faith

And You Wonder Why People Aren’t Christians: Part IV

/ Rev. Evan Dolive / 2 Comments

Here we are again… much too soon I am afraid.

Dennis Marcellino, author and political advocate as well as Christian has taken to the web to give the impression that there is only one way to understand the Bible.  On the website “Conservative Byte” Marcellino postulates that if a Christian votes for a Democrat and then  dies that person is destined for the fiery pits of hell.

Don’t believe me?  Read the article here (don’t worry its short… just like his argument.)

Obviously Marcellino did not read my article concerning religion and politics, Mr. Marcellino if you are reading this welcome to my blog and secondly click here and be sure to leave a comment.

But that is besides the point.

Even the newest of Christian converts would tell you that the words “Republican” and “Democrat” are not in the Bible anywhere so I do not know where Marcellino gets off telling the Christian faithful that voting for a Democrat would result in a one way pass to Hell.

IS THAT THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN?!?!?!

To figure it out… let’s breakdown this 282 word article…

First, Marcellino is polite enough to tell us that “This is not meant to be emotional or inflammatory…”  Thanks!  But then he continues and says “it is simply stating a fact and to warn.”  D’Oh!  So this is his job… telling people via the internet that they are on a one way course to hell for your political beliefs.

Next he comes roaring out of the gate tells his readership that the Bible does in fact support his ideas (surprise, surprise)… if you know where to look.  He then offers this as warning to “blacks” (not African-Americans… blacks) and Hispanics (which he doesn’t capitalize in his article) but as he claims these two groups primarily vote for the Democratic party.  So by say this is he affirming that most people who are Caucasian, Asian American, Native American and any other race are most definitely Republican voting.  But these two groups of people are not just voting for Democrats for the sake of agreeing with their platform, Marcellino makes the claim that they are voting “lock step” with the Democratic Party… meaning they just vote that way because they have always voted that way. Hmmm…

Next, Marcellino gets into the Bible meat of his claim.  He quotes 2 Thes. which reads, ““Then everyone who did not believe the truth, but was delighted with what God disapproves of, will be condemned.”  He claims that people express their own delight is who they punch their ballot for.  Then he quotes Romans 1:32 which basically states that the righteous of God (I guess he means Republicans?) should not stand for “such things” nor should they approve of them.

Now in a fine bit of exegesis, Marcellino claims that the rest of Romans 1 claims that when Paul was referring to “such things” he was referring to “homosexuality, lesbianism, strife, deceit, slander [political sound bites], gossips, idol worshippers, God-haters, atheists” which he claims are “all primarily attributes of liberals.”

Mr. Marcellino, proof text much?  I mean you are condemning nearly half of the US population to hell because of their political beliefs and you base it on 50 words or less than 1% of the entire Bible or only 18% of your entire article?

Are people who are not Christians flocking to churches around the country to repent especially if they voted for the President in 2008 and weren’t sorry for it?  Are the number of Christians who are also Democrats declining across the nation less then five months from the Presidental election?  Umm… no.

Marcellino is completely off the mark on this one.

Not only does he distort the Bible for his own political agenda, he himself does not have clean hands in this matter.  During his examination of Romans 1 he gave a quite lengthy list of “attrobutes” of liberals… dare I say that he was judging them?  Something that Christ warned against…right?

This is not an effective evangelism tool and as a Christian minister it makes me shake my head and reminds me to be careful what you read on the internet, not everything is true.

Christians will continue to have the perception that they are closed minded, literalist ‘hell bent’ on sending people to hell for their minor transgressions.  Let’s leave out the grace, let’s leave out the love, let’s leave out the acceptance.  But let’s do add a list of things you are doing wrong and a list of people to vote for.  In Marcellino’s mind, its the ones with the “R” by their name.

In Christ,

Rev. Evan

Out and About…

/ Rev. Evan Dolive / 1 Comment

on the Sky Road

Starting tomorrow I will be in Gonzales, Texas for the Coastal Plains Area High School Conference (read- church camp). I have been asked to co-direct the camp this year as well as keynote the entire event.

The theme this year is “Rooted” and it is based on the text Ephesians 3:16-19 which speaks to the notion of being “rooted and established” in God’s love.

I will be there all week and each day will have a specific theme that goes along with the overarching theme.

Day 1- Dig
Day 2- Seeds
Day 3- Weeds
Day 4- Filled
Day 5- Fruit

I have been working on hard on my keynotes as well as putting some of them into Prezi form. (Check out prezi.com).

Be sure to keep up with me during this time on Twitter.

Take care and God Bless

Rev. Evan

(“on the Sky Road” available under the Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0 at http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephmouss/5258327019/)

Welcome to the 21st Century

/ Rev. Evan Dolive / Leave a comment

First Mass Produced Apple Computer

My first post was published to the web on February 28, 2012- it was entitled “Welcome.”

After 98 days (FYI today is my 100th day on the web) on the web and 50 published posts, I decided to take a step into the 21st Century.

I have made this blog a .com… if you look up in the address bar above you will not see evandolive.wordpress.com but evandolive.com. 😀

You can still access this site from the .wordpress address; it will redirect you.

Thanks for supporting me!

Please continue to repost, like, comment, share and discuss!

In Christ,

Rev. Evan

(“First Mass Produced Apple Computer” available under the Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0 at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dottiemae/5311528896/)

“What Does Your Church Believe?” Part III- The Oneness of the Church

/ Rev. Evan Dolive / 3 Comments

This is the third installment of my “What Does Your Church Believe?” series.  So far I have looked at the importance of open communion to DOC theology (post link) as well as freedom of belief (post link).

Today we will examine the belief in the oneness of the church.

According to the Disciples of Christ, the oneness of the church means that “all Christians are called to one in Christ and seek opportunities for common witness and service.”

One of the foundational tenets of the Disciples of Christ is the notion of ecumenical dialogue.  This is vitally important in an ever changing theological and religious landscape.  It seems like now that churches operate independent of themselves and in a sense, “compete” against one another.  One church is trying to have the best youth program; this church is trying to have the best educational programs; this church is trying to have the best music and preaching.  Churches are trying to grow the number of people in their church building on Sunday morning; whoever has the biggest congregation wins right?

Is this the church that Christ envisioned and died for?  Did Christ really want differences in hymnals and Bible translations to separate others from doing the will of God together?  In the end the fact of the matter remains, we are all serving, worshiping, honoring and loving the same God.  No one denomination has a monopoly on God.  As Disciples of Christ we are called to try to bridge gaps that have been place by years of separation and animosity.  The people of this world who are suffering and need a healing touch of grace don’t have time for us to sit around and complain about “those people” over there.

From the beginning of the movement, the Disciples of Christ have been about the restoration of the church, to restore the church back to one body where Christ is served and God is worshiped in a way that is meaningful.  But alas, humanity has messed it up.  We want church our way and any other way is wrong.  One of my favorite seminary professors said that the church itself has not really grown much, we have just found ways to divide ourselves.  This is a sad but true fact.

It is because of this notion of ecumenical dialogue that I started ShareFest Orange which was held in March of this year.  It was great to see 70+ people from around the city of Orange coming together to serve God in the public arena together for the benefit of others not a church role sheet.

God can be worshiped and served even when doctrinal beliefs are different.

Let is cling to the notion that God is bigger than our differences.

“We are one in the spirit we are one in the Lord…”

In Christ,

Rev. Evan

May 2012 Top Posts

/ Rev. Evan Dolive / Leave a comment

I have been completely overwhelmed by the out pouring of support and readership this past month.  Thank you so much!

Here are the TOP FIVE most viewed posts in the Month of May.

  1. Misconceptions About Christians: The Conclusion
    • The final installment of my series
  2. Misconceptions About Christians: Part I
    • The one that started it all…
  3. And You Wonder Why People Aren’t Christians: Part II
    • My reaction to Pastor Sean Harris’s comments regarding homosexuality and children
  4. Misconceptions About Christians: Part IV
    • Dispelling the myth that Christian = Republican
  5. If You Want To See The Gospel, Put Your House On The Market
    • The greatest faith booster I have had in a long time.
Also, people are reading this from around the world here is a snap shot of the number of countries that visited in the month of May.

Thank you again for supporting me!  Please continue to share, comment and read!

In Christ,

Rev. Evan

Robots, Arrogance and The Gospel

/ Rev. Evan Dolive / 3 Comments

People and corporations are in the business to sell you something. Commercials and advertisements flood our radios, TVs and until you install a good pop-up blocker, the internet as well. These items could be anything from sales at Lowe’s to the new tacos at Taco Bell to IRS Tax advice to newest diet craze on the market today. Since the advent of the telephone, marketers have tried to entice people over the phone with special deals and people calling at inopportune times. It even got so bad that the government had to make a National Do Not Call list with punishments for violators.

With the rise in the modern computer, calling thousands of people at one time with the same message has become the norm. While this is helpful for evacuate purposes and such, it has however been used by politicians in recent years. Politicians have set up recordings for people to get ‘robo called’ to inform people of voting day and that their opponent voted to give five-year old guns and make the Cornish game hen the new national bird.

Until recently, I had never heard of ministers using this technology to promote their ministries. My friend in Nacogdoches (yes it is spelled correctly) posted on Facebook that he had received a robo call from Prophet Manasseh Jordan.

Here is a transcript of the robo-call.

” *CALM FEMALE VOICE* Hello, this is Manasseh Jordan Ministries. I’m one of the Prayer Closet Guards, and we are about to place your name in the Prophet’s Prayer Closet, but we noticed some of your information is incomplete. Please call 800 234-9071 within the next 24 hours, or press 0 to be transferred so we can complete your information and Prophet Manasseh can start praying for you *SUDDEN VOICE CHANGE, MALE* To be removed from this list, please call 1 800 318-7853, that again is 1 800 318-7853.”

Some general questions/observations:

  • why is it harder to be removed from the mailing list than it is to be added?
  • Why the sudden voice change from female to male?
  • How did they get my friend’s name and number?
  • What will happen after 24 hours if they do not contact them?
  • What is a Prayer closet and why does my friend need to be in it?
Is this the type of ministry that is advocated for in the Bible, robo-calling people and hoping that they give you their information so you can receive more information?
By just doing a quick Google search one will find a plethora of information and reviews of the Prophet. According to Web of Trust, a user community that rates websites on vendor reliability, trustworthiness, privacy and child safety, they rated the Prophet’s website as “Very Poor.” Now is this because people do like what he is promoting or is this because people on Web of Trust dislike Christianity? I’m not sure…
Of course my friend had his own opinion about the Prophet; he recently wrote:

At best, he represents enthusiastic but uneducated preaching, mixed with the danger to arrogance. At worst, pure scam.

Is this what Christianity has come to? Is this image that TBN ministers and tele-evangelist have today? Has Tammy Fay Baker and Robert Tilton (Just to name a few) ruined the cause of reaching people in their homes with the gospel message (even though at times I disagree with what they have to say)?

Is the most effective way to propagate the gospel message, by robo calling random people?

Is that what Christ advocated when he gave his Great Commission?

I get it… he wants to spread the message of Christ to all people in all places and I commend him for his faith but why does he need to solicit people randomly?

This type of in your face Christianity especially with the back story of needing money is what turns people off to the Gospel message.

A general rule of thumb for ministry is if politicians use it to get people to vote for them, it may not be an effective tool.

People are looking for community, they are looking for connections. Sure people do connect with ministers on TBN even to the point where they support them financially but that was their choice and no one hounded them on their personal phone under the guise of personal ministry care.

For me, I do not like it when on a minister’s site or a church’s site the “special message from the pastor/prophet” takes me to a video where the said pastor/prophet is asking for money. Where’s the message there? The video below makes it seem like a Ronco infomercial. I was expecting him to tell me about low easy monthly payments and 100% money back guarantees… no such luck. (Also if you watch the video about every 30 seconds there is a beep… the fire alarm needs a new battery :D)

Ministry is too important to leave to our new robot overlords.

So the next time you receive a phone call from an unknown number… it might be Prophet calling.

It’s your choice whether or not to answer.

In Christ,

Rev. Evan

Sermon- “What Does This Mean?” Pentecost 2012

/ Rev. Evan Dolive / Leave a comment

Sunday (Pentecost 2012) I preached a sermon entitled “What Does This Mean?” based on Acts 2:1-12.  You can listen to the sermon by clicking the link below.

Sermon Link

In Christ,

Rev. Evan

If You Want To See The Gospel Put Your House On The Market

/ Rev. Evan Dolive / 2 Comments

2255 1936 DeSoto AirFlow For Sale
As I have written previously, we are in a transition point in our life here in Orange. The future is not as clear as we would like but we are optimistic. Part of this process is listing our house on the market to be sold. If you ever had to sell your home, there are a myriad of things that you put up with but a suspecting buyer might not. Some of things were small fixing a piece of carpet that was coming up to larger tasks like fixing a gate and laying sod over an area where our old above ground pool once resided.

My story though starts a few days ago. Knowing that the house was officially for sale, we knew/hoped potential buyers would want to stop by and take a peek. One of the biggest projects we have is laying sod in the backyard. One of the problems that we were having is that I no longer have a truck to haul the sod from the grass farm to the house. My neighbor who has a nice Silverado (Texas Edition of course) told me that if I ever needed him to pick up the sod he would get and drop it off at the house. I took him up on his offer. So last Thursday, he went to the grass farm and picked up a half pallet of Saint Augustine sod. There was one little problem, I had a doctor’s appointment that afternoon. Generally when I go to the doctor I have good luck and do not have to wait too long to see the physican, this time was not one of those times. I guess that since I had to be somewhere in a decent amount of time, the doctor’s office decided to make me wait and wait and wait.

My wife called me while I am playing the waiting game and told me that our neighbor had come to the house and was laying the sod down with three other neighbors. When I was finally relinquished from the bonds of the doctor, i made it home only to find that they had finished laying the sod, even though I didn’t order enough. My neighbors were still there, working on the fence post that was leaning which made it hard to open and close the side gate properly. They were digging and digging and digging, trying to get this post out. Since there were four people now trying to get one stubborn post out, one of the neighbors decided to go to his house and get his hedge trimmer. He began trimming the holly bush out front of the house and even began to weed eat under the bush. He mowed over the hedge clippings to make them smaller to fill in a hole from from pipe work in the front yard. And that was just the beginning.

Within a span of three days- two posts were straightened and cemented, another half pallet of sod was laid, tiles were pulled up and news one were put down, boxes were moved, surfaces cleaned and numerous trips to Home Depot and the trash can– all done by a group of people seeing a need a acting on it. In the time since the intital work, smaller jobs have been completed around the house, all with the sole focus and intent of serving another human being.

This my friends is the embodiment of the gospel.

This is the essence of what Jesus Christ came to Earth to do, to be and promote. Christ came to start a new way of understanding and embodying the nature of God. No longer will God be somewhere in a distance place in the cosmos or even in the Temple in Jerusalem. No, Christ came to show that God is present in laying sod, moving boxes, cleaning windows, laying tile, pouring grout and the many many other things that needed to be done so that our house will be in tip-top shape for potential buyers.

Because of their actions my faith has been strengthen. A group of people over the span of a couple of weeks have shown me what it means to be the community of God. Not a word of Jesus Christ was mentioned, no prayers were said, no angelic choirs singing, but God was present.

I pray that I am able to show the gospel in such an impactful way someday.

May we all pray that prayer.

In Christ,

Rev. Evan

(“For Sale” available under the Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0 at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bsabarnowl/3998894081/)

“What Does Your Church Believe?”: Part II- Freedom of Belief

/ Rev. Evan Dolive / 7 Comments

This is the second installment of my “What Does Your Church Believe?” series. Last week I discussed the notion of open communion and the importance of it in DOC theology (click here for Part I). This week we will look at “Freedom of Belief.”

Back in the 19th Century when the what is now know as the Disciples of Christ was beginning to form as a movement, one of the pillars that many lifted up was the notion of freedom of belief. Our founders came out of a Presbyterian background. While there is nothing wrong with being Presbyterian, the founders did not like the use of creeds in worship and as tools for believing the ‘right’ types of things. Over time the motto of the Disciples of Christ became “no creed, but Christ.” This means that we are called as followers of Christ to seek out a relationship with God in a way that is meaningful for ourselves, just as long as we center our beliefs on that idea that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior.

We all come from different backgrounds, life experiences, socio-economic status, generations and education levels. We are NOT going to interpret the same thing even though we are reading the exact same passage. Some passages that were meaningful to us five years ago do not mean as much today. I like to give this example. My daughter, Violet, was born on February 1. On January 31, passages in the Bible that mentioned parenting, God as a loving parent, or that the people of Israel were God’s children, it not mean as much to me as they did when I read them on February 2.

Now if there was just one interpretation, who would get to decide which was “correct?” Would the Catholic interpretation be favored over the Baptist interpretation? Would the Presbyterians be “more correct” than the Methodists? As you can see this would cause major dissention between the denominations (and there is already enough of that to go around.)

Does Freedom of Belief mean you can believe whatever you want? In sense no. When reading the scriptures one has to remember the original intent of the book or passage one is reading; we can’t make the Bible “say” something that it never was intended to ‘say’ in the first place. The Disciples of Christ sum it up by stating “Persons are free to follow their consciences guided by the Holy Spirit, study and prayer, and are expected to extend that freedom to others.” The key here is extending grace and acceptance to others. We may not all believe the same things, we may all see something different when it comes to the Bible, but if we are grounded in the one essential of faith, Jesus Christ, then everything else is secondary.

In Christ,

Rev. Evan

And You Wonder Why People Aren’t Christians….

/ Rev. Evan Dolive / 1 Comment

I’ve said many times before that I believe that some people who were Christians and left the faith or those who reject Christianity altogether do so not because of any objection to the teachings of Jesus Christ.  They object to the actions of Christians themselves.

This is just another example of how one stupid act can make all Christians look bad.

I give you once again, Dr. Terry Jones, Minister of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainsville, Florida.  You may remember him as the person who wanted to burn the Koran (the holy text of Islam) on the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11th; he dubbed it “International Burn the Koran Day.”  This event (which was eventually cancelled) made national headlines.  The President, The Pope and countless others followers of Christ rejected the burning and rightfully so.  It was pointless and hate filled.

Dr. Jones and his band of 50 or so followers have a hatred for the religion of Islam.  They have even gone so far as to proclaim that Islam is of the devil and that it has a 1400 year history of rape and slavery.  Jones even went to far in 2010 to put the Koran “on trail” where he was the judge and jury and lo and behold he found the Koran guilty.

Now Jones has upped the ante just a little bit more, he actually followed through with burning the Koran AND a picture of Mohammed. Read more about it here.   In a video posted on YouTube Jones and others speak of the ills of Islam and how the followers of Islam  must be converted to Christianity to be saved in the end times.  To be honest, I tried to watch the 40+ minute video (the burning starting around minute 35 or so) but I couldn’t handle it.  I skipped around through the video and heard three different people say the same thing but in different words.

The message is one directed to the Iranian government who is holding a Christian minister in jail.  Dr. Jones believes that the Iranian government’s mind will be changed if they witness their holy book with an image of Mohammed being burned.  Iran was quick to respond and denounce the act (read more here).  I believe that they minister should be released too, but you dont see me going around lighting holy books on fire.  What kind of reaction about Jones give if he saw the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, burn a copy of Bible and call out all of the times and ways that the Bible has been misused for the destruction of others and the world?  My guess… he would not take it lying down…it might actually fuel his Islam hate firm more.

But alas while this didn’t make huge public headlines, its still a black eye for Christianity.  People outside of Christianity need to know that this is not indicative of all Christians.  This is not what the gospel is about.  Maybe Dr. Jones forgot that whole passage about the spec in your neighbor’s eye and the log in your own.  Maybe he forgot about Christ loving his neighbor.  Maybe he forgot that even people who practice Islam are children of God.  Maybe he forgot….

What Dr. Jones did was terrible with a “T.”  It was heartless and disrespectful to a religion which for the most part has not done anything wrong to him.  In most religions you are going to find radicals and fundamentalist who take their religion and doctrines to the extreme.  Dove World Outreach Center joins the ranks of Westboro Baptist Church.  They are in an elite class of Christians who give Christians a bad name.  Yes they are trying to live out their faith and yes they have that freedom.  But when action go against the central teachings of Jesus Christ, then they have missed the point.  Jesus Christ’s message was one that brought wholeness to people not hate.  What good could be done in Gainsville if that small group of Christians turned their attention to the hurting, the forgotten, to the lonely instead of the “evils” of Islam.

Ironically, Jones serves a congregation named after the bird of peace… the dove.  May he forgot that too.

Below is the video if you care to watch it.

In Christ,

Rev. Evan