the gospel

When Faith Is Not Enough

/ Rev. Evan Dolive / 4 Comments

My latest article for the Orange County Record

One of my professors in seminary once said that he did not believe in atheists.  He didn’t mean that he did not believe that there were people in the world who did not believe in God or a higher power.  During his lecture he said, “There is no such thing as an ‘atheist’ every person is ‘a theist.’  Every person has faith in something.”

If you think about it, it is a true statement.  We have faith that our doctor will know proper procedures and treatment options.  We have faith that people driving vehicles will follow the rules of the road ensuring our safety.  We have faith that when go to a restaurant that our food will be prepared well and that we will not get sick a food borne illness.

Every person whether they are a practicing Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, agnostic or atheist has had to wrestle with the notion of faith and to what extent their faith will impact their life.  Faith for some practitioners is deeply integrated it into their lives (eating Kosher, strict dress code, daily prayer).  Some have chosen to place that faith in a theology, a teaching, a book or themselves.  Faith is something that permeates all of humanity, in every place, in every culture and in every time period.

Being a Christian minister I am particular interested the ways that Christians from all walks of life are sharing and understanding their faith.  There was story in the Washington Post that peeked my interest.  (You can read it by going to http://wapo.st/LA4Vyl)

In West Virginia, a minister was killed due to a rattlesnake bite.  Pastor Mark Wolford died after handling a snake in a small church service.  In some states this particular worship expression is illegal but not in West Virginia.  For members of Wolford’s church, they believe they are being deeply committed to the Bible.  They take Mark 16:17-18 quite literally.  It reads:  “These signs will be associated with those who believe: they will throw out demons in my name. They will speak in new languages. They will pick up snakes with their hands. If they drink anything poisonous, it will not hurt them. They will place their hands on the sick, and they will get well.”

Snake handling is nothing new to modern Christian faith expression.  In 1995, Dennis Convington wrote a book about his experience of snake handling in churches in Alabama.  In his text, “Salvation on Sand Mountain” he dives into the world of snake handling.  In one particular church the congregants would drink arsenic to show their faith in God.  Is this what God asks from God’s followers?  If we do not believe that having faith of a mustard seed can actually move Mount Fuji, then why apply this text so literally?  Do I not have as much faith has those followers of Christ in West Virginia because I do not worship with animals?

Did Pastor Wolford lack faith?  Was his faith not enough? Some would say ‘yes’ because he tried to follow the teachings of the Bible and still ended up dying.  Others would say ‘no’ because he was bit by a venomous snake and the appropriate medicines were not administered in time.  For me, I believe that Pastor Wolford truly believed that the God of all creation would protect him and that his faith was the cure all to poisons that he might encounter.  This makes Christianity the “magic bullet” for everything bad in one’s life.   When does faith turn into wishful thinking?  I have faith that God is a God that cares for me and my family.  But I am not expecting God to send angels to save me if I try to jump the roof of my house.  No amount of faith would be adequate in trying to save my life.  Becoming a Christian does not mean that everything thing bad in one’s life is magically going to go away.  This makes Christianity a religion of give and take; I give to God and take what God gives to me.  I give God my faith, God will give me a clean bill of health.  This makes Christianity superficial and self-centered.

Pastor Wolford and his followers have taken into their hands (literally) their faith.  For them their faith is a tool of salvific proportions.  Yes I believe in miracles and the power of the Holy Spirit, but I am not totally convinced that waving a snake around the sanctuary and hoping that God would intervene if the snake got mad is what God is advocating.  In our lives we will have varying expressions of faith: words of songs will mean more, scriptures will reveal to us the understanding of how God has acted in the past and how humanity has reacted, worship will revive our soul and on and on.

Faith is not static and at its core it is quite difficult.  This is why many people do not begin the journey.

When Humanity Rears Its Ugly Head

/ Rev. Evan Dolive / Leave a comment

This is my latest article for the Orange Country Record.

This week marked the fourteenth year anniversary of one of the worst acts ever inflicted on another human being.  On June 7, 1998, James Byrd, Jr., a Beaumont native, was savagely murdered.  He was murdered not by accident rather for the simple fact that he was an African-American man.  In one gruesome act, three white supremacist let intolerance of another human begin blind them to drag a man behind a truck until his death in the small Southeast Texas town of Jasper.

One of the three who took part in Byrd’s murder, Lawrence Russell Brewer, never apologized or sought forgiveness in the public eye. In fact, before his execution in 2011 he said, “As far as any regrets, no, I have no regrets. No, I’d do it all over again, to tell you the truth.”  A chilling answer.

Humanity on the whole has never been perfect.  Wars have been fought over small amounts of land; people in roles of authority overstep their boundaries in search for more and more power.  There are even laws are in place to protect individuals against bad business practices and to ensure our food is handled safely.

In the book of Genesis, the author writes that at the end of the creation story, God declared that the world was “very good.”  It must have been a really nice place, but not so much now.

In the midst of all of this, the Church is called on to make sense of it all.   The church is called to try to bridge the gap that seems to exist between what should be and what really is, to try to answer the question of why there is such a disparity.  Surely not all of this is consequence of sin way back in the Garden of Eden.

Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, once wrote in his text “The Seven Storey Mountain”: “It is only the infinite mercy and love of God that has preserved us from tearing ourselves to pieces and destroying [God’s] entire creation long ago. People seem to think that it is in some way a proof that no merciful God exists, if we have so many wars. On the contrary, consider how in spite of centuries of sin and greed and lust and cruelty and hatred and avarice and oppression and injustice, spawned and bred by the free wills of men [and women], the human race can still recover, each time, and can still produce men and women who over come evil with good, hatred with love, greed with charity, lust and cruelty with sanity. How could all this be possible without the merciful love of God, pouring out [God’s] grace upon us?”

At our best humanity can be full of compassion and love and care, but at our worst humanity can be greedy, hateful and repugnant.  Contrary to popular belief followers of Christ are not immune to this.  Some of the worst atrocities ever committed have sadly been in the name of God.  For some, this is an indication that Christianity does (or did) not care of people’s relationship with God rather their focus is on being correct.

Christ’s ministry on earth was grounded in the notion of love, care and acceptance.  Christ came to establish a way of understanding and relating to others as well as to God.  But more than that Christ was the embodiment of the Divine on earth.  As Christians we strive to emulate Christ in all that we do but sometime we fall short.

I have no answer to what drove three men to brutally kill another human being.  We can blame their upbringing, we can blame drugs, we can blame violent video games, we can blame a health care system that doesn’t adequately treat those with mental illnesses.  But that is too easy.  In the end we have to look inside ourselves.  Stories like this one make our stomachs turn into knots over the loss of innocence.  At some levels we empathize with Byrd family but know that it is the human condition, a condition that is in every person on earth, which drove these men to kill.  Does that mean we will do the same? No, but it does mean that it is not some external influence that is causing crimes around the world; it’s the simple fact that we are human beings, driven to do what we want, when we want it with no regard for others.

This is what Christ came to stop.  The answer to the human condition must be found in the gospel.  Christ’s message of love was revolutionary and it can do the same for us today.  The gospel can restore people to completeness and wholeness.

At the end of the day, people like Lawrence Russell Brewer are children of God, created in the same divine image as the most religious, well-intentioned Christian.  It might be hard to believe, but it is true.

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

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

You And I Aren’t So Different

/ Rev. Evan Dolive / 6 Comments

Here is my latest article for the Orange County Record.

It’s a common question.  It’s is a question that comes up in the most general and basic of conversations.  You could be at a party for a friend, meeting someone for the first or in the chair getting your haircut.  The question arises: “What do you do for a living?”  For most people when they answer question the response is one that is met with probing or clarifying questions, not when I answer.

You see when I tell people what I do it strikes fear in their heart, I tell them: “I am a minister.”  All at once a wave comes over their face as if they are shocked that a minister would come out from behind the pulpit and Bible commentaries to venture out into the world of sinners and commoners.  Eye contact lessens as if people don’t want me to peer into their soul and see them for who they truly are.

Generally people immediately begin to tell me about their religious preferences and experiences.  If the person I am speaking had not interjected what I call “God talk” yet, they promptly add it to the conversation.  They will tell me about their minister’s sermons from the previous Sunday to prove to me that they were listening and that his/her teaching was effective.  Someone actually turned on the Bible on CD while I was receiving a haircut.

Once someone inquired about my job and told them that I was a minister.  They told me about their lack luster church attendance.  This person in particular had stopped going to church because the service in the church she was attending was not connecting with her on a deep, spiritual level.  If she had just told me that part of the story I would have been fine and we might have continued our conversation about her religious experiences or maybe abandoned that track and began a completely new conversation.  Rather she began her conversation by informing me “I really don’t go to church that much, I mean I am not a devil worshiper or anything like that but I just don’t care for the service at my church right now.”   Since when did not going to church for Christians become devil worshipping in a minister’s mind? Is that the dichotomy that exist– Worship God or you are a devil worshiper?  Is this is perception that people have of ministers?   Do people really think that I am a perfect, pious, self-righteous, judgmental person who goes from place to place condemning people for their lack of faith and church attendance?

Sadly that is an accurate description of about one percent of the ministerial population, but not me.

Ministers are human beings; we are people just like you.  We go to the store, we shop online, and we try to make ends meet month to month.  Ministers have taken on as their call or duty to ensure that the message of Jesus Christ is promoted and propagated in the world.  Yes many ministers are educated in theology, divinity and pastoral care, but knowledge of the Bible and having good skills in the pulpit does not make one perfect.  Yes ministers are seen as the spiritual leaders of their congregations but to place the label of perfection places a great weight on minister’s shoulders.

Ministers don’t walk around singing “The Old Rugged Cross” and quoting scripture, rather ministers have to find a way to get the kids to soccer practice, homework completed, dinner on the table and make that two hour evangelism committee meeting on top of writing a sermon, making visits and calls.

Am I perfect? No, far from it and I don’t claim to be.

I listen to music other than gospel (gasp!)

I make mistakes just like everyone else. (double gasp!)

I sometimes don’t pray as often as I should. (heretical gasp!)

Does this make me a less effective minister?  I don’t think so, but it does make me human.  Christ came to the Earth to restore people to wholeness and mend people in their brokenness.  Nowhere in the Bibles does Christ command his followers to be perfect, rather he understands that humans are flawed individuals seeking completeness.

So the next time you see a minister tell him/her that you hope they are well and not too stressed, especially during the holy times (Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter).  Don’t try to impress them with your knowledge of Bible verses or church history.  Don’t treat them any differently than you would treat anyone else.

So as you can see, you and I aren’t that different after all.

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

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

/ Rev. Evan Dolive / 1 Comment

I didn’t think I would be writing another one of these post for while.  But Christians are giving Christians a bad name… again…

For some reason unknown to any one but him, Pastor Charles L. Worley of Providence Road Baptist Church in North Carolina took to the pulpit to speak on President Obama’s recent statements affirming same-sex marriage. Now North Carolina was in a big debate regarding this issue and in a statewide vote denied same sex couples the right to marry; no doubt that was fresh on his mind when he came to service.

A little over a week ago I posted an audio clip from Pastor Sean Harris who advocated to hit your children if they “acted gay.” You can read (or re-read it here).  While Pastor Harris’ comments were out of line, Pastor Worley’s comments leaves Pastor Harris’ comments in the dust… Why?  Worley advocates murder.

In the video posted below, Pastor Worley goes on a two-minute rant about homosexuals, the President and what his solution to the “gay problem.”  In the video he says,

“I had a way I figured a way out…a way to get rid of all the lesbians and queers. Build a great big, large fence 150 or 100 mile long – put all the lesbians in there. Fly over and drop some food. Do the same thing with the queers and the homosexuals. And have that fence electrified until they can’t get out. Feed them and you know what in a few years – they’ll die out. You know why – they can’t reproduce.”

On a personal note, the video was extremely hard to listen to.  Not only does he advocate for a group of people to be killed he is doing it from the pulpit in a church which is supposed to be a holy place AND has the audacity to say this comes from God.  At one point he says that the Bible is “again” it and that God is “again” it.  Also, what is disheartening is that fact that members of his congregation were “amening” and agreeing with what he had to say.  Glad they are practicing that love of Christ… glad they love all people just like God loved them dispite their faults.  If (as some say) all sins are equal in the eyes of God then why are they stratifying this particular sin?  Which is it Pastor Worley and the members who agree of Providence Road Baptist Church in North Carolina?  Are all sins equal or does God have a “Top Ten” list of the sins one is not to commit with homosexuality at the top?  Why are you trying to make disciples in your image of God?

Pastor Worley I believe you and I (and millions of other people) are reading different Bibles.  Jesus Christ (the one you are supposed to be following) never called for the murder of a group of people just because they were different and didn’t think the say way he did.  History lesson: Hitler did that… so… think about that…

Christ being the compassionate person that he was sought out the ‘other’ to be in relationship with him/her to tell them that God still LOVES them for WHO THEY ARE.  Don’t believe me?  Check out your Bible… there are more passages about loving your neighbor and being the hands and feet of God than there are about homosexuality being wrong.

Trust me… actually don’t… look it up for yourself, you might learn something. 🙂

You can watch the video below… if you want… as well as a member trying to defend her pastor’s position on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360.

In Christ,

Rev. Evan