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"The thistle is a prickly flower, aye, but how it is sweetly worn."

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

The Face of a Reformed Calvinist


Today I heard the end of a sermon from a popular mega pastor in the DFW area in which he attacked Reformed theology.  I use the word attacked because he literally did that.  My favorite points centered around his saying that Calvinism was 'sexy' and we all wore skinny jeans.  Those were almost laughable, but really the whole thing was just not laughable.  I don't know what happened to cause this man to be so angry, but I think its awfully sad.  Sad because there are thousands upon thousands who follow him.  And he is attacking fellow Christians.

Ephesians 4:2-6- As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called ; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.


I am not going to pretend that I agree with all Christians out there.  There are a wide variety of interpretations on various doctrinal things out there.  Do I believe whole heartedly in reformed theology and Calvinism- yes I definitely do.  Do I think that people who don't are ineffective Christians- absolutely not.  God in his amazing grace manages to use us all, because we all need grace to cover a whole plethura of sins on a minute by minute basis.  The important thing is that we are ALL claiming that Jesus is the way to the Father because He paid the ultimate sacrifice.  That He loved us enough to die for us and take our sins and our place.  It's important that we believe that, that we are growing in our faith and being effective and sharing the gospel. That is the ONE body and the ONE spirit.  We don't have to agree on everything, but we do have to make every effort to keep the Spirit of unity.  If we as Christians are divided against each other, how on earth can we make a difference in a world thats constantly watching to see if we fall?  If we are ridiculing each other, how can we expect the world to not ridicule us?  Hate has no place in the church, especially hate against each other.  The house divided cannot stand.






** In case you would like to see what the Bible has to say about things like predestination and election and freewill, here are some verses**


Predestine/predestined/predestination:
** Romans 8-11 are the basis of a lot of it.  Specifically you see the word predestined in 8:29-30.  Chapter 9 literally goes into God's sovereign choice.  It's extremely specific on reformed theology.  To the point I fail to understand how anyone makes an argument against it.
** Ephesians 1- also pretty darn specific, with actually using the word predestined in vs 5 and 11

Elect:
** Romans 9- specifically vs 11
** 2 Peter 1- specifically vs 10

Free will:
** this term is not found in scripture.  In fact, most of the time free is used, it has nothing to do with choice.  It has to do with freedom in Christ.

Choice/Choose/Chosen
**John 15
**Psalm 33
** 2 Thessalonians 2
** Isaiah 41
** Matthew 22
**1 Peter 2
**Phillipians 2
**John 6
**Acts 13
**Ephesians 4- called


Honestly, there are tons.  I came to this understanding sometime after becoming a Christian in college.  I am constantly amazed by God's sovereignty over all things every time I read my Bible in the morning.  And all I do is read through the Bible- not like I'm following some calvinist study plan.  The Bible is just full of how God is the one choosing, calling, and equipping his saints.  It's there- Calvinism- for anyone who wants to read and open their heart to what the Spirit is saying.  That being said, if you never side with me on that, I would still be happy to work with you as long as I'm on this earth in reaching the world for Christ.  One body, one spirit, one faith to the end.

I'll be the one in my skinny jeans ;)



12 comments:

Danielle In The City said...

I'm always amazed at how heated people can get over topics like this. It's one of those topics where, even though I believe one thing, i can see how the Bible could also be interpreted in a way that another person would believe otherwise, and since I am not infallible, I do not condemn them for their beliefs. I read a lot more in the Bible about loving people, even those that aren't Christian at all, than pretty much anything else. Love above all things. I sincerely wish more Christians were actually trying to be more Christlike, and also realize that NONE of us IS Jesus, so we need to stop acting like we have all the answers.

ThistleAshD said...

I agree. Love above all else. I always think of the Ghandi quote where he says he loves our Christ, but hates our Christians because we are so unlike him. I think our impact would be different it we just tried to love more.

Holly @MistersandMaids said...

First of all, I don't wear skinny jeans because my booty is too big :) Second of all, I agree with your main point--not tearing eachother down. We all play for the same team (well, those who are in Christ). I personally am not a Calvinist but I'm southern baptist and stuck out like a sore thumb at my Nazarene university, so I know what it's like to be the odd girl out, theologically. We need to support eachother and let the Holy Spirit do the rest :) Good post!

Donna Taylor said...

Pretty lady I smile every time I read your Blog. So proud of you!

Donna Taylor said...

Pretty lady I smile every time I read your Blog. So proud of you!

ThistleAshD said...

Mrs. Donna- thanks- big time :)

ThistleAshD said...

Holly- I still love you even if you aren't a Calvinist :)

Those beliefs are just definitely not the point. Christians are the point!

ThistleAshD said...

Actually Christ is the point!

Anonymous said...

You're so pretty

ThistleAshD said...

Random, but thanks :)

The Arizona Russums said...

Amen and amen. Where do you go to church?

ThistleAshD said...

I go to Denton Bible (Denton, Texas) usually. Although my bf goes to the Village, so some weekends I pop over there with him.