Category Archives: Faith

Christian Peacemaking Teams: An alternative to joining the military

Posted by Caleb Coy on

Christian Peacemaking Teams: An alternative to joining the military

Are you a Christian who has been offered a deal to join the military in your country?

One of the alternatives that exists is Christian Peacemaking Teams (CPT), an organization that calls for active, non-violent peacemaking action.

Among the work done by CPT are peaceful demonstrations, inter-army dialogues, supporting communities whose existence is in danger, and training for people in violent zones in alternatives to warfare as a way of solving problems.
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Abstaining from the “Appearance” of Evil

Posted by Caleb Coy on

Christians may hear from time to time the admonishment to “abstain from all appearances of evil“.

What you hear is a quotation of a passage from Paul’s first letter to Thessalonica (1 Thess. 5:22).  Only, we usually hear a misquote of sorts, or rather a misuse of a quote.

“Abstain from all appearances of evil” is the most commonly used quotation of the passage, from the King James Bible.  Many people shoot off this quote as if it were some sort of proof to Christians that they should not do something because it “looks bad” to others.
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Twitter and Little Birdies

Posted by Caleb Coy on

“A little birdie told me…”

Heard that colloquialism before?

Nobody knows exactly where this phrase comes from but I heard it through the grapevine that the oldest and most likely source is Ecclesiastes 10:20.

“Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird in the sky may carry your words, and a bird on the wing  may report what you say.”

Or it could just be a reference to carrier pigeons.  Perhaps Solomon (or whoever wrote the wisdom he collected) was also thinking of carrier pigeons.  Or parrots.  Solomon acquired a lot of exotic things.  Maybe parrots also.
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J Marshall on Elder Qualifications: Checklist? Or Portrait?

Posted by Caleb Coy on

Jeremy Marshall asks us how we treat the “elder qualifications” passage in Titus and what kind of leaders we appoint as a result.

via Re-thinking the “qualifications” of elders: Thoughts on Titus 1.6-9 and elsewhere.

  1. The husband of one wife. This means that he has to be a dude, first. Beyond that, we tend to quibble over the meaning of “the husband of one wife.” Does this mean not divorced? Not divorced and remarried? Not polygamous? If his wife dies, he has to quit being an elder? If he was widowed and then remarried, does this “disqualify” him? But assuming that it is a dude and the particular church has a working definition of “husband of one wife,” they move on to the next checkmark.
  2. Having children that believe, who are not accused of riot or unruly. In practice this typically means that all his young ‘uns are baptized and aren’t as bad heathens as the preacher’s kids. Unless of course you’re “installing” your preacher as an elder.
  3. Not self-willed. This one seems to conflict too much with American boot-strapsism, so we sort of nod and chuckle and check this one off with our fingers crossed behind our backs, which is typically a source of grief and strife later on.
  4. No brawler, no striker … a lover of good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled. We tend to lump these all together into one category. Assuming Joe Bob meets qualifications 1 and 2 and hasn’t been in a fistfight since at least the early 1980s, and he’s a pretty good old boy, we’ll go ahead and give him a pass here, too.
  5. Not greedy of filthy lucre. But it helps if he is a successful businessman. 
  6. Given to hospitality. Is he apt to throw a good barbecue? Does his wife serve a mean casserole? Hospitality so defined is generally treated as a plus rather than a necessity. Check.
  7. Holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching, that he may be able to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to convict the gainsayers. In practice this often means that he is capable of conducting a Bible class with Gospel Advocate Quarterlies.

I Still Have the Same Advice as I Did Graduating FHU

Posted by Caleb Coy on

When I graduated college for the first time I made a list of advice for people attending or graduating from Freedom Hardly Man.  This advice could also apply to other Christian schools, and even any other university to a degree.  After 5 years away, I dispense with this advice once again.
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God is Green; God is Good

Posted by Caleb Coy on

GOD IS GREEN; GOD IS GOOD.
Meditations on Creation Stewardship

Happy Earth Day, everybody.
Wait. Can I say that?

You know what I mean when I say green. The typical image. Recycling. Saving the whales. Eating organic. Lowering your emissions. Planting trees. Eating veggies. The works. I have purposely not used the word “environmentalist” because the word indicates a specific attribute of the “green” attitude. When I think of issues of personal health and environmental health, it all connects together for me.  I consider them all aspects of the creation, from my body to my neighbor’s body to the bodies of land, water and air.
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“An open letter to American Christians, especially the shepherds of our flocks, regarding pacifism and just war: A plea for peace and understanding” by Jeremy Marshall

Posted by Caleb Coy on

From the post:
“My invitation to you, my brothers and sisters who would one day beat your swords into ploughshares (but not just yet) is simply this: at least be more welcoming to peaceful peasants such as I am, who have welcomed God’s kingdom into our lives by laying down our sword and shield (perhaps preemptively) by the riverside to study war no more. We are doing no harm to you. Further, I would challenge you to consider what it is worth making your ploughshares into swords and your gardening tools into spears over.”

via An open letter to American Christians, especially the shepherds of our flocks, regarding pacifism and just war: A plea for peace and understanding.

For the Love of $

Posted by Caleb Coy on

Loving $

“Money is evil”

“Money is the root of all evil”

“The Love of Money is the root of all evil”

“The Love of Money is the root of all sorts of evil”

You’ve heard several versions of this phrase before.  Yet only one of them is technically a correct wording of the warning given in the Bible.  The difference may seem trivial, and indeed it is trivial compared to the understanding of the warning, but the subtleties do make a difference.
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The Conclusion to “My Week at the Full Armor Lectures” by Jeremy Marshall

Posted by Caleb Coy on

“My Week at the Full Armor Lectures”
by Jeremy Marshal
the Shocking Truth:

From the Conclusion:
“When I wrote these, I wrote them
for children who were told that dancing is tantamount to sex.
For girls who were taught that their bodies were shameful by preachers who blamed Bathsheba for David’s sin.
For families where brothers and sisters were not even allowed to swim in the same pool for fear of arousing unnatural passions.
For those who have lived in constant fear of hell because of a soteriology that can only be described as, “Once saved, always in jeopardy.”
For those who have been deprived the comfort of the Holy Spirit’s presence in their life by preachers who told them that the Spirit dwells only in the Bible.
For entire families of preachers who have literally been kicked to the curb without notice because of a homiletical misstep or a personality conflict with a power-hungry eldership.
For those who have been told, “We will not even baptize you until you divorce your wife, because your marriage is unscriptural. It is better to break up your family than to burn in hell.”
For the women who have been “put in their place.”
For the LGBTQ family members who have spent hellish years trembling in the closet.
For the young alcoholic booted out of the Christian college without so much as an offer of help or treatment.
For the young man with a porn addiction who confided this to an elder and was threatened, “I’ll bet your momma would be real ashamed if she knew what you were doing.”
For the men with porn addictions who were told in the Open Forum of a Christian college lectureship: “I don’t see how it’s a problem. I love to go fishing, but if Jesus told me not to do it, I’d get rid of my rod and reel. It’s that simple, boys.”
I wrote these for everyone who has ever felt the need to pray, “Lord, protect me from my brethren.”