Reformed Theology... Who Needs It?

If you believe I John 2:27, I Corinthians 2:10-13, Nehemiah 9:20 John 16:13-14  is applied to the believer's life, there is no need for 'reformed' theology.

Reformed Theology in a nutshell is based on the doctrines of men. (Mainly the church fathers of the protestant reformation). Reformed thought also tries to connect cultural change through the church. On the surface it looks sound but dig a bit deeper and this 'new' study of God is found wanting.

Just take a look at the word, "reformed". To reform in the dictionary means to make a change (typically a social, political or economic institution or practice) in order to improve it.

I don't think the study of God or the Bible needs 'changing'. In fact, He doesn't change and that particular attribute is refreshing in light of this study. His constant, truthful identity is knowable in every generation (Psalms 89:1 and throughout history and time (Deuteronomy 7:9).

The study of God should be kept to perimeters that He sets up. If any changing is needed it is in the heart of man when he learns who God truly is. (Deut. 12:32,  Proverbs 30:6).

If God's Word is pure, infallible, inspired by The Lord Himself, and given to man with cohesive clarity do not these attributes explain the image and character of God? Why would we need to apply reformation techniques to this study?

Does our social, cultural and economic scene differ all that much from other historical periods? So much so, that we need to change with the times in order to reach people? What a slam to the gospel message and to our Almighty God. Either He can Do what He says He can do OR we just like getting in the way because it makes us feel good. (Galatians 1:10).

Reformed Theology likes to use church history and church fathers to support their theology. I love the study of history and how people react, interact or fail to act with God throughout time. We certainly can learn a lot and it is not a bad thing to study, apply lessons of people in history as encouraging second winds in our race to the eternal finish line, but we need to leave it at that. Reformed Theology's error is in relying to heavily on this. It is also our duty when we study to compare the thoughts of men to scripture and if there is delineation to reject it. Matthew 7:16. I John 2:6 warns us to walk as Jesus walked.

Why do we stop short of abundant living when we have DIRECT access to God through His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus said would come once He ascended to be with His Father? (John 14:15).

Let's look at history itself to prove we have the golden egg but would rather rely on rotten ones to find out about the nature of God.

Crucifix

A Short walk through History

0-450 A.D.
At the time of Jesus, The Romans culture dominated the world. The culture was depraved in every way imaginable. Hedonism abounded in all aspects of life. (Hedonism is the doctrine that pleasure and happiness is the highest good.  -Romans 1:31-32) Now we know that pleasure and happiness in itself is not a bad thing, but when it is overflowing into every part of life is a controlling factor, things get out of hand. In essence, the Romans used bad things to gain pleasure in their experiences.(The gladiators- entertaining violence at the cost of human life). The Roman Empire also was the most brutal in regards to conquering nations and Christians. Just think if the Roman scourge practice was implemented in America today.

Fast Forward to the Byzantine Era (Middle Ages)
From Constantine, Justinian, The Crusades to the Renaissance. The centuries from around 450 to 1400 A.D. experienced war, famine, feudalism, religious control, life expectancy was low. It was a tumultuous time of Man acting in the place of God for control.

The following, in my opinion, is a huge blessing in the course of human history. We should thank the Lord for the Gutenberg Press, in 1440.  The Bible could now be in the hands of every person who could read. This invention re-set the playing field for the oppressed but along with freedom came a new deception. (see below).

The Early Modern Era encompassed religious freedom through various reformations throughout 1450-1800. Martin Luther, John Calvin, William Tyndale all had strong influence in the fight for spiritual freedom. The blow back from this push for freedom was found in the Age of Enlightenment, a pre-cursor to New Age thought. (Note: Compare the Reformation of 1600 to the Early Church. HMM!)

Church history was of suppression, oppression and the Bible was still being held hostage by elitist religious circles.  A few small sects, like the Waldensians (1700) were able to hold to truth, but not without persecution or peril to life. (This is usually an indicator they actually followed God and not man). Note: Even the Waldensians fell in the later years. They brought in ecumenicism.

The Modern Era 1800 - present,  has been a battlefield for the mind through philosophy (relativism), revisionism, textual criticism, science as a religion and spiritual adultery. The Bible is now touted as a myth or a great moral book by secular and non-secular thought circles. The deceitful tainting of the Word of God continues. We have the most freedom to learn the truth of God at this point in history. We have easy access to the Bible, we have freedom to worship God and to study to show ourselves approved.

In a quick nutshell, from Jesus to present, the world has tried to control the truth of God through religion, doctrine of men, brutality, oppression and suppression. This evil presents itself in many forms throughout history.  We went from a separated Bible (Only the Jews had the Old Testament at the time of Jesus and then the New Testament was written shortly after Jesus' ascension.) The Canon (5th Century) brings OT and NT together, it is then controlled and suppressed, given wings and then controlled and suppressed again through textual criticism, false science and worldly philosophy.

Reformed Theology or Reformed Heart

I mentioned the invention of the Gutenberg Press unknowingly opened a door for a future deception. This deception is found in the many versions the Bible has been subjected to since it's open debut in 1440. Some scholars have done a decent job and others have butchered the real context and meaning of the scriptures. This documentary is a great resource on this subject.  (MUST WATCH!)

Think of all the culture, societal changes, economic turbulence throughout my very simple timeline and tell me where the entire Bible was not relevant to every event. I think if you look hard, the culture, society and economic issues really haven't changed that much from generation to generation. Sin is sin and human behavior is predictable. The deception just lies in how crafty one can get in changing the truth of God into a doubt, or a question.

The fact of the matter is God keeps his Word pure through all this history of mistreatment. (Psalms 12:6,8). If the text, word meaning, content of the Bible can survive throughout all human distortion and mishandling, I really don't think we have the right to 'reform' theology to any human standards.

We need to let the Bible stand in it's full glory in our time in history and not manipulate it to the system we live under. Let the chips fall where they may. The real 'reformation' needs to start in the heart of man.

Reformed Theology, think about it... it should make you shudder. The study of God doesn't need reforming. He is the great I AM. (Exodus 3:14-15, Isaiah 9:6, John 8:58). Hebrews 13:8 SAYS IT ALL. His BOOK says it all.

It is YOU and I who need reforming so that we can even understand who God is. (Galatians 4:8-9). This starts in the heart with repentance and changes our mind and will to His. Ephesians 5:15-21. I don't see outwards elements in this process (culture, society, economics). Once we submit to God's perfect character and will and we begin to transform inwardly, the outward tends to follow or grows less important. (Hebrews 12:2, Isaiah 26:2).

My point is, we don't need to follow a man (theologians, church fathers etc.) to know who God is, at this point, it is idolatry (I Samuel 8:7-8).  The Reformist may have had their purpose in history but do you worship them or God? Our Modern Era takes for granted the fact we have first, THE HOLY SPIRIT to teach us in all truth AND the complete Scriptures to support and confirm the truth of who God and Jesus are, why go to any other source?

With all that said, don't take my word for it... search these things out for yourself. Knowing God personally is what you were made for.  (Psalm 100:3) and He wants to keep you close. (Psalm 119:2 and Psalms 145:18).

Reformed Thought to Be Aware Of

Reformed Thought = Doctrine of Men: Authority of man's ideas and not Gods = IDOLATRY of self and intellect.

Gnosticism : Modern New Age thought follows this, contemplative spirituality, automatic writing...

Jesuits: Militant Catholicism, sneaky and deceptive priests who infiltrate other belief systems in order to bring universalist principles to fruition.

Calvinism: I agree with this video. Love my Calvinist friends, don't need to argue about it but this video speaks to the truth of the matter in my opinion. (part 1 of 8 videos... watch them all!) And then read this article... The Enigma of Calvinism.

Questioners of Reformed Thought

Dean John Burgon

David Hunt


My last question to think about: WHO is the Head of the CHURCH? And are you truly submitted?

This video was convicting and encouraging...WOW!

Just so you know, I am NOT perfect. I make mistakes, I study and God convicts and corrects me often. I too have fallen into traps and thank the Lord He has shown me my error. I hope by reading this post, one can see I speak from conviction and not a 'know-it-all" or a "I'm right" mentality. This is my focus...when we let the Holy Spirit truly guide us in all truth, NOTHING can compare in the richness of it! This is me sharing my transformation in Christ, a work of my heart being reformed from sin and it is a beautiful thing to talk about!

And one more thing, I have prayed about Titus 3:11. My BOLD statement can cause ruffling to some folks. My intention is not to do that.  I just like discussing what I learn and can leave well enough alone. Arguments are not my goal. I am truly not that type of person. There is a fine line between discussing, challenging, spurring toward faith and causing discord. I do know the difference!

Full History Documentary by Christian J. Pinto

Great Article For Thought

More Reformed Error

The Contradiction...  What a mess the doctrine of man is!

A History... EXCELLENT on why MAN needs to keep to BIBLICAL truth...

Question for Thought:

How did Abraham know and understand God?

Head and Heart: Yearning For The Mind of Christ

How does one write down all the details of a very active walk with God when life feels like a rubber band being stretched and released and stretched some more? During the pull and release process the strands snap back with a stinging wound, to the point you just say keep pulling, it's easier during the stretch phase than feeling the pain of the re-coil.

Walking with God for most of my life has taught me He does want to fine tune His creation. The refining tool he uses; trials, tests, suffering, all have purpose in bringing His work into finer focus. Artists, potters, metal smiths know this process well and they know getting there isn't pretty.

Even when you are pliable in God's hands, there is pain involved in the shaping of your material structure. Pressing and pushing on your form with just enough pressure seems unbearable, the smelting fire drains you but you let Him do it regardless because He knows the outcome.

It is always an issue of full, unguarded, helpless trust to allow the handiwork of God in your life. When He redeemed you and called you His child you were no longer your own (Galatians 2:20). You are now His to do with as He pleases. We tend to forget that from time to time when the refining process gets tough.

Rubber Band 

Head and Heart: A Struggle

There are times when we've studied the scripture, read it, committed it to heart as an act of worship, as a discipline, as a rote item to check off a list or for the sheer beauty of it. Countless reasons can enter my mind as to why the Bible is important in our walk with God. Every effort we make is a good effort.

We must remember though that the Holy Spirit brings a dynamic to our time with scriptures that only He can do. Before I get ahead of myself, I must talk about head knowledge and heart knowledge.

I was reading Thomas Jefferson's letter to Maria Cosway, his romantic interest while traveling abroad the other day, titled Head and Heart, when I realized how Christians tend to fall into the battle over which one is right as they follow Christ. We can read the scripture and come away with an academic, historical, literary understanding of the text. This is the Head knowledge we all are capable of obtaining. We also can read the scripture and come away with a poetic, emotional, circumstantial understanding of the text. This is the Heart knowledge we are all capable of obtaining.  Sometimes we go into reading the scripture with preconceived Head and Heart knowledge obscuring the study with our very human views and experiences.  This Head and Heart knowledge sure can leave us in a pickle. Thomas Jefferson certainly felt like a mini war was going on inside Him.

This is the beauty of the Holy Spirit's work. He is the only one that is able to take that Head and Heart knowledge and balance it so it makes sense and when that happens you are ALIVE. He is our teacher, our guide (Hebrews 4:12). He is able to make us understand the depths of God. He is what makes us spiritually ALIVE. He connects the Head and the Heart in harmony, making the make-up of the redeemed soul strong. He is our balancer.

How does he do this amazing connections that brings wholeness? It does take a Head and Heart that is willing to submit fully to His still small voice. Once we learn to listen to Him and trust that He is about changing us for the better, rectifying the truth within the Head and Heart will take an act of obedience, either through performing a task, a submission of will or even a sacrifice of some sort. All this 'giving up' of self is ALWAYS replaced with Christ likeness. A much better deal than the mini-battles inside of us or the way of death which is spiritual blindness.

Head and Heart: Belief Starts in the Mind and Leads to Faith (complete trust in God)

The imbalance of the Head leads to arrogance, pride and worshipping your intelligence. The imbalance of the Heart leads to emotional instability, anxiety, depression.  Without taking every thought captive to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5), we can find ourselves in wrong thought processes for both realms of the mind.

Let us not be like 2 Timothy 3:7, always learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth.
Let us not be like James 1:6 doubters who are tossed about like the waves of the sea.

Let us fully prostrate our whole person and allow 2 Timothy 1:7 to reign in our lives. "For the Spirit of God does not make us timid but gives us power, love and self discipline."

The Holy Spirit's amazing work balances the Head and the Heart through cleansing and testing to equip us for an abundant life.

Head and Heart: Healthy Symbiosis

When we allow the Holy Spirit to change us, teach us, through the submission of our entire being to Him, we are changed into beautiful vessels who shine the light of God's truth into a dark world.  We become healthy in mind, (Head and Heart). God uses the emotions and intellect He gave you to experience Him to the fullest with benefits beyond our comprehension!

Verses to THINK upon

Ephesians 2:10

Matthew 5:8

Acts 15:9

Psalms 51:10

Mary's Trust in God

I just can't seem to shake this habit of writing about Mary the mother of Jesus during the Christmas season. It is our tradition to read Luke Chapter 1 and 2 on Christmas Eve to remember the facts of the miraculous fulfillment of prophecy about our Lord and Savior, Jesus.

This year I found some old thoughts about Mary in my journal from 1994. It is regarding her thoughts about Jesus. I find it very interesting she was able to witness the life of Jesus lived out from day one.  Her life must have been very rich having the Son of God in the flesh grace her household.

Think about the miraculous events surrounding the house of Joseph and Mary. They knew the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus were fulfilled through them. God using their life for His purpose; they were blessed. (Remember, the word blessed means God's involvement in your life and you recognizing it.)

Nativity Scene: Georgetown, TX
Photo By: Chandra Brown

Here is a short list of prophecies fulfilled in the household of Joseph:

1. The messiah would be born of a virgin: Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:18
2. The messiah would be born in Bethlehem: Micah 5:2, Luke 2:4 (Prophecy written approximately 6 centuries before Christ was born)
3. The Messiah would possess a dual nature (hypostatic union); Isaiah 9:6, John 1:49,11:27
4. The Messiah's birthplace would suffer a blood purge: Jeremiah 31:15, Matthew 2:17,18
5. The Messiah would be carried to Egypt as an infant: Hosea 11:1, Matthew 2:15

It says in Luke 2:19, Mary quietly treasured those things in her heart and often thought about them. This was at the time of Jesus' birth. In Luke 2:51, again it says Mary stored away the things she witnessed concerning Jesus in her heart. This time He was a bit older and she was amazed at His obedience and the things He was saying in the Temple after he was found in Nazareth after three days of searching for their 'missing' son. 

As a mother it must have been difficult to grapple with the future fulfillment of prophecy as it became known to her. Simeon, an elderly follower of God who knew he would not die until he saw the Savior, held Jesus as a baby in his arms and prophesied to Mary and Joseph the turmoil that lay ahead. Luke 2:34- "A sword shall pierce your soul, for this child shall be rejected by many in Israel, and to this their undoing." 

Thoughts As We Read Luke

To think of the ultimate joy and the deepest sorrow felt by Mary as she let God use her life towards His purpose; from the tumultuous scandal of a virgin birth with the accusations that come with it, the torment of heart and shaky trust in the relationship with her betrothed. 

THEN GOD slips in a little comfort when she visits her pregnant family member, Elizabeth and they rejoice in the knowledge of the truth they are living in.

God understands the dilemma of such a situation in the fallen, human world and sends angelic beings ministering to Joseph to strengthen Him in making the correct decision towards Mary.

Oh the struggle in traveling away from close family and birthing your first baby in an unfamiliar setting.

THEN GOD slips in a little comfort in the form of recognition and celebration by sending shepherds, wise men bringing gifts, and angels praising the wonderful occurrence; the invitation was the Bright Star. 

Mary and Joseph were figuring out this new baby/toddler thing when King Herod becomes jealous and stirs up an evil plot to secure his power by killing all children under the age of two as a legal decree throughout the land. God understands the dilemma and sends Joseph a warning dream and Mary and Joseph are now, parents with a toddler traveling to a distant, far-off land with barely anything in their packs and with no job secured when they get to their new home. Oh the stresses of marriage and parenthood! 

Fast forward a few years and Mary and Joseph are living in Nazareth, with more children. They decide to go to Jerusalem and they lose Jesus for three days, oh the anxiety and worry. They must have felt like awful parents. BUT GOD slips in and had Jesus at the Temple safe and doing what he wanted Him to do.

The story goes on, I urge you to read the full account of Jesus' life, I hope what He is and what He has done for you jumps off the page and grabs your soul and you'll ponder the things He has done and promises to do in your heart as Mary did.

For Speculation Sake:

I wonder if Mary ever thought something like this…..

I gave birth to God the one who created me and gave me life.

I feed the one who provides for me.

I give the one who cleanses me a bath.

VIDEO:
I Love your heart Mr. McGee!!!

The Earth Is Eternal

Photo Credit: Nasa, Apollo 13
"The Earth in the Age of Grace"

Here I go again bugging my friends and family with something that I’ve learned and just can’t keep to myself. Have you ever felt compelled to share some news that you’ve learned out of sheer excitement?

I am elated when a wrong doctrine I have held from previous religions teachings or a wrong thought from my own fleshly devices has been brought under the scrutiny of Jesus’ truth and revealed to me so I can submit and change to what He says is true. (Colossians 2:8)

I want to share this specific encounter with God’s truth because the thoughts I had seem to be a main theme talked about in current times in both religious circles and secular circles as well. It is a big topic; this phrase comes with a lot of emotion backed to it. People take this very seriously and many sermons and articles have had countless hours put into them about this subject, and it is one that can keep you from experiencing the full joy God has intended if it is not understood correctly.

The big topic on many minds and has been a recent subject many discuss especially with the current events in the Middle East is “The End Times”.

Let me tell you the wrong thinking I had about this subject and then you can decide if you relate and can read on. Maybe I am one of the few who thought this way and you’ll think, “Where did she get this concept, duh, Chandra how could you think that way”? But I have a feeling many people may have had the same problem I have, so I’ll just explain and go from there.

Anytime I heard or read or listened to preaching about “End Times” I would get this feeling of doom and gloom. It seemed so “final” and I would envision the hobo standing on Times Square in New York with his sign stating “the end of the world” is near. Somehow the phrase “end times” and “end of the world” inter-meshed to mean one in the same. When I heard anyone talk about this subject I would feel fear and hopelessness, wouldn’t you, when you thought the earth was going to be done and gone and void of human life? I would equate this with the end of the human race, the oblivion of the earth and any one who died just lived in heaven or hell, but there was still a nagging sadness at the thought that the earth was no more. I’ve always struggled with this and always thought something was missing.

I’ll throw a jab at myself here, a few brain cells must have been missing. Ha! I’ll blame my youth, it’s the easiest target, but something WAS missing and it was the full truth. The nagging feeling, I should have known was the Holy Spirit trying to get me to let Him show me what that full truth was. Ya know, He does have your best interest at heart.

Then during a discussion about this subject, a light bulb came on. Have you ever had a very slow computer, one that slowly loads information and then you call the Geek squad out and they get it going to full speed and you wonder how in the world did you get anything done on that old, slow version? Well, this is how the full truth finally hit me. I have been studying biblical passages, tweaking things along the way that the Lord has shown me needs changing. This discussion was like the Geek Squad because as I began to talk about what I was learning the thought hit me, “the end times is just that, the end of a time, the end of an age, it has nothing to do with the end of the big physical ball we call earth. In fact, the earth is eternal.”

This is where explanation is due, how can I say the earth is eternal when 2 Peter 3:10-13 talks about the heavens passing away and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up? (This is where a good teacher in the language of the Bible comes in really handy and I’m glad I have someone like that.) The more I study the Bible the more I understand the importance of context, history and original word study.

In order to fully grasp what Peter is talking about, one must also look at Isaiah 65:17 and 66:22-24. In the New American Standard verse 65:17 reads, “behold I create a new heavens and earth, 66:22 read, “which I make” verse 17 had a little mark at the top of the word create, so I looked it up in the Greek/ Hebrew lexicon. The word was ‘Asah’ the basic meaning is “to do” or “make”; in creations context ‘asah’ is a broad scope and deals with refinement. This word is used to define God’s creative activity. BINGO, did that explanation hit you between the eyes like it did me? It doesn’t mean a complete, new act of creating something from nothing, it means an act of refinement, taking something that is there and making it better.

Not only did this help me understand this intense heat that melts the elements isn’t going to annihilate the earth, just change it; the following verse solidified this notion, Isaiah 66:24 talks about man going forth to look on the corpses of the men who transgressed against The Lord after this intense heat is finished. If believers are able to see the corpses on earth the earth has to still be here.

Then a more complete picture comes into view as you read Revelation 21:1-8. Awhile ago I thought when we die or are raptured we go to heaven and stay there. The Holy Spirit dissolved this wrong thinking in verse 2- 3, in verse 2 The Holy City comes down out of heaven, and in verse 3 “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people.” The earth is eternal because God changes it so the city can come down from heaven and He dwells with men here. There has to be something here for the city to come down to.

And then what about Hell, it is a place on Earth. If Earth is utterly gone, a void in space, hell would be gone too, but that is not what scripture says. Revelation 21 verse 8 describes hell as being still here as a warning and reminder.

Another word that helped me see the full truth was the word for “world” is kosmos. Kosmos is “social system” and is used to describe a culture or race. The end of the “world” is the end of all the man manipulated systems that involve our daily lives and have nothing to do with God’s social system. It will be a breathe of fresh air when all the systems that hinder us from knowing God will be burned away forever. And sadly, men will die and their soul’s sent to the Lake of Fire because they chose to rebel against God’s plan, now that is something to look at with doom and gloom. A believer’s perspective should be one of rejoicing.

Can you imagine the sigh of relief, the extreme weight lifted off my shoulders knowing that Jesus the author of history, planned time down to the last detail and it included changing Earth into a place where tears are wiped away, no mourning or pain, death is overcome and God resides among men. (Revelation 21:4-6)Yes, “heaven” (or at least its attributes) will be a place on Earth, a place I speculate is hard for us to truly imagine in our finite mind.

Maybe you read this and think, ‘Duh, why would you ever have been so confused?” Or maybe you can relate and can now rejoice that when you hear the all too familiar phrases, The End of the World is near or, The End of Days is upon us, you will understand that yes, a time is coming to a close so another can take its place. And the next age is always moving towards Restoration of God’s original plan.

I have been reveling in the Joy of this truth. Christ’s message is always one of hope for mankind.
Romans 8:28-39… “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose…For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”