Where does your theology come from?

Where does your theology come from?

                In some Christian circles, the word "theology" has gotten a bad name. Even as other people are being drawn into liturgy and traditions of man, in these circles, "theology" has taken on a context so negative you'd think that theological discussion was the work of the enemy. What is so evil about theology? Why does it strike fear in the hearts of so many pastors and parishioners? First, let's look at what the word even means. 

Theology: The study of the nature of God and religious belief.

                OK, well, that seems fairly innocuous. Why in the world would so many people demonize and shy away from the study of (or discussion about) the nature of God? Doesn't the Word itself tell us many times over to earnestly seek after Him and to know Him better? Doesn't that same Word also talk about meeting together, and iron sharpening iron? Clearly, we are to seek to know Him better, part of that process being discussing what we're learning with one another and even challenging one another's ideas, in order to get to the Truth. 

                So that begs the question, with so many different theologies out there, where do they come from? Those claiming that God accepts homosexuals just as they are and does not require them to leave that lifestyle to become members (or even pastors) clearly have a different theology than those who claim that God loves (and we are to love) homosexuals, but that their lifestyle is a sin which must be dealt with before accepting them into membership, much less leadership. The former happily celebrate same-sex unions in their church buildings, while the latter feel that practice is heresy. Many of the first group even feel strongly enough about this issue that they feel the government should step in and remove churches and businesses from the latter, and would gladly, proudly, turn them in for this purpose. 

                How diametrically opposed can one group (the church) be? And this is just one issue! There is only one God, there is only one Truth, so how can each of these groups be right? They can't, plain and simple. God has one opinion on this issue and someone, maybe everyone, is on the wrong side of it. Knowing how strongly both sides feel on this issue, isn't it ignorant not to assume that God has just as strong an opinion? He loves both sides, He loves the homosexuals in the center of the debate. Knowing that He loves and does not wish that any be lost and go to hell, doesn't it behoove EVERYONE in the discussion to let their own opinions go, fall on their faces and pray, and seek His Word for His final say on the issue? This way, if the former group is wrong, they, and their homosexual church members and leaders can repent and be saved. If the latter group is wrong, they can do the same. 

                So, if someone's wrong (and someone is), where did that wrong theology, that misunderstanding of God, come from? Did they misread the Bible? Did they just make it up for themselves? Did someone else intentionally mislead them? Looking at issues (and denominations) under this particular light, it poignantly drives home the point that we need to take serious stock of our theologies and make sure that we're right with God. The church today is made up of factions, most of which simply must be wrong about who God is if there is but one Truth, all working towards their own goals, not God's, and not together in anything remotely resembling unity. This is not His perfect design for the church. God did not curse the church, His Body, with the same division and confusion with which He cursed the world after the tower of Babel. 

                That's an important point to remember here...There is only one God, there is only one Truth. With all the (mostly disingenuous) talk out there about "unity" and "just getting along" and "banding together despite our differences", seeking after God's true character with all your heart has become something of a divisive pursuit. But when seeking after Him with our whole heart, one must necessarily come to a place where you ask; where did all these different ideas, denominations, traditions and theologies come from? Why don't we actively seek to find true unity by setting aside all these misconceptions and come together to really seek His one Truth? How much more, better, real unity could we find then? How does God feel about this? Wouldn't He seek to reveal Himself more clearly to a body who was willing to seek Him in this way? 

                I humbly submit that this is precisely what He has been desiring to do for some time now. So let us respond to Him in the only appropriate way we can. Let us come together, as one Body, globally, and fall on our faces, repent of our division, search our His Word for His view on the issues which divide us, and begin walking together in real unity, with one accepted view of who God is, what He wants, how we are to serve Him...One Theology, that He may receive the glory which only He deserves. 

In Service of the King,

~Michael "Blue" Erdmier

2015 Update

Greetings!

I pray you all had a Merry Christmas and are having a very Happy New Year!

As we move forward into 2015, I thought I would take a few moments to update you on all that is going on. There are several new Facebook Pages and Groups, as well as a few new YouTube Channels to update you on, in addition to the plans for MOSAIC Five-Fold Fellowship.

MOSAIC

First, if you are not already aware, in several weeks we will be launching a parachurch organization called "MOSAIC Five-Fold Fellowship" (or just "MOSAIC" for short). MOSAIC is being founded on something the Lord has been stirring in my heart for many years now. In short, it is;

* A calling back to the 5-Fold Ministry model given in the New Testament and utilized by the early church (eventually with full-time minsters in the 5 offices).
* A calling to 24/7 Prayer and Worship in a dedicated Sanctuary, open to the community.
* A calling to true Unity in the church, based not on an "Ecumenical" blind acceptance of all theologies and denominations as equally correct, but on a driving desire to seek out the one Truth of God, together.
* A calling to the "Free Church" model; a departure from the 501(c)(3) format so many churches have fallen into in this country.

As we plan to launch, we may be meeting at our home in Morton, IL for a time, but will be seeking a more neutral location and planning a permanent home as we grow. (This includes the previous plans for a "Morton Community House of Prayer" as part of its format so that ministry will be moving forward as part of this one.)
More information can be found at the temporary Website here, the Facebook Group, here, and the YouTube Channel, here. Both the Facebook Groups and YouTube Channel are still being developed and a permanent Website is forthcoming.

Firefly/Serenity

Next, the "Browncoat Society for the Continuation of the "Firefly" Television Series" Facebook Group has over 4,700 members now! We continue to grow by leaps and bounds, with more than a dozen new members almost daily! I've been seeing more a more Firefly/Serenity gear around as well, including "Firefly The Game", "Firefly Online Game", "Clue; Firefly Collector's Edition" and "Yahtzee; Firefly Collector's Edition", complete with a model Serenity for the dice cup! There's even a new "Serenity Film-Scale Artisan Replica" available for $7,500 from Qmx and Funko ReAction and Pop! figures! It's an exciting time to be a Browncoat, for sure!

This spurred me on to making a followup group; "Black Gun Browncoats" (Facebook Group here YouTube Channel here) for Firefly fans who also enjoy shooting sports. This page is featuring my own personal AR15 build as well. 
Additionally, my interest in RC aircraft, particularly multirotors and FPV (first-person view) gear led to the creation of the YouTube Channel "Firefly FPV Flight Deck" (found here). This will follow my own quadcopters including my new Blade 200QX ("The CTS Hoban Washburne"), and a future FPV build, possibly based on a 200QX with a Razor or Phoenix carbon fiber frame.

Flippin'

As some of you may know, I have been suffering with a variety of physical issues for many years now. Several Xrays, MRIs and Dr. visits have yielded no real answers. I have several bulging discs in my back, at least 1 full herniated disc, 2 of the discs in my neck are fused (not surgically), I've had several dysplastic nevus (precancerous moles) removed, have some arthritis (but not as much as we expected) and am in nearly constant pain. There are days it's hard to walk and nights I sleep downstairs because I can't get up the stairs. My eldest daughter found a disorder which could explain a lot of it, and I plan to have a DNA test done this Spring to find out if that could be it. Unfortunately there is no medical cure, but at least it could be identified, properly treated, and maybe I could get on some kind of disability or something to help provide for my family. I've tried a couple different jobs, but have been unable to find work I can physically do. 

One job I was always good at and really enjoyed was selling cars. At least, when I was able to treat clients the way I wanted to and was able to sell inventory I had interest in. Although I did well with either specialty cars or "college student" cars, I never did well selling new, current, domestic offerings to average buyers. One side of the spectrum or the other was better for me, never middle-of-the-road. 

This got me looking for a niche market to specialize in and it came pretty quickly. All the cars I've been interested in over the years, many of them today are inexpensive, or experiencing a resurgence of interest, opening a new market for restorations, resto-mods and partial restorations (basically just repair, tune, clean and flip). One car that fits this category well is the Porsche 928. Now, the late S4/GT/GTS are all out of my range, but the early cars are usually doable, and they need more repair anyway. After brief research, I decided I would specialize mostly in 1985-86 cars. These were the early body style, but with the "S" trim, and these 2 years alone had the DOHC engine prior to the aero refresh in 1987. So, come March or early April, I'll be on the hunt for an '85-'86 Porsche 928S in clean, running condition for around $8K (or preferably under). Let me know if you hear of one that is available. Illinois has some specific rules on private sellers, but maybe this could be developed into a small business before I hit those limits.

Church

Finally, my family and I are currently in a period of transition. We are in the process of leaving the church I grew up in and are looking into a few other local congregations to be involved in. There is a local "House of Prayer", but they are not a church (and don't wish to be). We will include them as part of whatever we end up doing, but are looking into other congregations for membership. There is one in particular we have had dealings with in the past which we are strongly leaning towards at this time. 

Without going into a lot of detail or naming names, the only reason I would ever consider leaving a church (other than relocation or a call to ministry elsewhere) is due to a serious conflict of theology. As I make ever effort to be willing to be proven wrong, to base my personal theology as much as possible on the Word alone and to reject "religion" and doctrinal teachings of man without Biblical foundation, for me this means that church leadership must be doing something outside the scope of the Word for me to have an issue with it. And that's exactly what we've run into. 

A Pastor and Elder of the church, from an open microphone at the pulpit at a prayer meeting, was praying for the Middle East. In this prayer, he prayed "that 'Isa would be fully revealed to the Muslim people". Now, 'Isa is a character who appears in Muslim texts as a "version" of the Jesus of the Bible, so the name is used by those who know (but not its full meaning) in an attempt to reach out to Muslims, or to sound learned on the subject of Islam. 

Unfortunately, 'Isa was not the name used for Jesus by Christian Arabs before the invention of Islam. They used (depending on locale) variations of the Hebrew "Yeshua", such as "Yasou". Additionally, 'Isa has his own narrative, distinct from the Jesus of the Bible. 'Isa was not the son of God ("Allah" has no sons), was born in Palestine, not Nazareth, to Merideth (Islam's version of Moses' sister), not to Mary, did not die on the cross and so did not provide salvation to man (in Islam man does not require salvation) but was taken up into heaven and was replaced on the cross by Judas Iscariot. Furthermore, he will return one day as Caliph over an Islamic world, will break the cross of Jerusalem and put all Christians, Jews and other non-Muslims to the sword, have children and die after 40 years. He is NOT Jesus of the Bible but is in fact the very spirit of the antichrist.

I approached leadership with a mountain of reference material, as I had researched this topic heavily when Dr. Rick Warren ("The Purpose Driven Life") use the name 'Isa interchangeably with Jesus in his prayer at Obama's first inauguration. Needless to say, this did not go as anticipated and after multiple attempts, many emails and a couple meetings, they refused to hear the truth.

So it is with great pain and suffering that we remove ourselves from ministry and leadership, leave that church and begin looking for another church body to become part of. Be praying for us as we move forward into whatever God has for us in the coming year(s), and as we move forward with MOSAIC and other interests.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

In Service of the King,

~Michael "Blue" Erdmier

Urgency

I believe in these days the Church is experiencing a new move of God. There have been several instances in the past where we can look back and see God moving within the Church, moving those willing to listen to Him, moving them closer to the Path set before them. The Protestant Reformation, the Charismatic revivals and many more. These were times when certain people within the establishment Church saw a different Path and were called to move out into a new calling. 

I believe today this is happening once again, and that it may be a setting apart from the Church which will suffer the great falling away foretold in Revelation. This isn't necessarily a narrowing of the path, but a recognition of the narrowness of the Path originally set before the Church. Willing to shrug off the paganism, humanism and worldly culture which is ever increasingly part of the Church culture, particularly in the West, and not shrinking from standing up for the Truth of the Word when false doctrines come into the Church seeking the approval of man instead of God. These are the Remnant, the Bride, the true Church. 

I believe part of this recognition of the narrowness of the Path originally set before the Church will cause much controversy and will be part of the great falling away. Many within the sleeping church today will refuse the Word for the world...Will refuse Christ for the culture...Will refuse to shrug off paganism and blending with other faiths and doctrines, refusing to be closer to the One True God. These are the sleeping church, the lost within our walls, the very definition of Matthew 7:23 "...I never knew you".

I believe this isn't about legalism and judgment, but rather about accountability to one another and about desiring to be more like Jesus, more than we desire to be liked by man. The Church is being challenged to stop balking at admonishment from others within the Church, calling them judgmental and legalistic. But instead to disallow themselves to be offended by God or man, only desiring to be more like Jesus and to know Him more intimately. 

I believe the Church is being called back into alignment with the first century model of Five-Fold Ministry, with Churches not being planted and run by Pastors alone, or by Pastors with Elder teams and boards. But Churches being planted by modern-day Apostles, gifted, anointed and called into ministries of teaching, preaching and the prophetic. Apostles not in name alone, but in deed, who are sound in doctrine, founded in the Word and familiar with Christ. Apostles who seek out those called to Office of Prophet, Pastor, Teacher and Evangelist...Those who can seek out, help disciple and send out more of the same.

I believe the Church is also being called back into alignment with the Davidic model of 24/7 day and night prayer and worship. Far too long have our sanctuaries been locked-up tight all night and most of the week. It's time that anyone be able to come into the Sanctuary any time and pray or worship. If certain restaurants and other enterprises can find a way to make it happen, why can't we? Which is more important, being able to get a burger in the middle of the night or being able to encounter the living God?! Isn't He Worthy?

I believe that this emerging 5-Fold, 24/7 Church is being called to a season of prayer and fasting. Intercession for our nations, our leaders, the Church, the lost and dying...How long have we been asleep and silent? I believe as we move forward into this new move of God, back into the ancient patterns set before us at the foundation of the Church, that we will find exponentially more clarity regarding our faith. Denominations will cease, differences of theology will cease, misunderstandings of God will cease and we will become One in Him, of one faith, in UNITY of understanding and purpose. 

I believe as that happens we will begin to see the emergent Bride. We will once again see REAL miracles, on a grand scale. We will see the fulfillment of those words; "greater things than these". We will see disciples and Apostles who operate just as Jesus did. And finally, once we have clothed ourselves with Righteousness, we will see Jesus.

Watchman's Wall

What is a Watchman and why do we need them?

The Word speaks of "Watchmen", who God Himself set up for Israel. These were men set upon the walls, symbolically closer to God, and symbolically as well as literally with a higher viewpoint. They could see much further than those living at ground level within the walls and could recognize trouble long before it arrived. Friend or foe, your presence was known, your intentions discerned, hundreds, maybe even thousands of yards, possibly miles, before you ever knocked at the gate. This was the Watchman's job, to warn the city of impending violence, so they may be prepared and defend themselves. The Word puts it this way...

Ezekiel 33:1-9 (ESV)
"The word of the Lord came to me: 2  “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, 3 and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.

7  “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8 If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul."

This is a spiritual representation of many who God has placed within the Church today. They are people who have been called to dedicate their lives to clearly hearing the Word of the Lord and who have an overwhelming commitment to His principles. Gifted with strong spiritual discernment and unafraid of the opinions of man, they are always on alert for attacks of the enemy which would seek to ensnare the Church. They are the faithful ones sounding the alarm when false doctrine (such as universalism or homosexual marriage) try to enter the Church. They are the ones who take a strong stand when wrong theology finds the doors of apathy or political correctness as inroads to those with weaker faiths within their walls. Not frequently in actual leadership, these are your outsiders, usually your loners, and they are often your Apostles, Prophets and Teachers. Underestimated, disregarded and outcast, these are those within the Body whom your Pastors and Elders should be most closely listening to.

The Watchman sees his job as non-negotiable, as it is not only a matter of life and death, but a matter of eternal life vs. the "second death". They see their charter as over and above all other charters, as theirs is directly from God Himself, not from any man, and may be called upon to keep all others on course. Their ministry is not to any one individual or even any one group of individuals, their mandate is to hear the Voice of the Lord concerning the entire Body. Their commitment is firm, their foundation is solid, their resolve is to the death. They will not back down from blowing the trumpet, sounding the alarm, when they sense an attack, because of Ezekiel 33. They know their job is to protect the Body by informing them of evil. They know that if they do not sound the alarm, any harm that evil causes is on them.

However, that's about where the Watchman's job ends. The Word is clear that although it is the Watchman's job to sound the alarm, it is up to the Body to respond. If they choose not to respond, his responsibility has still been fulfilled and his hands are clean. That isn't license for apathy, or for offense, it is simply the way God has chosen in His wisdom, righteousness and justice to divide the responsibility.

Now, there are false Watchmen. People who are simply judgmental and seek to cause disruption in the Church. They sound their own alarm for their own personal gain or to discredit those who oppose them. Discernment is required in knowing the difference, but their motives can be revealed if you look carefully. They use a broad condemnation of individuals or ministries, not conviction on particular issues. They use an axe or a shotgun, not a scalpel, and care nothing for collateral damage. Once you've seen real conviction come by way of a legitimate Watchman's call regarding a specific Biblical issue, the manipulative condemnation that spews from false Watchmen is easy to spot. One earnestly seeks to rectify a specific situation, bringing repentance and restoration, the other seeks only to kill, steal and destroy giftings, callings and ministries. One ultimately seeks to build up, while the other seeks only to tear down.

Whenever anyone comes to you or your leadership with an issue, always test it against the Word. If someone comes to you with an issue, be willing to hear it and honestly pray about it. Be willing to be wrong on an issue and be humble enough to be willing to be corrected. Even from a layperson. God works in mysterious ways and can work through anyone. If He's been trying to show you something and you can't hear Him, He will try to reach you through someone else. As always, test everything, but be honest with yourself and with God. If you don't hear clearly from Him, remember, your salvation is far more important than your pride. Listen to those who can. Do not ever feel an "us vs. them" spirit, which is division and is from the enemy. If you pray about a situation and the Holy Spirit brings conviction, be willing to repent and seek restoration regarding the situation.

If someone brings an issue to you, you're willing to pray about it, willing to be corrected, and still feel no conviction regarding it, I would consider asking another trusted advisor before setting it aside. If you test it against the Word and with trusted advisor(s) and still don't recognize it as an issue, it is possible that it is not an issue, isn't a Word for you, or isn't a Word for now. There are many people operating at different levels of Prophetic gifting and with differing levels of sensitivity to the Spirit and sometimes people just miss it. The Watchman should not be offended if you choose not to heed his call and you should not carry any ill-will against the Watchman for sounding the alarm. It is also always possible your determination is wrong and another Watchman will come to you in time.

For the Watchman, do not grow weary in always doing good. Do not fear the opinions of man. Do not succumb to the temptation to abandon your given post. Do not easily be moved from one Body to another, even if they repeatedly refuse to listen to you. Read the life of Jeremiah and know that your success or failure is NOT based on whether those in your charge listen to you. Your success or failure is based solely on your obedience to your call. It is possible that blatant sin will come into the Body you're in and your warnings will be ignored. Only when you feel the leading of the Spirit that to stay would be to remain under sinful covering and that it is His time for you to go should you go.

As always, be greatly blessed in all you do!

~Michael