ï
Wow (and Amen)! Thank you, Bill! I have
bolded my favourite parts.
"as we grow in relationship" is significant for me,
as is "learn".
Debbie
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, April 03, 2005 4:47
PM
Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] Meet Judge
Greer's Pastor
Just
wondering.... This is for the Universalist
crowd. IYO is Judge Greer's Pastor a legalist, or do you see him as a true under Shepherd
with a right heart attitude trying to recover an errant sheep? judyt
Do you mind if a non-universalist addresses this?
I agree with much of Farah's critique. I disagree, however, with what he seems
to prescribe as a "fix." What the church needs is not more laws -- Judge Greer
had surely heard the commandment: "Thou shalt not kill"; nor does it need a
more rigid enforcement of the laws it has -- Greer was asked to
leave, wasn't he? What the church needs is a clearer articulation
of what it means to love God with hearts, minds, and souls, and to love
neighbors as oneself. I had a professor who put it something like
this: When a church has a sin problem, it is not time to preach law more
forcibly, while easing up on the grace stuff (as if our problems were
caused by being overly gracious); no, when the church has a sin
problem, it is time to preach grace more clearly.
Think about it and I think you'll agree.
The law has never made people righteous -- it did
not make the Jews righteous, it will not make Christians righteous, and it
cannot make the world righteous. Do you agree with me? Why then do Christians
sometimes act as though a stricter adherence to and enforcement of God's law
will in some way begin to address the sin problems the church encounters? The
Law even in its glory was never anything more than a slave. Yes, a slave. Paul
calls it a "pedagogue," given to lead the Jews to Christ (Gal 3.24). In the
Greek world a pedagogue was a slave whose sole purpose was to guard the
children as he brought them to the one who would teach them. Hence the
law "was our (pedagogue) to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by
faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a (slave)'"
(vs.24-25). Therefore, it is not the
law which was the "schoolmaster" or the "tutor" to teach us the ways of
righteousness -- as our English translations lead us to believe; no,
Christ is our teacher, our schoolmaster, our tutor; and
"righteousness" comes only by way of faith, as we grow in relationship
with him. "For I through the law died to the law that I might live to
God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live,
but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I
live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal
2.19-20).
And so, this gets to the heart of our discussion
on legalism. The Christian who believes he still needs laws to govern him, is
a man who has not come to terms with the fact that the one who has
fulfilled the law (who is no longer confined under the
guardianship of a slave no less) has been graciously
placed within his inner being. In other words, we ought
not think of the "law written upon our hearts" as a legal transfer -- a taking
of that which was once an external code of conduct and perceiving it
now in terms of internal restrictions; instead we should approach it in
terms of a gracious gift bestowed deep within us of him who is greater than
the law -- of him who can actually make us righteous -- for as Paul
says, "if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly
righteousness would have been by the law" (Gal 3.21). Friends, it is
the royal law which is written upon our hearts by Christ Jesus as we grow in
relationship with him; for as we, the church, learn to love him with all
our hearts, minds, and souls, we will begin to love our neighbours as
ourselves.
Bill
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, April 02, 2005 4:48
PM
Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] Meet Judge
Greer's Pastor
In a message dated 4/2/2005 3:05:09 PM
Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
writes:
Just wondering.... This is for the Universalist
crowd. IYO is Judge Greer's Pastor a legalist, or do you
see him as a true under Shepherd with a right heart attitude
trying to recover an errant sheep?
judyt Meet Judge Greer's pastor Posted: March 29,
2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Joseph Farah  2005
WorldNetDaily.com I am convinced God uses trials like the Terri
Schiavo case to test men. Pinellas County Circuit Court Judge George
Greer was tested â and found wanting. He had seven years to consider
this case and got it wrong every time. I don't know Greer
personally, but I know many people like him. They go to church on
Sunday and then between Monday and Friday lead lives with no seeming
connection to what they hear preached in the pulpit, what they read in
the Bible, what they claim to believe of the Christian faith. This may
be the biggest single problem we have in America today â
this disconnect between the spiritual lives of Christians and how
they practice their faith in the world. Greer, until recently, was a
member of the Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, Fla. He left at the
urging of Pastor William Rice, who counseled him wisely: "You must know
that in all likelihood it is this case which will define your career
and this case that you will remember in the waning days of life. I hope
you can find a way to side with the angels and become an answer to the
prayers of thousands." Rice has my highest regard for that decision.
Too many pastors in this country don't require obedience to God as a
prerequisite for church membership. They seem to believe in a kind of
"cheap" grace that comes with regular attendance or tithing rather than
a Christian walk. They seem to have no minimal standards for fellowship
and communion with the saints. There are few heroes in the Terri
Schiavo scandal. Her parents and siblings qualify. Terri herself
qualifies. Those who braved arrest to bring her cups of water qualify.
And, in my book, so does Rev. William Rice. Do you want to know why
the church doesn't have influence and impact in our increasingly
secular world today? Because there are too many so-called Christians
like Judge George Greer and not enough like Pastor William Rice.
Greer's friends have attacked the church and defended the judge,
saying he was interpreting the law to the best of his ability. However,
if that is true, then Greer, as a Christian, had a duty to obey God's
laws rather than man's laws. That would require him to leave the bench
if he truly saw a conflict. Instead, Greer opted to leave his church â
and, presumably, his weak faith. "Like evangelicals across the
world, we are horrified at the thought that a handicapped woman could
be, in effect, starved to death before a watching world," Rice wrote.
Admitting he was not a legal or medical expert, Rice asserted: "I know
right from wrong. I know what God thinks about human life. I know there
is only one way to describe the prospect of starving a woman to death
because she cannot feed herself. It is wrong." Rice continued:
"Morality and truth must serve as our guide. Terri Schiavo is not on
life support. She is not dying. Good evidence exists to suggest that
she is responsive. All she receives is food and water, the same as you
and me. Are we to conclude that she is less than human because she
cannot feed herself? Can a month-old child feed himself? Is an elderly
patient stricken with some debilitating disease and unable to feed
herself suddenly less human? Do we now use an IQ test to determine if
someone possesses the right to live? Isn't that God's choice? Only
God can give life, and only He should take it away." "Tread
carefully if you think this is simply about a dying woman being allowed
to die peacefully," Rice wrote. "Remember when we were told that Roe v.
Wade was simply about helping women who had been raped or whose lives
were imminently threatened? Today, few abortions fall into
that category, but millions of human lives have been sacrificed upon
the altar of selfishness. And the slide down the slippery slope
continues." In case Greer was still confused, his pastor gave him more
to think about. "This case seems complex, but it is as simple as
four words: 'Thou shalt not kill.' If you need a compass for this
complex case, you'll find it there," he wrote. "As we all know, the
Sixth Commandment means it is wrong to murder â to take the life of an
innocent person without just cause. If I were the nurse in that hospice
center and the directive were given to me to discontinue feeding a
living human being and watch as he or she starved to death, I couldn't
do it. I'd rather get fired, resign or do something else."
Christians can go on blaming others for the problems we face in
this country. Or we can go into the churches and start cleaning up the
messes we have in our own houses of worship. It's time to take back
the churches. It's time to renew the idea of standards. It's time to
make church membership mean something again. Judge George Greer did
the wrong thing. Pastor William Rice did the right thing. If we had
more pastors like Rice, we'd have fewer judges
like Greer.
:Legalist, plain and
simple -- at least in this decision. But you knew I
was going to say that.
JD
|