A proof of God

I've never really needed a "proof" for God. Even before I was a Christian, I believed in a higher power. And yet there are plenty of atheists out there, some I have known and at least a few dozen I have not. Well, the other day I happened upon this line of reasoning that forced me to praise God for the rest of the week. Even if I wanted to, I could not deny His hand upon this world. The "proof" goes as follows:

Blue flowers
A little girl playing
Italian food

I'm actually being perfectly serious here. It may sound frivolous, but it is not. Consider the astronomical chance involved in each of these small delights were there no God. Science cannot explain the joy of these three things. It cannot explain my smile when experience any one of them.

Praise God that there are blue flowers, little girls playing, and Italian food. They are small mercies within this world, and make it all the more reason to sing His holy name.

-Paul Lytle,
guitar

Independence Day

I'm taking a little different approach to the 4th of July this year.  It may be one that people (and by "people," I mean the three people who actually read this blog) will declare unAmerican.  That's fine.  It isn't unAmerican, but I would certainly rather be seen standing up for my true home rather than this temporary one.

I am a great fan of the Founding Fathers, especially Thomas Jefferson.  I think the words of the Declaration of Independence are amongst the very greatest ever written.  Without that document, which literally changed the course of history throughout the world and not just America, I doubt we would have a Xanga on which to express ourselves.  You probably would not be reading this right now.  And yet when I celebrate my freedom this year, I do not celebrate the ability to speak freely (though I love that).  I do not celebrate a free press.  I do not stand up and cheer that our government protects out Creator-endowed inalienable rights.  Why?  Because that isn't freedom.

I was born in the most free country in the world, in one of the most free states in that country.  I have lived here all my life and have never known such oppression as there exists in most of the world.  And yet I was a slave as much as any man can claim.  There is no freedom in the ability to speak your mind if your mind is bound.  There is no freedom to seek the desires of your heart if your heart is chained.  I was a slave to sin, as are all who do not know Christ.  Look at His words:

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."  They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, 'You will become free'?"  Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.  The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.  So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:31-36, NASB

Don't we have that exact same reaction?  I tell you that you are not free, and you say, "What are you talking about?  I'm an American!"  This is the truth:  You are not free unless the Son sets you free.

I'm reminded of an old White Heart song called "Independence Day," which has these lyrics:

Hear the myth of modern man
you're the god of your own land
They call you weak, a spineless fool,
say you've given up your right to rule
But I have been to the land of me
and I know I was never free
Freedom came when I gave it all away

. . .

The world can crown another hundred kings
but I believe in a better dream
They may call it slavery
but the biggest chain I knew was me
So let the idols tumble down
the walls of lies crumble to the ground
I know where salvation can be found

That is my cry today.  I do not celebrate my country, as much as I love America, but I celebrate the freedom that came with surrendering my life to Christ.  There existed no freedom before that moment.

I'm getting weary of people yelling about their rights.  I'm getting tired of us all being so guarded against one another, always looking for how we are being slighted or how someone is holding us down.  The Newsboys have a great line in one of their songs that says, "Everytime we shout our rights out, we get all grouchy and gray."  I have seen that so clearly a thousand times this year alone.  Is it worth it?  Of course not.

Christ asks us in Matthew 16:26, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?"  We usually think of that verse in terms of possessions or money (and I do think we can see it in that way), but He is really talking about life here.  When we stand up for our rights for our own selfish reasons and not for Christ, then this is what we are doing.  What does it profit you to storm out on a true friend when he speaks to you of higher things?  What does it profit you to destroy a marriage because your spouse is uncomfortable with something you "have a right" to do?  What does it help to shout until you get the right to speak, only to have everyone annoyed and disgusted?  What do you gain if you get power and influence, but never use it to speak for God?  What do you get if you find happiness and companionship, and yet have to stomp on the Word of God to get it?

In this country we have the right to do more than most people would ever dream of.  In Christ we have freedom that puts even American freedom to shame.  Give it up.  That is how you got freedom in Christ in the first place -- by giving up your freedom and bowing.  Give it up again, on this day, and you will find greater freedom still.

On this day of freedom I declare myself a slave to Christ.  I pray this never changes.

Galatians 5 is a good one on freedom and what that truly means.  This is a good day to read it.

-Paul Lytle,
guitar

What is love?

What is love? How do we define it? When I was a bit younger than I am now, I thought that love was that tingly feeling in my stomach. Maybe it was the desire to be with someone every moment of every day. As I grow in my feelings, I know that what I felt then was a small shadow of what I feel now. Love is not about how I feel. It's not about what I want. It's about my desire, no, need, to sacrifice for someone else.

Is love letting someone use your couch, or is it giving up your bed?

Let me explain. A married couple was having problems. This couple had two female friends. The first friend offered the wife the use of her couch if the wife needed to get away from the house. The second friend came to stay with the married couple for several weeks to try to help them get through their problems, even though the couple lived quite far away from the friend's work.

The first friend was showing a certain amount of love, but the second proved her love a thousand times over.

In today's installment of My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers writes this: "If what we call love doesn't take us beyond ourselves, it is not really love."

That is the true difference between love and lust or love and greed. Love gives; lust and greed take.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son . . ." God loved, so He gave.

What is the evidence of our love for one another? It is an emotion that demands evidence, for it is not an emotion that can be contained. It cannot be hidden, for it is something that needs to be expressed in sacrifice.

-Paul Lytle,
guitar

Are we see-through?

I spent a good deal of last night speaking with a friend about my failings as a Christian. It's a topic I can get nervous about, even though to an extent I shouldn't be. When we, as Christians, mess up, Christ intercedes for us with the Father (1 John 2:1-2). In that regard we remain clean. That does not mean that we seek to sin, by all means. We do not desire to sin, but sometimes we stumble nonetheless.

In that most important regard, that stumble is ultimately unimportant. And yet it is important in the world. There are people who see me as a representative of Christ. When I write these things online, when I perform with Certain Victory, when I stand up at church in the worship team, when I read a Christian book in public, all these things mark me. Hopefully my behavior marks me also, but that is not always the case.

I've been dwelling on an Audio Adrenaline song today:

There are things that I can't hide
that would make some people think I've lied
I try to do right but I fail
don't set your eyes on me

Don't you know that God loves you
Don't you know that I try too
I've been known to miss my cue
Don't look at me I'm see through

It's a neat lyric, but I want to twist it another way. We probably should be see-through, but most often we're opaque, providing a distorted view of God. People will judge Him by our actions, and place our mistakes on His head. I admit that I have scared people away from Christianity with my actions.

So what do we do? To simply hide opposes Scripture. To provide a bad example makes Christ appear foolish.

We must stand, of course, but I find it difficult sometimes when confronted with my own actions. So I stand, and I pray that Grace prevails over even myself.

-Paul Lytle,
guitar

Christianity and Mr. Echo

Those who know me know that I am a faithful fan of Lost. I am intrigued by the plot, but most of all interested in the characters. The fact that the show has had frank and honest discussions of faith impresses me, and the fact that there is a Catholic Priest there impresses me even more, since television usually avoids all spirituality, and especially Christianity. Certainly, I would rather have a Baptist there, but I'll take what I can get.

But I am greatly disappointed in last week's episode. Our Priest, Mr. Echo, is going to find his brother to confess his sins and prepare for death. We are also seeing scenes from his past, where he murdered, smuggled drugs and such, lied, and stole. We knew that about him already, and the transformation he has undergone has been an inspiring on.

But when he does come to confess, he says (and I don't remember this exactly), "I do not confess, because I have not sinned." He explains that everything he did, he did in order to survive.

I am disappointed because the only Christian I can think of on a network in prime time has just rejected Christianity. And why? Survival? I will not lose my soul to merely survive on this temporal world. If the price of Heaven is death here, then give me death, for we are dead eternally without Christ.

Mark 8:36 says, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?" The whole world does not have wealth enough to pay for that, but Echo has given over his soul for just a small piece of this world, and a very short part, since he will (and did) die anyway.

Even your very body is not worth that price, for Matthew 18:9 says, "If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell."

It is better to starve than to betray God in sin. It is better to perish than to lose part of your soul over to murder or thievery. You may say to me, "Would it not be better to take a loaf of bread than starve," but I would reply, Man is not made for bread alone. It is far better to trade your life here for eternal life than to damn your soul in order to gain a few more years here.

Scripture confirms for us "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), but "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). When Mr. Echo declares that he has not sinned, he calls God a liar. When he says that he has not sinned, he declares that Christ died needlessly. "If righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly" (Galatians 2:21). In other words, if our actions are "good enough," then why did Jesus need to die?

We want to feel sorry for this character, for all he has been through, and we should pity him because he was so near, and yet failed to look to Christ. But to say that adverse conditions exempts you from morality, then you do not understand why Christ died.

-Paul Lytle
guitar

On scandals and redemption

I don't want to speak too much on Ted Haggard, mainly because it is not my place to judge him. It is for his congregation to judge if he committed a sin against the congregation (Matthew 18:15-17), the judicial system to judge whether he committed crimes against the nation's laws (Romans 13:4), and God to judge him ultimately and completely (Romans 12:19). I will not give recommendations or comments on the matter.

But the whole matter makes me think of something Derek Webb said on The House Show.

"The Christian life is not about hiding. . . . I'm telling you, the best thing that could ever happen to anybody in this room, the best thing, is that your sin would be literally exposed on the five o'clock news. . . . In order that I would have nothing but Jesus to grasp on to, 'cause that's all I've got anyway."

Blessed is Haggard to have this all dragged out into the open. How wonderful if this causes him to fall into the waiting arms of the Lord. I celebrate that part of his ordeal, because it is at our lowest that Christ will take us up.

-Paul Lytle
guitar

A time for renewal and rebirth

So we've had a blog for a while now (actually more than half a year) on our regular website, http://www.certainvictory.net/, but we've had so many problems with it that I gave up and we're moving everything over here. What that means is that I'm going to start reposting all of those old posts here (hopefully I can back-date them, but if not then November is going to be busy for us).

So welcome to our new blog! We are a Christian Rock band based out of Houston, Texas. Here you'll read about music, and news the band has, but also thoughts on theology and our culture.

Hope you'll come back soon!

-Paul Lytle
guitar

A need for reform

This post has been backdated to reflect the date it was original written and posted on our other blog that broke on us.

Today, October 31, is known for something else besides Halloween. It is the anniversary of the day Martin Luther, a monk and professor, nailed his 95 Theses upon the door of the church in Wittenberg in 1517. It probably would have surprised Luther, on that day, to think that such an event would be remembered almost five centuries later (and certain to be remembered for many more). You see, Luther was trying to start a discussion about the selling of indulgences, which he felt was being taken much too far by certain clergy.

At the time, the Catholic Church would sell indulgences, which claimed to get you (or a loved one) out of purgatory a little early for, oh, just a few coins. Likewise you could pay to see relics, which would also make you more Holy. The problem, as Luther saw it, was that salvation was becoming a commodity to be bought and sold rather than the merciful gift of God. This is not Biblical, and Luther wanted to bring the debate to the people, so they could understand what God says about salvation in the Bible itself. He believed that these clergymen who were selling indulgences in such a way were doing so without the knowledge of Rome, and this debate would also serve to expose the corrupt.

What Luther did not know, and what he would soon find out, was that the Pope knew full well what was going on with these indulgences, and he approved. Rome demanded that Luther recant, but Luther would not recant what he read in Scripture, and he knew that the selling of indulgences, amongst other Catholic practices, were simply wrong and could not be supported by the Word of God.

Luther's life was in danger now, and he was excommunicated from the Church. He appeared before the Emperor and representatives of the Church at the Diet of Worms. Again he restated that he will only recant if his words were proven by Scripture to be false. The Edict of Worms demanded his arrest, but he was by then protected by Frederick the Wise.

Excommunicated and an outlaw, he returned to Wittenberg to teach the Word of God. There he married a runaway nun and started a movement of reform amongst Christians. Today, the Protestant Churches stand in a testament to his bravery and faithfulness.

Today we celebrate the simple act of nailing a document upon the door of a church. God can use even those small acts to change the world.

-Paul Lytle
guitar

Derek Webb features CV

No, we're not playing a show with him (I wish!). But when Paul did a blog post about the free Derek Webb CD, Derek's promotion company asked to quote it on www.freederekwebb.com. Take a look! "Paul, Houston" is our very own Paul Lytle of Certain Victory!

While you're over there at www.freederekwebb.com, go ahead and download that CD. It is completely free and well worth it. Derek is one of the only Christian artists who is willing to make his audience a little uncomfortable to help them grow spiritually. He has sacrificed potential fame (on a large scale, I mean) for discipleship, and that is a decision I greatly respect. The music is pretty darn good also!

-Paul Lytle
guitar

And it's my delight to listen all night, or: Our farewell to Audio A

As a band, we went to see Audio Adrenaline last night (I know they were opening for Mercy Me, but let's get our priorities straight; no offense to Mercy Me, but we've been listening to Audio A for a long time). It was short, but I think, knowing that this was their last Houston show ever, that I would have thought it too short if they had played all night. They were good. Mark voice is getting really rough, of course, but his enthusiasm carried the evening. The other guys are at top form, and it would be a crime if they didn't start a new band after this tour is over.

They didn't play much of the old stuff that got us hooked originally. A personal favorite was "We're a Band." That's okay, the new stuff is just as good, but fresh on our minds. As many kids were there, I don't know who would have known "Don't Censor Me."

But listening to them, I could not help but be drawn in spiritually. The same thing happens when I'm listening to their CDs, even in the car. I find myself praying the lyrics of "Beautiful" as they are singing it. When I hear an old Barry Blair riff (any Barry Blair riff), I am impressed still with its imagination. I am moved almost to tears no matter how many times I hear "Ocean Floor." I get excited with "Clap your Hands," as silly as the song is. They move me still, and it's a shame that they are retiring, since so few bands have that effect on us.

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, my old friends. You have moved me in my personal walk, and you have inspired this band more than you will know. Hopefully we will be able to keep some of that flame alive.

-Paul Lytle
guitar

Free Derek Webb music

Derek Webb, formerly of Caedmon's Call, is giving away his new CD for free. Seriously, head on over to http://www.freederekwebb.com/ and download it for free. Seriously, I'm listening to it right now. Webb is an extraordinary songwriter and his message is usually right on point.

Which brings up something about Mockingbird (the free CD) that should be mentioned. Webb is not one to be content with Jesus-loves-us type of songs. Those are fine, but he wants to push us a little deeper into the Father's arms. That requires some criticism of the modern Church, and it is difficult to hear. If you do not want to examine God's place in your life, then do not download this CD. If you are content to keep Christ sectioned off in your heart, then this is not the type of stuff you want to hear. Let the buyer beware (well, I guess there's not buyer, so let the downloader beware).

For the rest of us, this album is not one you're going to be singing in church. These are not praise and worship songs. These are songs that burrow into your heart where you are trying to hide stuff. This album is a flashlight that is shining light on my soul as I listen to it.

Well done, Mr. Webb. It's about time someone did this.

-Paul Lytle
guitar

Mercy and Justice

About a month ago I wrote about how we need to have righteous anger to confront the problems in our lives. No doubt this message confused a great many of the happy-shiny church-goers who have only heard the "live and let live" method of Christianity. In fairness to them, the Bible says clearly that we are not to judge people. So why the post at all? Let me provide some clarification.

First of all, there truly is a difference between loving the sinner and hating the sin. The world scoffs at this distinction, saying it is impossible. It is not. As C. S. Lewis points out, we all do this to someone very close to us. Ourselves! We do love ourselves, and yet sometimes we hate what we do. Sometimes we have great shame in our actions or thoughts, but that does not destroy the love we have for ourselves. We can speak out against sin without speaking out against the sinner. We can, and should, hate the sin that separates people from God. It is evil, and it deserves our scorn and anger.

Second, it is not for all people to "forgive and forget." Well, let me clarify that. People should show mercy and restraint. It is not our place to judge. Government is supposed to judge here on earth. It is true! Take a look at Romans 13:3-4, which says:

For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil.
Government is the rightful avenger of God here. While it is not right for a Man to bring death or war, a government may justly do so.

Now, in the past and in many places in the present, the people do not have to really worry about judgement. The King will take care of that, since he is the government. But now, in America, the people have a place in that government also. We are not a true Democracy, but we are a part of the government in that we choose the leaders. Therefore it is incumbent on us to choose justly and to choose people who will be just. We are part of the government, and so we have some responsibility to judge.

When Bill Clinton claimed that he should not be impeached, he called upon Christians to forgive as they are supposed to do. He was half right. We are to forgive him. We are to love him. But he is partly wrong, because as a part of the government, we have an obligation to treat him justly, and that means punishment (I am using Clinton just as an example here, I don't really want to get into an argument with those people who think that lying under oath isn't against the law if you are a Democrat; that is hardly my point in this). In our role in the government, we are to hold public officials responsible for their actions (which is the whole of our role). That means Presidents too.

When I approved of Richard Rahl's killing of unarmed women in Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth novels, I approved because of his role in the government of that book. He has the spiritual right and obligation here to judge. Unlike many knights and kings in similar books who cower when it is time to judge, Richard stands firm. That is admirable.

-Paul Lytle
guitar