Well, actually I arrived home at 3:30 in the morning Wednesday (after driving for 17 and 1/2 hours straight with the kids) and have been trying to recover since. I got home the week before the wedding and was very busy helping get things ready, then Saturday was the wedding. My great grandmother was not doing well and I spent the following Tuesday afternoon sitting with her, holding her hand and praying for her etc...then she died that evening. The funeral was on Friday. All things went well and God provided grace for strength that certainly didn't come from physical rest. There were certainly some great things that happened but I'm not in the mood to recount everything yet. Next post.
I wanted to link to a couple of sites doing a great job keeping us who are not able to be in Brighton informed of what's been going on at Together On A Mission. Aaron and I had hopes of being there this year, but our house did not cooperate and we are sadly missing one of our favorite guys, someone we have never seen in real life. Actually, we aren't sad , we've been very excitable lately, maybe even a bit unruly hehe. God is using us where we are and for the first time we feel we have something to offer people that has power to change their lives forever. That would be the true gospel of grace, which I'm sure to be posting about very very soon.
But I digress...back to the links of interest.
First, Adrian Warnock has been doing a great job writing about the conference. I particularly enjoyed this video clip of some of the preachers, worship, and praying that's been going on at TOAM 2007 (though I didn't seem to catch any Rob Rufus...oh well...but it did have Terry Virgo!)
Second, my friend Andrew Fountain is also blogging TOAM 2007 with quite detailed accounts of the messages.
I'm pretty sure there are others to be found, and since Dan and Peter ( from Life on Wings, The Best is Yet to Come , and together at Spirit of God! )and others are also there, I expect they will have great testimonies when they get back. I look forward to hearing all about what God is doing over there!
Showing posts with label Terry Virgo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terry Virgo. Show all posts
Friday, July 13, 2007
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Hooray!!! Terry Virgo is Blogging!!!
.
Terry Virgo's Blog
What more can I say? Go read it! I'm just so proud of myself for finding this one myself hehe.
Terry Virgo's Blog
What more can I say? Go read it! I'm just so proud of myself for finding this one myself hehe.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
The Doctrine of Indwelling Sin
Now, before I start, I just want to remind you that I'm no theologian. I'm just a Christian with a Bible and the Holy Spirit. But I can't ignore this false doctrine any longer, I just have to say something. When I say false doctrine, I'm referring to the teaching that Christians have indwelling sin. I firmly believe that we are all born with a sin nature (indwelling sin). I also want to say that I have no problem understanding that you can be a true believer and accept this doctrine (I did). When I first heard this teaching of indwelling sin for believers, I fought hard against it--or rather my spirit and God's Spirit fought hard against it. I, in my flesh and fear of man fought hard to ignore my spirit and God's, succeeded, and have been since paying the price. And really, I'm not trying to stir up trouble. I'm trying to stir up a revelation of grace and the freedom we are meant to experience.
I've had some idea that I more and more strongly disagree with this doctrine for some time now. But recently the revelation hit me as I was listening to a list of signs of legalism in a sermon. All the signs of legalism are the same things I was taught were proof of indwelling sin. The more I believed this doctrine, the more the fruit of my life proved it: I sinned more and more! I became so cold and distant from God I began to doubt my salvation, and even doubt God existed. I lost the joy and and experience of God's presence and love. I lost hope and stopped fighting the true enemy of my soul--Satan. I believed all the lies he fed me and went into a severe depression. I researched ways to kill myself and lived dreaming of death or running away from everything I've ever believed in and loved--God,family, and friends. This is what legalism does. As described in Galatians 5:19-21:
"...sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."
Doesn't this list remind you of something? I thought that indwelling sin was responsible for all these awful things. I thought I had to learn to beat this awful sin out of me somehow. I thought I had to plan and work and re-commit to more rigid spiritual disciplines in order to overcome these things. And if by some miracle I was not doing or thinking these things, I had to search for them and find them somehow residing/hiding deep inside of me. In fact, it's almost as if this doctrine stirred up more sin. But there is only one thing that can stir up sin in this way. That is the law (of works). "...the law came to increase the trespass..." (Gal. 5:20)
It seems to me that this doctrine stands mainly on two passages of Scripture.
First, Jeremiah 17: 9:
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"
It is so obvious to me that this refers to our condition before salvation. It should be obvious to all. Jesus even said he came for the sick, I mean, he came to heal us, not leave us sick. It is because we were born with deceitful hearts that God says in Ezekiel 36:26, promising us a better covenant,:
"And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."
The other passage is Romans 7. I'm not going into a big argument here, but if you want to read a good argument for an alternative meaning I can highly recommend Terry Virgo's God's Lavish Grace (incidentally this book is endorsed by one Mr. Mahaney for those of you who would be interested to know) And also "Do Christians Still Have a Sinful Nature" by Ryan Rufus. This book deals very simply with all the arguments or concerns/questions you might have (such as why do Christians still sin). I challenge you to at least read and consider the possibilities.
Some months before I was willing to consider that this doctrine was wrong, my dad challenged me to read through Romans and really honestly by the Spirit of God question my beliefs. I was surprised at the results. I was amazed at what God actually says about us, his children. He says we are set free from and dead to sin. He calls us sons, saints, and many others things but NEVER sinners. We are no longer sinners. I've also spent many hours in Galatians, learning that I'd been bewitched, and had fallen from grace. I lived as though severed from Christ in many ways. It was a terrible way to live, and by his grace I hope I will never ever live that way again. I learned that all the things I was striving to attain are completely unattainable in the flesh. Galatians 5:22-24:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
What I'm trying to say is that I believe the doctrine of indwelling sin is actually legalism dressed up as pious and humble sounding doctrine. I believe it is very deceptive and will lead to spiritual ruin. I plan on continuing along these lines in the next couple of posts sharing my testimony of how legalism affects marriage and then parenting, and also the new joy and hope we have found in an ever increasing revelation of God's overflowing love and grace.
I've had some idea that I more and more strongly disagree with this doctrine for some time now. But recently the revelation hit me as I was listening to a list of signs of legalism in a sermon. All the signs of legalism are the same things I was taught were proof of indwelling sin. The more I believed this doctrine, the more the fruit of my life proved it: I sinned more and more! I became so cold and distant from God I began to doubt my salvation, and even doubt God existed. I lost the joy and and experience of God's presence and love. I lost hope and stopped fighting the true enemy of my soul--Satan. I believed all the lies he fed me and went into a severe depression. I researched ways to kill myself and lived dreaming of death or running away from everything I've ever believed in and loved--God,family, and friends. This is what legalism does. As described in Galatians 5:19-21:
"...sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."
Doesn't this list remind you of something? I thought that indwelling sin was responsible for all these awful things. I thought I had to learn to beat this awful sin out of me somehow. I thought I had to plan and work and re-commit to more rigid spiritual disciplines in order to overcome these things. And if by some miracle I was not doing or thinking these things, I had to search for them and find them somehow residing/hiding deep inside of me. In fact, it's almost as if this doctrine stirred up more sin. But there is only one thing that can stir up sin in this way. That is the law (of works). "...the law came to increase the trespass..." (Gal. 5:20)
It seems to me that this doctrine stands mainly on two passages of Scripture.
First, Jeremiah 17: 9:
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"
It is so obvious to me that this refers to our condition before salvation. It should be obvious to all. Jesus even said he came for the sick, I mean, he came to heal us, not leave us sick. It is because we were born with deceitful hearts that God says in Ezekiel 36:26, promising us a better covenant,:
"And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."
The other passage is Romans 7. I'm not going into a big argument here, but if you want to read a good argument for an alternative meaning I can highly recommend Terry Virgo's God's Lavish Grace (incidentally this book is endorsed by one Mr. Mahaney for those of you who would be interested to know) And also "Do Christians Still Have a Sinful Nature" by Ryan Rufus. This book deals very simply with all the arguments or concerns/questions you might have (such as why do Christians still sin). I challenge you to at least read and consider the possibilities.
Some months before I was willing to consider that this doctrine was wrong, my dad challenged me to read through Romans and really honestly by the Spirit of God question my beliefs. I was surprised at the results. I was amazed at what God actually says about us, his children. He says we are set free from and dead to sin. He calls us sons, saints, and many others things but NEVER sinners. We are no longer sinners. I've also spent many hours in Galatians, learning that I'd been bewitched, and had fallen from grace. I lived as though severed from Christ in many ways. It was a terrible way to live, and by his grace I hope I will never ever live that way again. I learned that all the things I was striving to attain are completely unattainable in the flesh. Galatians 5:22-24:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
What I'm trying to say is that I believe the doctrine of indwelling sin is actually legalism dressed up as pious and humble sounding doctrine. I believe it is very deceptive and will lead to spiritual ruin. I plan on continuing along these lines in the next couple of posts sharing my testimony of how legalism affects marriage and then parenting, and also the new joy and hope we have found in an ever increasing revelation of God's overflowing love and grace.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Feminism--The Greatest Threat to the Church?
For many reasons, feminism and the question of true Biblical feminity has been on my mind. A recent post by Dan over at Life on Wings touching on this issue has got me thinking even more, so I'm finally taking the plunge and putting some of my thoughts out here. Feel free to engage me openly and even be hostile if you like.
Hmmm. I'm about to set out into stormy seas. Being a woman, I will always be suspected--whether in conversation or how I behave (or what I write here haha), there will always be a man thinking that I'm a feminist. That dirty hateful word. It's almost the worst insult I can think of, aside from 'woman'. I hate the fact that I am afraid to say what I really think, or to disagree with a man, especially my husband, on anything at all--afraid of being judged as 'one of those women'. Of course, this fear doesn't stop me from saying what I think.
I wanted to open the discussion on whether we think male cheuvenism is really dead or not in the subculture of complimentarian Christianity, and is feminism a major threat to the church. I am still a complimentarian, but I would like to begin really believing that women are equal, not below, men. I realize that bringing up this topic will tempt some people to question whether I'm a feminist. That's my point I guess. How did we get to this place where we are always looking for feminists? Are they really our greatest enemies or could it be that feminists are people too? I'm not sure these labels are helping us love people.
It worries me that the conservative church has focused so much energy toward fighting those outside of themselves. With all the attention focused on feminists and homosexuals, are we perhaps missing some even more dangerous problems within our own camp, such as legalism, self-righteousness, and pride? I'm asking these questions honestly to myself, and I'm becoming ashamed at how easily I've judged people I don't even know without having true compassion. I'm certainly not advocating ignoring what Scripture says about these areas, but maybe it's time to look at our own hearts and see if there's anything besides knowledge in there, like love.
I don't honestly believe that feminism is close to being the most dangerous issue the church is facing today (though it's certainly a problem in some segments of the western church). I appreciate Wayne Grudem's reluctance to label it as one of the biggest issues faced by today's church in a recent interview with Adrian Warnock. Feminism is a response (yes, a sinful response) to the lack of love and grace in the church. (I think if we want to destroy and prevent sinful feminism in the church, then we might begin by teaching men to love and respect women.) I think the greatest threat to the church is pharisaical arrogance and legalism.
Where are the great men of God rising up to speak out against this? Well, there are a few that I know of, and definately some that I don't know of. Men like Terry Virgo (see his book God's Lavish Grace or any of his sermons on grace) and Rob Rufus ( I highly recommend his 5 part sermon series The Grace Hating Spirit,see 2004 series). But I'm praying for many many more. Maybe the loudest message the world should be hearing from us is that 'Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst'
Hmmm. I'm about to set out into stormy seas. Being a woman, I will always be suspected--whether in conversation or how I behave (or what I write here haha), there will always be a man thinking that I'm a feminist. That dirty hateful word. It's almost the worst insult I can think of, aside from 'woman'. I hate the fact that I am afraid to say what I really think, or to disagree with a man, especially my husband, on anything at all--afraid of being judged as 'one of those women'. Of course, this fear doesn't stop me from saying what I think. I wanted to open the discussion on whether we think male cheuvenism is really dead or not in the subculture of complimentarian Christianity, and is feminism a major threat to the church. I am still a complimentarian, but I would like to begin really believing that women are equal, not below, men. I realize that bringing up this topic will tempt some people to question whether I'm a feminist. That's my point I guess. How did we get to this place where we are always looking for feminists? Are they really our greatest enemies or could it be that feminists are people too? I'm not sure these labels are helping us love people.
It worries me that the conservative church has focused so much energy toward fighting those outside of themselves. With all the attention focused on feminists and homosexuals, are we perhaps missing some even more dangerous problems within our own camp, such as legalism, self-righteousness, and pride? I'm asking these questions honestly to myself, and I'm becoming ashamed at how easily I've judged people I don't even know without having true compassion. I'm certainly not advocating ignoring what Scripture says about these areas, but maybe it's time to look at our own hearts and see if there's anything besides knowledge in there, like love.
I don't honestly believe that feminism is close to being the most dangerous issue the church is facing today (though it's certainly a problem in some segments of the western church). I appreciate Wayne Grudem's reluctance to label it as one of the biggest issues faced by today's church in a recent interview with Adrian Warnock. Feminism is a response (yes, a sinful response) to the lack of love and grace in the church. (I think if we want to destroy and prevent sinful feminism in the church, then we might begin by teaching men to love and respect women.) I think the greatest threat to the church is pharisaical arrogance and legalism.
Where are the great men of God rising up to speak out against this? Well, there are a few that I know of, and definately some that I don't know of. Men like Terry Virgo (see his book God's Lavish Grace or any of his sermons on grace) and Rob Rufus ( I highly recommend his 5 part sermon series The Grace Hating Spirit,see 2004 series). But I'm praying for many many more. Maybe the loudest message the world should be hearing from us is that 'Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst'
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