the “rules” of journalism, and not in a good way.  Here the company is inserting itself into the news just as much as Susan Roesgen did.  Folks, this is not reporting, and it is not news.

Can we please go back to having the news be something the reporter simple talks about?  I remember growing up they would always end the newscast with three to five minutes of someone giving his editorial.  Remember that?  That was the way it used to be.  The news was just the facts and the editorial was separate.  I like it better that way.  When I want news, I want the facts of the situation or event.  Honestly, when I want to know what to think about that situation or event, I don’t really want a reporter telling me (I’d rather check the Bible).

CC

ETA:  There is hope.  Just checked Yahoo to get the link to the Ashton Kutcher story and it was gone from the front page.  From a little checking, it seems that there was much negative Buzz (Yahoo’s way of rating a story thumbs up or thumbs down) about the lack of “news-worthiness” of the story.  Along with some interesting comments about why it would be considered special to beat CNN in popularity.

Spring Is In The Air

And that means it is time for baseb….  Er, (try that again) SPRING IS IN THE AIR, and that means it is time for BASEB….

<sigh>

Hello?  It is April, and while I can accept some cold mornings, even a few with frost on the window, it is supposed to warm up during the day.  Especially the days we have baseball practice and games.  Somewhere, the memo got lost yesterday.  Yesterday during the two hours we were practicing, the temperature fell from 52 degrees to 48 degrees (Farrenheit), and the wind stayed a consistent 14-15 mph.  Not ideal softball/baseball conditions.

After about half to three quarters of an hour watching my wife’s softball girls (9-12 years old) shiver and try to field balls with a hand in their pocket, we went inside to discuss some of the “mental” aspects of the game.  Yes, I’m probably getting soft in my old age, but it was pretty chilly out there.  The boys had arrived and were ready to take the field for my son’s practice anyway, so it all worked out.

We talked over some of the difficult baseball concepts to pick up on.  Everyone has trouble understanding the idea behind force outs and tag outs.  The principle is simple, but in the heat of a play it can be hard to determine.  Simply, if a runner has anywhere else he can safely run to, you have to tag him.  If the runner has no where else to go safely, you can simply step on the base.  The simplest form of this is the batter running to first base.  He can’t turn around; he has to go to first.  So the fielder only has to step on the base to get him out.  It gets more complicated with more base-runners and previous actions on the same play.  For example, when the boys were practicing, the bases were loaded and the batter hit the ball to the first baseman.  The first baseman stepped on first for a quick and easy out because the batter was forced to run.  The first baseman then threw the ball home where the catcher got the ball and dove at and touched the plate just before the runner, but he didn’t tag the runner.  The call?

The runner at home was safe because once the out was recorded at first base, all the runners had the option of safely returning to the base they had come from (the runner going home could have returned to third).  Not confusing at all.

The other thing we talked about is positioning.  One fact of baseball that I try to drive into every player I coach is that there is no such thing as a spectator on the field.  That means if you find yourself not moving after a ball is hit an just standing watching, you are not doing what you are supposed to be doing.  This is a difficult concept for everyone, but especially difficult for kids.  Once they leave the T-ball age (where the entire field runs after the ball no matter where it goes), they tend to stand and watch if the play isn’t coming their way.  In reality, everyone has a place to be on every play; even the outfielders should be moving to back up the infielders.  If you have an opportunity to watch a professional baseball game, pick an inning and choose a player.  For example, during the 6th inning, watch the second baseman regardless of where the ball and the play go.  You will find that the professionals are always moving, or at least, the good professionals are always moving.  When the play is not coming at them, they will be backing someone up.  That makes all the difference in the defense ability of your team.

Thursday is supposed to be sunny with a high of 73 degrees.  The wind is supposed to be the same, but with the higher temperature, I don’t expect we will mind.  I hope the weather is as good as the forecast because we promised the girls we would work on their batting.

CC