When things just don’t add up.  When total agreement seems unachievable.  When being of one mind is a fleeting fancy.  These are the times that try men’s souls.

But Thomas Paine wasn’t looking for reconciliation when he penned those words.  Five months after the Declaration of Independence, facing the onslaught of British forces at Baltimore, Paine refused to believe that God would abandon their cause and give them over to those who would enslave them.  Two days later, on Christmas Day, George Washington would take his troops back across the Delaware to certain victory.  But this was not reconciliation.

Reconciliation tops the news these days as Congress attempts to force vote the passage of healthcare reform in order to avoid gridlock.  However, this only results in half of the country being happy (?); political partisanship will still keep unrest stirred up.

The word reconciliation comes from Latin, meaning “to make good again.”  For something to be reconciled, it must have first to have gone wrong.  True reconciliation doesn’t just require agreement. Even acknowledged forgiveness is not enough.  Hurts can’t just be forgiven; they must be healed.

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Another snow day.  I live in the foothills of northeast Tennessee.  Unlike the snow-slammed northeastern states and parts of the country that are used to big winters, we practically close down when a handful of flakes team up and stick to the road.  So I’m not complaining.  I don’t have to go to work, and the snow is beautiful.

There’s something about the white, clean-looking appearance of snow.  When it falls gently and begins to muffle the sounds of city life, a peaceful scene soon emerges.  One of my daughters used to live in a state that had a lot of litter and a lot of snow.  (I won’t name the state; I don’t want to make Sarah Palin mad.)  The great thing about the snow was that it covered up the litter, making the landscape look clean.

Religious preachers and teachers throughout the ages have used the snow analogy to address man’s sin and the promise of cleansing.  “Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51:7)  “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” (Isaiah 1:18)  They add in the paradox of Jesus’ blood being the cleansing agent.

I suspect that the teaching is much like the snow in real life.  It covers, giving the appearance of clean, but underneath remains the mud, dirt and litter.  Even though we’re “washed in the blood,” we continue to sin.  We don’t need our sins covered; we need to be rid of them.

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Matthew 3:15  Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.

John was confused.  Why did his soon-to-be-famous cousin feel the need to be baptized?  John had a special connection with Jesus as far back as he could remember, even getting excited to learn that Jesus was in the womb next to him.  At some point he learned that it was his mission to announce the coming of the perfect Lamb of God.

John prepared the people by performing a type of Mikvah, a Jewish ritual of symbolically cleansing from sin.  They were to cast off (or repent of) the unclean things that soiled them, so that they would be ready to meet God’s one and only son, their own King of Kings.  Now he was here, standing before John, asking to be baptized.

Even though John was a confirmed Nazarite (no drinking, no haircuts, etc), he failed to see why Jesus shouldn’t be baptizing him, not the other way round. The scholars tell us that Jesus planned the event in order to kick off his ministry (dove comes down, God speaking).  They also say that this was a way for Jesus to identify with the human condition, feeling the burden of sin, yet sinless in himself.

Church leaders tell us that Jesus’ baptism was set as an example for us, that we might follow in the practice, as we do with Communion, or with healing (for our spirit-filled brethren).  From the beginning the church would struggle over reasons and modes, even splintering into cells formed on individual interpretation of scripture.

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I was listening to a radio preacher the other day, and she seemed to be trying to explain things that were accomplished  and completed in the name of the Lord, while admitting that those same things must still be dealt with.

She said that Satan was defeated at the cross, but doesn’t know it yet. Really?  I thought defeated meant that he had no more power, was no longer a threat.  The message from pulpits across the country is that we still struggle against “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” It sounds more like Satan will be defeated, but doesn’t believe it yet.

She went on to say that our sins were nailed to the cross, but she admitted that we still struggle with them.  I suppose she was referring to the teaching that the cross (the finished work of Christ) provided complete forgiveness for our sins, even though we still sin.

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I grew up listening to all kinds of music, from rock and roll to country-western to classical.  As an adult I have learned to appreciate all music.  Well, still struggling with rap.  I know it’s just poetry, spoken in a monotone, with synthesized music buzzing along in the background, but, aside from the frequent nasty or violence-based phrases (which I hate), it just doesn’t do anything for me.

As a Christian (“saved” when I was 17; born again-again when I was 59) I cycled thru hymns and spiritual songs, gospel singing, Christian folk and contemporary Christian. As I now have begun to review and revise what I believe, I must also give serious thought to the music message associated with that belief.

Take, for instance, Julia Howe’s Battle Hymn of the Republic. I’m no longer comfortable with “He is trampling out the vintage where his grapes of wrath are stored / he hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword … ”  I don’t think God has to stomp on anybody.

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William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, took to the streets of London preaching to the drunks, prostitutes and downtrodden that Jesus Christ was their only hope to escape from the grip of sin. Now, 142 years later, people still are downtrodden and in the grip of sin.

When I read this quote, another quote came to mind, that of Charles Dickens: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Many years before and after Mr. Booth’s experience Christianity has been packaged and re-packaged, only to find the harvest still ripe and the world still hungering for truth.

Billy Graham was recently honored with the opening of a grand library in his name. In his “acceptance” speech, he remarked that it’s “not about the building.” And it wasn’t. It was about him, God’s Evangelist. I must admit that among the many notable advocates of the faith, Mr. Graham stands out as the symbol of Christian purity, humility and dedication. He spent over 60 years leading people “to Christ.” But the weeds seem to be thriving right along with the wheat, and the wheat is looking less genuine.

Many who are called Christian often behave in a non-Christian manner. Truly devout Chrisitans tend to be judgemental and unapproachable. Others lead lives that indicate, aside from regular church attendance, that they are really no different than their unsaved brethren. Like the bumper sticker says: Christians aren’t perfect — just forgiven.

William Booth’s “good news” (gospel) also has remained unchanged over the years. It is founded on the statement that everyone deserves to die and burn forever because they have rejected God. Even those who follow “God” are rejected if they deny Christ, his son. Booth’s premise that only Christ can bring folks out of the grip of sin is right on. But it is only a small part of a cumbersome formula (plan of salvation), when it really should be foremost.

God would have us be perfect. He will not give us a pass, no matter how many times we recite the Sinner’s Prayer. The perfection process spans eternity and is necessary to make us good and obedient children. The perfect plan of salvation is the following of his own perfect and obedient son, Jesus. Jesus communicated the love of the Father, as well as the will of the Father. And Jesus, knowing our weaknesses and desires, accepts nothing less than our complete reconciliation with our Creator. He gave his life to that end.

witness - noun, an individual who, being present, personally sees or perceives a thing; a beholder, spectator, or eyewitness.

The chief goal of fundamental Christianity is to spread the gospel, taken from the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19:

Therefore, go and make discipiles of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..

For many this means to get the gospel of Christ to everyone who may not have heard, especially people in the heathen countries, whose men, women and children face eternal damnation, simply because they never got the word.  For those of the Reformed persuasion, the Commission is just the method in which God brings to himself those that he has chosen to save, rejecting the rest to that same eternal torture.

A witness, then, is someone who tells others about what Christ has done in his or her life.  The answer is always that “Christ has saved me from my sins.”  This phrase is further explained as Christ’s atoning sacrifice, dying on the cross in my place, which provides instant forgiveness for all of my sins — past, present and future — if I would but believe it to be true and accept him as my savior.  Beyond that, life pretty much continues on as before, except that now I’m required to annoy everyone around me, plying them with gospel tracts and memorized Bible verses, so that if, God forbid, they should reject Christ, then their blood isn’t on my hands.

I don’t buy it.  

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Have you ever wanted to change your life? If so, what would you change? To be more specific, what would you change about yourself in order to make your life better? I’m sure that many would think first of physical appearance, or perhaps personal wealth. Of course you would need to address certain goals in order to achieve the desired results. Change your wardrobe, lose some weight, eat healthier, work longer hours to sharpen marketable skills.

But have you ever wanted to be a better person?

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For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

From my youth, and for several years after, John 3:16 has been the cornerstone verse for all of Christianity.  However, today, if you ask an acknowledged Christian to recite it, many can’t.  It still is a foundational verse for me, and I would like to share some thoughts about it.  To do so, let’s break it down:

For God so loved the world … Year after year, throughout the ages, human beings have wondered about the existence of God, let alone whether or not he cared for them.  What makes John 3:16 so special is that it was spoken by someone who knew firsthand about God’s love.  Jesus was well aware that his Father loved all that he had created.  But they weren’t getting it.  At this point in history the only people left who believed in the one true God were being oppressed by the government, and their own religious leaders were making matters worse.  

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How did we come to be so bad?  Some folks don’t seem to be so bad, some are more consistently bad, and still others appear to be ”rotten to the core.”  As the saying goes, “Nobody’s perfect.”  Why is that?  Is badness contagious?   Does the Devil always make us do it?  Or do all of us have varying quantities of bad genes?

In the religious circles we’re taught that we can’t help being bad, that we’re born that way.  Ironically, they also teach us that our badness destines us for destruction — even though it wasn’t our fault.  We were born that way, right?

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