From Horseback to Desktop Pc: Brief Musings on Faith from a 21St Century Circuit Rider in a Cynical Age

Copyright © 2007 by Douglas W. Bower

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Contents

Dedication

Foreword

Faith Begins with God

There are Consequences for Sin

Various Consequences for Sin

Struggling with the Faith

Power in God’s Creation and Re-creation

The Impact of the Spirit

We Find Spiritual Nutrition

Great Gifts from God

Practicing Godliness

Love: The Heart of the Matter

What I Request of the Lord?

Dedication 

In 1977, I was appointed to New Hope United Methodist Church outside of Lawrenceville, Georgia. It was a part-time student appointment.

Following this appointment I served as the associate pastor of First United Methodist Church in Griffin, Georgia, and then Oconee Street United Methodist Church in Athens, Georgia.

I was interested in becoming a pastoral counselor and studied at Columbia Theological Seminary working on aTh.M. in pastoral counseling, and a Ph.D. in counseling at the University of Georgia.

In 1986, I decided to set up a practice in pastoral counseling. For a brief time during that year, I held no pulpit. I received a call in late 1986 asking if I would be interested to serving as the interim pastor on the Johnson-Rays circuit. An unfortunate series of events occurred that led to the removal of the pastor there. Since, I had not started to make enough income off which to live, and since I really think that preachers should preach, I accepted the appointment.

I was asked to step into a full time appointment there, but declined to continue to my efforts to build a private practice. However, I was asked to take the Morgan Circuit: Apalachee, Buckhead, Fork Chapel, and Swords. Since I owned my own home (the circuit parsonage was in terrible shape), wanted a part-time situation, and still wanted to preach as well, I accepted the appointment. I remained there until 1997.

In 1997, I was appointed to the Bishop Circuit: Bishop, Farmington, High Shoals, and Salem. Farmington and Salem have officially closed since I arrived. Both closings were traumatic and I believe reflected more than the decline of small country churches. I believe they also reflected the skepticism of our day. Why go to Church when there is nothing to believe.

This book is dedicated to all the faithful members in the appointments I served. It is dedicated to those who struggle with the faith, but have remained faithful by attending small membership congregations.

I specifically want to dedicate this book at Bill Ruff, my first District Superintendent, Bill would not take no for an answer. He simply said something to the effect of Just when do you plan on getting started? Those weren’t his exact words, but the intent is still captured in them. I mean it was a long time ago. He

thus was a significant part of getting me started in being a circuit rider though I am sure he never thought I would remain a circuit. Nobody or hardly anyone does in our time.

Foreword 

For over 300 years, Methodist circuit riders have been contributing to the spread of the faith. In the past few decades the pulpits of circuits have been filled by beginning pastors who move on to larger churches, or retired pastors who want to continue to be serving God and the Church

I have chosen to be a circuit rider on purpose. I like the small congregation. I actually get to know the names of the parishioners and a stranger is recognized right away. I didn’t make a living at this. I had to find other positions including building a small counseling practice and teaching at a state university, but I loved serving the churches on the circuits. Each congregation has its own personality or style if you will. One church may desire a more formal high worship style, while another may like a more Pentecostal holiness style. However, it has been my experience that all the churches share one thing in common, they are family churches that adopt single people into their families.

This book is written in a day of skepticism. There has been a search to find the historical Jesus. A number of books have been written concerning that search and reacting to it through apologetics. I am reacting to it by simply sharing my perspectives on the faith. I am convinced that the Holy Spirit does the convincing of souls that Jesus is the Christ and that any efforts on my part to attempt to prove that Jesus is the Christ would be languid at best and muddy the waters at worst.

It is also written by a theologian, not a famous one, nor one with extensive journal writings, but one who has served small churches. I am not a walking encyclopedia. I am not a left brain oriented person who consumes and spits out details. Rather, I am a right brain-oriented person who prizes experiences and people’s efforts to share their ideas, even if they are awkward in the process. So I won’t protect the reader from my right brain orientation, nor my awkwardness. Or is it right brain folks that are detail oriented and left brain folks that are experiential? Whatever.

It is my intent to share faith, not from the apologetic sense to convince people through proofs that Jesus is the Christ, but from the sense of sharing my observations. The late psychologist Carl Rogers asserted that what is most personal is most universal. That is if I am experiencing something, somebody else is too. Also, if I hold a position, I probably learned it from someone else. Therefore I actually believe I am a Wesleyan at heart, but one who has been influenced by so many others that I couldn’t possibly define all those sources of influence. I will say of the theologians I read, John Wesley makes the most sense to me.

I don’t believe I would like him as an administrator. He seemed to have too much of an authoritarian attitude, you will do it the way I want it done, or not do it at all. And if you do it at all you will do it my way.

Maybe somebody reading this material will have an ah-ha experience and discover Jesus as the Christ. Maybe somebody else will read the material and say, I can’t believe this man just said what he said.

I write, not to please, but to allow readers to decide for themselves if they like the material.

Faith Begins with God 

The Obvious?

It appears obvious that faith would begin with God. But is it? Apparently it is not so obvious to some. Faith either is a myth, or is based on God.

Some say faith is conjured up. Gore Vidal (1977) wrote in the introduction of Jesus Son of Man by Rudolf Augustine, … It is quite possible that Jesus never existed in history.

There is no need to dwell on that. Atheists and skeptics can make their own case for their failure to believe. I simply want to acknowledge that there are those who doubt Jesus is the Christ.

I refer briefly to Josh McDowell’s book (1977) More Than a Carpenter which was written in part to offer an alternative to faith as a myth. In that project, McDowell acknowledged there are those who debunk faith, not just in Jesus Christ, but also God. He proceeds to submit his rationale for believing.

Our claim as Christians is that there is no faith but for God. It is not conjured up by some mass hysteria, but the result of an interaction with God. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit … 1 Corinthians 12:7-9 (NASB). It is God’s intervention or interaction with human beings which produces faith, not faith which produces God.

If faith begins with God, there must be a basis for that faith which rests upon God rather than upon man.

Foundations of Faith

I confess I am weak at arguing for God’s existence. The reason being is that I don’t believe there are evidences for his existence that sinners will universally accept. However, I do believe there are foundations to believe.

Hugh Ross (2000a & 2000b) is gaining more and more visibility in the arena of scientific apologetics. I am not sure I fully grasp his position on the evidence concerning the existence of God, but I will share what I do perceive. I believe that

Ross offers at least three positions for believing that God exists. I think two of them are closely related.

First, Ross argues that the beginning of time is a good case for God’s existence. He quickly points out that Stephen Hawking and other secular scientists have been arguing for beginnings to the universe. The Big Bang theory and its variations have become a wide spread belief. Since, this theory makes a case for the beginnings of the universe, Ross and others say it offers support for the Genesis account of creation. In this, some creationists like Ross say it provides a basis for reinterpreting that epic to take into account an incredible length of time of 16 billion years. While others argue that creation was just a short time ago, but even the secular scientists have at least acknowledged that the universe suddenly came into existence. This sudden arrival of the universe then is consistent with the Genesis account which is not a scientific document. In faith, we argue that God would find a way to communicate to human beings on how the creation came about. Thus, scientific findings concerning the beginning of time and the universe should support the Genesis account, if indeed it is a revelation from God. The argument is that indeed science is supporting the essence of this revelation, while others are saying it is altering the interpretation of that revelation.

Second, Ross (2000a) argues for Design Patterns being evidence for God’s existence. Considering that the universe contains only about a trillion galaxies, each averaging a hundred billion stars, we can safely conclude that not even one planet would be expected, by natural processes alone, to possess the necessary conditions to sustain life. Part of the case here is that the precisions needed for life to exist are so complex that they could not happen by accident. Thus, there has to be a designer making life possible by setting up patterns in the universe that impact the existence of life.

Third, Ross (2000a) argues that an Insufficient Universe is support for God’s existence. The bottom line is that the universe is at least ten billion orders of magnitude (a factor of 1010,000,000,000 times) too small or too young to permit life to be assembled by natural processes. Apparently, here he is arguing that there are not enough resources available for life to emerge spontaneously by accident. Thus, again, a creator God, would be necessary for life to exist.

God’s Involvement

The foundation of our faith is also based in God’s involvement with his creation, most specifically human beings.

This involvement is an everyday occurrence, however, I believe it is most often evident in the miraculous. The late actor George Burns played God in the movie Oh God. God interacted with an agnostic speaking to him and appearing before him attempting to get the man (played by John Denver) to tell the world about his existence. When the man found that no one believed him, he asked God why he didn’t perform miracles to get attention. God said (and I paraphrase), I prefer not to do extraordinary feats. I don’t work that way.

At a meeting of United Methodist ministers at First United Methodist Church in Athens, GA, a discussion emerged about whether God still performed miracles or not.

If there are no miracles, how do we get clues to God’s existence? How does God break through the ordinary to announce His presence without the miraculous? I am convinced that we need the miraculous to remind us that life itself is a miracle and that God is behind all there is.

My primary source for miracles is the Bible. Some of those miracles include the Flood, the plagues of the Exodus, the parting of the Red Sea, the Virgin Birth, the Cross and the Resurrection. There are too many to really present here. Of these or any others that I could list, there are only two that I can’t do without. The miracles of the Cross and the Resurrection are essential.

I found a brief story which I am calling The Old Man & Mark 6. Mark 6 contains the miracle of Jesus feeding five thousand men. As an old man was traveling by train in France, a young scientist came and sat next to him. The young man soon noticed that the old man was reading and asked what he was reading. I am reading about Jesus feeding the five thousand with just a handful of pieces of bread and fish. Why, that’s all superstition, said the young scientist. Give me facts, not superstitions. The old man returned to his reading and later the train came to a stop. As the old man prepared to get off the train, the young scientist asked him his name. The old man reached into his coat pocket and handed the young man his calling card. His name was Louis Pasteur (What, 1999).

Not everyone experiences or is aware of a profound miracle. God also offers involvement via revelation. Prior to scripture, God’s word came to individuals who would listen. Abram, Jacob, Moses, David, Isaiah, Ezekiel were listeners. The word of the Lord came to them. That word might come over an altar, or before a burning bush, or on a mountain top. For Job it came in a whirlwind. God found a way to communicate to people without the use of scripture.

Jesus Christ

Jesus is both the ultimate involvement of God as well as the ultimate foundation for faith. "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom

He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world" Hebrews 1:1-2 (NASB). The way God revealed Himself changes in Jesus Christ.

The only thing I remember from my basic course in theology in seminary occurred under Shirley Guthrie. Dr. Guthrie, a well-respected Presbyterian theologian, said, If you want to see God, look at Jesus Christ. He indicated that to find out about God, one simply has to look at the real physical presence of Jesus Christ via the descriptions of Him in scripture.

Paul wrote, Christ … emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men Philippians 2:7 (NASB). In this state, people could walk with him, and talk with. They could sit down and eat with him. There were those who could see a real person engaged with real miracles. They could touch the hem of his garments (Mark 5:28).

The Holy Spirit

We don’t have this same privilege. How do we come to have faith? We come to have faith by interacting with the Holy Spirit. From Pentecost, to the road to Damascus, to the present, believer after believer believes or enriches his or her belief because of the Holy Spirit.

Catherine Marshall (1978) wrote of Dwight L. Moody’s hunger for the Spirit. Moody had already been a successful preacher. He packed the sanctuary week after week. During his sermons though, he noticed that two women, Auntie Cook and Mrs. Snow, prayed. It finally got the best of him and he asked the women why they prayed instead of listened. They reported to him that he did not have the power of the Holy Spirit and that they were praying that he would get it.

In 1871, the power of God came upon him as he walked along the street. He had developed a hunger and longing for that power. He realized that through salesmanship he could pack the church. However, inside he felt he was missing something. When he received the Holy Spirit, his ministry changed. He had come face to face with God through the Holy Spirit. A different awareness of God’s presence had come into his life. The foundation of his faith shifted from working to build the kingdom to belief in the building of the kingdom.

Scripture

While Jesus gave the people of his day something to see, Scripture has given people through the ages something to see. Scripture, like Jesus, makes God a little more real. Billy Graham (1978) wrote, … The Scripture teaches us the Holy Spirit is a witness to the finality and sufficiency of Jesus Christ’s atonement for us . the Scripture also teaches us the Holy Spirit witnesses that we have become, by faith in Jesus Christ and His work on the cross, the children of God (p. 78). Scripture makes these claims visible. We can see these stories about God. We can reflect on them, contemplate them, analyze them, and/or be inspired by them.

As I was listening to a radio preacher while driving through Athens, GA, I was reminded by him that everything we need to know about God and our salvation is contained in Scripture. The preacher pointed out that scripture does not tell everything about God, just what we need to know.

Faith begins with God, no faith, no God. If there is no God, there is no faith, just myth. A variation of that was added to a church sign in Crawford, GA. It read, Know God, Know faith. How do we know the difference between myth and faith? When you have faith, you automatically know the difference. It cannot be explained to an unbeliever. For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God 1 Corinthians 1:18 (NASB). It is an experiential knowledge resulting from meeting God.

Faith as a Verb

The traditional Protestant understanding is that we are saved by faith, not by works. Our justification is not based on what we do or don’t do. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law Romans 3:28 (NASB).

The editor for John Owen’s Justification by Faith(1995) says that this principle is an ancient doctrine. It is older than the prophets and held even with the patriarchal fathers. And no one who has the least acquaintance with the writings of the first Reformers will impute to them, more than to the patriarchs, the prophets, or apostles, the absurd opinion, that any man leading an impenitent, wicked life, will finally, upon the mere pretense of faith (and faith connected with an impenitent life must always be a mere pretense), obtain admission into heaven (p. 24).

I have never been satisfied with the justification by faith, not by works theology. It seems that it is often used to bypass sin and righteousness. That is, we can do whatever we want and God will forgive us. Paul shares this concern as well. I will touch on that later.

I don’t know how many times through the years I have heard the question, Are you saved? The answer, yes, I am a good person is almost always put down. But is it really the wrong answer? True good works are from God, not human kind.

I am prepared to say that there is a difference between good works and godly works.

Differences

Good works include helping someone across the street, feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, tending to the sick, etc. They are acts in which anyone can participate. One can be an atheist and have works that human kind regards as good. But these good works don’t save people.

Truly good works are godly works and atheists for instance cannot adhere to them. Godly works include adhering to the Ten Commandments and following the statutes and ordinances of God. I refer especially to Deuteronomy.

If I was to ask a group of people though, what are the ten commandments, I doubt I could find very many who could list them. I can’t list them myself.

But to point out why atheists cannot adhere to Godly works, we simply have to look at the first commandment, You shall have no other gods before Me Exodus 20:3 (NASB). Atheists can’t do that. First, they reject God, and second they have no gods except perhaps a faith in some discipline like science or education, or a faith in material things, or some ideal.

Godly works require faith. Truly good works are founded in faith. We ought first to know that there are no good works except those which God has commanded, Martin Luther wrote, (p. 16).

I again return to the theme that we are saved by grace through faith, not works. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB).

God does not have to save us. That is He is not obligated to save us. He does so because of grace. Salvation is through faith, that is through believing, committing and entrusting ourselves to God.

Part of faith though is clearly stepping into a different mode of behavior. The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright … Proverbs 10:29 (NASB). Changing behavior is an act of faith. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Romans 6:1-2 (NASB). Paul does not allow us to get away with doing whatever we want after telling us that it is not by works that we are saved. We are not given permission to sin and engage in sinful behaviors.

John also does not give us this permission. My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world 1

John 2:1-2 (NASB). Here John encourages believers not to sin, but recognizes that we will sin. If we do, God still offers forgiveness. It is not withdrawn.

Faith as Action

My premise is that faith is not just a belief system related to thoughts. It is not limited to believing that Jesus