The Greater Holocaust

 I watched a short video from the Holocaust museum. It concerned an album of pictures depicting the lives of the officers over the Auschwitz prison camp, and covered the period of May through December 1944. Auschwitz was the place where thousands of Hungarian Jews were murdered by the Nazis, with much of that happening during 1944. The pictures showed ordinary looking men with their families at different functions as they were overseeing the mass destruction of so many other humans. This caused me to reflect on the horrors and atrocities committed against the Jews during WWII as over six million Jews (men, women, and children) were slaughtered by different methods. It makes your spirit shudder to think about it.

It also prompted me to reflect on what the Scriptures say awaits the nation of Israel in the end times. As horrible and nightmarish a time as the Holocaust was, it pales in comparison to what lies ahead for those who are of the nation of Israel, whether they live in Israel or not. The Lord warns about this in Matthew 24:15-22 ending in verse 22, "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved." We see a little more about this in Revelation chapter 12 where in verse 13 we see the vengeance of Satan upon Israel that starts after Satan is cast out of heaven at the mid-point of the tribulation. In Zechariah 12 and 13 we see this time described and in Zechariah 13:8-9 the word of God tells us that two thirds of the nation of Israel will perish, but that He will bring one third through the fire. This corresponds with Zephaniah 3:11-13, Joel 2:28-32, Jeremiah 50:20, Isaiah 4:1-3, Daniel chapter 8, and Romans 9:27-29. What a horrible time for the Jews as two thirds of all the Jews in the world will perish. The nation of Israel is still under the divine judgment of God for its forsaking God, breaking its covenant with God, and rejecting the Messiah. God will not completely forsake the Jews, but will save the one third that He refines through the fire. All of this is included in the divine plan of God and in the one eternal purpose mentioned in Ephesians 3:11 and further explained in Romans 9-11.

So a greater Holocaust is coming, a time of great tribulation, a time that happens after the fullness of the Gentiles has been completed. Let us not be indifferent to the plight of the Jews for the eternal plan of God revolves around them, and it includes us as we have been grafted into their rich spiritual life and heritage. In thinking about all of this I am brought to a state of humility before the Lord as I have pondered as Paul in Romans 11:33 "Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!"

Oh Lord, we can not attain to this as it is too high for us and too wonderful for us. Thank you Lord for including me in your eternal plan. Thank you Lord for selecting me and preparing my place in Your plan from all eternity. Strengthen me by Your Spirit in my inner man to faithfulness in carrying out the stewardship entrusted to me. Will and work in me Lord to completeness, lead me away from temptation, and let not evil have its way with me. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth just as it is in heaven. Work out Your decrees until all Scripture is fulfilled, righteousness reigns, and You and You alone are glorified in Your saints in that day. Amen

An Old Word for the Current Day

 Nothing is more needed in our common life

to-day than recovery by the ordinary Christian

of the spiritual values of the Word of God. 

It is at once our Chart, our Lamp, our Food,

our Sword.  And in all these ways it may be known

by the humblest believer who yields himself to the

illumination of the Divine Spirit--its Author.

It was not given originally in order to make men

scholars, but rather that they should by its means

become sons and saints, servants and soldiers of

the Most High.  It is the glory of the Bible that

while its heights and depths are so great that no

human learning can scale or sound them unaided,

its Treasure-house is yet unlocked to the simplest

believer by the golden key of obedience.

J Stuart Holden

The Holy Gospels Opened

Page vi-vii

Circa 1900

Seven Things to Keep in Mind When Going Through Trials

It is not unusual for us to go through a season of trials and affliction. The Lord alone knows what all He is using those season(s) of trials to accomplish in our lives. However, I do know that so many times He is taking the knowledge we have about Him from our head into our heart, so that the knowledge ceases to be academic and becomes experiential; and, as such, becomes part of the fabric of our person, part of who we really are and how we really live. It is one thing to know about the fact that His grace is always sufficient, and then quite another to know the sufficiency of His grace because you have experienced it and lived it through a season of trial and affliction.

Being very obvious or even very subtle, all of us have a very strong strand of self-sufficiency, and are very good at taking care of things and getting things done for ourselves and by ourselves. Because of this the Lord has to get us in a situation where we are past the point of being able to handle it by ourselves, where the situation is bigger than us and our own abilities, and, to top it off, keep us there for a while. This shatters the popular, but false, "taughtism" that God will not give us more than we can handle. He will allow or cause us to be in situations beyond our limits because He wants us to understand that He is bigger than we are, and that He is absolutely in control, not us.

So many times the season of trial we are experiencing is comprised of many trials, sort of trials within a trial, and they are all related. During this time they tend to hit us like waves from the ocean, so as soon as we get our head up from the prior wave a new wave engulfs us. He wants us to not just become dependent on Him, but to learn to stay dependent on Him. Again, it is one thing to know that, and another to experience it to the point where it affects a permanent change in us. Also, in James 4, He tells us that He is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. The root of self-sufficiency is a very subtle form of pride, a pride that says I can do this, I can handle this; and in essence says, “I don’t need the Lord.” So the Lord shows us that we do indeed need Him. He shows us that we cannot handle it, successfully, completely, and consistently without depending on Him...casting ourselves completely upon Him.

My wife and I were talking once, and she told me of a quote she had come across that day. It is “Circumstances are the expression of God’s will.” God is sovereign over your circumstances…all of them. Psalm 103:19 tells us, “The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all.” He is ruling over what you are going through right now, and it did not come upon you without His will. A section in Psalm 119 gives us some insight into His purposes in times of affliction:

119:65 You have dealt well with Your servant,

According to Your word.

119:67-68 Before I was afflicted I went astray,

But now I keep Your word.

You are good and do good;

Teach me Your statutes.

119:71-73 It is good for me that I was afflicted

That I may learn Your statutes.

The law of Your mouth is better to me

Than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

Your hands made me and fashioned me;

Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.

119:75-77 I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are righteous,

And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.

O may Your lovingkindness comfort me,

According to Your word to Your servant.

May Your compassion come to me that I may live,

For your law is my delight.

1. Notice that God deals well (in a good and prosperous way) with us and that way is in accordance with His word. The word of God is an expression of the will of God, reveals the purpose(s) of God, guides us in the ways of God, and explains the means by which God brings us to the fullness of the stature of Christ, which is for our good and our spiritual prosperity. 

2. One of the purposes/spiritual benefits of affliction is that it brings us back to a state of obedience to God's word (I Peter 4:1,19) This is the goodness of God in action, as trials are a means of spiritual discipline, and all of His discipline is designed for our benefit, and ultimately is an expression of His goodness toward us (Hebrews 12:5-11).

3. The word affliction means to have hardships, to find oneself in a stunted, lowly, humble position; and it is also the means by which God brings us to that stunted and humbled position (James 4:6, Isaiah 66:2). All afflictions have a purpose behind them, and we are strengthened and gain hope when we can see past the afflictions themselves and see God's good purpose in them (Psalm 37:1, Proverbs 29:23).

4. It is during times of affliction that our heart is the most attentive to, receptive and desirous of , the word of God; and it is His word taken in and lived out that bears spiritual fruit (James 1:21-25, Psalm 119:1-4).

5. God is righteous in His afflicting us. He knows just what we need, when we need it, and how long we need it to remove the dross in our lives and  properly conform us to the image of Jesus Christ. As the master silversmith will not let the heat of the fire ruin the metal, He will not let the heat and pressure of our affliction be to our ruin, but to our glory (I Corinthians 10:13, Romans 8:18, II Corinthians 4:17, 

I Peter 4:12-14).

6. Our afflictions are a sign of God's faithfulness to us, as they are His means of completing the work of salvation which He started in us (Philippians 1:6, 2:13, Romans 8:28-31).

7. So when we pray, let us not just pray for relief from the circumstances, but also for all that God has for us in and through this time of trial and affliction…for we know His grace is truly sufficient, and His mercies are new every morning; and these truths become more precious to us when we experience their fullness during times of trial and affliction.

Preaching to the Mind

 This is a repost from an excerpt from an email I sent a friend of mine in 2008. Unfortunately, emotionalism is more of an issue now than it was then.

.....The line in your email where you quoted Joyce Meyers grabbed my attention and I have thought about it quite a bit. What she said about not teaching or speaking to the mind, but to the heart is not Scriptural. It sure sounds good, but it does not square with Scripture. Unfortunately, much of her teaching is designed to stir the emotion and play to the heart, but that is not what a teacher or preacher of the word is supposed to do. Yes, the heart is affected, and should be, but it is affected by what comes through the mind and what the mind dwells upon. Proverbs 23:7 tells us that as a man thinks within himself, so he is. In fact, it is what we allow our mind to dwell upon that affects how we feel. The Scriptures speak to this quite abundantly and I want to share some examples.

Hosea 4:1-6 details the effect on Israel because there was no knowledge of God in the land, and we see how this culminates in verse six, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you from being my priest." Additionally, Isaiah 5:13 tells us that the nation of Israel went into exile because of their lack of knowledge of God. It is the lack of knowledge of God and the things of God that brought destruction upon His people. That destruction was a just consequence of them not knowing, therefore not following and abiding by, the will of God. Ephesians 5:17 tells us, "So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." We can not do that without knowledge, without an informed mind concerning the things of God. This is the plight of the church in America today. Most churches have services designed to appeal to the emotions, to pull on the heartstrings, instead of engaging the mind.

Look at what we are told to concentrate on as believers. II Peter 1:2-3, "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence." So we see that grace and peace are not just given, but multiplied to the believer in the knowledge of God and Christ, and that everything we need for life (spiritual life) and godliness comes through the knowledge of Him. In 3:18 Peter goes on to finish this letter with the command to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. None of this can happen unless you speak to and teach to the mind; and where ever the mind goes the heart will follow.

We are not to be governed by our emotions, but by our mind, by what we know, especially what we know to be true. Romans 12:2 tells us not to be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind, so that we may prove that the will of God is good, acceptable, and perfect. As the mind is engaged by the word of God the person is transformed into the image of Christ as he knows, understands, and conforms to the will of God.

Without knowledge there is no discernment as it is knowledge of the truth that brings discernment, and where is knowledge located, in the mind. Without knowledge and discernment the people can be led where ever the teacher or preacher desires, especially when they are taught to follow their emotions. Hebrews 5:11-6:3 tells us what happens when the people of God become dull of hearing, are not partaking of the solid food of the Word, and how it is that solid food and the practice of what they know that brings discernment. We do not hear with the heart, but with the mind; and the heart is reached, but it must go through the filter of the mind. This is why Paul gives us what to let our mind dwell on in Philippians 4:8, and in 4:6-9 he tells us that our heart and mind will be guarded in Christ by peace; and the heart is guarded by what the mind dwells upon, and the mind dwells upon that which it has been taught, that which it knows.

Finally, in Colossians 2:1-8 Paul talks about the heart and mind connection, and how the heart is encouraged by the full assurance of understanding that comes from the true knowledge of Christ Himself, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In this section he tells us not to be deceived by persuasive argument then goes on the tell us in verse eight not to let our mind be taken captive by the philosophy and empty deception of the traditions of men and the elementary principles of the world (one of which is emotionalism). This is what many in evangelicalism are doing today....appealing to the flesh and emotions, by what sounds good and normal, but is based upon the elementary things of the world.

In Biblical times the heart was considered to be not the center of the emotions, but the seat of the will. The kidneys and viscera were considered the seat of the emotions. The heart and mind were considered as one which we saw in Proverbs 23:7, as a man thinks within himself, so he is. In essence what we are doing when we teach and preach is engaging the mind with the knowledge of the truth. This knowledge of the truth affects the will, the will directs the decisions, the decisions direct the behavior, which many times will be in direct opposition to how people feel at the time. We want people to do what they know to be right in spite of how they feel about the situation or the person. This can only happen by teaching to the mind, giving them the knowledge of the truth.

There is much teaching that sounds good and biblical, but when you dissect it, it does not hold up to the light of the truth. The road that this particular teaching would eventually take someone down is fraught with disaster, and would lead to a faith based on the fickleness and surges of emotion instead of the stability and assurance of faith based on the knowledge of the truth.

Measuring Our Worship

                                                                   

I Chronicles 16:

7 Then on that day David first assigned Asaph and

his relatives to give thanks to the Lord.

8 Oh give thanks for His deeds among the peoples.

Make known His deeds among the peoples.

9 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;

Speak of all His wonders.

10 Glory (boast) in His holy name;

Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.

11 Seek the Lord and His strength;

Seek His face continually.

12 Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done,

His marvels and the judgments from His mouth, 

13 O seed of Israel His servant,

Sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!

14 He is the Lord our God;

His judgments are in all the earth.

15 Remember His covenant forever,

The word which He commanded to a thousand generations,

16 The covenant which He made with Abraham,

And His oath to Isaac.

17 He also confirmed it to Jacob as a statute,

To Israel as an everlasting covenant,

18 Saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan,

As the portion of your inheritance."

19 When they were only a few in number,

Very few, and strangers in it,

20 And they wandered about from nation to nation,

And from one kingdom to another people,

21 He permitted no man to oppress them,

And He reproved kings for their sakes, saying,

22 "Do not touch My anointed ones,

And do my prophets no harm."

23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth;

Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.

24 Tell of His glory among the nations,

His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.

25 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

He also is to be feared above all gods.

26 For the gods of the peoples are idols,

But the Lord made the heavens.

27 Splendor and majesty are before Him,

Strength and joy are in His place.

28 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,

Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;

Bring an offering, and come before Him;

Worship the Lord in holy array.

30 Tremble before Him, all the earth;

Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.

31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;

And let them say among the nations,

"The Lord reigns."

32 Let the sea roar, and all it contains;

Let the field exult, and all that is in it.

33 Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy

before the Lord;

For He is coming to judge the earth.

34 O give thinks to the Lord, for He is good;

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

35 Then say, "Save us, O God of our salvation,

And gather us and deliver us from the nations,

To give thanks to Your holy name,

And glory in Your praise."

36 Blessed be the Lord, The God of Israel,

From everlasting to everlasting.

Then all the people said, "Amen," and praised the Lord.

When you gather for worship each Sunday, is this what you are doing? Is this what is accomplished during the time of your gathering that you call praise and worship? Does what you do and what you sing about elevate the Lord as this does, or do you find yourself singing songs to yourself, about yourself ? Do you glory in praising Him?  Do you sing of His mighty deeds, the greatness of His salvation, the wonder of His majesty, the glory of His name? Does what you call worship boast in Him? Does what you do on Sunday bless the Lord, or is it designed to bless you? Can you really be blessed if you are not blessing the Lord? Would you call your gathering a holy array? Do your people come to present themselves before the Lord, and have that sense of trembling before Him? Are you ascribing to the Lord the glory due His name? Does what you do bring glory to His name? Does your worship time cause the people attending to say, "Amen," and praise the Lord.?

Just asking.....But God has given us the means, by His word, to inform and guide our corporate worship. Hopefully, this is how you are measuring your worship; to know if it is acceptable in His sight, and a pleasing fragrance and soothing aroma to Him

What God Begins, God Finishes

For I am confident of this very thing, 

that He who began a good work in you

will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6

Life is the Lord's finishing school, as He uses all of what we encounter to continually conform us into the image of Christ until we are complete in Him. He leaves nothing unused as He works all things together for our good, and our good is to become more like Christ. He has begun the work of salvation in us and will continue in that work until it is perfectly accomplished. So, my fellow saints, rejoice this day that He is busy at work in you. Rejoice that He will not leave undone the good work that He has started, and will continue to work in you to accomplish His good pleasure for His glory, and your complete salvation.

The Lord will accomplish what concerns

me; Your lovingkindness, O Lord, 

is everlasting...

Psalm 138:8

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify

you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and

body be preserved complete, without blame

at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Faithful is He who calls you, and He will also

bring it to pass.

I Thessalonians 5:23-24

The Practical Atheist, Is That You?

Those who say they believe in God,

and have trusted in Christ

for the forgiveness of their sins,

but who live their lives with no fear 

 of God, are, as such, practical atheists.

Transgression speaks to the ungodly

within his heart; there is no fear of

God before his eyes.

Psalm 36:1

Transgression is the deliberate violation

of the law of God, and the ungodly

fearlessly violate the Law of God.

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;

pride and arrogance and the evil way

and the perverted mouth I hate.

Proverbs 8:13

Pride, arrogance, and a mouth that

speaks perverted things are 

all part of the evil way; and those

who truly fear the Lord hate these

things when they see them in themselves.

...by the fear of the Lord one

keeps away from evil.

Proverbs 16:6b

 One who truly fears God, is one

who shuns evil and runs from evil.

One who fears God does not embrace evil.

Do not let your heart envy sinners,

but live in the fear of the Lord always.

Proverbs 23:17

 One who truly fears God does not 

desire to have the same life, to live

the same lifestyle as sinners.

There is none righteous, not even one...

There is none who seeks for God...

There is no one who does good...

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Romans 3:10-18

One who truly fears God is one who truly

seeks after God, who seeks the things of

God, and seeks to do good--according to

what God says is good.

..."Give praise to God, all you His bond-servants,

you who fear him, the small and the great.

Revelation 19:5

One who fears God is one who has 

the desire to praise God, and cannot

contain his praise for God.

I will make an everlasting covenant with them 

that I will not turn away from them, to do them

good; and I will put the fear of Me in their 

hearts so that they will not turn away from Me.

Jeremiah 32:40

My friends, do you have the fear of God within you?

If not, repent of your rebellion against Him, and ask

Him to forgive you and give you the fear of the Lord.

Becoming What We Worship--Psalm 115

 

Their idols are silver and gold, 

the work of man's hands.

They have mouths, but they cannot speak;

they have eyes, but they cannot see;

they have ears, but they cannot hear;

they have noses, but they cannot smell;

they have hands, but they cannot feel;

they have feet, but they cannot walk;

they cannot make a sound with their throat.

Those who make them will become like them, 

everyone who trusts in them.

Psalm 115:4-8

Italics mine

In this grand Psalm, the worship of God is contrasted with the worship of idols. The key thought is in verse 8 in italics above. There is a truth presented here that we are molded into the image of what we worship. As a result we take on the identity of what we worship. Those who worship idols made by the thought and hand of man will become just like them.  

As the Psalm progresses, Israel is exhorted to trust the Lord and worship Him. Why? So they will become more like Him. So a good question to keep in mind as we structure our worship service is who is the object of that service, man or God?

If You Don't Have a Philosophy of Ministry, Get One

Everyone who has been in ministry for any length of time has a philosophy of ministry. Whether they have thought through it thoroughly, or articulated it fully, they still have one. A philosophy of ministry is what you believe ministry is about, what you believe ministry is to accomplish, in essence it is your raison d'etre (reason for being). It is the mindset behind why you do what you do.

A philosophy of ministry is your guiding light, and will inform and be the foundation of all that you do. It will guide you in how you do church, from choosing curriculum and staff members, to structuring worship. It will influence every decision you make. It is your vision of what you want to accomplish in your ministry.

That is why it is important to take the time to think through what you believe about ministry and why, and then write it down. Tinker with it and adjust, make sure it reflects what you really believe. Of course, when related to the church, it needs to be based on biblical principles, and reflect biblical values. It is not a doctrinal statement, but will reflect doctrinal beliefs. 

If you are planting a church you need to have thought this through. If you are applying for a pastoral position, you need to be able to provide this to the search team. If you are choosing a pastor, you need to know this about the applicant, as that is how he will conduct his ministry; and if he does not have one or cannot articulate it, then pass him by.

I am sharing mine below as an example. 

Philosophy of Ministry

We want our people to:

     Know God  (Jeremiah 9:23-24, I John 4:16)

            So that they will be secure in their faith  (Isaiah 43:10, I Peter 1:2, John 4:42,

            II Peter 1:2, 3:17-18, Hosea 4:6))

     Love God  (II Corinthians 5:14-15, Deuteronomy 11:13)

            So that they will be sincere in their faith  (I Timothy 1:5, Hebrews 10:22)

     Glorify God  (Matthew 5:16, Romans 15:6)

            By being steadfast in their faith  (Psalm 112:7, I Corinthians 15:58)

     Know and Understand the Word  (Psalm 119:11, 27; I Peter 2:2)

            So that we can learn to think with the word (Romans 12:2, Psalm 119:24)

            So that we can view life through the word  (Psalm 119:14-15, 24)

            So that we can live life by the word  (Psalm 119:32, 59, 105)

We believe this is best accomplished by expositional preaching and teaching.

We want our people to corporately participate in and experience:

     Fellowship--which is the body sharing in the things of Christ, the work of Christ, the

     love of Christ, and ministering to one another to build each other up in love.

     I Thessalonians 4:9, II Thessalonians 1:3, Hebrews 13:1, I Peter 1:22-23, Psalm 55:14,

     Acts 2:42, I Corinthians 1:9,  12:12-14, 18, 25-26, II Corinthians 13:14,   

     I John 1:3, 3:14

     Praise and Worship—which is the exaltation of God alone, and is a witness to the

     believer and non-believer of all that God is through Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

     Deuteronomy 11:16, I Chronicles 16:29, Psalms 2:11, 21:13, 22:22-23, 29:2, 30:4, 12,

     Psalms 33:10, 66:4, 95:6, 99:5, John 4:23, Exodus 15:2, Deuteronomy 10:21,

     I Chronicles 23:5, 29:13, II Chronicles 5:13, Nehemiah 12:46, Hebrews 2:12, 13:15

     Prayer—which we believe is one of the great callings of the church. It is corporate

     prayer, not only when the church is gathered together, but also when the church

     members pray individually for a common concern and for kingdom issues that the

     church is the most unified and spiritually effective.

     Matthew 6:9, 19:13, 21:13, 22, Mark 11:17, Luke 1:10, 18:1, 10, Acts 1:14, 2:42, 3:1,

     Acts 12:5, 16:13, 16, Romans 12:12, Ephesians 6:18, Philippians 1:19, 4:6,

     Colossians 4:2, I Thessalonians 5:17, 25, II Thessalonians 3:1, I Timothy 2:1-4,

     James 5:16, I Peter 3:12, 4:7, Revelation 5:8, 8:3-4

We want to provide our people with:

     Spiritual Leadership—which should guide, guard, and feed the flock, and also be     

     an example to the flock. Leadership should also be concerned with the spiritual

     development and training of younger men to provide continuity in church leadership.

     I Timothy 1:11, 18; 3:1-7, 6:20, II Timothy 1:14, 2:2, Titus 1:3, 7-9, Acts 14:23: 15:2,

     Galatians 2:7, I Thessalonians 2:3-12, I Peter 5:1-3