restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

The Real Lesson of Christ’s Passion

 David Alan Black

C. S. Lewis, in his book Screwtape Letters, noted that the devil’s strategy is not to remove Christ altogether from the scene, but to propagate a “Christ And…” religion:

What we want, if men become Christians at all, is to keep them in the state of “Christianity And.” You know—Christianity and the Crisis, Christianity and the New Psychology, Christianity and the New Order, Christianity and Faith Healing, Christianity and Psychic Research, Christianity and Vegetarianism, Christianity and Spelling Reform. If they must be Christians, let them at least be Christians with a difference. Substitute for the faith itself some Fashion with a Christian colouring. Work on their horror of the Same Old Thing (Letter XXV).

Today the “Christ And…” mentality permeates our churches. It is seen in our preoccupation with church growth; our adultery with the state; our use of historically flawed films to portray the “real Jesus”; and on and on we could go, until Christ Himself disappears and we are left with nothing but the “And.”

Some have made the giving of the tithe the guarantee of greater financial income. Others try to lure young people to Christianity by making it just a better way to have a good time. Like the mother of James and John, we seek prominent seats in the kingdom of God when the Lord is not offering us seats but suffering.

Lewis was right. The devil would have us take shortcuts and gain the kingdom by conformity to him. He would have us compromise the truth and he would have the church conform to the age and be squeezed into its mold in order to “reach the lost.” Today Christians have devised all sorts of ways to fear the Lord and still serve their own gods.

We Americans are so accustomed to measuring everything by a material yardstick that we sometimes make Christianity the sure road to advancement and recognition. The truth is that we are not promised prosperity and popularity in exchange for becoming a disciple of Jesus. If Christians went all-out in their devotion to Christ, it might mean loss of position, not a swift rise to the CEO’s office. Some preachers in our great churches might have to resign. Others might have to forego Hollywood nonsense. Most would probably have to repent of their idolatrous love of Big Government, for the man who has bowed to Caesar cannot worship God in spirit and truth.

We are not to be conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of our mind—not merely nonconformed but transformed so that we actually prove the will of God in our lives, our homes, our churches, and our society.

Reformation is nothing other than the way of the cross, and we travel it with our Lord, bidding farewell to the way of the world.

March 9, 2004

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com. His latest book, Why I Stopped Listening to Rush: Confessions of a Recovering Neocon, will be released this year.

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   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Read the Barmen Declaration (While You Still Can)

 David Alan Black 

Few Americans are familiar with the Barmen Declaration, published by the German “Confessing Church” in 1934. That’s why I devoted a lengthy discussion to it in my book Why I Stopped Listening to Rush and even included it as an appendix.

Even fewer Americans are aware that the Barmen Declaration was not so much a critique of Hitler’s policies as it was an alarm sounded against the usurpation of power and authority in the church by the “German Christian” movement. As such, the document is a profound statement of the supreme authority of Jesus Christ as the one Word of God. This is indicated clearly by the two verses that introduce the entire document:

John 14:6: “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 10:1, 9: “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved.”

The first article declares:

Jesus Christ, as he is attested to us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God whom we have to hear, and whom we have to trust and obey in life and in death.

We reject the false doctrine that the Church could and should recognize as a source of its proclamation, beyond and besides this one Word of God, yet other events, powers, historic figures and truths as God’s revelation.

This article was necessary for one reason: Loyalty to Christ was being challenged in Germany as never before. The church was being asked to recognize the events of 1933 as ordained by God and as rightly demanding obedience side by side with Scripture. This notion the Confessing Church rejected.

The second article makes this even clearer. One cannot be equally loyal to the Volk and to the state. By exalting the idea of the Volk into a divine ordinance, the German Christians gave to it the nature of revelation. This, too, was unequivocally rejected at Barmen.

One of the most important theological contributions to the development of the German Christian movement was that of Emanuel Hirsch, who sought to inspire a new national pride after the debacle of 1918. He maintained that the interests of the individual should always be kept subordinate to those of the nation. In his book Deutschlands Schicksal, Staat, Volk und Menschheit im Lichte einer ethischen Geschichtsansicht (published in 1921) Hirsch set out the foundation of a social revolution in which Volk and nation are acknowledged as part of God’s will in creation, and he sought to establish a national Volks-state as a boundary established by God. In this state the individual conscience is swallowed up by the Volk conscience, and the duty of the individual is identified with the duty of the whole people. In his book Die Liebe zum Vaterland (published in 1924) Hirsch delineated the moral demands of the nation-state. Because Volkheit is a principle of God’s creation, obedience to it is not obedience to an earthly order but obedience to the eternal. Later, when he published his lectures in 1934, he acknowledged in Hitler’s National Socialism the power of leadership that would rectify all the mistakes of past German history.

I believe the day is coming – perhaps it is already upon us – when American believers will be forced to see in the cause of the Confessing Church in Germany their own cause as well. Principled conservatives who rightly fear the power of unrestricted government have much to learn from the Barmen Declaration.

A modern day “American Christian” movement belligerently struts along, echoing the sophistries and fabrications of the White House and the Republican National Committee. The penal barbarism of Abu Ghraib, the doctrine of preemption, the Patriot Act’s infringement on the Bill of Rights – all are glaringly Hitlerian, and stand in stark contrast to the Jeffersonian ideal, which always places individual liberty above the caprice of the state. Clinton’s simian sexual behavior can’t begin to compare with the crude, anti-republican ideology of George W. Bush, who sent a very Hitleresque message to the nation by hyping the fictitious “terrorist threat” posed by Iraq. Tragically, a postprandial orgy of biased reportage allows the administration’s statist theology to go unchallenged. For many Americans, Bush’s claims alone are “truth.”

Teddy Roosevelt once said that any American who blindly accepts everything that comes out of a president’s mouth is not only wrong and servile, but unpatriotic. As Americans, we have a patriotic responsibility to speak out against the president when we think he is wrong.

This is precisely what the Confessing Church in Nazi Germany tried to do. In producing the Barmen Declaration, they hoped to prick the consciences of their fellow churchmen, bring them back to their senses, and return the Body of Christ to its allegiance to Jesus Christ, the Word of God.

I trust the Barmen Declaration might have the same effect when it is encountered today. Readers are reminded that this is a document written in the crucible of real life and not a systematic treatment of Christian doctrine. It is to be approached not as an intellectual exercise but as a message to the heart. Read thus, it will, I believe, speak as from the Spirit of God Himself, with challenging power.

The Barmen Declaration

In view of the errors of the “German Christians” and of the present Reich Church Administration, which are ravaging the Church and at the same time also shattering the unity of the German Evangelical Church, we confess the following evangelical truths:

1. “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved.” John 10:1,9

Jesus Christ, as he is attested to us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God whom we have to hear, and whom we have to trust and obey in life and in death.

We reject the false doctrine that the Church could and should recognize as a source of its proclamation, beyond and besides this one Word of God, yet other events, powers, historic figures and truths as God’s revelation.

2. “Jesus Christ has been made wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption for us by God.” 1 Cor. 1:30

As Jesus Christ is God’s comforting pronouncement of the forgiveness of all our sins, so, with equal seriousness, he is also God’s vigorous announcement of his claim upon our whole life. Through him there comes to us joyful liberation from the godless ties of this world for free, grateful service to his creatures.

We reject the false doctrine that there could be areas of our life in which we would not belong to Jesus Christ but to other lords, areas in which we would not need justification and sanctification through him.

3. “Let us, however, speak the truth in love, and in every respect grow into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body is joined together.” Eph. 4:15-16

The Christian Church is the community of brethren in which, in Word and Sacrament, through the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ acts in the present as Lord. With both its faith and its obedience, with both its message and its order, it has to testify in the midst of the sinful world, as the Church of pardoned sinners, that it belongs to him alone and lives and may live by his comfort and under his direction alone, in expectation of his appearing.

We reject the false doctrine that the Church could have permission to hand over the form of its message and of its order to whatever it itself might wish or to the vicissitudes of the prevailing ideological and political convictions of the day.

4. “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to have authority over you must be your servant.” Matt. 20:25-26

The various offices in the Church do not provide a basis for some to exercise authority over others but for the ministry [lit., “service”] with which the whole community has been entrusted and charged to be carried out.

We reject the false doctrine that, apart from this ministry, the Church could, and could have permission to, give itself or allow itself to be given special leaders [Führer] vested with ruling authority.

5. “Fear God. Honor the Emperor.” 1 Pet. 2:17

Scripture tells us that by divine appointment the State, in this still unredeemed world in which also the Church is situated, has the task of maintaining justice and peace, so far as human discernment and human ability make this possible, by means of the threat and use of force. The Church acknowledges with gratitude and reverence toward God the benefit of this, his appointment. It draws attention to God’s Dominion [Reich], God’s commandment and justice, and with these the responsibility of those who rule and those who are ruled. It trusts and obeys the power of the Word, by which God upholds all things.

We reject the false doctrine that beyond its special commission the State should and could become the sole and total order of human life and so fulfill the vocation of the Church as well.

We reject the false doctrine that beyond its special commission the Church should and could take on the nature, tasks and dignity which belong to the State and thus become itself an organ of the State.

6. “See, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matt. 28:20 “God’s Word is not fettered.” 2 Tim. 2:9

The Church’s commission, which is the foundation of its freedom, consists in this: in Christ’s stead, and so in the service of his own Word and work, to deliver all people, through preaching and sacrament, the message of the free grace of God.

We reject the false doctrine that with human vainglory the Church could place the Word and work of the Lord in the service of self-chosen desires, purposes and plans.

The Confessing Synod of the German Evangelical Church declares that it sees in the acknowledgment of these truths and in the rejection of these errors the indispensable theological basis of the German Evangelical Church as a confederation of Confessing Churches. It calls upon all who can stand in solidarity with its Declaration to be mindful of these theological findings in all their decisions concerning Church and State. It appeals to all concerned to return to unity in faith, hope and love.

Verbum Dei manet in aeternum.
The Word of God will last for ever.

December 17, 2004

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com. He is the author of Why I Stopped Listening to Rush and numerous other books.

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   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Read Chuck Baldwin’s Acceptance Speech

 David Alan Black

Pastor Chuck Baldwin gave a splendid acceptance speech at the Constitution Party National Convention in Valley Forge, which my wife and I were privileged to attend. Chuck has published a shortened version of his speech at his website, Chuck Baldwin Live. Of equal importance is his webpage called the Bush Record, which tells the truth about so-called Republican “conservatism.”

Chuck ably exposes the myth of neutrality and is clear that the problem stems largely from pastors who are too cowardly to address the sin of statism from their pulpits. Chuck has proven himself a staunch ally of constitutional government. His website adds another voice to those who are seeking to broaden the understanding of Christians as to why and how they can challenge the superficial, glib, and anti-Christian stance of the political culture of Washington.

My wife and I were greatly encouraged by hearing the speeches of Chuck and Michael Peroutka. We heartily applauded them and their vision of a return to the old paths. As a family we are more committed than ever to a return to limited, constitutional government in these United States.

But we must act, and act now.

We must hold those we elect to the promises they make.

We must expose the lies and bigotry of leftist liberalism and Orwellian conservatism.

We must stand for the freedom to educate our children without interference from a godless government that seeks to rule us.

We must actively resist the arrogant courts of the land and reestablish the beauty of a nation of law that was once ours.

We must proclaim No King But Jesus!

The New Testament does not slight in the least these priorities:

“You will be My witnesses….” (Acts 1:8).

“Always be prepared to have an answer for everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:5).

“Be wise in every way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity” (Colossians 4:5).

Let our chief concerns be in harmony with God’s concerns!

Let our philosophy of government be synchronized with His own heart!

Let our burdens reflect His burdens!

Let the church be the church and the state the state!

July 12, 2004

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com. His latest book is Why I Stopped Listening to Rush: Confessions of a Recovering Neocon.

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Reaching the Orthodox Introduction

 Becky Lynn Black  

Everyone has heard of Sudan, especially the Darfur situation. Sudan is a neighboring country of Ethiopia. In fact, most of the western border of Ethiopia is shared with Sudan.

Sudan is an Islamic state. The persecution of the Muslims against the Christians is well known. What most people do not know is that the persecution against Christians on the Ethiopian side of the border is equally strong – but it is done by the Ethiopian Orthodox organization. While on one side of the border the Muslims reign, on the other side the Orthodox reign, and both hate evangelical Christians.

Two thousand years ago Paul was given a vision. “Come over and help us,” he heard the people in Macedonia say. Macedonia was northwest of where Paul was ministering.

Two years ago we got an email from a church leader. “Come over and help us,” he wrote. We replied that God had appointed us to the Burji and Alaba districts in Ethiopia, and we could not go to the northwest corner of Ethiopia until He appointed.

In February of 2007, this church leader wrote us again. “What God is doing through you in Alaba and Burji is wonderful! When is it our time?” His pleading tugged at our hearts, and we began to seriously pray about it. Was this pleading from God for us?

As we prayed, we wrote back and forth with Tilahun. We discussed the situation of the Lord’s church in Gondar, and we watched to see what, if anything, God would show us in terms of direction. The more we discussed and prayed, the more burdened we became for this section of the Lord’s earth. 

Look at this map below. It shows the distribution of the Orthodox Church in Ethiopia. In the northwest section is a white area; this is Lake Tana, where the Nile River starts. Also in this section is a small pink area; this is the town of Gondar. Otherwise the whole section of the northwest of Ethiopia is dark red – almost exclusively Orthodox. It is a dark, dark area spiritually!

Now look at the next map below. This map shows the people who believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Ethiopia – less than 0.13- in the northwestern section of Ethiopia. This means that in a village of 100 people, maybe one person is a believer and the other 99 are Orthodox. There are so few evangelical Christians in the city of Gondar, it doesn’t even show up on the map!

So what is the Orthodox Church? (See Part 2.)

August 9, 2007

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Reaching the Orthodox: The Work of Evangelism

 Becky Lynn Black  

Paul once said, “To the Jews I became a Jew.” What he meant was that he adjusted his initial approach to any unreached people group so as to reduce barriers and distractions. This adjustment was made on his part for the purpose of gaining a listening audience. Once people believed the truth about the Son of God, then his pattern for the organization and conduct within the local church was uniform, and his expectation of the life of the believer was uniform. His teaching to the believers was the same in all cultures; we have this teaching in the New Testament. But we see that when he came to a new town, he adapted his initial witness to meet the culture of the people. He lived among them and became one of them even as he shared the Gospel.

We are approaching the presentation of the truth to these dear people in North Gondar in a 3-pronged manner. One of these approaches is as an open evangelist. We are sending men into this Orthodox area as open evangelists. What is it like to be an Ethiopian evangelist, an Ethiopian missionary?

These men will go to the village and rent a little hut. They will live among the people. They will probably hire a local woman to cook for them. She will prepare food once or twice a day for them and she will also wash their clothes. They will visit the people in their homes and shops. They will talk in small groups in the market place. They will share the Gospel one-on-one and ask God to show them those whom He has prepared. In Ethiopia, life moves slowly. No one is in a hurry. People converse freely with strangers while they are keeping shop, eating, walking, and tending their small herds of animals.  Ethiopian culture is rooted in hospitality and courtesy. So as these missionaries are telling the Gospel, people are required by their culture to listen respectfully. And since few of these people know the Scriptures, they will likely be taught for the first time what the Scriptures say. The evangelists will give Bibles to those interested, so they can read for themselves. Perhaps a group Bible study will be started in a home. The focus will be on Jesus and the Scriptures, not church organizations or traditions. 

At some point, people will come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and believe the truth of the Scriptures. They will be discipled personally and privately. After several have believed, they will gather for prayer and worship together, probably in the home of the evangelists.

This type of front-line, pioneer mission work is tough. It is lonely. It is vulnerable. It is important that the evangelists be connected to other Christians. It is important that people be praying for these evangelists. The churches in Gondar will send elders to visit the evangelists from time to time for prayer and encouragement. Twice a year the evangelists will be brought back to Gondar for more in-depth training in the Scriptures and for rest.

If the past is any indication, at some point it’s highly likely that the local Orthodox priests will discover the evangelists and will start opposition to them. What tactics have they used in the past? First they start with shunning. They tell the people not to have anything to do with the evangelists. Suddenly their neighbors stop talking with them, their cook resigns, the butcher refuses to sell them meat, the people in the weekly market ignore them; maybe their landlord tells them to move. Life gets lonely and difficult real fast.  This order from the priests, however, quickly bonds the new believers, and their fellowship gets very sweet.

False charges might be brought against the evangelists. These charges could be thievery, or arson, or drunkenness. As mentioned in a previous report, the government officials and priests are closely tied. (This tight relationship is especially evident in distant rural villages.) The priests will get someone to file a false charge against an evangelist; he will be arrested and put in jail. Sometimes the evangelist stays in jail a long time before charges are even filed. And when the case comes to court, it is all rigged. Unless the Lord intervenes, the evangelist is sentenced unjustly. The evangelists we are sending know that unjust imprisonment is a possibility for them.

Personal attacks are very likely. At the very least these attacks are verbal insults, hollered loudly in public venues. With high loyalty to their priests, the people often physically attack the evangelists, perhaps beating them with stones or sticks. Perhaps they will try to burn them in their hut; the thatch roof of their hut burns very quickly, and if their only door is barricaded from the outside, they will die in the flames. Our evangelists are single men, but if they had wives and children, these would also be attacked.

As the evangelists stand strong, radiating the peace, joy and strength of our Lord Jesus, more and more people hear the witness of the Gospel. They see for themselves the difference that a living God makes! No matter what the persecution, the fire of the Holy Spirit spreads. More and more want to hear the truth, and a few are courageous enough to believe and accept the truth. These few are purified by the persecution. Their allegiance is only to the Gospel and the Lord Jesus. Their hearts are not divided by a desire for comfort, for personal security, for a good reputation, for material wealth. Churches born in persecution are strong, pure Churches. And by God’s grace, in His time, we will have some new strong, pure Churches of our Lord in the North Gondar area.

I have mentioned that we have a 3-pronged approach. These open evangelists are one of those prongs. The other 2 approaches are “undercover.” We cannot disclose these on the website without endangering the lives of the evangelists. So we will write a fifth report, but this will be distributed through our email prayer list. If you would like to receive this report or be updated with urgent situations, please send us an email to be added to the list.

When the Gondar church leaders came to us and asked for our help, they said, “We are willing to go, but we need funds for salaries and training.” We have met with these leaders, reviewed the Scriptures, and have set up a 3-year plan. We have committed to sending evangelists to this area, funding their salaries and training. What does it cost to support an evangelist in North Gondar? 50 dollars a month. That’s all! The cost of this venture is not heavy in terms of dollars, but it is very heavy in terms of commitment to go and commitment to pray. The evangelists are willing to go, and to suffer whatever the Lord has called them to suffer. 

Are we willing to commit to pray? It is by our prayers that these evangelists are made strong in the Lord Jesus. It is by our prayers that the people are brought to hear the Good News of redemption, of freedom from fear and uncertainty. It is by our prayers that the Church is planted in this dark corner of the Ethiopia. Will you commit, as an individual, as a family, as a church to pray? Would you “adopt” these people in North Gondar as your own personal mission field? Will you hold the lifeline for these evangelists?

Report 5 The undercover evangelists (sent by email only: write to us to be added to our email prayer list.)

August 20, 2007

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Reaching the Orthodox: The Ethiopian Orthodox Church System

 Becky Lynn Black  

The Gospel of Jesus Christ was brought to Ethiopia in the year 315, shortly after Constantine established Christendom (see the last article). Ethiopians brought two white men up from the Red Sea into the Ethiopian mountains to meet the Ethiopian Emperor.  These white men told the Emperor the Gospel, he accepted the truth, and the men sent to the Bishop of Alexandria (Egypt) for religious leaders to teach the Ethiopians. As the centuries passed, Christianity in Ethiopia expanded, and the Ethiopian church institution followed the route set by the Egyptian church: she became Orthodox, under the Patriarch of Egypt. (Sometimes the Orthodox church in Egypt is called “Coptic Orthodox”. As with previous reports, for the purposes of this discussion, “church” refers to the church-institution/organization, and “Church” refers to the body of true believers; “church” is a man-made structure of religion, whereas “Church” is a spiritual work done by the Lord Jesus.)

Nine monks came from Syria to Ethiopia. Their influence upon the church institution in Ethiopia was great in a number of aspects. First, they introduced monastic living; this is still a very strong component of the Ethiopian Orthodox church. Secondly, although branded as heretics by the Council of Chalcedon, they spread the belief that Jesus had only one nature, a fusion of his human and divine natures. He was not completely human and completely divine; instead He was something in-between. Thirdly, these monks translated the Scriptures into Ge’ez, which was the Ethiopian language. Even today, worship in the Orthodox church is done in Ge’ez, though it is now a dead language and no Ethiopian can understand it.

In the twelfth century, King Lalibela had 10 churches built out of solid rock. Each church is of one piece. Truly, these churches are an engineering marvel and are rightly called one of the wonders of the world!

As with the Roman Catholic church institution in Europe, the Ethiopian Orthodox church had a period of “Dark Ages.” During these centuries she retreated into the high mountains and became ingrown. At this time numerous superstitions were added to her teachings; tradition upon tradition burdened the people in the church. Most of these superstitions and traditions are still practiced in the church; it is an extremely burdensome religion, full of fear, uncertainty, and demands.

One of these teachings is that the original Ark of the Covenant (which Moses built in the Wilderness) is housed in a monastery in the city of Aksum, in the far northern part of Ethiopia. No one except a handful of monks has ever claimed to have seen this ark; it is shrouded in secrecy. But each local church has its own replica of the ark. Within the church building there is a heavy curtain separating their replica of the ark from the people.  And every year they have elaborate ceremonies involving these arks, reenacting the return of the ark to the Temple.

The Orthodox church has established many prescribed fasts for its followers. Each fast is regimented as to time and diet. Some public restaurants offer only those food items accommodated by the current fast; some have two menus – one fasting, and one non-fasting.

In the Orthodox church the Scriptures are mingled with traditions and superstitions, the Old and New Testaments are jumbled together, and all-in-all the result is a very complicated, confused doctrinal system. It is so complicated that the Orthodox people cannot explain their doctrine; they simply follow their priests. Their allegiance to and trust in their priests is phenomenal. The priest is their spiritual security blanket. Few people read their Bible, and no one understands the church services because they are conducted in the ancient Ge’ez language. They simply do what their local priest tells them to do, no matter what.

As with other Eastern countries, the Ethiopian Orthodox church and her emperors were very closely associated; they worked for and with each other. In Ethiopia they fought against the advance of Islam, but in the past two centuries, both Islam and paganism have increased significantly in Ethiopia, especially in the eastern and southern regions. 

Only 50 years ago the Ethiopian Orthodox church separated from the Egyptian Coptic church. Now Ethiopia has her own Patriarch. The last Monarch of Ethiopia, King Haile Selassie, actively promoted the work of Protestant missionaries. These missionaries found fertile spiritual ground among the southern tribes, where they had been living in fear of Satan for generations, bound up in barbaric worship through witch doctors. But in the northern tribes of Ethiopia, the spiritual ground was hard and resistant. The hierarchy of the Orthodox church actively opposed the Protestant missionaries. Although the missionaries established schools, hospitals, wells, trade schools, etc. that greatly improved the quality of living in Ethiopia, the Orthodox church was anxious about its loss of power and influence in Ethiopian society. Upon orders of the church hierarchy, the people openly opposed missionaries at all levels. This opposition extended to both foreign missionaries and Ethiopian native missionaries.

I have recently been reading a book entitled Warriors of Ethiopia (see *** below). I highly recommend this book! It will open your eyes to the things suffered by Ethiopian evangelists in winning the Omo Valley of southeastern Ethiopia for the Gospel. The persecution often came from the Orthodox priests, and these priests controlled the judges and government officials. Why were these “Christians” so opposed to the Word of God?  Because it changed society! Those accepting the Gospel had changed lives. They no longer lived in fear, they no longer bribed officials or paid the church tax, they no longer blindly obeyed the priests. For the first time in their lives, they lived in joy and peace and freedom. Wherever the Gospel was received, society changed, and the old order (including the Orthodox hierarchy) fought back. (As a child, I was stoned by Orthodox children, on order of their priests; thankfully, I was able to get away before serious damage was done.)

Today the Ethiopia Orthodox church is coming unraveled. Its hand-in-glove relationship with the government no longer exists. In its new democracy, many Muslims and some Protestants have been elected to government positions. As education advances, the people learn to read and to think for themselves; they evaluate past religious associations with their priests and now tend to question the nonsensical teachings of the church. More Ethiopians are traveling abroad; they are becoming independent thinkers; their dependency upon their priests to explain Life is lessening. The growth of Protestant churches and the inroads of Islam have further weakened the influence of the Orthodox priests.

But the Evil One delights in bondage. He continues to work hard to keep those precious people bound in the Orthodox system. Most of Ethiopia’s people live in distant towns and villages. The priest is still their spiritual security blanket. And especially in the north, where the Orthodox church represents 99 percent of the people, there is little light shining.

It is to this place that God has appointed us to help spread the living, powerful, joyful freedom of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

How to advance the Gospel in Orthodox areas? (See Report 4.)

*** Warriors of Ethiopia by Dick McLellan (dickmclellan@bigpond.com; ISBN 0-646-46870-7 and 978-0-646-46879-0, printed in Australia by Kingsgrove Press Pty Limited).

August 16, 2007

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Reaching the Orthodox: What is the Orthodox Church?

 Becky Lynn Black  

It has been said that to be Ethiopian is to be Orthodox. Such is the influence of the Ethiopian Orthodox church upon the society. In our work in Ethiopia, God has placed us primarily in Muslim areas. We have not talked much about the Orthodox influence.

But now God has appointed us to begin a new work. In addition to working in Burji and in Alaba, God has appointed us to a brand new ministry of planting His Church in an area that is 99 percent Orthodox. (For the purposes of this discussion, “church” refers to the church as an institution/organization, and “Church” refers to the body of true believers; “church” is a man-made structure of religion, whereas “Church” is a spiritual work done by the Lord Jesus.)

We do not have many Orthodox churches here in America. The closest thing we have is Roman Catholicism. In fact, back in the history of Christendom, the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox churches were one and the same. If you remember your Christian history, in the first few hundred years after our Lord’s death and resurrection, the Body of Jesus met in homes, led by “non-professional” men, suffering greatly at the hands of non-believing Gentiles and Jews alike. The fellowship of the Churches was unstructured; there were no seminaries or formal Bible schools. The Gospel flowed from town to town as the people of God moved from town to town. Sometimes these people were sent by the Churches as missionaries (for example, Paul and Barnabas); sometimes they were just scattered by persecution (such as Priscilla and Aquila). But everywhere Christians went, they spoke of the Way of Jesus; theirs was a living testimony filled with the Spirit.

Then came Constantine. It was 312 years after the birth of our Lord Jesus. As Constantine came to his final battle, the city of Rome lay before him. Hailed as Augustus by his troops in the western part of the Roman Empire, he was now conquering the eastern part to unite all of the Empire under his leadership. He had a vision of a cross just prior to the battle. In the confidence of that vision, he won the victory. And after the victory, he pronounced that all his empire would become “Christian.” All of his soldiers were baptized upon his command and a cross was painted on their shields. Thus was born the “Holy Roman Empire.”

And what was the effect of this first “Christian” Emperor upon the Lord’s Church? He ended the persecution of the Christians through the Edict of Milan. He joined pagan things with Christian things to form synergistic religion. (For example, the celebration of Christ’s birth was joined to the worship of the birthday of the pagan sun god; this sun god was Constantine’s favorite pagan god.) He built Christian monuments and buildings beside pagan ones; the old St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem were built by him. He gave some of the government functions to the church, such that the church became an arm of the government. He called together councils of church leaders to debate and decide doctrinal issues. (For example, the Council of Nicea decided the canon of the Scriptures.) During the structuring of his empire, the Bishop of Rome, the Bishop of Antioch, and the Bishop of Alexandria were established; later the Bishop of Constantinople and the Bishop of Jerusalem were added.

In 330, Emperor Constantine decided to move the capital of the Roman Empire toward the East, so he developed the city of Constantinople as a “new Rome.” Upon his death he was named a saint by the Eastern Church, and is often referred to by that church as the “Thirteenth Apostle.”

From the beginning, the Bishop of Rome claimed primary authority over the other Bishops, calling himself the Pope (“Father”) as directly descended from the Apostle Peter. The Bishop of Constantinople also claimed high authority, since he was in the “new Rome.” The Eastern Bishops, called Patriarchs (“Fathers”), disallowed the Bishop of Rome’s claim to primary authority. This strain in relationship was deepened when the political structure of Rome was divided into Western and Eastern regions, each with its own emperor. The Western Empire fell to Germanic tribes, while the Eastern Empire (Byzantine) flourished. Also, language barriers existed: the West spoke Latin, while the East spoke Greek. Eventually Latin and Greek faded, replaced by numerous other languages, and the West/East separation expanded as communication failed.

In 1054 AD the leaders of the Western church excommunicated the leaders of the Eastern church, and visa versa. Although there were periods of semi-reconciliation, during the Fourth Crusade soldiers of the Western (Roman) church sacked Constantinople as they passed on their way to the Holy Land. This brutality finally divided the church into the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox. The Catholic-Orthodox Joint Declaration of 1965, read by Pope John Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I, officially reversed the bilateral excommunications of 1054, but did little to bring unification. In more recent years, the Patriarchs of various countries have visited the Vatican, and the last two Popes have visited countries at the invitation of their Orthodox Patriarchs.

So where does the Ethiopian Orthodox Church fit into all of this history? (See Part 3.)

August 10, 2007

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   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Reaching for the Moon

 David Alan Black 

“Reaching for the moon” used to be a figure of speech for trying to attain the impossible. At one time it was an expression of opprobrium, but nowadays it’s become quite respectable. Today it is perfectly acceptable to aim at the stars while ignoring the greatest of all objectives.

People tend to fall into one of three categories. Some have no goals at all; others have the wrong goals; and still others become so preoccupied with lesser goals that they fall short of the main objective. The means become an end, and because of their fixation on the good they fall short of the best. President Bush seems to fall into this latter category.

He has a chosen a goal that is entirely unattainable. Defeating “terrorism” will keep him occupied from here to doomsday. Yet it is merely a tantalizing will-o’-the-wisp, forever dancing just ahead of us. America can just as easily fight terrorism as it can fight hubris. Terrorists are real people who live in actual places and who can be defeated by normal means, but terrorism is a concept – and, in my opinion, much too vague a concept to launch a “war” against, don’t you think? It is a smokescreen to advance the president’s agenda of world democratization, at the point of a bayonet mind you. And woe betide whatever feeble resistance might arise against our government’s increasingly belligerent moves. After all, “They’re keeping us safe from terrorism!”

All this reminds me of that old film “Reaching for the Moon,” starring Douglas Fairbanks. Fairbanks is a factory office worker who daydreams about being in the company of kings. His workmates regard him as – well, a likeable twit. One morning he wakes up to find he’s the only surviving relative of a tiny European country’s monarchy. He’s about to be crowned king! But the evil “Black Boris” has other ideas. Shades of our own beloved G.W.! Thrust into britches that are clearly too big for him, he nevertheless struts along, pursuing his goal of saving the universe from Osama & Co., defiant of all those big Black Borises that are out to get him.

I realize it is not our main business to condemn and denounce organized iniquity, although that has its place and we have almost stopped doing that. But we certainly should be willing to learn from negative examples. Like Jesus’ disciples, it’s quite natural that we should pray, “Lord, grant us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.” We are all George Bushes more or less, in a mad scramble for top seats in this old world. Self-promoters we are. We do not blush to even ask for the best seats in heaven. Problem is, when we seek after the highest seats, we tend to get demoted real quick. That’s how the Lord always works (1 Peter 5:6).

So let’s get busy serving and let the Lord take care of the seating arrangements. Meanwhile, may God deliver us from reaching for the moon!

December 13, 2004

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com. He is the author of Why I Stopped Listening to Rush and numerous other books.

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Reaching “Seekers”? They Don’t Exist!

 David Alan Black 

The ultimate purpose of God’s church is God’s glory. The church exists for His sake, not ours. Tragically, the church has descended from that purpose and now focuses on humanity. Instead of emphasizing knowing and glorifying God, it focuses on man’s needs.

The church today is busy with committees and programs to “reach the lost.” Well-meant as all this may be, we are overlooking, ignorant of, or purposely avoiding the real issue. If we ever had a real revival, an upsurge of genuine New Testament Christianity, this would accomplish in all directions what we are trying so hard to handle one thing at a time. If the church today repented, gave up the world, confessed sin, submitted to the Lordship of Christ, became Spirit-filled, and returned to sola scriptura, the power of God would remove obstacles that all our schemes and programs cannot clear.

This is the age of the multitude. We seek bigger church buildings and larger crowds. Jesus did not trust Himself to crowds because He knew they were undependable. He intentionally thinned out the multitude by His preaching (John 6). When people flocked to Him, He gave them the three “cannots” of discipleship (Luke 14:25-33). He spent most of His time training the Twelve. He had but few disciples, but they were the Master’s Minority. At Pentecost there were only 120.

Our Lord’s philosophy is still our pattern but we gladly ignore it. We prefer our ineffective 32,000 to a dedicated 300 patterned after Christ and not after the world. We plan a church service and seek divine endorsement instead of exploring in advance what kind of meeting it ought to be. We draw up a design of what we want to do and show it to God for His approval. We do not first ask, “Lord, what is it You would have us to do?” We make a good show of seeking His favor but it is His stamp on our blueprints that we are really seeking. We publish our strategy and politely ask God to drop in and sign at the bottom.

God’s idea of the church is utterly different from ours. And it is high time we reported to His headquarters for His pattern. Religious activity is not synonymous with spirituality. The church at Ephesus proved that (Rev 2:1-7). One suspects that we are turning our attention to “seekers” partly to hide our embarrassment at not knowing what to do as church. It is a humiliating time when Christians should be red-faced with shame rather than strutting about with “success.”

The Bible is very clear about “seekers.” They don’t exist. Scripture says, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Rom 3:10-12). “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way….” (Isaiah 53:5). Yet we plot the course and expect God to follow it. We prefer meeting “felt needs” to proclaiming the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We focus on man rather than on God. Our whole concept of church is market-driven and based on a materialistic mindset, as if we could manipulate the work of the Holy Spirit.

Friends, if we need a pattern for doing church, the one in Acts 2:42-47 is a good place to start:

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers. And fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. They sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

December 19, 2003

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.

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