me, a airplane, and a MORMON!!!

Becca and I just went to Mexico for vacation. It was beautiful and we had a great time of rest and refueling. On our return flight home, I walked down the aisle of our plane, took my seat, and quickly noticed the gentleman to my right was fully dressed in BYU gear. Suddenly everything that I have ever heard or thought came rushing to my head about the Mormons...proxy baptism, the temple, and yes, of course, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir ;)

As we begin to taxi down the runway I asked the gentleman if he was a scout or coach from BYU. His response was no, but he had just taken His daughter their for college.

Long story short........The man was an Apostle in the Mormon Church (a big deal in the Mormon faith....similar to an Assistant DS for all of you Wesleyans and Methodists). For the next three hours we discussed the in's and out's of the Mormon faith. Everything from the starts of the faith with Joesph Smith to Christ return and the different levels of Heaven.

But hears is the question within it all......................

When asked about salvation he clearly started that his salvation comes from believing through faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He believes in living a fully "holy" life. Honestly, he gave the exact answer any of us would give if we were asked how we have salvation. Scripture clearly states that salvation comes by grace through faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8).....So does having terrible doctrine such has...proxy baptism, believing Joesph Smith and the Book of Mormon are true Canon, and other doctrines of the Mormon Church mean that they are not saved.

Remember....they truly believe and accept Jesus Christ as the ONLY way to salvation.

What do you think....Can "bad" doctrine take or keep you from salvation???

Perceptions

This story has already been reported and blogged about elsewhere but I wanted to share it anyway...

It comes out of the hype surrounding race for the White House. Unfortunately this may be another example of Christians adding to the perception problems facing the Church today. A former pastor and weatherman (?) who now works for James Dobson's organization Focus on the Family, is praying for rain. This in itself wouldn't raise many eyebrows. It's his motivation that is causing a stir. He is praying specifically for rain on the evening that Barack Obama is planning to speak at the Democratic National Convention. His political agenda does not line up with Sen Obama's, so he's encouraging people to pray that God would send torrential downpours 2 minutes before Obama takes the stage.



Is this why we have prayer? And whatever happened to loving and praying for our enemies? My hope is that non-followers of Jesus don't confuse this man's message with the message of Christ. My hope is also that we'd be living lives worthy of the calling we've received so that those close to us would see more accurately what "Christlikeness" looks like in our world today.

Thoughts?

Jesus is my Homeboy

I recently read a quote by Gary Haugen. He posed the question, "Are Jesus and I interested in the same things?" Thinking about that I took it a step further and thought, "Are Jesus and I interested in the same people?" Looking at the people I interact with daily makes me wonder if I'm intentionally interacting with the people Christ would be seeking out were he here in the flesh. I don't think I am. Actually just two days ago we had to stop in Gary, Indiana on the way home from a Cubs game. And I got uncomfortable at the gas station. Just because of the conditions and the people around me, I'm embarrassed to say. Overwhelmed with insecurity and fear, not love and compassion.

I've been coming to the realization that our good news is a social gospel, impossible to practice without the personal interaction of the least, the last and the lost. Looking at the past 14 months of ministry here I think I've done a good job of leading our students in their personal walks with Christ, guiding them in the discipleship process. However, I'm afraid I may have placed too much emphasis on personal growth and not enough on loving outwardly. It's a struggle.

Above is a picture I found on another favorite blog, The Plow. Maybe just a little reminder of the large scope of who Christ came to save.

Was this at your church pudge?

Yikes. Have fun explaining the huge tire mark 6 feet high on the wall to the trustees.

In other news...this post is my first attempt to begin posting more regularly on this site again. Cross your fingers.