 | Pastor Dave grew up in northern New Jersey in a very diverse cultural area. He attended Central College in Pella, Iowa received a BA in sociology and psychology. He was an offensive guard for their NCAA Div III National Championship team in 1974. In speaking for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, he sensed a call to full time ministry. Meeting is future wife Sandy at Central, went to Michigan to finish her college while Dave started Western Seminary in Holland, Michigan. Dave married Sandy in 77 and completed his Masters of Divinity degree in 78. Pastor Dave’s first church was in Fort Lee, New Jersey, home of the George Washington Bridge. Their three children were born there and he also served as a Police and Fire Chaplain for the city. In February 1991, they came to Wichita to start Harvest Community Church. In 2006, he received his Doctor of Ministry degree from Covenant Theological (Presbyterian) Seminary in St Louis. During that year he gained a daughter-in-law with now 2 grandsons of 3 years and 6 months old. Besides Pastoring at HCC for the past 20 years, he has been Director of the SCSD & WPD Police Chaplains for 11.
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Religion
2012-08-01 14:16:29
Salvation and the variety of religious opinions
Q- The world is a big place. There are lots of religions. Some claim their religion to be the only one that will allow entrance into Heaven. Some claim it will be sufficient just to know God and desire to be with Him in heaven. Why would God allow the creation of so many religions and the overwhelming confusion they have caused with respect to salvation?
A-This is one of the biggest dilemmas facing America as race was in the past. Religious pluralism is affecting the American landscape according to Diana L Eck in her book, “A New Religious America.” It is a rather complex issue in which we need to understand what we believe and how to address this question because it affects friends and loved ones for eternity. Yes, we want to respect each other’s belief, “tolerance,” and in Jesus’ terms “love all,”{Matthew 5:43-48} but in loving we also want people believing what is truth and not false and unable to save for eternity. We need to fight passionately and stand firmly for the truth because belief in the false does no one any good in the end! {John 8:32}
Since the beginning of time, when man chose from the tree of knowledge and disobeyed God, man has designed gods that will meet his needs and comfort him rather than the true God. {Genesis 3:1-7} A perfect example of this was as Moses was getting the word from God that would protect man in his relationship with God and his fellow man in the words of the Ten Commandments. Man grew impatient and decided to make their own god, something they could fashion into what they liked and tangible. The people brought gold to make the golden calf to worship, rejecting the true God for their cheap substitute. {Exodus 32} This behavior is still going on and religions have been made by men to affirm their style of life, establish parameters and boundaries for people and establish power in the hands of certain select group of a society among other things. This is why atheists and agnostics use Karl Marx’s quote, “Religion is the opiate of the people.” It’s like a drug created by man to oppress and keep man in a hypnotic state rather than experience real life in this world.
Now I can concur with some those thoughts for all other religions of the world, and have even seen men use Christian belief to forward their own selfish agenda, which was and is wrong. But I believe, as Paul did in Athens loaded with the world religions and ideologies, {Acts 17:16-33} Christianity is the only valid faith in the world. Many of the religions of the world have some similar under lying beliefs but do not have the Living God of the Living Christ who died and rose from the dead in history. Who conquered death and rose from the grave. Some of their leaders are in a grave. Some religions are just a body of philosophical ideas and sayings, but do not save eternally as Christ did. Most of the world is ignorant of Him because they do not desire the true God. Why? They would rather have gods of their own making. {Romans 1:21-24} Man doesn’t have it in him to want God. {Romans 3:9-20; 1 Corinthians 2:14} That Satan has darkened their minds. {2 Corinthians 4:4}
But I think it is something deeper and mysterious so God can show His un-fathomable mercy and grace which I believe Paul speaks to in the epistles but are throughout the scriptures. Right off the bat we see God chooses a people who were not a people and had nothing to give to God. {Deuteronomy 7:7-8; 14:2} It is the same way He saves a soul, not that we are worthy but that He chose us. {Ephesians 1:3-14} It is by total grace {Ephesians 2:1-9} Not that a man or women could do it by their own wisdom but totally by God’s grace so no one can boast of their own doing. {1 Corinthians 1:18-31} When we come to understand our salvation, the grace is much deeper and richer that we could ever imagine. Often I ask, why me? I am amazed when I think, why was I born in America? Why in a predominantly Christian culture? Why was I brought up in Christian home? Why did I respond to the gospel and other friends in the same situation not respond? It’s all God’s grace. {2 Thessalonians 2:13-14}
Now I believe these are all part of the pieces to the great mysterious tapestry of God’s will, that He is weaving throughout time and history. Right now, on this side of eternity, it looks like a bunch of knots and strings that are confusingly tangled and just one big mess. But when we get to the other side of eternity, the mysterious portrait woven by the Sovereign designer will be the most beautiful, elegant and exquisite portrait of love, mercy and grace we will ever know. Until then, we live in that grace and mercy of God.
