“My god is a god of love.”

As someone who believes in biblical orthodox reformed Christianity, I often run across people who are convinced that the God of Christianity is the god that they worship and believe in. When the truth is that they have created a false image of God in their heads, based on the bad theology that they have either been taught or have interpreted from their own cultural perspective. I hear statements such as: “Jesus loves everyone equally”, “My god would never send people to hell”, “The god I know is kind and gentle, he would never hurt innocent people”, “My god is a god of love”, etc.

Sadly, these couldn’t be further from the truth of Holy Scripture. What is so dangerous about them is that they are halve truths, but completely false. People in their ignorance and immaturity of scripture have created these idols to worship. Even more sad, is that this idolatry leads to more disobedience and idolatry in material things. The level of deciet deepens with every false conclusion made about the God of the bible on man’s part. Satan knows what he is doing, so beware.

The remedy, (there’s only one) pray that God would lead you out of darkness and into the light, all the while resting in the assurance of His promise that He has made to us in His Word. And then, get under solid biblical teaching that does not compromise the truth of scripture.

East Meets West in Atlanta Midtown Church

These are exciting times at our church.  The gospel truly does break down all barriers, especially those of ethnicity.  We a person places their faith in Christ, they become a child of the promise by faith, no matter where they live.  All over the world there are believers that spread across all boundaries of culture, language, and ethnicity.  We want to reflect that.  Because of that, my church, Crossroads Church of Atlanta (an Asian church), is now merging with St. Paul’s Presbyterian (a White church).

Saint Paul’s Presbyterian will be receiving Crossroads Church of Atlanta, a predominantly pan-Asian congregation, into the fold. The newly merged, culturally diverse community will hold its first official service on Sunday, December 21 at 11AM. “We’re excited to be joining forces with St. Paul’s,” said Rev. CJ Chun, founding pastor of Crossroads. “We’ve long shared a common vision, and as both churches near their 10th anniversaries, we believe we can be more effective in Gospel ministry as a united body.” St. Paul’s pastor Chris Robins welcomes the new racial and cultural diversity. “If we truly embrace the idea that we are all one people and members of one collective Christian body, then our houses of worship should demonstrate it,” said Robins. “In a city as diverse as ours, segregation is not an option. This union will help us better serve our community.” Robins believes that American churches have been divided along racial lines for far too long. He states, “Martin Luther King Jr. was fond of saying that Sunday morning was the most segregated time in America. Nearly 50 years later, those words remain both a charge against and challenge to our nation’s churches.” Today, still less than 10 percent of U.S. churches are considered racially mixed. “That’s a sad indictment,” said pastor Chun. “It’s time that our churches more accurately reflect our communities. This merger helps us do that.” St. Paul’s is located at 163 Ponce de Leon Avenue, just east of the Fox Theatre. The church invites the community to join in celebration of the union on December 21 at 11AM. For more information, please visit http://www.stpaulsatlanta.com

Please, Stop Riding Waves!

     This is not an anti-surfing message. By all means, Hang-ten and radically ride those salty 10-20 footers, and say hey to the surfing pastor Francis Chan…No the waves I am speaking of here are the waves that people ride concerning the church. To many people (especially my generation) ride the local church like a wave, and once the wave has lost its thrill factor, they either paddle out and look for another wave to ride that will tickle their fancy or they stop riding all together, strap the board to the roof of their car and leave the beach forever. 

    Sadly, today many so called ‘christians’ do this to the church. They begin attending even joining the first church they are attracted to and after a few weeks or months, they get bored or offended that the church doesn’t keep their attention like it first did, so they move onto the next one that sparks their interest or they stop going all together. Unfortunately, I see this happening a lot in our college towns around the country. College students from abroad put roots down in their prospective colleges/universities and ride the wave of churches in those towns and never connect with God’s family. Instead, they usually end up pledging their allegiance to the numerous campus ministries and exhausting themselves to even the thought of spending time with people older or younger than themselves in the local church. Not that campus ministries are all collectively bad, but when emphasis is put on themselves and not on God and His ‘bride’, I have a HUGE problem!

[NOTE: If a campus ministry does not demand that you be in fellowship with a local church while you are attending school, then you should cease all relations with that ministry. CAMPUS MINISTRIES ARE NOT CHURCHES!]   

     I really want to see God’s people in fellowship with one another, and that happens ONLY in the body of Christ. Stop riding the wave of churches, and get into a church that preaches the truth of scripture and get connected with God’s people. Do it now!

For more encouragement read: Joshua Harris’ book Stop Dating the Church.