"Evangelist, n. A bearer of good tidings, particularly (in a religious sense) such as assure us of our own salvation and the damnation of our neighbors." Ambrose Bierce

We have a long history in America of telling people when they are saved. It has become a science in that we have people pray a prayer and this insures that they have been delivered from their sins, made citizens of heaven and are now part of the "family." I am thankful for the fact that God does reconcile us to Himself through His Son Jesus Christ. I do not want to be taken out of context to say something that is untrue....the truth is that all people come to God through Jesus Christ. I am not arguing with this because it is the basis of my faith. My dissent here is with the methodology that seeks to bring people under the control of the institutional church. These methods are as innocent as Billy Graham and as insidious as Jim Jones.

There is a difference between what we call "conversion" and "regeneration." To be converted or "saved" has come to mean that we have prayed the prayer and told someone about it. This is a human endeavor and often involves the "help" of someone (usually a pastor who is seeking to send a count off to the national headquarters in the yearly report). The most important part of this is that the decision is made and we have all heard the most earnest and manipulative pitch's to "seal the deal" ("If you were to die tonight, do you know where you would spend eternity?"). In this schematic, we humans have a lot to gain by seeing as many as possible "come to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." Sometimes I think we are so eager to see this because it reaffirms for us personally that we made the right choice. It has been so long since we actually heard the voice of God or maybe we never have and we just want to know that He is still there. I believe that many people are "regenerated" through such practices and maybe in spite of them!

"Regeneration" is an act of the Holy Spirit. It is a divine healing that transforms a life, releases us from the penalty of our sin, and replaces a heart of stone with the beating heart of God. There is no way that this is manipulated and it is a conundrum for us over which we have no control. A person's regeneration is accompanied by outward signs that show an inward rebirth. The problem for us is that we have become so good at the conversion/salvation game. So, when a person is "saved" if they walk like us and talk like us and display behavior like us, then they must be regenerated. We are highly influenced by behaviorism where this is concerned. The same methods that are used to deliver people from all manner of addictions can be used to deliver us into looking like the ducks that we call "Christians." And if you think that it doesn't matter that you look and act the part, just try to be a non-comformist in any institutional church. I guarantee you that you will find resistance.

For most people this stuff probably doesn't matter. Some would call it making big deal over a few words. They are right....it is making a big deal out of something that at present means very little to most American Christians. I would hope to convince more people that it is important but I know that what I (and others) am saying isn't going to amount to a hill of beans. Still, I am compelled. I have to say this to ask people to start using their God given minds to begin taking seriously the psychobabble of the institutional church and quit playing the game. All of this behaviorism is choking the life out of a body that is meant to be salt and light in the world. What we are known for is that we are against everything that is "fun" and our hatred for unacceptable people (homosexuals come to mind). We need to quit saying pithy little BS like "Love the sinner and hate the sin." We say that on one hand but in our circles we say it is impossible to separate the sin from the sinner. Look, either love people or don't love them but please quit thinking you can love and hate at the same time!

Who knew that we could control people so easily? Put it in context....we think it is perfectly acceptable to control people when they are doing our bidding, but not if the cause is not our own. That is really what Bierce's quote is implying. Conservative Christians have had a tendency to love the Republicans and despise the Democrats. Liberal Christians tend to do the opposite. Does anyone doubt that no one has a corner on the truth? So, why do we fall into these ideological lines? I am saying that it is time to quit it. I realize that when Ben Stein put out the movie Expelled that most people saw it as a stamp of approval on the thought that God created everything that is. I didn't see it that way however....I saw Stein saying simply that unless we allow for all ideas to be placed on the table, we are always going to be in danger of building a wall of totalitarian thinking. I am equally wary of the devout Christian and the blazing athiest. Ideology in any form is a perilous thing. When asking questions becomes dangerous beware the powers that be.

Just as in the scientific community people who ask hard questions are not welcome in a traditional church. We all must toe the party line or we made aware that we are out of line. I am saying right now that we don't need to protect God from hard questions. He is able to handle it all. It is funny that we think we have to protect Him. Or maybe we think we need to protect each other. I really don't know. I just know that if I had collected a dollar for everytime I heard it said, "We don't go to those kind of movies....listen to that music....read those books.... say those kind of words" or whatever statement informed me to stay in line with the party, I would be a rich man today. Either I believe that God is who He says He is and I allow Him to be God or I am just running a grand charade. I prefer to choose the former. After all, He doesn't really need me to win the game....He isn't playing a game! God bless!

"In answer to your inquiry, I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell." William Booth