Have you heard the saying “if it doesn’t kill you, it will make you stronger?   It is similar to the saying “No pain No gain”.   Well believe it or not, that is actually a very Biblical principle.  God uses the difficult times, the pains and the suffering to build us up but just as importantly to help others and to do ministry,    This is exactly what James, the brother of the Lord says, in the first chapter of James, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

Jesus never said, "I have come that you should be happy." Actually, God is much more interested in making your life holy than He is in making you happy.    Happiness is fleeting; holiness has eternal value.   No pain, no gain is particularly relevent in building character.  We shouldn't expect that we can avoid pain and suffering as it is inevitable.   Embracing hardship and allowing God to use it to build us up and advance Godly purposes in our life makes us "mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:4)

Catholics vs. Protestants

In many families, people believe they can’t attend events at churches other than their own denominations. The Roman Catholic Church formalized this idea a number of times over the years, including in the St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism, which was first published in 1885.

The Catholics were not the first to put together a catechism. The lack of religious instruction that both the clergy and laity had dismayed Martin Luther, and he published Luther’s Large Catechism in 1529.

The Roman Catholic Church was slow to respond to Luther. After the Council of Trent, however, there was a renewed emphasis on education, particularly for the clergy. While early Catholic catechisms going back to the seventeenth century were for the clergy to read, not the laity, the Baltimore Catechism had an edition just for students.

My first Baltimore Catechism was probably a condensed version for elementary students. I remember it was green, and I kept it in my desk at school. It was likely an updated version of the original, but it still seemed old even back in the 1960s. The Baltimore Catechism consisted of lessons, a few prayers to memorize, and a number of questions.

The original catechism is now in the public domain, so I was able to find a couple of the questions and answers that dealt with this issue of visiting other churches, including joining a Cub Scout pack.

Q 205. How does a Catholic sin against faith?

A. A Catholic sins against faith by apostasy, heresy, indifferentism,
and by taking part in non-Catholic worship.

Q 206. Why does a Catholic sin against faith by taking
part in non-Catholic worship?

A. A Catholic sins against faith by taking part in non-
Catholic worship when he intends to identify himself
with a religion he knows is defective.

For hundreds of years, both Catholics and Protestants have taught that it is sinful, harmful, and dangerous to get too close to each other. This is so unfortunate, as there is so much we can learn from each other.

The Bible clearly tells us there is only one church, with Jesus as the head. In the Gospel of John, Jesus prayed for unity. He was praying for His disciples, but He included all of us:

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which
shall believe on me through their word; That they all may
be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they
also may be one in us: that the world may believe that you
have sent me. And the glory, which you gave me, I have
given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.
(John 17:20–21, NASB)

Many can relate to this struggle between Catholics and Protestants.

Religious persecution is no laughing matter, as the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) devastated much of Europe, and Germany lost literally one half of all of its young men in battles and the resulting pestilence and disease. This was not a war against barbarian pagans but with Christians drawing swords against other Christians. These were nations and kingdoms and cities led by kings who believed in God, understood the Trinity, embraced the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for their sins as a historical fact, yet found it appropriate to wage war against others who believed the same.

>>>>>>>>>>

The text above is from pages 2-4 in The Catholics and the Publics- Chapter 1 of "Roaming Catholics"  Picture at the top is Dominican nuns arriving at St. Joseph’s School in the early 1960s. Photograph in the public domain.

Was Peter the first Pope? Should Christians pray the Rosary?  Should priests be married?  These are among the provocative topics addressed in Roaming Catholics: Ending the wandering to embrace the wonder" 

This thoroughly researched book presents the development of the Catholic Church in an engaging way to help Christians understand their common history shared by all.  The apostle Paul referred to the church as the "Body of Christ," not the "Body of Christians."   Rather than Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female he proclaimed we are to be one in Christ. 

Pastor and theologian Kenneth Behr shares his own religious evolution from a Catholic altar boy to an evangelical pastor and engages readers with a parallel story of the evolution of Catholicism. 

Click here to buy (via Amazon) the book

Click here to buy (via Amazon) the study guide;   Study guide is available free via Kindle for Amazon Prime users

The Ultimate and Final Evil

We hear every week of Christians killed in Muslim majority countries.  Often the police in these countries will stand by as Christians are dragged out of their houses, churches are burned and property destroyed.  According to Open Doors, a worldwide ministry that serves the persecuted church, each month more than 300 Christians are killed because of their faith and over 200 churches are destroyed.  While there have been times when persecution has strengthened the church, persecution has also at times completely wiped out Christianity in large areas and left completely absent any witness for Jesus Christ.  

We should be concerned because these are our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We are reminded that the human rights to life and liberty are inalienable and need to be safeguarded regardless of the political divide.  We also care about persecution because we are told that we are one body.  In 1 Corinthians 12:26, the Apostle Paul said, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”

For the first five centuries, Christianity flourished in the Middle East. Modern day Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt and Turkey were known as the cradle of Christianity.  Three of the five Patriarchs (ruling Bishops) were those Bishops of Alexandria, Jerusalem and Antioch which were major centers and Christian philosophy and teaching.  However, by 641, followers of Muhammad conquered much of Egypt and destroyed the Library of Alexandria dating back to Alexander the Great.   Syria had fallen to the same Muslim armies a few years before and all the Middle East and North Africa were controlled by Muslim armies within 60 years.

Most non-Muslims don’t understand that Islam is not a religion, but as Dr. Peter Hammond, author of “Slavery, Terrorism and Islam,” noted in his book, “Islam has religious, legal, political, economic, social, and military components. The religious component is a beard for all of the other components.”

While Christianity has always and will always face persecution, the threat to Christianity and much of Western Civilization from Islamic religious, political and cultural demands is by far the greatest evil we have ever faced.   It is likely the Islam is the ultimate and final evil that will be brought to a conclusion by nothing less than the return of the King of Kings.

Stand Your Ground

There are many promises of Jesus that we can find in the Bible. While there are over 200, here are just a few: He promised that He would die and in three days rise from the dead.

He promised He would send the Holy Spirit and that He would come back again. He promised that He would draw all to himself. And finally but not least, He promised his followers that they would be hated and persecuted.                                                                              

Jesus said,

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles."  

"But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."  

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes." (Matthew 18:16-23)

Jesus tell us that we will be handed over, flogged, brought before governors and kings. We will be arrested, betrayed, hated and put to death. However, He tells us to 'stand our ground.' When we hear of 'Standing your ground' we may think about self-defense or being assertive or exercising our rights. However, this is not what Jesus means as this is all about our witness and our faith.

The context of the above verses is the 10th chapter of Matthew. Jesus is providing final instructions to His disciples. Jesus has been teaching them for three years and he's about to send them out. They have been following but soon will be on their own; He's giving them their job description. Just prior to these verses Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven has come near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.”(Matthew 10:8)

That’s a great charge to these disciples! Some commentators have said that this chapter 10 of Matthew is the disciples’ ordination ceremony. For those that may be unfamiliar, let me provide some insight.

Ordination is ‘setting apart the individual for the work of the ministry’. For churches and denominations that take this process seriously, there are very similar steps or processes. It begins with a selection process, an examination of the individuals, and then an examination of the individual’s credentials – typically both practical as well as academic or theological training. Finally, the candidate kneels and others that have gone before, often the elders and pastors, lay hands on the candidate.

I still remember the charge I was given when I was ordained: I was told to: 1) Love God,  2) Love His Word, and 3) Love His People. While there were a number of scripture verses that were recited during the service, one of the verses that was emphasized was in Acts 20:28-31

“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!”

I believe that that these verses in Acts 20:28-31 that are similar to Jesus instructions above in Matthew 18 are valuable instructions as well as warnings for ALL of us. Jesus said that while people are offered light, they will prefer darkness because their deeds are evil. That evil in the hearts of those that prefer darkness leads to the trials, the persecutions and the hate. When these attacks come, it can easily lead to compromise, silence, withdrawal and capitulation and surrender.

Our response however is to stand firm. We are to acknowledge Jesus before men and are promised that Jesus will acknowledge us before His father. We have the truth that sets people free, we are the light in the midst of darkness.

Stand your ground!

Rome, People of the Cross, and the Crusaders

Recently, I taught a college-level class called "The Story" that reviewed 2,000 years of church history to a very bright group of adults.  

It was the last class of nearly an 18-month journey that included classes on the Bible, leadership and ministry.  It was a favorite class of many of the students and we tried to not just inform but to challenge as well.

My co-instructor and I enjoyed teaching this Church history class, particularly with the fast pace that we had to journey through the early church, the rise of monasticism, the Middle Ages and Reformation.  In addition, each year we also spent some time on the various Crusades from the 11th to the 15th century.

The Crusades don't have the best reputation, likely deservedly.   At the same time, we tried to be faithful to tell the whole story including the rapid expansion of Islam beginning with their prophet Mohammed. Soon after the death of Muhammad in 632 AD, there were many military expeditions and a more aggressive posture interpreting the Jihad of Islam to be necessary.    Islam very quickly acquired territory militarily from Arabia into Egypt, the Middle East, all of North Africa and into the heart of Europe.

Regardless of the endless criticisms of the Crusades and/or the defense of the 'peaceful rule' of Islam the fact remains that by the time of the first Crusade in 1095 AD, Christianity had become strictly a European faith as three-quarters of what had been Christian territory in Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, North Africa and Hellenized Byzantium (Modern Turkey) had been wiped out by Islam.

Most scholars agree that other than the First Crusade, the remaining Crusades were largely unsuccessful.  Nearly all scholars forget to mention that Christianity had been fighting and losing a defensive war against Islam for more than 450 years.  Islamic Caliphates controlled more territory than Rome at its greatest expansion and the last and largest caliphate of Islam, the Ottoman Empire, wasn't dissolved until after World War I.

The most important lesson however is that this history lesson is still fresh in the minds of ISIS, the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and others of the same mind.   Note that the propaganda announcements by these groups often refer to vengeance against "Rome", "People of the Cross", and the "Crusaders."  

When Islamic radicals use these terms they are meant to be broad.   It's meant as a reference to the entire West.  In addition, it includes People of the Cross wherever they may be found leading to the brutal persecutions of Christians in Egypt, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran and Indonesia.   Jews are not forgotten in Islamic radicals hatred and persecution and are often singled out and murdered.

While scholars and historians may argue about the means of the expansion of Islam from the 7th through the 14th centuries, we are presently seeing the cruelest resurrection of Islamic barbarism.  This is truly the "Clash of Civilizations" framed by political scientist Samuel Huntington back in 1992.   It is also the worst representation of a religion that appears to be hijacked by those committed to evil and fueled by ill-informed ancient memories of religious wars best forgotten.