Get Ready to Run!

Born2Blog

If someone had said to me a couple of years ago that one day I would write a book and start a blog, I think I would have told them to ‘dream on’. But then, without dreams and vision people lose their way and perish (Proverbs 29v18). I’m the numbers man, the ‘money in, money out’ man, the quiet man who prefers to listen and utter very little. What on earth do I have to say? Well, here goes…

After writing the book Born2Know, which primarily emphasises the numbers in the Bible, the Lord has been challenging me even in the midst of my battle with M.E. / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to further address the ‘ologies’ of theology. This time to spell out using words rather than numbers what I believe and perhaps just as importantly why I believe it. After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness of this world, increasingly desiring that heavenly country like Abraham of old, and after 30 years since spiritual birth, I feel compelled to nail my colours to the mast or, should that be, my theses to the doors of the church like Luther in 1517. Some of my theology today was arrived at many years ago, some has changed over the years, some I was ignorant of in the past and failed to diligently study until the last few years, and for some the pieces have only come together in recent months.

It has been devastating not only to me but to my wife and kids that in the past and recently we are excluded from membership of the churches in Newtownards where we live. How so? Many people belong to a church because it is the closest or because they find the people friendly and caring, or it has the right style of music for them, great kids’ ministries and encouraging sermons. Whilst all these things are important the deciding factor for me has always been truth. Each church invariably has a statement of faith which lists out what they deem to be biblical truth and agreement to such is required for membership. Sadly, through my pilgrimage there is now always something contained in a statement of faith which I cannot agree with and although I can attend and fellowship, I cannot join. To do so would be hypocritical and I perceive that I am often misunderstood in this area.

I am not trying to find the perfect doctrinal church which agrees with everything I believe, just one where a statement of faith is broad enough to allow me to hold my beliefs and belong. What happened to ‘in essentials unity but in non-essentials liberty’? This however, in itself, raises important questions. Are all deemed essentials correct and does the Bible afford as much liberty in non-essentials as is evidenced by the many Protestant denominations with their ever narrowing statements of faith? If one was to ask five Christians or consult five Bible commentaries concerning the same question it is highly probable one would receive five completely different answers. If there is one faith and one Spirit indwelling the five Christians/commentators, how is there unity when five different answers will lead to five different practical out-workings of these answers? Is this diversity? Or is this complete confusion for the Christian, never mind the non-Christian? Scripture states, “God is not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14v33) and “simplicity is in Christ” (2 Corinthians 11v3).

Over the years, as I have listened to theologians (remember everyone is a theologian whether letters follow their name or not), a popular phrase which arises when faced with apparent contradictions is keeping certain doctrines ‘in tension’. I have come to learn both physically and doctrinally this is not good. Pick a muscle in the body, your bicep for example and keep it in tension. This is not a problem for a short time but when this turns into minutes or hours fatigue sets in, the muscle is overworked and weakness ensues for days. So too, by holding doctrines in tension for days, weeks and even years, I have come to realise, for me at least, it’s exhausting! We certainly need some tension to begin with, we need to wrestle with doctrine but we also need reconciliation and rest to make us spiritually stronger. I have recently concluded there are no apparent contradictions and there is no need for any lasting tension. The doctrines of the Bible are non-contradicting and self reconciling.

The problem is we do not see clearly. But surely there are grey areas I hear you ask? You would be absolutely right but Jesus Christ came to bring light into a world full of darkness. Like a grainy, pixelated photograph, the problem is quite often not the equipment, or an imperfect object, or even the quality of light but the amount of light entering the camera aperture. The further you allow Jesus Christ through His Spirit into your heart and mind the less grey and the more light. After all Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” and “I am the truth”. The more light, the more truth, the less grey. The Bible is black and white. We just need more light!

In the book of Proverbs truth is described as a commodity that we buy or sell, “Buy the truth and do not sell it” (Proverbs 23v23). There is a cost involved of time, suffering and waiting in buying truth, it does not just come on a fast food platter instantaneously served up by a couple of ‘google’ clicks. Once obtained it is not to be sold but to be shared. My prayer is that this blog will inspire Christ-exalting, independent biblical thinking garnished with logic and reasoning.

My desire is to be essentially positive but at times one must wrestle with biblical doctrine by thinking and evaluating critically what others have said in both the past and present, comparing Scripture with Scripture. Any conclusions I draw are not personal attacks upon anyone and I will only mention past and present theologians for verification and reference purposes. I do not intend to mention any churches by name if I quote from a statement of faith. The heart of the man behind this pen is not to be critical of people or to win an argument but to discover the truth because I desire to be free and at rest. However, the Sports Scientist within me is ready to compete, which means striving together, so we may win the race set before us. As Jesus said, “you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8v32). With no ‘formal’ biblical qualifications, not even a GCSE in Religious Education/Studies, I encourage you to be like the Bereans and search the Scriptures to see if everything I say is true. Prove all things. I welcome any feedback, comments and discussion and can be contacted via email.

It is not my intention to cover some essential doctrines directly (perhaps one day!) e.g.:

The Trinity;
The attributes of God;
The incarnation of Jesus;
The crucifixion of Jesus;
The resurrection of Jesus.

God willing, my intention is to cover the following subjects but this is by no means an exhaustive list. There may even be a few surprises in between:

The Creation and Death of Adam;
Faith and Works;
The Gospel;
Heaven, Hell and Hades;
Purgatory?
Grace;
Calvinism, Arminianism and Provisionism;
The Law;
Baptism and Lord’s Supper;
The Church;
Headcovering;
Baptism of the Holy Spirit;
Cessationism and Continuationism of the gifts of the Holy Spirit;
End times.

Ambitious? Yes and no. After 30 years from spiritual birth I would expect myself to know what I believe and why I believe it. To avoid the danger of being called ‘long winded’ and to be as concise as possible I will limit the length of each blog and if necessary split topics into 2 or more parts. My posting frequency will depend upon life and health and I pray that all who read may run, run and not be weary, walk and not faint (Habukkuk 2v2, Isaiah 40v31).

May God bless you

Jonny

Born2Blog

Related