The last few months have brought an assortment of curious articles about “religion” to the public’s attention. These are in no particular order and are not especially related, except for various levels of humor that characterize each one.
Now Lyons is in even worse trouble. According to The Dallas Morning News, he was accused “in a federal indictment of cheating corporations out of $5 million dollars to buy cars, jewelry and other luxuries” (7-3-98, 4A). He was charged with “56 counts of fraud, extortion, money laundering, conspiracy and tax evasion. He faces a maximum 815 years in prison and $25 million in fines.”
Sounds like his operating credo is, “There’s a sucker born every minute,” rather than any Scriptural principle, such as “through love serve one another” (Gal. 5:13).
The article continues: “Mr. Lyons is accused of using his leadership position to solicit contributions that he spent to support a lavish life-style, including country club memberships, trips, cars, jewelry and houses.”
It turns out that the house his wife set on fire (a modest $700,000 abode) was co-owned by Bernice Edwards. She too has been indicted, and we now know that she was a former convicted embezzler. At the time these events came to light she was the director of public relations for the denomination’s annual convention.
Of course, nothing has been proven yet; the indictment came only after a grand jury investigated these matters for an entire year. No doubt there is a perfectly rational explanation for the lavish life-style, the jewelry, and an extra house here or there. These things happen all the time. Or maybe he was framed. These kinds of accusations could be made against nearly anyone. Personally, we will withhold judgment until a jury renders a verdict.
And we are confident that the Baptists will remain loyal to this man. They probably know him better than total strangers who just read a few superfluous, sensational details in the newspaper.
Since the Baptists seem to have so much trouble with their national conventions, maybe they would like to reconsider the Scripturalness of being a denomination in the first place, let alone having national conventions. How grateful we ought to be for church autonomy!
In a decision designed to resolve an issue that split the Western Christian world nearly 500 years ago, the Vatican said Thursday that it will sign a joint declaration with the world’s Lutherans affirming that Catholics and Lutherans share a basic understanding of how human beings receive God’s forgiveness and salvation (15A).
Wow! Does this mean that Catholics will no longer light candles and pay for their relatives to get out of purgatory, or will Lutheran ministers begin giving “last rites” to the dying? No, they have come to agree that “forgiveness and salvation come only through God’s grace but that good works flow from that.”
It sounds as though Luther has won. Of course, neither position is correct. The Scriptures have never taught that man is saved by faith only (Luther’s position), nor have they taught that man can through doing good works merit salvation (Catholic doctrine). While it is true that salvation and forgiveness are available to us through the grace of God and that works flow from that, it is not true that grace alone saves us.
“Together we confess,” the declaration states at one point, “by grace alone” humans beings are “accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit,” which renews their hearts and calls them to good works (15A).
The reader will notice an absence of Scripture on all the points made. One verse that comes to mind is Acts 2:38. Peter did not tell those present on the day of Pentecost that they would be acceptable to God by grace alone. He commanded, “Repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Notice first that effort must be expended on the part of man; he must repent. Then he must allow himself to be baptized for the remission of his sins. This passage is not a description of grace only; it demonstrates clearly that man must respond to God’s grace–not to earn salvation, but to accept God’s offer.
Notice second the sequence of events: First there is man’s obedience; then, there is the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Catholic-Lutheran declaration omits any obedience on the part of man. God accepts man and gives him the Holy Spirit. But how can that be? Why would anyone be excluded from salvation and forgiveness, not to mention the gift of the Holy Spirit, if everything rests upon God’s grace? The only answer is that both religious groups also subscribe to Calvin’s theology that God chose before the creation those who would be saved, thus making both salvation and God arbitrary.
A study of American Catholics discovered that 65% believed that the decision to have premarital sex should be left up to the individual. When those who claim to be religious refuse to abide by Biblical teaching, one wonders how those who are not religious would reply. Of course, not every issue under consideration is a Biblical one, but apparently the pope is tired of liberals within the ranks and intends to do something about it.
Will this tough stance help or hinder? Frequently, when people are told that they cannot participate in their favorite sins with approval of their religious hierarchy, they depart from that religious group and seek out another more “enlightened” group. It will be interesting to see whether Catholics will rebel against or cooperate with the authority figure in their church.
The idea of God winning money is ludicrous, since He owns “the cattle upon a thousand hills,” and He is the giver of all good and perfect gifts. But this episode does illustrate something: computers do not think; they only do what they are programmed to do.
Similarly amusing a number of years ago was that a church received notification that it was eligible for life insurance. It was another one of those cases where the computer did not recognize the significance of the name. How funny, it seemed, taking out a life insurance policy on a church.
Turned out, however, that it might have been a good idea after all. Within three years that congregation no longer existed. A “preacher” destroyed it. Everything was sold, and members attended other congregations in the area. The church died and no longer exists in that community. Maybe the computer wasn’t as dumb as it seemed.