Category Archives: The Christian Life
A Strong Argument Against Calvinisim? Part 2 You Decide….
Over here at Not For Itching Ears we like to discuss issues that challenge our view of Christianity and the Church. It is healthy to consider what one believes about the Christian faith and how we express that faith in our corporate church life. If all we ever do is listen to ourselves, we can inadvertently become the kind of people Paul warned Timothy about: People who surround themselves with “teachers who say what their itching ears want to hear.” Today’s post is an attempt to counter that tendency among us as we discuss Free-Will and Determinism. To do this, we turn to an extremely interesting email exchange between Father John Whiteford (an Eastern Orthodox priest) and some proponents of Calvinism.
This isn’t your typical argument! Father Whiteford brings another line of argumentation to his view that is almost entirely absent from the typical back and forth between Calvinists and Arminians: What did the early church fathers teach about this?
I recognize that there are three groups of people who will read a post like this: 1) Strong Calvinists who will want to defend their view. 2)Strong Arminians who will want to find ammo for their view and 3) those who don’t have their minds made up but may lean to one understanding of things. My hope, is that all three groups of people will be challenged and encouraged. It’s a long discussion so I will be breaking it up into three posts. Read Part 1 Here; here’s part 2: Read the rest of this entry
A Strong Argument Against Calvinisim? Part 1 You Decide….
Over here at Not For Itching Ears we like to discuss issues that challenge our view of Christianity and the Church. It is healthy to consider what one believes about the Christian faith and how we express that faith in our corporate church life. If all we ever do is listen to ourselves, we can inadvertently become the kind of people Paul warned Timothy about: People who surround themselves with “teachers who say what their itching ears want to hear.” Today’s post is an attempt to counter that tendency among us as we discuss Free-Will and Determinism. To do this, we turn to an extremely interesting email exchange between Father John Whiteford (an Eastern Orthodox priest) and some proponents of Calvinism.
This isn’t your typical argument! Father Whiteford brings another line of argumentation to his view that is almost entirely absent from the typical back and forth between Calvinists and Arminians: What did the early church fathers teach about this?
I recognize that there are three groups of people who will read a post like this: 1) Strong Calvinists who will want to defend their view. 2)Strong Arminians who will want to find ammo for their view and 3) those who don’t have their minds made up but may lean to one understanding of things. My hope, is that all three groups of people will be challenged and encouraged. It’s a long discussion so I will be breaking it up into three posts. Now, let the Discussion begin… Read the rest of this entry
A Compelling Argument AGAINST Sola Scriptura? (The Scriptures Alone) Part 4
I just couldn’t resist reposting this article by Father John Whiteford, who happens to be an Eastern Orthodox priest. If you are a Protestant like me, then you may have never even heard of the Orthodox church, I know I had not. I am very grateful that I have discovered them. The following is a very well thought out rejection of one of the cornerstones of the Protestant Reformation: Scripture Alone. Read it with an open mind and then share your thoughts with the rest of us. I think he makes some good points. It is a very long article, so I broke it up into 4 parts. Here’s the fourth and final part:
Read part 1 HERE,
Read Part 2 here,
Read part 3 here:
THE ORTHODOX APPROACH TO TRUTH
“When, by God’s mercy, I found the Orthodox Faith, I had no desire to give Protestantism and its “methods” of Bible study a second look. Unfortunately, I have found that Protestant methods and assumptions have managed to infect even some circles within the Orthodox Church. The reason for this is, as stated above, that the Protestant approach to Scripture has been portrayed as “science.” Some in the Orthodox Church feel they do the Church a great favor by introducing this error into our seminaries and parishes. But this is nothing new; this is how heresy has always sought to deceive the faithful. As Saint Irenaeus said, 
as he began his attack on the heresies current in his day:
By means of specious and plausible words, they cunningly allure the simple-minded to inquire into their system; but they nevertheless clumsily destroy them, while they initiate them into their blasphemous opinions….
Error, indeed, is never set forth in its naked deformity, lest, being thus exposed, it should at once be detected. But it is craftily decked out in an attractive dress, so as, by its outward form, to make it appear to the inexperienced (ridiculous as the expression may seem) more true than truth itself.18
Lest any be mistaken or confused, let me be clear: the Orthodox approach to the Scriptures is not based upon “scientific” research into the Holy Scriptures. Its claim to understand the Scriptures does not reside in its claiming superior archaeological data, but rather in its unique relationship with the Author of the Scriptures. The Orthodox Church is the body of Christ, the pillar and ground of the Truth, and it is both the means by which God wrote the Scriptures (through its members) and the means by which God has preserved the Scriptures. The Orthodox Church understands the Bible because it is the inheritor of one living tradition that begins with Adam and stretches through time to all its members today. That this is true cannot be “proven” in a lab. One must be convinced by the Holy Spirit and experience the life of God in the Church.
The question Protestants will ask at this point is who is to say that the Orthodox Tradition is the correct tradition, or that there even Read the rest of this entry
Monday Mornings with The Early Church Fathers: How to “do” Church, How to choose pastors, and What the last Days will be like
Do you ever grow weary of all the new fads and techniques the modern church creates? I do! What is important to us, may not have been important to those who were personally discipled by Jesus Christ and those whom they disicpled.
I am continually challenged when I read the history and the writings of the early church. I am drawn to them over and over again because of how close they were in time to the Apostles. Their writings are not scripture, but neither are the writings of Luther, Calvin or John Stott. These writings shed tremendous light on how the Apostles and the early church viewed the Christ event and the implications of it. Anyone who wants to follow Jesus Christ faithfully owes it to themselves to read the writings of these Godly men.
Today, I am posting chapters 9 and 10 of the “Didache”, also known as “The Teaching of The Twelve Apostles.” It is one of the most fascinating documents to emerge from the early church. It was probably in circulation somewhere close to the end of the first century Read the rest of this entry
“Evangelical Christianity Can BEST be described as…………” Take our Poll and tell the World
How would you best describe Evangelical Christianity? We have assembled some of the most common descriptions of EC in our poll. Taking the poll is easy. You can choose more than one answer, so feel free to combine answers. You can not add your own description to the poll, but you can leave comments. We intend to Read the rest of this entry
Mondays with The Early Church Fathers: Their Criteria for Identifying False Teachers and False Prophets
Do you ever grow weary of all the new fads and techniques the modern church creates? I do! What is important to us, may not have been important to those who were personally discipled by Jesus Christ and those whom they disicpled.
I am continually challenged when I read the history and the writings of the early church. I am drawn to them over and over again because of how close they were in time to the Apostles. There writings are not scripture, but neither are the writings of Luther, Calvin or John Stott. These writings shed tremendous light on how the Apostles and the early church viewed the Christ event and the implications of it. Anyone who wants to follow Jesus Christ faithfully owes it to themselves to read the writings of these Godly men.
Today, I am posting chapters 11-13 of the “Didache”, also known as “The Teaching of The Twelve Apostles.” It is one of the most fascinating documents to emerge from the early church. It was probably in circulation somewhere close to the end of the first century Read the rest of this entry
Monday Mornings with The Early Church Fathers: Their Thoughts on Baptism, Communion and Prayer
Do you ever grow weary of all the new fads and techniques the modern church creates? I do! What is important to us, may not have been important to those who were personally discipled by Jesus Christ and those whom they disicpled.
I am continually challenged when I read the history and the writings of the early church. I am drawn to them over and over again because of how close they were in time to the Apostles. There writings are not scripture, but neither are the writings of Luther, Calvin or John Stott. These writings shed tremendous light on how the Apostles and the early church viewed the Christ event and the implications of it. Anyone who wants to follow Jesus Christ faithfully owes it to themselves to read the writings of these Godly men.
Today, I am posting chapters 7-9 of the “Didache”, also known as “The Teaching of The Twelve Apostles.” It is one of the most fascinating documents to emerge from the early church. It was probably in circulation somewhere close to the end of the first century Read the rest of this entry
What Does God Want From the Human Race?
What Does God Want From the Human Race?
Does He want us to believe the right things or act the right way? Is His primary concern that we believe the right doctrine or that we behave the right way? Does He want us to hold to and defend until death the “correct” teaching about Him? Or is God more concerned with how we choose to live our lives?
Does it please God more when we give ourselves to study every facet of his character, diving into the deep end of the pool to contemplate God in all his glorious ways or when we devote our lives to living according to those ways? Put another way, do you think that God was more pleased with John Calvin Read the rest of this entry
Monday Mornings with The Early Church Fathers: The Didache
Do you ever grow weary of all the new fads and techniques the modern church creates? I do! What is important to us, may not have been important to those who were personally discipled by Jesus Christ and those whom they disicpled.
I am continually challenged when I read the history and the writings of the early church. I am drawn to them over and over again because of how close they were in time to the Apostles. There writings are not scripture, but neither are the writings of Luther, Calvin or John Stott. These writings shed tremendous light on how the Apostles and the early church viewed the Christ event and the implications of it. Anyone who wants to follow Jesus Christ faithfully owes it to themselves to read the writings of these Godly men.
Today, I am posting chapters 5 and 6 of the “Didache”, also known as “The Teaching of The Twelve Apostles.” It is one of the most fascinating documents to emerge from the early church. It was probably in circulation somewhere close to the end of the first century Read the rest of this entry
Sunday Morning Funnies: Can You Come up with A Great Caption for This Photo?
I drove by a church in my town today and saw this sign. After rear-ending the guy in front of me, exchanging insurance information, and calling the tow truck, I had time to take the photo. I tried and tried to come up with a caption for this one that was funny. Here are a few examples: “Pastor Steve Boldly Implements His New Church Growth Plan” or “Church Animal Outreach Produces Unwanted Offerings” or “Could This Be the Next Great Awakening?” In the end, I couldn’t come up with anything I liked.
So, we are asking our readers to give it their best shot. Can you come up with a good caption/title for this photo? Submit your best idea in the comment section below.
This is THE ONE Bible Every Christian Should Own…!
“SELL YOUR BED AND BUY BOOKS!”
That’s what my Homiletic’s professor declared to the whole class. Another student had asked what we should do if we wanted to be good pastors. “Get books, big books, thick books, good books, lots of books and read them. Sell your bed if you have to, but get books and read!” Much to the chagrin of my young bride, I bought that one hook, line and sinker. His admonition helped to forever alter the course of my money. My freshmen year in college I bought over $700 worth of Biblical reference works (back in the mid 80’s!) that I was not required to have for class! I didn’t sell the bed (though I would have definitely traded it for Kittel), but I did eat a lot of popcorn for breakfast. So began my love affair with books.
It would be my Greek teacher who would have the most profound impact on me. It happened when he uttered this statment on the first day of class:
“Your challenge is not that the people in your congregation WON’T believe what you teach. Your challenge is that many people in the congregation will Read the rest of this entry
Monday Mornings with The Early Church Fathers
Do you ever grow weary of all the new fads and techniques the modern church creates? I do! What is important to us, may not have been important to those who were personally discipled by Jesus Christ and those whom they disicpled.
I am continually challenged when I read the history and the writings of the early church. I am drawn to them over and over again because of how close they were in time to the Apostles. There writings are not scripture, but neither are the writings of Luther, Calvin or John Stott. These writings shed tremendous light on how the Apostles and the early church viewed the Christ event and the implications of it. Anyone who wants to follow Jesus Christ faithfully owes it to themselves to read the writings of these Godly men.
Today, I am posting chapters 1-4 of the “Didache”, also known as “The Teaching of The Twelve Apostles.” It is one of the most fascinating documents to emerge from the early church. It was probably in circulation somewhere close to the end of the first century Read the rest of this entry
Free Prayer: Urgent Prayer Request
This prayer request just came into the NotForItchingEars Free Prayer line. If you pray, please take a moment and pray for Roesans situation.Prayer Request: There is a file at work that it missing. We now have a subpoena from the police department to locate it. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will direct, lead and guide us to locate this file. If it is not found I will be fired because I do the filing. If I lose this job I will lose everything, the company will be sanctioned and the ramifications will be so severe I could land up in jail or worse. Please pray in earnest for me that the Lord will have mercy on me and that His wrath will not fall upon me and we locate that missing file. Thank you. Isaiah 54:17
“Father, we humbly ask that you would help Rosean find this missing file. Give her and her co-workers to wisdom to know where and where not to look. In Jesus name we pray, Amen!”
Worship: Is it a Life Well-Lived or a Chorus Well-Sung?
We love to discuss those things we are passionate about, don’t we? Be it our favorite football team (THE Washington Redskins), politics, sports, movies, cultural issues. Heck we even argue about beer! Remember the Miller Lite commercials? For years, Miller Lite drinkers, including the likes of Rodney Dangerfield and John Madden, bickered back and forth on our TV sets. The argument? What made Miller Lite such a great beer. Some said the drink tasted great. Others said it was less filling. Though they were very entertaining commercials, it makes one wonder: Don’t we have anything better to discuss than beer?
Of course we do! Over here at Not For Itching Ears, we’ve been spending a lot of time talking about a topic that is higher up the food chain: Worshipping God. If you read these posts (millions of people do each hour) Read the rest of this entry
Why I Read the Early Church Fathers and You Should Too!
“Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.”
Or so the saying goes. In essence it means that those who don’t consider the past, when making choices in the present, will likely arrive at similarly bad conclusions. This phrase strikes a chord with many. Perhaps it is because we tend to always look forward, seldom pausing to consider the past. Part of our DNA seems to include the belief that the next best thing is just up on the horizon. Who can blame us? Isn’t it often true? At least with technology it is. The next generation computer, or Iphone or IPad is going to be better than the previous one. Things we build seem to improve over time, as we discover new ways of making them faster, smaller, bigger, cheaper, and more reliable.
Many within the evangelical Christian community seem to adopt this same belief when it comes to understanding Christianity and how that applies to our corporate lives. We are often looking for the next thing, God’s next move, a “new and improved, better than the old” way of Read the rest of this entry
Has The Church Become the Newest Contestant on “American Idolatry”
“If it feels good, do it!”
This catch phrase, introduced in the 1960’s, has become a well established creed in American culture. It now appears that the American church has adopted a similar slogan: “If it makes people feel good, we should use it.” And are we ever! Today church leaders of every persuasion are trying all kinds of new methods in order to fill the pews. If something we do succeeds in drawing more people into services then it “works” and is therefore good, right, and stamped with the very approval of God Himself. Because as we all know, God wants people in pews. Or so the story goes. But are these new methods approved by God himself?
One of the things we should be clear about… Read the rest of this entry
Worship Leading Gone Wild: What Can Happen When Worship Becomes A Song…..
Sometimes the truth contained in satire can pierce like a sword. The scene this video portrays about worship leading gone bad is one of those times. After I stopped laughing, I began to ache. This is how things truly are in some circles. In many churches that I have visited over the past 3 years, it seems that simply getting people to sing is the goal. It doesn’t matter what we actually sing about, Read the rest of this entry
How Contemporary Christian Music and the Seeker-Sensitive Movements Failed a Generation
“It’s 1994, and Michael Stipe recently lost his religion. It’s before Bieber and bling, before ordering a latte required six qualifying adjectives. In coffeehouses across the country, bored teens slouch on thrift-store couches nodding along to the Cranberries’ “Zombie.” Weezer breaks into the alt-rock scene with the Blue Album; Green Day tops the charts with the first punk rock song to whine about a lousy therapist. In April, hordes of fans gather in Seattle Park to mourn the death of Kurt Cobain. A few months later, 350,000 people make the pilgrimage to Read the rest of this entry
Not For Itching Ears 