Kyle's Creative Counter-Arguments

Whoo!! This week has been a doozy. Many crazy events have taken place to certainly be remembered for eternity.

That Christmas Gala was such a refreshing and encouraging experience to take part in. I actually enjoyed singing my little heart out to popular hymns (a practice not familiar in our church.) I loved eating bread and butter with ginger ale all night due to my general disgust of marinara sauce (it was high quality bread you see,) and getting Rick-rolled by Jake was a pleasant surprise during the S.T.D. (Spontaneous trance dance). I think it was exactly what our fellowship needed. Xenos is such an exciting ministry!

Sunday night was crazy with a random photo shoot in our apartment followed by unwrapping presents and frivalities. Thank you, Mike, for the new Banjo-Kazooie game! The craziest part of the week was yet to come…

Some people may know I am a fan of the major-label rock group, The Black Keys. They are a highly successful band who have connections with many famous producers. In fact, Their album “Attack and Release” reached #15 On Rolling Stone Magazine’s 50 best albums of 2008 list. The group only consists of guitarist/singer Dan Aurbach and drummer/producer Patrick Carney. They have even headlined big festivals like lolapalooza and Bonnaroo.

Patrick Carney of the Black Keys

Well, B and I got Best Buy gift certificates for Christmas and we decided to head up to Chapel Hill and waste them on random Best Buy deals. After a quick rendezvous with Joe at Chapel Hill Mall, we traveled over to Best Buy next door. It was there the crazy thing happened…

We were walking down the aisles, looking at this and that, when I recognized THE Patrick Carney of The Black Keys randomly browsing computers next to us. I couldn’t mistake him because I had seen many of their music videos and even saw one of their performances on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. He had many expensive items in his hand, obviously because he is rich out the anus. After following him around the store for a while, making sure it was really him, Bryan gave me a little nudge and I walked up to him.

“Are you a drummer?” I asked
“uh… yeah.” said Patrick Carney, obviously startled.
“…Drummer for the Black Keys?”
“yeah,” he replied

My excitement culminated at that moment and I told him I appreciated his music and encouraged him to continue his successful musical career. I then realized I needed a picture of this. He said it was OK if B took a picture with his camera phone, but alas! his batteries were too low! Not knowing what else to say, I had to excuse myself and walk away.

But the craziest part was yet to come! Now just tonight I was looking up Patrick Carney on Wikipedia. It told me his father, Jim, was a reporter for the Akron Beacon Journal. Well, this reporter is the same one who is investigating the Xenos cult charges!!!!!!!!!! Jim Carney is his name! This is so crazy because I had just met at the Xenos Christmas Gala the same week!! I met both father and son in the same 3 days and didn’t even realize it!!! How cool would it be if Patrick came around to Xenos?!

Looking back, I see how cool it would have been to be like “hey Pat, I just met your dad the reporter. He’s investigating my church!” That would have been an interesting conversation starter!

Well, this whole Black Keys incident doesn’t really matter much but I thought it interesting. I really just don’t have much else to do now but, while I’m here, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!!!

totally!

Additional Information

Some people have requested I upload my Love Ethics paper, so here it is. It was my attempt to relate the content I learned in the class to the book. I was pleased with the result.

Five Views on Sanctification

The Five Views on Sanctification presents a wide interpretation of biblical scriptures. None of the views present a 100% accurate depiction of biblical sanctification, but each one contributes to a full understanding. It was moderately confusing trying to pick out the scripture-supported truths about becoming more Christ-like. All five views agree that the bible is authoritative and stresses a faith relationship with the almighty.
The Wesleyan view on sanctification provided much insight into the human condition. I agree fully with his definition of sanctification and how it is progressive. I disagree, however, with his theology of total sanctification being available in this life. Wesley implies that willful sinning can be taken away eventually through sanctification. I infer this from his comment that one’s “bent to sinning” is taken away and the “war within oneself” is over.
The definition of entire sanctification is the entire renewal of oneself in the image of God. This is contradictory because one is still able to fall again because nobody can be absolutely perfect. To understand this, one must have a clear definition of sin. We must distinguish if it is the voluntary disregard for the will of Christ or any act that falls short of God’s glory. David in the book of Psalms clearly defines sin as the latter of the two; Who can discern {his} errors? Acquit me of hidden {faults.} (Ps 19:12). Because David defines sin as any shortcoming of God’s glory, it is impossible for anyone to reach the state of total sanctification in the life.
Sin continues to be a barrier throughout the life of a believer. 1 John 1:8 says If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. The conclusion here is that sin continues to be a barrier throughout our life and we must be sanctified through a continuous process.
The Reformed view denies the teaching of total sanctification. Sanctification in this view is possible through union with Christ. This is made possible by the truth presented in his word and faith in him; faith that he died on the cross for our debt, sin no longer has mastery over us and the power of the Holy Spirit enables us to overcome sin and live for God. Faith is an operative power that produces fruit and enables us to love, which is the goal of our instruction (1 Tim 1:3). Faith is energized by loving others and forming relationships. Sanctification is a process by which we must be active. Not that God has a role and we have a role, rather, we work because God works.
One point the reformed view stumbles upon is the issue of pre-chosen believers. Traditional Calvinists believe people are chosen by God to be saved. If this were true, the need for overseas missions would be eradicated. Calvinists would then say; God will find a way to expose them to the gospel because they are already chosen to receive it. I must reject this notion because the verse is describing believers chosen based on the foreknowledge of Christ. He knew the choice anyone would make and based his plan off that.
The importance of keeping the law seems to be held above loving others in this view. Hoekema states that in order to fulfill the law, one must love, as if the goal is to fulfill the law. Rather we should make the goal loving others, and that subsequently fulfills the law.
The Pentacostal view also stresses sanctification through progression. They also hold the belief of positional regeneration. One’s position is either saved or unsaved, and one can work from there. One belief Pentecostals hold is that we can be entirely sanctified but not absolutely perfect. The indication here is that we can achieve relative perfection in this life. The problem here is the standard of perfection is lowered. There are now different degrees of perfection one can achieve. The distinction to be made is we are either perfect or we are not. God is the standard of perfection that no man can live by.
Pentecostals stress the importance of a second experience that comes after regeneration. This second experience involves baptism into the Holy Spirit and the evidence of speaking in tongues. This is needed in order to be filled with the spirit. This conclusion has no support in the bible. In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul explains tongues is a gift given to a few, but not all Christians. This would mean that only a small portion of the Christian community can participate in this second experience! Paul also explains Tongues is not an important gift to have. If it was as important as the Pentecostal view makes it, Paul would have stressed it more heavily. The main issue with this view is the lack of scriptural support for its claims.
The Keswick View offers an excellent point about today’s culture. Christian spirituality is weak in the modern day church. The average Christian family is no different than an uptight non-Christian household. Most churches are centered around convenience for its members. They try to shove God into one part of the week that is convenient for them and place no importance on his kingdom. Keswick offers a solution to this issue.
This view is not doctrinal and has a wide use in many denominations. I have used much of this material, such as five means of growth, in my teachings. The biggest problem I have with this view is its self-focused five-day rehab guide. This guide is all about serving your own needs and not the needs of others. It is almost like a Christian diet. While the content is indeed refreshing and righteous, it is very me-centered. By taking the Love Ethics course, I was able to identify the selfish way the material was presented. Loving others was not a priority.
Like the Reformed view, the Augustinian-Dispensationalist view agrees that Born-again Christians are new creatures. While we are not yet totally new, we are genuinely new, and sin no longer keeps us in bondage. As new creatures, we still experience a tendency to sin, which is called our “flesh” according to Ephesians 2:3.
Our position of regenerated eternal creatures is an irreversible one that does not mean perfection right away. It is very obvious someone is saved when we can see the spirit working inside them. That is to say, they are spiritually empowered, and the Lord is using them to accomplish his will. Not all Christians are filled with the spirit. Those are the people who are not fruitful in ministry.
In conclusion, sanctification is a process by which we are made more like Christ. It is an ongoing process that finishes with glorification. The most important aspect that should be stressed is love relationships with Christ and others. That is the ultimate goal of this process. By becoming more Christ-like, we are becoming more successful in love.

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