To Drink or Not To Drink?

As I was reading a very interesting book that will have its own blogs of thoughts and reflections it just struck me that I should write this. Whatever it turns into here's your warning this is completely spontaneous. I am on the eve of finishing my clearing process and thus leaving a place that has been my domicile (I still refuse to call it home) for the last 13 months in a country I have called my residence for 2 years. I suppose this warrants some amount of reflection. It might even help the fact me accept the fact that I actually am leaving.

The first thought that comes to mind started around June or July of 2005. When I first saw there was the strong chance I was going to be stationed in Germany I immediately thought about what I could do to make a meaningful, apparent and bold statement of faith through my lifestyle while residing in a foreign country. At that time I was still trying to learn how to move past the spiritual separation I experienced upon leaving home while finding a livable medium in which I was not a “holy rolling judgmental Christian” but was not one of the crowd either. The idea and reality that it was normal for young adults to go out on a weekend basis if not more often and completely give themselves up to such worldly living was still a bit of a lifestyle shock to me. I never attended a gathering prior to the military where my peers were drinking and… yea. All of it.

As I reflect upon those months in Arizona and saw what people did with the freedom they had, even as limited as it was; I know my response had be something drastic. Germany is famous for their beer. I was still unsure how to respond to the offers of alcohol. While at Arizona, I was under 21 and had the weak reason by social standards but an easy one as to why I did not drink. I wanted to follow the law. I knew going to Germany where the legal age if you want to call it that was 18, and I was 21 upon arrival, the excuse that got me through several months would not hold up in the regular Army. Talking to reclassing soldiers (those getting a new job & training) the stories of Germany were not very encouraging to me and my desire to remain faithful throughout the duration of my service.

It was during those months that I had made a commitment to God that I will not willingly or knowingly consume an alcoholic beverage while on my overseas tour. I wouldn't call it a covenant because it was something I wanted to lay before God as a sacrifice; I was not expecting anything in return. I can think of two close calls which I might have compromised myself and my commitment, one was eating cake that had rum in it that I found out upon chewing it that there was a small presence of rum not cooked out of the cake. The other was when I popped my first whole German chocolate candy in my mouth; it was filled with something that I didn't like that was alcoholic. Following that experience I learned how to read the ingredients on the back of chocolates. It is rather difficult to find non-alcoholic assorted chocolates. I must say with brutal honesty that this was not easy to complete. This was reflected upon in What did I get myself into?

The first year was by far the most difficult. It probably didn't help that I spent the majority of my free time playing WoW in the barracks hallway on the weekends which I would see the habits of the second floor population. Actually, I kind of prided myself at times that at certain points I simply by smelling the drink I could tell people what they had put in it. My unit put serious effort trying to get me to drink. On one humorous point, the easiest way to get lots of free alcohol is to tell people you don't drink. There were also days that had taken their toll on my spirit. Between work or personal stress, I am certain if it was not for my commitment to abstain I would have drank myself to the clear point of sin. In that respect I think I can somewhat empathize with people that do drink to escape the problems of the day. I think there has been a several occasions that it was through people's curiosity about my decision that I was able to share Christ with them. It was astonishing to me how many found such a simple action as to abstain was seen a drastic move. Throughout this challenge, I must also keep my pride in check. It was not by my power that this commitment was fulfilled.

Like many of my decisions of abstinence, after several months of practicing a grander idea came to mind about what could be gained from such experience. Hopefully, I can speak as one who has experience about alcohol and peer pressure. Living in a country which beer is more normal than water, at an appropriate age, and appropriate places, I have had every justification to partake. Except that I wanted to lay before God a part of my life that I had not used until I committed it to them (remember the Trinity). There is a part of me that hopes these years of experience will encourage a high school student or college student how to address the prevalence of alcohol in today's culture and how it meshes or conflicts with our relationship with Christ. I don't pretend to have a mask that it doesn't bother me that many of my peers drink alcohol, I know there are plenty of scriptural examples that show it is not the act of drinking that is sin in anyway. After all, Jesus' first public miracle was making good wine. I know this is a question that every person must answer for him or herself. For me, for this period of time, it was a choice not to drink.

This is where it starts to get curious. On one hand I am experiencing a sense of accomplishment and joy because through God's strength I remained true to my commitment. I am preparing to return to the states, now a full fledged legal adult at 23, I am in a similar situation to ponder, upon the completion of this commitment do I want to try an alcoholic beverage? In complete honesty this question has come to mind several times and I have not made any solidly committed decision, which I think I will before I get on the airplane this week. While I am very curious what some drinks taste like, I don't think that curiosity is enough to possibly tempt myself or become vulnerable alcohol or the possible abuse of it an extremely active issue in the military. I don't know why I am delaying a committed decision so much; it is not like I spent months in agony or meditation for the first commitment. For the sake of continuing to submit myself to God's will, to make myself open and always alert to what I might be shown, I here and now extend my commitment to the duration of my enlistment.

Epilogue: I had my first drink with a friend from Germany back at home. God brought us together that our friendship could continue. I was the designated driver for him from time to time in Germany and in one of our conversations I agreed to have a drink with him if it was reasonable. Even in my civilian years there have been numerous occasions which I have abstained from alcohol. Whenever I work at Hume, no drinking is included in the contract. When I was in student leadership at William Jessup, no drinking. When I deployed to Afghanistan as a civilian, no drinking. When I was an undergraduate at Biola, no drinking. Through these experiences, especially not being able to drink as a 28 year old undergraduate I was able to recognize the heart of submission to authorities I have voluntarily accepted. Integrity ought to be worth more than a light buzz.

Prove It

I was surfing some of the most popular blogs just to see what grabs everyone’s attention and usually on the top 100 or so there are some insightful religion and philosophy blogs. I do this from time to time, I suppose to see what other people are thinking, and there is also a part of me that wonders how people get on the top read blog list. While scrolling down the lists, I read some irrational concepts people have to justify double standards and poor relationships before I got to the interesting reads.

I find it interesting that there is a decently strong presence of atheistic themed blogs. Within their own context they seem to range between a rant about Christians or a challenge to beliefs that many Christians believe like Creationism or the sort. It takes a bit more scrolling down the list before I can find a well written blog of a living Christian. I wonder if we can gauge the popularity of such blogs as a growth in atheism/anti-Christian attitude. I find reading the same arguments and accusations against Christianity or Christians disheartening. There appears to be a constant supply of proclaiming Christians who do not live as we ought. At the same time, in the blogosphere, the ability to identify the Fruit as evidence of faith is rather impossible. It is particularly challenging knowing that there are many nominal Christians who are not differentiated from practicing Christians.

After reading most of the arguments against the existence of God I am anxious to read the other works that are counter/anti-religion. I know the God Delusion has been a big one for quite some time, I think it is on my future read list. Reading what the reasons against God are in a full essay format I find it that much easier to see the misconceptions and assumptions. In the point- counterpoint book I am reading I had to take a step back to look at the "Does God Exist?" debate. I know I have commented on debates in mass print or broadcasted before on the same topic but during the course of this one there was a new epiphany. I don't know why it has taken me so long to see this reason, after all scripture explains this same fact. In the public context of "Does God exist?" it is apparent Christians are at the very best paddling the canoe up a waterfall. It is not because we have weak arguments, lack evidence, or have poor rationale that it seems reasonable to reject our beliefs.

"Does God exist?" is too general of a question. It is perfect for the atheist because they can attack Thor as much as God. The presence of hundreds of different deities throughout the world allows a plethora of examples to reject. At the same time, the Christian must explain the characteristics of the Judeo-Christian God in order to separate him from Allah, or Siddhartha. The separation that Christians must make and emphasize to show the difference of God versus the other gods puts a greater burden of proof that is so much so it can easily distract from the goal of the discussion.

Once the Christian has stated the characteristics of God the atheist can really go to town. So far I have found the rejection of God is not because of a lack of evidence for the God of Christianity but for the God of Christianity that the atheists want him to be. For instance, the atheist claims there are no good evidence for the existence of God. However, when the evidence is often presented the atheist rejects such evidence because it is not how they want their God (who doesn’t exist…) to do it.

For example, using the Problem of Evil to disprove God, the atheist claims there is too much pain and suffering at some level. Sometime it is a personal experience, sometimes it is the philosophical citizen of the world. When the Christian might try to explain that pain exists due to the presence of sin or free will, the atheist can respond that if God really was God then he could do it better or differently. This happens with every good argument for the existence of God. The Christian presents it, the atheist rejects it because they want it done a different way. Essentially it is a debate in which the atheist requires us to prove to them that their God exists. They have been rejecting the God who does not exist. It gets even better, often times, the atheist will put the burden of proof on Christians when the points from which they demand proof are contrary to orthodoxy. One example is something along the lines of withholding pain and suffering but still have a way in which the lessons from such pain and suffering can still be known, in the same way it was made known by experience.

The short sightedness of the atheistic arguments is a decent challenge to the Christians in this debate. Through reading this debate book I recognize the focus we must have ought to be on eternity, this cannot be forgotten. While the Christian view carries on for all eternity, so that the pain, suffering, evil (all justified with moral law) will be answered and solved, when the end of the road is the human lifespan such resolution cannot be fulfilled. Suppose someone rejects God because a bridge fell on someone they loved, or because they were repelled by the pain people were suffering from Hurricane Katrina. However, for those of us that know there is an eternal scale we view death, pain, and suffering with a different looking glass. Atheists want paradise/heaven on Earth while simultaneously rejecting the only being who has the potential to make it happen. They don't conceive that there is an afterlife or there is a greater purpose/meaning for life other than personal pleasure. It is not that our faith is irrational; it is that they don't like our rational.

The last point I noticed so far was that in order for many of the atheists to believe that God exists they must be able to fully comprehend and understand what God is doing and how he works. Essentially they want to be God and since that can be god in their own mind they don't want to admit it. The root of atheism as Ravi Zacharias writes is that people don't want to have to submit to anyone/thing, they reject the idea of faith and submission, not the evidence for the God that we believe. I reflect these thoughts with a heavy heart, on one side of me "ask, seek, and knock" comes to mind in which they must be willing to believe if they are going to be able to understand. I also look at the reasons Christ said he used parables. He will hide the truth from those not willing to accept it and will grant understanding to those who will. This seems so contrary to the way I would do it, to me it would make sense if all could see and understand, however, this might just be why I have to have faith. When there are those instances of "God, why do you do it that way?" I cannot get caught up on the why's and lose sight of what matters. Constantly reading apologetics that provide the intellectual response for Christianity there is a danger that I forsake God as the one who knows it all and become a modern Pharisee.

Youth Ministry & High School Relationships

As most of you know I plan and hope that my plans fall in line with God's that I will return to Youth Ministry as an official role in the near future (little less than 2 years). Unlike my typical writings that I'll spend a week mulling over to develop the thoughts this one just struck me. Under these circumstances I don't think I am the proper one to be given credit on these thoughts. Could I be that presumptuous?

I think as we approach the idea of being leaders we ought to have an idea of our goal. It sounds simple enough doesn't it? Those goals could be anything from getting the attendance to grow, have students go into ministry after they leave, they could be anything at any magnitude. I could even go so far as to say not having a vision or goal could also be the vision/goal, even as undeveloped and irresponsible it might be. I consider the interaction I have had with students since being in Germany, my many peers who are as old or younger than some of the students I lead in Bible studies back home, I might have the unique perspective of what happens to students when they leave home. I know I wrote something about this in Growing Out Of Faith, and what I have seen happen when they leave. I wouldn't quite say I am revisiting the same topic, instead adding more to it.

Considering what focus I would most want to encourage students the best churchese answer is “Jesus”. Of course I want people to know Christ on the personal level, which is true Christianity. Clarifying the scope which I hope to encourage is where the flurry comes to play. Do I want to focus on service, relationships, drugs, alcohol, sex, and all the usual issues of today's society? Do I want to encourage mass evangelism, discipleship, theology and apologetics? There are so many aspects that can be addressed that are very important that it is clear one person cannot teach all the areas at once. Hopefully that is what other leaders are there for so we can encourage the more specific needs as they are needed.

What came to mind this morning that ties much into the under-developed potential I see in many of today's teenagers was the distraction of dating. Oh no I said it! This is gonna be another dating rant. Nope, or at least I don't think it will be. I think it is fair to say on the eve of my 23rd year I have successfully completed the teenage years and have had decent time to reflect upon those years. Most of you know I have never dated, it was odd back in high school and it is at times rather frustrating in my current state but that is for another time. I suppose this also ties into developing leaders for the next generation. After all, a good leader in my thoughts not only leads well, but trains those he leads to be leaders also.

On to the rant part of the blog. I see many students focused on earthly relationships, which are immature. Not to say they lack the potential to be mature, but in order for maturity to be manifest in a relationship it must first exist in character and faith. The immaturity manifests itself most clearly when they talk about love. When I hear a our 16 year olds talking about love and their deep understanding it takes some restraint to just nod as though I agree with their emotions at that particular moment. When I am snarky I respond that they are in some ""L" state of mind but it isn't love. I know they have a shallow understanding of what love really is... then again this is not limited to teenagers. I know many peers who still think love is a feeling. People get so tied up getting their significant other for their various reasons and in the process of developing their character especially during the teenage years I think many allow their boyfriend/girlfriend to take the place in the heart that God would otherwise fill. In turn God gets some heart scraps if that much and he is more like a lucky charm than Lord. This only happens to really manifest itself when they come to God in their later life if at all.

I find that is a bit out of order how we should be learning about life. If the spiritual is so important why do so few people treat give it preeminence? From my own trials, tribulations, and blessings I have learned of a faith that overflows into my thoughts concerning every aspect of life. I think it is far better to get the right understanding the first time instead of having to return to previous ideas and let Christ rewrite them.

Connecting the dots between my thoughts on teenage lust and youth ministry. I want to focus my message to the more mature students. Please wait on romantic relationships. I think this is especially appropriate considering that I believe the purpose of dating is to find your husband/wife. I don't know many teenagers who initiate relationships with the opposite sex with marriage in mind. More often it is for fun or because that is what youth today believe is appropriate when you like someone of the opposite sex. In my mind playing with emotions and hearts for such trivial causes is rather dangerous and careless.

I find the most benefit from promoting such a lifestyle would be for the guys. Instead of being worried about the social drama that plagues high school they can spend their time developing their leadership skills. I know not every man is a natural leader, but I do believe that as our God given role we are all to be some kind of leader. My leadership skills I think started to develop rather late in my ministry experience. The other main benefit, I think the Christian men would be better prepared to know how to treat women with respect as Christian sisters instead of a possible girlfriend. The aspect of dating, relationships and all that jazz is just a huge distraction instead of capitalizing on numerous opportunities to develop social skills and seek what God has in mind for your life. Not being preoccupied with someone in some relationship that will likely not manifest into marriage.

I suppose the greatest con to my idea is "how will people know how to date/interact if they don't get practice". Being one that still has not dating experience my argument seems to lose validity to many people. I don't approach people like a sport or activity that practice makes perfect. Knowing how to treat people comes from the beliefs and values I hold. Sometimes those are altered according to how I get to know the person, but there is a certain level of respect to be given to every person regardless of how I feel about them. Furthermore, I only need to find one person to marry. If I practice dating like I believe its purpose is then why is trial and error so necessary? I also believe that every person is different. What lessons you may learn from a relationship will either be about yourself or that specific person. Knowing yourself is one of the primary perquisites I think are necessary before starting a relationship.

I cannot discount that I have know a number of married friends who met and started dating as teenagers. This is especially common in the military community. It is one of those "the way things are", there are many a young soldier in training who will marry their sweetheart or break-up. That is the only way people can take their girlfriends with them to where the military sends them. I don't intend these thoughts to be set in stone rules of “how to's”, as there are always exceptional people with exceptional circumstances. Thoughts and lessons to be taught to the masses are developed for the many in a general form of application, not for each and every person to follow exactly.

London Photo Blog

    I think you have all noticed that I recently went to London this last Memorial Day weekend. It was great, well for the most part. I noticed whenever I get back from a trip I have kind of a giddy feeling about other cultures. I get a sense of experience that cannot be taught or read about, it is a great feeling. I try to encourage others to travel as much as possible but alas it is not as easy as one would hope or think, well to travel properly in my opinion (pre-arranged room, travel, food ect.)
    I'll start with the bad stuff that happened first before I get on another tirade about how great it was. When I visited Jonathan last 4th of July I flew Ryan Air without much of an issue. It was more miscommunication that was solved in a few hours rather painlessly. I wish it were so this time. On the return back we all took the train to get to the airport. Well, as the powers beyond us would have it the train was delayed for 3 hours causing us to miss our flight. Once we got to the airport and reported the issue with the hundreds of other people in similar situation our solutions we less than appealing. In order to get on the waiting list for the next available flight back to Germany they had a 50 pound service charge (that is roughly 100 USD) per ticket. Out of options we had to do that, luckily we got on the flight and all was well. Adding 100USD to the tail end of a trip is not the best note to end an awesome vacation though. I will never fly Ryan Air again, by choice.
    Rewind back to the beginning of the weekend now. Myles and Kelly picked me on the "sheim" (my affectionate nickname for my post). Fast forward from all the driving and details like that we got to England without incident. Once we got our lodgings settled we hit the city. Between the underground and walking we got around just fine. The adjustment to the pound was a difficult one. First being reminded how much our own currency sucks, and second the fact that everything costs at least 2x as much because of the difference. Everything seem to be appropriately priced if there were no currency difference it would all be the same cost as stateside, oh how that would've been a great IF... The only way I could justify the costs was a cross between convincing myself it was like a dollar to them and I am on vacation.
So getting on with the photoblog part.

Famous Big Ben, yea it's big.

This looked cool, it is the Admiralty Arch

Buckingham Palace, the home of the Queen, but she wasn't home when I visited. I didn't try to go check though...

Those famous palace guards, I wonder if they actually get loaded weapons, I am pretty sure that is an SA-80 they are packing.

Double decker bus, yea, no longer in official London service but there is tour buses EVERYWHERE.

Enough said, the ribs were yummy, it was cool to see all the memorabilia. I think it was mostly Pete Townshend and Eric Clapton.

It is a London Bobbie at the airport, I was really hoping to get a picture of her co-worker that is not pictured cause he had a nice looking rifle but he asked not to be pictured.

I would've taken a picture of the actual bridge but it is nothing special just a standard concrete bridge...

A piece of the real Roman Wall, it is a fascinating piece of history to trace back to the roots of the nation/culture.

St Paul's Cathedral ummm it is famous and cool looking.

Yea the Tower Bridge, I wish we went inside those.

Another one of London's main sites Trafalgar Square

Henry VIII armor, it was cool and shiny. Really hard to get a well lighted angle so the picture would come out. The groin protection thingy is rather interesting, I wonder what was the purpose of that...
 

This is huge, it is Wellington Arch it was one of those monuments that one takes a breath of awe for.

WWI Memorial, Honor the Fallen

I guess some really famous royals got married & coronated here.

 

This is known as the White Tower, the Yeoman Warder Dave was an awesome tour guide, the requirements to be one is scary, they need to be a Senior NCO with 22+ years of service and a medal only received after 18 years of no blemishes on their record.
    Well that is all the pictures I wanted to post. The vast majority of the pictures are more the kind you can look up. The lasting impression of London is a certain kind of appreciation. I find it inspiring how there are so many monuments and memorials to their past. The first day I was snapping at everything in sight, as the weekend went on it was apparent my camera didn't have sufficient memory (512mb) to capture every monument to the heroes and honored of the past.
    I see much that we can learn from such a city. I don't know if the culture truly believes or exhibits this but the structures throughout the city certainly do. Honor their past, I suppose it is easier for a country to do so with such a long and rich past, unlike ours. I haven't been touring on the East Coast to see our monuments and memorials to our past. I doubt it can or will be as inspiring as my travels from this weekend. I am stirred and left wondering what would it be like if I lived in such a place that I couldn't walk a mile and not pass 3 separate structures honoring the past?
    How do we honor our fallen? I remember reading about the WWII memorial when it was commissioned to be built. In the article it said that the average age of the sponsors reflected that is was the WWII veterans funding their own memorial. Is it just me or is there something wrong with that? One of the statues in Trafalgar Square, it was of Sir Charles James Napier has inscribed on it "erected by public subscription the most numerous contributors being private soldiers". I think it is fair to process that those were soldiers that served under him. What kind of leader was he that his own soldiers paid to have a memorial for him? Something that rings home in my world. I have had commanders on different spectrums of leadership style and method. To have one that the soldiers would initiate a memorial for, that is something to aspire for any leader.
    It was an great trip, despite the downfalls and costs. The experience gained is a small price to pay for something that reduces some electronic numbers in an account that represents cloth and digital signals we use to determine a person's wealth. Hardly what I would prescribe as being wealth.

The Hardest Part About the Gospel pt II

I was reading over some of my past writings to ensure I have not covered this coming topic fully or not to repeat what I have said before. I am too young to already be repeating stories already. I was thinking about some of the students I encountered in Slovakia that I hope to see again next month in Italy (the military students) as well as the close proximity to people in the field. What kind of faith do people live?

What a person lives is too often so far from what they claim to believe. I have had so much more understanding of St. Francis' quote I have in my headline, "Share the gospel always, when necessary use words." Without getting on too much of a rabbit trail I find it important to point out that everyone lives out their faith. Whether that faith can be recognized with any specific organized religion or not doesn't matter. Faith as Hebrews 11:1 states it is what we cannot see but put our hope towards. Even the denial of faith is faith that there is none.

As I mentioned in the Slovakia Blog, that I am not interested in convincing people to say a prayer that means something at the moment but will not likely last beyond the week. I also must be careful not to underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit working in someone from a week in God's presence. As I mentioned in the first part the majority of Americans believe themselves to be Christians, but so few know what it means to be a Christian.

Haunting over me I have Matthew 7:15-23 scrolling across my thoughts like a teleprompter. If people can prophesy, cast out demons and perform other miracles but not know Christ what about the rest of us? I have been far from ever able to perform a miracle, so for Jesus to have such harsh words about focusing on the acts and not on him is quite the stern warning. On one side it is comforting because it shows how much Christ cares about the personal relationship he seeks with us, our salvation is not based by our works. On the other side, when it comes to my daily failings in the Christian life, my will departing from Christ's it is the same kind of fear that would be instilled in a Hellfire and Brimstone sermon.

I recall a talk by Darin McWatters at Hume, he was described the individuality of Christianity. He said it would be great if all we needed to do to be set for eternity was to inform someone about Christ, or know Jesus name. The hurdle that someone must believe is so much further it is often frustrating. It is very easy to inform someone of some random fact or an important detail. To introduce someone to God on a personal level is difficult because we are so unfamiliar as a society with anyone taking a genuine interest in another person for non-selfish reasons.

For cabin time in Slovakia I would have one question that we would all go around in a the circle to answer, not so much as an icebreaker but it added a touch of personal investment into each member. I constantly emphasized to give a real answer to whatever the answer would be. As I phrased it, “be real, not like you're writing an essay or up for a pageant.” We have such common speech that to describe an active faith by speech alone is very difficult. I think the only thing that truly separated what I had to say was me being on the brink of tears trying to describe my relationship with Christ. Hopefully the guys could see my genuine sincerity about the discussions. I often find myself trying to be too intellectual about my faith when sharing it through conversation.

As other blogs have easily noted, I take a great appreciation being knowledgeable about my faith and issues of faith through apologetics and empirical knowledge. I have spent more time lately focusing on the importance of the heart within that faith. I cannot let one side take over so as I become a heartless Christian or a faithful buffoon. Looking at John 14:20-21 I read it that God requires our heart first and our minds will be answered in time.

How then do we be authentic in our faith enough to share it when asked, in accordance with 1 Peter 3:14-17? Is the gentleness and respect all that we must do when giving our reasons for our hope? I think not, if I had a well written essay about why I believe and carried it with me everywhere I went just in case someone asked me I would not think that to be what God demands of us. The personal aspect of sharing our testimony with someone adds what words often cannot describe. I think it is called authenticity.

I can write about the awesome sights I have seen in my travels, or my passions I pursue with my time, or even the euphoria I get from a good workout, but none of those are remotely close to feel if I could tell you about those things in person. That happens with things we care about. I am constantly told when I get talking about something I care about I get loud and very excited. Isn't that how we should be about things we care about? That is where there is so much more value in what we say and do than in what we claim.

Epilogue: Due to some travel difficulties on another weekend, as a form of punishment I was tasked to go on a field exercise instead of go to Italy. Sometimes that is how the cookie crumbles..

Prayer of Salvation: Expressway to Hell?

I am not aiming for a pure shock value title that will irritate/anger people's belief systems, if it does have such an effect maybe you might want to re-evaluate what it means to be a Christian. As it stands I think this is half a rant and half serious thoughts, let me know.

I have never been a fan of tracts, be it a quick tract with the Romans Road, or a simple way to argue against relativism, or even the simple layout that as sinners we are forever separated from God and the path to Salvation are steps A-D. You name it I am sure we've all seen at least one of each. I don't contest the content of the information, usually; it is the matter in which it is presented most of the time. It might be an effective method to spread Christian literature (if you'll give it that much credit) to mass numbers of people for pure exposure purposes. It might even be the first time people have ever heard of Jesus, but is this the way we ought to be striving to add to the family? There are many things that "better than nothing" are a sufficient answer to justify corny methods but are sharing the most important message one of those things we want to group into that category?

There are two main reasons I oppose such distribution/methods of advertising for God. First, I think it cheapens the message. Sure the Romans Road is handy to remember the scripture passages to show someone the very basics: where we are, what our condition is, and what we ought to do about it. Is that seriously the way we want to invite people into a relationship with Christ? Whenever presented with an opportunity that one is seriously considering what the Christian faith is and if they want to join I am weary about people that will say a prayer at a moment of emotional high. I question how many people have actually attempted to understand what the Romans Road actually states. I have heard too many times "say this prayer and you're in" or something to that effect. Along the same lines, I have known too many people that said that prayer but I see them from time to time and see no sign of Christ living in them. I think many evangelists need to reexamine how we handle the Gospel. Does a 10 page tract come close to describing our true situation and what Christianity is? At the same time we do need to start somewhere…

The military ministry is filled with such quick ways to God. I can look at the normal bulletins at this moment and see no less than 3 versions of how to get to God. Is this in case someone has a quick visit and the only thing they retained was the chapel bulletin? Are there not enough knowledgeable or prepared Christians that we want to refer people to a tract than talk to them like they matter? Why is the Christian religion so proliferated with such a cheap method to advertise our tenets? I recall the way the Jews were instructed to approach God, when the curtain was still up. I agree it is a wonderful thing that we can approach God directly, however are we walking into the Holy of Holies with a cup of coffee in hand and cell phone in an ear? Perhaps not physically but do we do it with that mentality?

I have seen people on street corners pass out New Testaments, flyers to a bible study, Christian tracts and everything in between. At first thought I see the people I get a similar sense as seeing a door to door salesman. I try to avoid eye contact, if convenient avoid contact altogether, if I absolutely must I will take what is being passed out and look through it. Examining the nearby garbage receptacles and one can gather how much of an impact the material is making. Then it usually hits me, we are on the same side... aren't we? When I agree with the reason that person is there giving their time and effort why don't I support them? I think the most logical answer to that question, do I really agree with what they are doing? Do we?

My second reason against such form of evangelism and more rooted to the title of this I think it is misleading. Find someone that has not heard a sermon about making Jesus their Savior and I will wonder if they have ever been to a church. Find a church that preaches “make Jesus your savior” and show me where it is in the Bible. Somewhere in the cheapening of the Gospel to make it more marketable I find the vast majority of my experiences teach a God that is not consistent with scripture. One of the forms that such weak teaching has manifested I consider the popular belief system termed "Moralist Theistic Deism". If we did an unofficial survey of our friends how many do you think would answer one of the following:

(A) I am a Christian because I go to church - Were the Pharisees Christians then?

(B) I am a Christian because I believe in God - Demons do that too (James 2:18-25)

(C) I am a Christian because I am an American - I am a Christian first (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)

I don't know if such common beliefs represent that people aren't listening to the message of the Church or if the Church is presenting the message so poorly that these ideas still prevail.

When the Gospel, the core of the Christian Faith, can be clipped down to a couple paragraphs and is often preached in that form is it a wonder that many people are confused about the theology, philosophy or mere moralistic implications that are consistent with Christ. I have never read in scripture that Jesus offers himself to be a Savior, I have seen that there are 37 instances in the Gospels that Jesus said "follow me"*. While "follow me" sounds perfectly logical for the role which Jesus offers himself to us, Lord; as comparable to the Lords and serfs of the feudal era, the Jesus I hear about from most people sounds more like a cosmic teddy bear than God.

As long as ministries focus on the Prayer of Salvation, I think we will only continue to produce confused people. Consider this, a person has not attended church nor come in contact with an active Christian. They come across a Gideon's bible in a hotel and start reading. At a certain point in their journey they come across the Prayer of Salvation, and pray it. They might leave the hotel with a new sense of freshness, a new lease on life. To say that the Holy Spirit entered them at that moment of prayer I do not know. What I do realistically believe is that they at most will be confused if they are indeed a Christian. I tend to personally wonder how much legalism is contained in Romans 10:5-13. According to Romans 6, at that moment they have the opportunity to be free from sin, knowing how to actually do so takes far more than reading several verses and saying a prayer.

While I know many of the tracts also contain a contact number, church address that people can get follow up upon their epiphany or further guidance but isn't that backwards from what Jesus said? Luke 24:44-50 describes that Jesus said "go" not "leave a contact so they can come". Where does this leave me then? Do I advocate getting rid of all pamphlets, tracts and other easily to distribute Christian literature? Not quiet, I think tracts can be useful for certain purposes, such as showing the logical failure of relativism, which could be done in a couple pages, or at least get it started enough that conversation would be initiated. I think that is the goal that we ought to attempt towards should be to engage people by whatever consistently Christian means possible.

It does concern me that Christ's message is delivered accurately, the main idea that has been encouraging me to write this is to ensure people know what they are getting themselves into when they want to become a Christian. A person thinking they are right with God is just has hazardous as a person that denies God. When the Christian life is attempted to be explained incompletely people don't know what they are signing on to and or don't live the life that speaks of Jesus. I know of the deceit that is used to enlist soldiers, if it was comparable to that of some salvation plans I have seen it would be like this

Consider Luke 14:25-25 that doesn't sound as simple as many try to advertise Christ to be. Ever see a tract with that passage in it?

*Note that Luke 1:3 is not Jesus speaking

Epilogue: As I reviewed this I found throughout the piece I discounted the ability of the Holy Spirit to lead someone to an authentic faith. I have heard numerous testimonies by missionaries confirming such miracles. At the same time, these reports have been reports of the miraculous, not the norm. It was necessary that I recognized the importance of the Holy Spirit throughout the process of faith and salvation. I would hope this process would be through an ongoing relationship with a Christian, not in the manner that I would describe as a Gospel Drive-By.