When preaching on hell and the wrath of God,
which you must if you are going to preach a complete gospel,
you must bring your hearers close enough to hell to feel its heat,
and keep them there long enough to make them sweat.
Monday, June 29, 2015
Monday, May 04, 2015
A Prayer for the Day
Lord, cause me to walk blamelessly before You,
by the power of Your Spirit and the knowledge of Your Word.
Saturday, May 02, 2015
Ignorance of the Scriptures
Ignorance of the Scriptures has given rise to thousands of evils.
From this seed the great corruption of heresies has blossomed;
from this spring have flowed careless living and wasted labors.
Just as anyone deprived of the light of this world cannot walk
straight, so those who do not see the rays of the divine Scriptures
walk in thick darkness. They regularly and inevitably fall into many sins.
John Chrysostom
Early Church Father
As it was then, so it is now.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
A Daily Perspective
It matters not the praise of men.
It matters only the pleasing of Him.
(Galatians 1:10)
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Monday, April 20, 2015
A Thought for the Day
You cannot be guided by circumstances when
you are refusing to be guided by God's word.
Monday, February 09, 2015
The Issue is not Homosexuality---
No, the issue is not homosexuality, it is sexual immorality, of which homosexuality is but one of its iterations. Granted, homosexuality is a lower, more degraded form of sexual immorality (Romans 1:24-27); but the root issue here is one of sexual immoraltiy. And what is sexual immorality? It is the sexual activity outside of the marriage bond of a man and a woman.
What then would be included in sexual immorality? Let's make a short list:
1. Fornication: This includes casual sex, recreational sex, hooking up, one night stands, and even friends with benefits. Yes, even if you are serious about one another, in love, faithful or engaged to the one you are having sex with, all sex outside of the marriage union is immoral. Whether you are 15 or 45, single, divorced, or never married, sex outside of marriage is a sin. The Bible calls this sin.
2. Adultery: This sexual sin is well known, and unfortunately very common. It is having sex with anyone other than your spouse after you have been married, or someone who is single having sexual relations with someone who is married, and it also includes those who have more than one spouse. Our culture has euphemized this term down to extra-marital sex or pre-marital sex. It is never condoned in the Scriptures.
3. Pornography: The root for this word is from the Greek word porneia, which means illegitimate sexual activity. This sexual sin is a blight upon our society, and has spawned a huge internet industry. Unfortunately, because sin can never be corralled, pornography has also extended its reach to children, and to the point of international child pornography rings. I have heard some people say, well its just pictures, so what. Well, that "so what" is still a sin. Why? Because you cannot look at pornorgraphic pictures and not be affected, and in all cases, isn't that why the pictures are viewed in the first place. In Matthew 5:28 Jesus says, "but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." And yes, this applies to women as well, in the narrative pornography they read. Most R rated movies contain pornography, and many of the PG-13 movies range from sexually suggestive to soft porn.
4. Incest: This is sexual relations between immediate family members. I should not even have to mention this, but there is a push afoot to normalize this here in our country. I remember on a trip to Paris back in the eighties seeing a music video on public television entitled "Incest is Good," and it showed an older man with a young girl. It was not graphic, but it made its point.
5. Homosexuality: This sexual sin is between members of the same sex, and even though its proponents have tried to reword the Bible concerning this, it is always protrayed as a sin in the Scriptures. So, even if the same sex couple is "married" it is still a sin. Romans 1:24-27 lists two specific judgments of God on those who commit this sin, and the sex act is called shamless/indecent.
These are the sexual sins that are common place in our country; and they all have their genesis in sexual immorality, the abandoning of a sexual morality that prescribed that sex was to be kept and to only take place within the bounds of a marriage relationship between a man and a woman.
Homosexuality is gaining a greater place at the table of normalcy because our soceity has become accepting and condoning of sex outside of marriage. No thought or shame occurs any more because couples live together. No thought or shame occurs anymore because someone becomes pregnant outside of marriage. No thought or shame occurs anymore when unmarried people talk candidly about their sex lives in any media outlet. Once the barrier of shame has been taken away concerning sex outside of marriage, then it is only a short distance to the removal of all sexual shame.
Every magazine at the cashier's stand will have some article dealing with sex, and it is almost never about sex between marriage partners. Our culture has becomed consumed by sex, and thereby have become consumers of sex. There is such a preoccupation with sex in our society, that many pastors have sermon series on sex so they can be considered relevant with the times.
Heterosexual sex outside of marriage has been normalized in our culture, and the logical next step of the normalization of sex outside of marriage is the acceptance and promotion of homosexuality. In light of this, the stand that the church should take is not against homosexuality per se, but should be against any and all sexual immorality, all that the Bible lists as sexual immorality. In a very real sense, the church has waited too long to speak out. Because the church has been silent all these years regarding the proliferation of the acceptance of sex outside of marriage, speaking out against homosexuality now makes it appear that the church is singling out the homosexuals.
Let us as the church, as individual Christians, speak up and out against all sexual immorality. Let us speak up and out for a biblical sexual morality. Let us call all sexual immorality what it is, sin before a Holy God.
What then would be included in sexual immorality? Let's make a short list:
1. Fornication: This includes casual sex, recreational sex, hooking up, one night stands, and even friends with benefits. Yes, even if you are serious about one another, in love, faithful or engaged to the one you are having sex with, all sex outside of the marriage union is immoral. Whether you are 15 or 45, single, divorced, or never married, sex outside of marriage is a sin. The Bible calls this sin.
2. Adultery: This sexual sin is well known, and unfortunately very common. It is having sex with anyone other than your spouse after you have been married, or someone who is single having sexual relations with someone who is married, and it also includes those who have more than one spouse. Our culture has euphemized this term down to extra-marital sex or pre-marital sex. It is never condoned in the Scriptures.
3. Pornography: The root for this word is from the Greek word porneia, which means illegitimate sexual activity. This sexual sin is a blight upon our society, and has spawned a huge internet industry. Unfortunately, because sin can never be corralled, pornography has also extended its reach to children, and to the point of international child pornography rings. I have heard some people say, well its just pictures, so what. Well, that "so what" is still a sin. Why? Because you cannot look at pornorgraphic pictures and not be affected, and in all cases, isn't that why the pictures are viewed in the first place. In Matthew 5:28 Jesus says, "but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." And yes, this applies to women as well, in the narrative pornography they read. Most R rated movies contain pornography, and many of the PG-13 movies range from sexually suggestive to soft porn.
4. Incest: This is sexual relations between immediate family members. I should not even have to mention this, but there is a push afoot to normalize this here in our country. I remember on a trip to Paris back in the eighties seeing a music video on public television entitled "Incest is Good," and it showed an older man with a young girl. It was not graphic, but it made its point.
5. Homosexuality: This sexual sin is between members of the same sex, and even though its proponents have tried to reword the Bible concerning this, it is always protrayed as a sin in the Scriptures. So, even if the same sex couple is "married" it is still a sin. Romans 1:24-27 lists two specific judgments of God on those who commit this sin, and the sex act is called shamless/indecent.
These are the sexual sins that are common place in our country; and they all have their genesis in sexual immorality, the abandoning of a sexual morality that prescribed that sex was to be kept and to only take place within the bounds of a marriage relationship between a man and a woman.
Homosexuality is gaining a greater place at the table of normalcy because our soceity has become accepting and condoning of sex outside of marriage. No thought or shame occurs any more because couples live together. No thought or shame occurs anymore because someone becomes pregnant outside of marriage. No thought or shame occurs anymore when unmarried people talk candidly about their sex lives in any media outlet. Once the barrier of shame has been taken away concerning sex outside of marriage, then it is only a short distance to the removal of all sexual shame.
Every magazine at the cashier's stand will have some article dealing with sex, and it is almost never about sex between marriage partners. Our culture has becomed consumed by sex, and thereby have become consumers of sex. There is such a preoccupation with sex in our society, that many pastors have sermon series on sex so they can be considered relevant with the times.
Heterosexual sex outside of marriage has been normalized in our culture, and the logical next step of the normalization of sex outside of marriage is the acceptance and promotion of homosexuality. In light of this, the stand that the church should take is not against homosexuality per se, but should be against any and all sexual immorality, all that the Bible lists as sexual immorality. In a very real sense, the church has waited too long to speak out. Because the church has been silent all these years regarding the proliferation of the acceptance of sex outside of marriage, speaking out against homosexuality now makes it appear that the church is singling out the homosexuals.
Let us as the church, as individual Christians, speak up and out against all sexual immorality. Let us speak up and out for a biblical sexual morality. Let us call all sexual immorality what it is, sin before a Holy God.
Sunday, February 01, 2015
Prosperity Theology and Christ
The Prosperity Gospel wing of the Charismatic camp is its dominant, most popular, therefore its most visible wing. Prosperity theology never considers God Himself in the person of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ worth knowing. Therefore Prosperity preaching never presents God Himself, never presents
Christ, as someone who is worth knowing. They never present the Lord as the pearl
of great value, as the One who surpasses all else in value, as the One who
surpasses all that is in this world.
Their emphasis is not on Him, but is solely on the things of the world
that you can get from Him, as His only value is in what you can get from Him.
What does the Bible tell us? "What does it avail a man to have the whole world, yet lose His own soul?" Friends, don't forsake the Lord, don't ignore the Lord, for the mess of pottage that this world and its Prosperity preachers offer. For the world and all that is in it is passing away, and one day will be destroyed. We entered this world with nothing and will leave it with nothing. All the things of this world will pass, and it is only a relationship with Christ that will last.
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Being a Gay Christian (?) and Our Identity in Christ
We, as the church, must understand what has truly happened by being "in Christ." Our identity, how we define ourselves, must be based on what God has done for us through salvation in Jesus Christ, not on who we used to be.
One thing that continues to bother me is the special status that is accorded to being gay. Now it’s gay Christian. See this article: http://www.worldmag.com/2014/12/wheaton_s_gay_celibate_christian
Why not prostitute Christian, or gluttoness Christian, or pornography Christian, or alcoholic Christian, or ex-con Christian, or wife-beating Christian? I think you get my drift.
If we as Christians are truly washed, then we are also made new; the old man has died, and the new man has arisen with Christ. We are not that old man any more as we have been made new in Christ, and as we continue to be conformed into His image we grow to be more like Christ and the person that we were is left further and further behind.
Does this mean that we have left behind particular temptations and their pull, such as gluttony, or pornography, or alcohol, or homosexuality, or immorality, or sensuality, or pride, or covetousness, or worldliness behind? No, but it does mean that we have victory over those temptations when they occur by the power of Christ in us. We have been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:6-7) and it is no longer we that live, but Christ who lives and reigns in us.
One of the problems in our current church culture is that we, many times, have adopted the philosophy of the 12-step therapeutic culture. Such as once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic; once a sex-addict, always a sex addict, so that we are always in a state of recovery, but never recovered. This tends to be applied to being gay as well…once gay, always gay. The result of this is that people become defined/identified by what they were/who they were, not by who they are now. Paul tells all of us this in I Corinthians 6:9-11 “ Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of God.” Jeremiah 17:14 tells us this, “Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for You are my praise.” We are now in Christ, healed in Christ and saved in Christ. In Christ the old man is dead, long live our new man and our new identity.
One thing that continues to bother me is the special status that is accorded to being gay. Now it’s gay Christian. See this article: http://www.worldmag.com/2014/12/wheaton_s_gay_celibate_christian
Why not prostitute Christian, or gluttoness Christian, or pornography Christian, or alcoholic Christian, or ex-con Christian, or wife-beating Christian? I think you get my drift.
If we as Christians are truly washed, then we are also made new; the old man has died, and the new man has arisen with Christ. We are not that old man any more as we have been made new in Christ, and as we continue to be conformed into His image we grow to be more like Christ and the person that we were is left further and further behind.
Does this mean that we have left behind particular temptations and their pull, such as gluttony, or pornography, or alcohol, or homosexuality, or immorality, or sensuality, or pride, or covetousness, or worldliness behind? No, but it does mean that we have victory over those temptations when they occur by the power of Christ in us. We have been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:6-7) and it is no longer we that live, but Christ who lives and reigns in us.
One of the problems in our current church culture is that we, many times, have adopted the philosophy of the 12-step therapeutic culture. Such as once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic; once a sex-addict, always a sex addict, so that we are always in a state of recovery, but never recovered. This tends to be applied to being gay as well…once gay, always gay. The result of this is that people become defined/identified by what they were/who they were, not by who they are now. Paul tells all of us this in I Corinthians 6:9-11 “ Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of God.” Jeremiah 17:14 tells us this, “Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for You are my praise.” We are now in Christ, healed in Christ and saved in Christ. In Christ the old man is dead, long live our new man and our new identity.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
God's Grace for the Prodigal Son
The story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32 is the most beautiful picture of the grace of God in the Bible. Grace is the term the Bible uses to describe the unconditional favor that God bestows on any and all that come to Him. It means that He is favorably disposed to those who come, He does not count their past against them (II Corinthians 5:21), He is eager to receive them and forgive them (Psalm 86:5), He will abundantly pardon them (Isaiah 55:7), and He will keep them and never let them go (Romans 8:35-39). This grace is everyone's for the asking.
In the story of the prodigal son we see God's grace for those will repent and turn to Him. God's grace is exemplified in this story, a truly amazing story of an amazing God. What makes the story so amazing and so compelling is that there is a sense in which all of us fit into the role of the prodigal. Some of us have never considered having a relationshiop with God, others of us have been close to God, but for reasons much like the prodigal in the story, we have wandered away from God. In either case we have found ourselves in a far country, far away from the love of the Father who created us in His likeness.
Despite our distance from Him, and despite the reason(s) for our distance from Him, He is eager and willing to take us to Himself if we would but lift up our eyes and heart toward Him. The picture in this story of the father lifting up his robe to run to the son coming home, is a beautiful picture of the joyous response God has when we come to Him; and this joyous response is for whomever will come, no matter who they are.
And come we may, but we must come to the Father through the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6). This is the way God has provided for us to come to Him, into His very presence. Christ lived a perfect life by being perfectly obedient to the will of the Father (John 14:31) for us, and then dying for the sins of all who would believe in Him and turn to Him as the Savior. So, because of His life and His sacrifice, He is the only way to come to God. It is the grace of our good God that has provided a way to come to Him and be with Him for all eternity, when we were totally impotent to make a way to Him on our own.
How about you my friend? Are you in that far country, far away from God; or are you near, but yet so far away, as the other brother in the story. In either case, turn to God and He will come running to meet you with arms wide open and joy in His heart.
In the story of the prodigal son we see God's grace for those will repent and turn to Him. God's grace is exemplified in this story, a truly amazing story of an amazing God. What makes the story so amazing and so compelling is that there is a sense in which all of us fit into the role of the prodigal. Some of us have never considered having a relationshiop with God, others of us have been close to God, but for reasons much like the prodigal in the story, we have wandered away from God. In either case we have found ourselves in a far country, far away from the love of the Father who created us in His likeness.
Despite our distance from Him, and despite the reason(s) for our distance from Him, He is eager and willing to take us to Himself if we would but lift up our eyes and heart toward Him. The picture in this story of the father lifting up his robe to run to the son coming home, is a beautiful picture of the joyous response God has when we come to Him; and this joyous response is for whomever will come, no matter who they are.
And come we may, but we must come to the Father through the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6). This is the way God has provided for us to come to Him, into His very presence. Christ lived a perfect life by being perfectly obedient to the will of the Father (John 14:31) for us, and then dying for the sins of all who would believe in Him and turn to Him as the Savior. So, because of His life and His sacrifice, He is the only way to come to God. It is the grace of our good God that has provided a way to come to Him and be with Him for all eternity, when we were totally impotent to make a way to Him on our own.
How about you my friend? Are you in that far country, far away from God; or are you near, but yet so far away, as the other brother in the story. In either case, turn to God and He will come running to meet you with arms wide open and joy in His heart.
Friday, January 09, 2015
Preaching to Inspire Worship?
In our preaching, does the way we present
God and His Son show their worth so as
to inspire the people to get out of bed on
Sunday to come and worship them?
Do we present God as God Most High,
and do we present Christ as Lord of all?
Thursday, January 08, 2015
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Peace on Earth
These are the lyrics the song in the link is based upon. With the current racial issues in our country, ISIS and Islamic terrorism, Russia-Ukraine...all just this year, may we remember the promise regarding the One whose birth we celebrate this month. "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; ans His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6) The peace talked about in this poem, and the peace sung about in this song, is the peace that is promised in this verse, the peace yet to come; but the peace that will come when our Lord, the Prince of Peace, comes back and reigns upon the earth, and His reign will be a reign of peace. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
Christmas Bells
I HEARD the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."
Peace on earth begins with peace with God. You can have peace with God through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ God has reconciled the world unto Himself. Place your trust in what God has done in His Son, and receive your peace with Him.
http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2014/12/10/i-heard-the-bells-on-christmas-day/
Saturday, December 06, 2014
Vengeance and Vindication--Leave Both to the Lord
This post is a bit personal. No, scratch that, it is all personal. What brings this about is a sighting I had a couple of nights ago that caused an unexpected large wave of emotion to wash over me, much like having one of those large waves at the beach slam into you with a force you were not anticipating; and as a result I found myself in the midst of a battle between my flesh and my spirit.
The genesis of this occurred back in the mid to late nineties during the hottest part of the inerrancy battle happening in the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBC church I was attending at that time was considered one of the flagship churches in the convention as it was the largest giver to the cooperative program, which was and is the funding mechanism that undergirds the SBC and its agencies, both in the states and nationally. Needless to say, this church exerted much influence, not just in Texas, but nationally as well; and because of this influence was a plum that both sides wanted in their basket. While we were certainly not the only church to experience the battle in the midst of our church, because of who we were, the battle that took place in our church was more intense than was probably the norm in most churches.
Even though the root and core issue of the controversy was due to the theological issue of inerrancy, due to the political process that was being used by the conservatives to regain control of the convention, the war was being fought on two fronts. One front was the theological front, where the battle was for the hearts and minds of the people, and the other battle was along the political front where the actual control of the national and state associations was being fought out. This led to the battle coming all the way down to the local church, both for their hearts and minds and for which side would lead and control the church.
Without going into too much detail, our church was dominated by those who called themselves moderates, and we had a particularly militant group of moderates who were involved both financially and politically in the battle both in the state and nationally; and this group was determined to bring our church around to fully support the moderate camp. It was indeed a sad time for our church, as this group of people injected their political agenda into nearly every area of our church. Even to the point that during a personnel committee meeting they brought up terminating some staff members who would not support them on a vote during the latest business meeting.
During this time I was actively recruited by this group of moderates, and by a group of conservatives from a state organization; but I would not align myself with either. Even though I was and am an inerrantist, I would not align myself with the conservative group that recruited me because I did not like their approach. As a Deacon and Deacon officer and a teacher and teacher of teachers, I did not want to get involved with the the politics as they were being played out in our church, but instead focused upon trying to block those who would politicize and cause disunity and dissension in our church. Proverbs 6:16-19 lists seven things which the Lord hates and which are an abomination to Him; and coming in at number seven is "One who spreads strife among his brothers." I took these verses seriously, and decided that I would do what I could to protect the unity of our church while standing up for the truth.
The issues that were being foisted upon our church by this militant group of moderates had nothing to do with the theological battle, but were all about them exerting their control and influence on our church to further their political agenda; and because of their tactics they were causing strife and promoting strife and dissension in our fellowship. I quoted this section of Proverbs one night during a deacon's meeting, and asked all of us who were attending to examine ourselves to see if this if what we were doing. The meeting was suddenly quiet, and I was met with stony glares by several who were of the militant group.
It was after one of our deacon's meetings during this time that I was approached by the pastor who told me that even though I had refused to get involved with the politics, everyone assumed that I was in the conservative camp because of my strong stand on the Word of God. My response to him was, "I guess that shows that the real issue here is theological, doesn't it." At that he wheeled around, and did not talk to me again before he left the church to take another pastorate.
What I began to realize during this time was the ill will that the militant moderate group had developed for me. One of the older and wiser deacons nominated me for deacon chairman two years in a row. When I asked him why he did so, he told me that he knew I would not win, but it showed him who was in which camp by those who voted for me or against me. He even told me that there were those he knew that were on the fence politically, but he wanted to see if they would vote against me in order not to draw the ire of the militant moderates. So it was during this time that I began to experience the backlash of ill will that this militant group of moderates had for me.
I say all of this to bring us to the event of the other night. In 1999 this church planted another church in our town. I was one of those who left to plant that church (this was before the Lord called my to plant our current church, Grace Covenant). After I left the church, I was savaged and slandered by some of the militant moderate group, and had my character and reputation assaulted by being accused of things that I never did. One lady in particular even went before the pastoral staff and some deacons and lied and slandered me as one of the pastoral staff stood by and tacitly agreed with her, even though he knew differently. This lady and her husband were a part of the militant moderate group, and she is unaware that I know this.
As you might have guessed, it was her that I saw the other night at a Christmas function with my family. She and her husband came in and sat down to our left in the row in front of us. This was the first time I have seen her since we left that church. As I said in the opening paragraph, I was not prepared for the wave of emotion that hit me, and in my spirit I wrestled with my flesh as anger and resentment of her lies about me and her seemingly getting away with it brought about a desire for vengeance and vindication; and I had thoughts about her that were not nice.
In God's economy and providence, the play we were attending lasted two and an half hours, so I had plenty of time to wrestle through this and confess my sin to the Lord, and ask Him to work in my heart to forgive her, and not be embittered toward her. This was a test for me, and an opportunity to take the Lord at His word, and apply that word to my life. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay." says the Lord. Do not return evil for evil (even in your heart), but give a blessing instead. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Bless those who persecute you, bless and curse not. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Be like Joseph, who said to his brothers, "What you meant as evil against me, God meant for good." Many times in the Psalms we see David cry out for the Lord to vindicate him, and in those cries we see the patient confidence of David, that the Lord would do just that, and we also see David's willingness to wait for the Lord to vindicate him, and not seek to vindicate himself.
I share this to encourage others who may read this. Others who have gone through much worse at the hands of their enemies, even at the hands of those who call themselves Christian brothers or sisters. Friends, when we suffer, let us suffer as Christians, and according to the word of God, not seeking our own vengeance and vindication, but trusting our Almighty, sovereign and good Lord to bring about His desired result in our life and the lives of others. And when you are confronted with such a situation, He will give you all the grace you need to have victory over your flesh.
The genesis of this occurred back in the mid to late nineties during the hottest part of the inerrancy battle happening in the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBC church I was attending at that time was considered one of the flagship churches in the convention as it was the largest giver to the cooperative program, which was and is the funding mechanism that undergirds the SBC and its agencies, both in the states and nationally. Needless to say, this church exerted much influence, not just in Texas, but nationally as well; and because of this influence was a plum that both sides wanted in their basket. While we were certainly not the only church to experience the battle in the midst of our church, because of who we were, the battle that took place in our church was more intense than was probably the norm in most churches.
Even though the root and core issue of the controversy was due to the theological issue of inerrancy, due to the political process that was being used by the conservatives to regain control of the convention, the war was being fought on two fronts. One front was the theological front, where the battle was for the hearts and minds of the people, and the other battle was along the political front where the actual control of the national and state associations was being fought out. This led to the battle coming all the way down to the local church, both for their hearts and minds and for which side would lead and control the church.
Without going into too much detail, our church was dominated by those who called themselves moderates, and we had a particularly militant group of moderates who were involved both financially and politically in the battle both in the state and nationally; and this group was determined to bring our church around to fully support the moderate camp. It was indeed a sad time for our church, as this group of people injected their political agenda into nearly every area of our church. Even to the point that during a personnel committee meeting they brought up terminating some staff members who would not support them on a vote during the latest business meeting.
During this time I was actively recruited by this group of moderates, and by a group of conservatives from a state organization; but I would not align myself with either. Even though I was and am an inerrantist, I would not align myself with the conservative group that recruited me because I did not like their approach. As a Deacon and Deacon officer and a teacher and teacher of teachers, I did not want to get involved with the the politics as they were being played out in our church, but instead focused upon trying to block those who would politicize and cause disunity and dissension in our church. Proverbs 6:16-19 lists seven things which the Lord hates and which are an abomination to Him; and coming in at number seven is "One who spreads strife among his brothers." I took these verses seriously, and decided that I would do what I could to protect the unity of our church while standing up for the truth.
The issues that were being foisted upon our church by this militant group of moderates had nothing to do with the theological battle, but were all about them exerting their control and influence on our church to further their political agenda; and because of their tactics they were causing strife and promoting strife and dissension in our fellowship. I quoted this section of Proverbs one night during a deacon's meeting, and asked all of us who were attending to examine ourselves to see if this if what we were doing. The meeting was suddenly quiet, and I was met with stony glares by several who were of the militant group.
It was after one of our deacon's meetings during this time that I was approached by the pastor who told me that even though I had refused to get involved with the politics, everyone assumed that I was in the conservative camp because of my strong stand on the Word of God. My response to him was, "I guess that shows that the real issue here is theological, doesn't it." At that he wheeled around, and did not talk to me again before he left the church to take another pastorate.
What I began to realize during this time was the ill will that the militant moderate group had developed for me. One of the older and wiser deacons nominated me for deacon chairman two years in a row. When I asked him why he did so, he told me that he knew I would not win, but it showed him who was in which camp by those who voted for me or against me. He even told me that there were those he knew that were on the fence politically, but he wanted to see if they would vote against me in order not to draw the ire of the militant moderates. So it was during this time that I began to experience the backlash of ill will that this militant group of moderates had for me.
I say all of this to bring us to the event of the other night. In 1999 this church planted another church in our town. I was one of those who left to plant that church (this was before the Lord called my to plant our current church, Grace Covenant). After I left the church, I was savaged and slandered by some of the militant moderate group, and had my character and reputation assaulted by being accused of things that I never did. One lady in particular even went before the pastoral staff and some deacons and lied and slandered me as one of the pastoral staff stood by and tacitly agreed with her, even though he knew differently. This lady and her husband were a part of the militant moderate group, and she is unaware that I know this.
As you might have guessed, it was her that I saw the other night at a Christmas function with my family. She and her husband came in and sat down to our left in the row in front of us. This was the first time I have seen her since we left that church. As I said in the opening paragraph, I was not prepared for the wave of emotion that hit me, and in my spirit I wrestled with my flesh as anger and resentment of her lies about me and her seemingly getting away with it brought about a desire for vengeance and vindication; and I had thoughts about her that were not nice.
In God's economy and providence, the play we were attending lasted two and an half hours, so I had plenty of time to wrestle through this and confess my sin to the Lord, and ask Him to work in my heart to forgive her, and not be embittered toward her. This was a test for me, and an opportunity to take the Lord at His word, and apply that word to my life. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay." says the Lord. Do not return evil for evil (even in your heart), but give a blessing instead. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Bless those who persecute you, bless and curse not. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Be like Joseph, who said to his brothers, "What you meant as evil against me, God meant for good." Many times in the Psalms we see David cry out for the Lord to vindicate him, and in those cries we see the patient confidence of David, that the Lord would do just that, and we also see David's willingness to wait for the Lord to vindicate him, and not seek to vindicate himself.
I share this to encourage others who may read this. Others who have gone through much worse at the hands of their enemies, even at the hands of those who call themselves Christian brothers or sisters. Friends, when we suffer, let us suffer as Christians, and according to the word of God, not seeking our own vengeance and vindication, but trusting our Almighty, sovereign and good Lord to bring about His desired result in our life and the lives of others. And when you are confronted with such a situation, He will give you all the grace you need to have victory over your flesh.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Spiritual Enablement and Empowerment
...faith involves both renunciation and reliance.
We have to first renounce all confidence in our
own power and then rely entirely on the power
of the Holy Spirit. We must be enabled, not merely
helped. What's the difference? The word help implies
we have some ability but not enough; we need
someone else to supplement our partially adequate
ability. By contrast, enablement implies that we
have no ability whatsoever. We're entirely powerless.
We can do nothing. But when by faith we renounce
self-sufficiency and embrace reliance on the power
of the Holy Spirit, we receive divine empowerment,
enablement, and strength for personal transformation
and ministry.
Jerry Bridges
Bob Bevington
The Bookends of the Christian Life
Page 85
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear
fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can
you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the
branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears
much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
John 15:4-5
Blessed is man who trusts in the Lord and whose
trust is the Lord.
Jeremiah 17:7
A faith that does not rest fully on the Lord is an incomplete faith, a faith that is not fully mature. In one way or the other, this applies to all of us. I am reminded of the man who called out to Jesus, "I believe, help my unbelief." This is a cry that all of us could make. Our faith should rest fully on Christ, both for our salvation and our sanctification. Just as we did not begin our spiritual life without the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, we cannot live our spiritual life apart from His enabling power.
In applying this to our lives, it should even affect how we pray. How many times have we asked the Lord to help us versus empower or enable us? Yes, we are responsible, and we must act and we must do; but in our acting and doing He is the One enabling and empowering. The Scriptures do not give us a formula for this, for faith does not have a formula. We walk by faith, faith in Him and not in ourselves, which should lead to trust in Him and not in ourselves.
When I was a child, my mother would never let me use the phrase 'I can't' for her reply would be, "Can't never could do anything." Then she would tell me the story of the little engine who could, and for those who don't know the story, the little engine would chant, "I know I can, I know I can." as he was pulling the huge load up the steep hill. This kind of human effort, the positive can do attitude, has polluted our minds, and is one of the humanisms we bring into our faith; and it rides into our Christian life on the back of our pride.
Renunciaton and reliance are an assault on our human pride, and require a submissive humility, which again, is quite impossible without His enabling power. It is only after we have been humbled by our spiritual impotency to overcome sin and to be pleasing to God, that we will ask for forgiveness and acceptance from Him so that we may be saved; and it is in a continued submissive humility that we ask for enablement and empowerment to live the life He has called us to live.
Even to the end, our spiritual life is designed so that the Lord receives the glory for it, not us. For all things are from Him, through Him, and to Him, and we exist for Him; and let us remember that we can do all things through......Him who strengthens us.
In applying this to our lives, it should even affect how we pray. How many times have we asked the Lord to help us versus empower or enable us? Yes, we are responsible, and we must act and we must do; but in our acting and doing He is the One enabling and empowering. The Scriptures do not give us a formula for this, for faith does not have a formula. We walk by faith, faith in Him and not in ourselves, which should lead to trust in Him and not in ourselves.
When I was a child, my mother would never let me use the phrase 'I can't' for her reply would be, "Can't never could do anything." Then she would tell me the story of the little engine who could, and for those who don't know the story, the little engine would chant, "I know I can, I know I can." as he was pulling the huge load up the steep hill. This kind of human effort, the positive can do attitude, has polluted our minds, and is one of the humanisms we bring into our faith; and it rides into our Christian life on the back of our pride.
Renunciaton and reliance are an assault on our human pride, and require a submissive humility, which again, is quite impossible without His enabling power. It is only after we have been humbled by our spiritual impotency to overcome sin and to be pleasing to God, that we will ask for forgiveness and acceptance from Him so that we may be saved; and it is in a continued submissive humility that we ask for enablement and empowerment to live the life He has called us to live.
Even to the end, our spiritual life is designed so that the Lord receives the glory for it, not us. For all things are from Him, through Him, and to Him, and we exist for Him; and let us remember that we can do all things through......Him who strengthens us.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Good Reflections from a Man of God
It is never too late to start, nor too early to begin.
Kevin Stilley says it well. Here is the link.
http://buff.ly/1pS0B7f
Kevin Stilley says it well. Here is the link.
http://buff.ly/1pS0B7f
Sunday, November 09, 2014
A Prayer for Sunday
Father, speak Your Word through me this morning.
Through Your Word, train, instruct, strengthen,
encourage, and correct your people. Send forth
Your Word attended by Your Spirit, so that it
may do all you have intended in the lives of those
who hear it today. For Your glory and Your
kingdom. Amen
Tuesday, November 04, 2014
Living by Faith, Not by Sight
There was a blog post concerning II Corinthians 5:7, and its misuse and misapplication. Below is my comment concerning this verse and the context in which it is in.
Friday, October 24, 2014
Essentials of the Christian Life---Faith, Hope, and Love
But now faith, hope, love, abide these three...
I Corinthians 13:13a
In this verse at the end of the love chapter in I Corinthians, Paul gives us the three Divine distinctives, the three essential qualities that mark the life of a believer. All three of these qualities are operative in the true Christian, and to the extent they are operative determines the quality and vitality and effectiveness of our spiritual lives. Also, it is the operation of faith, hope and love in our life that is the source of our joy, and it is the extent to which these qualities are operative in our lives that determine the fullness of our joy.
Additionally, these qualities do not operate in isolation from each other, but operate in conjunction with each other. Each directs, reinforces, and feeds the other. Faith is the foundation, love provides the motivation, and hope gives inspiration. As a cord of three strands is not easily torn apart (Ecclesiastes 4:12), so the Christian life that has faith, hope, and love stands strong against the perils of this world and the wiles of the devil.
Faith is the foundation, but without love faith becomes dry, barren, ritualistic, and formalized. Without love faith becomes a duty to be performed, not a life to be lived. Love gives strength and vitality to faith and makes faith come alive. Love gives purpose to faith. (I Corinthians 13:2b, Galatians 5:6, John 14:21, 23, I Peter 1:22)
Hope causes faith to persevere by giving it a reason to persevere. Hope directs faith's attention from the life here and now to the life hereafter. Hope gives faith its eternal perspective. Hope is faith's anchor during the storms of this life, its restraint to keep it from heeding the siren calls of this world, and its beacon to keep it on course. (Hebrews 6:19, 11:1, Galatians 5:5, I Corinthians 15:19, Colossians 1:5)
My friends, are these three essentials present in your life? If they are not, cry out to the Lord for Him to bring these into your life through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. If they are, seek to cultivate them all the more in order that your life in Christ may be full of His abundance and overflowing with His joy.
Saturday, October 04, 2014
Letting the Peace of Christ Rule
This is a repost.
As believers we are to "Let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts," (Colossians 3:15). So often we see this verse either ignored or misapplied, and it is because of a misunderstanding or a false assumption of what this peace is. So let's see if we can garner a better, a correct understanding of what the peace of Christ is and how it is manifested in our lives.
First off, this verse is in the middle of a section where Paul is talking about our common ground in Christ because He is all and is in all (3:11), and how this is manifested in our life in the church in how we treat and respond to one another in the body. So its primary application is for believers in the context of church life. So this peace of Christ is to rule, act as arbiter or umpire, in our dealings and interactions with other believers, especially those in our local body.
Secondly, what is this peace that Christ has, that is to be the umpire of our hearts, and how did we come to possess it? In John 14:27 Christ says, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you." So we see that it is Christ, Himself, that has given us His peace, and we have this peace because He has come and taken up residence in our heart; and we have become partakers of the divine nature (II Peter 1:4). The peace of Christ is the peace between Him and the Father. There was no enmity between the Father and the Son because Jesus always did the things that were pleasing to the Father (John 4:34, 5:30, 8:28-29, 8:42, 12:49, 14:10, 17:4, Matthew 3:17). Because of His perfect obedience to the Father there was unity and harmony between them with peace being the by-product of that unity and harmony. Christ had the same unity and harmony with the Father in His life here upon the earth that He had with the Father in eternity past. This is why Jesus could say, "I and the Father are One." (John 10:30, 17:11, 22-23). The body of Christ is to have and manifest the same unity and harmony within itself that exists between Christ and the Father (John 17:20-23).
Before salvation we were at enmity with God, we were His very enemies (Romans 5:10), but God reconciled us to Himself (made peace with us) through His Son (Romans 5:10, II Corinthians 5:18-19). The Father and the Son were at perfect peace, so that, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:29). So when we let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts it means that we are not to do anything that would disrupt our peace with our heavenly Father. Our peace with Him should guide our decision making and govern our responses. Within the context of this section of Colossians we see this worked out in our compassion, gentleness, kindness, humility, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, and love within the body of Christ. We have peace with God and one another as we practice these Christian graces mentioned here; and it should then be a part of our life so that, "As far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men." (Romans 12:18).
So, first, be sure that you are at peace with God through faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Then pray a prayer of thanksgiving to God for establishing peace with you, His enemy, and reconciling you to Himself through the blood of the cross. Now live a life of peace with God through how you live your life with others in the body, and in the world; but not at the expense of righteousness or the truth.
As believers we are to "Let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts," (Colossians 3:15). So often we see this verse either ignored or misapplied, and it is because of a misunderstanding or a false assumption of what this peace is. So let's see if we can garner a better, a correct understanding of what the peace of Christ is and how it is manifested in our lives.
First off, this verse is in the middle of a section where Paul is talking about our common ground in Christ because He is all and is in all (3:11), and how this is manifested in our life in the church in how we treat and respond to one another in the body. So its primary application is for believers in the context of church life. So this peace of Christ is to rule, act as arbiter or umpire, in our dealings and interactions with other believers, especially those in our local body.
Secondly, what is this peace that Christ has, that is to be the umpire of our hearts, and how did we come to possess it? In John 14:27 Christ says, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you." So we see that it is Christ, Himself, that has given us His peace, and we have this peace because He has come and taken up residence in our heart; and we have become partakers of the divine nature (II Peter 1:4). The peace of Christ is the peace between Him and the Father. There was no enmity between the Father and the Son because Jesus always did the things that were pleasing to the Father (John 4:34, 5:30, 8:28-29, 8:42, 12:49, 14:10, 17:4, Matthew 3:17). Because of His perfect obedience to the Father there was unity and harmony between them with peace being the by-product of that unity and harmony. Christ had the same unity and harmony with the Father in His life here upon the earth that He had with the Father in eternity past. This is why Jesus could say, "I and the Father are One." (John 10:30, 17:11, 22-23). The body of Christ is to have and manifest the same unity and harmony within itself that exists between Christ and the Father (John 17:20-23).
Before salvation we were at enmity with God, we were His very enemies (Romans 5:10), but God reconciled us to Himself (made peace with us) through His Son (Romans 5:10, II Corinthians 5:18-19). The Father and the Son were at perfect peace, so that, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:29). So when we let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts it means that we are not to do anything that would disrupt our peace with our heavenly Father. Our peace with Him should guide our decision making and govern our responses. Within the context of this section of Colossians we see this worked out in our compassion, gentleness, kindness, humility, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, and love within the body of Christ. We have peace with God and one another as we practice these Christian graces mentioned here; and it should then be a part of our life so that, "As far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men." (Romans 12:18).
So, first, be sure that you are at peace with God through faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Then pray a prayer of thanksgiving to God for establishing peace with you, His enemy, and reconciling you to Himself through the blood of the cross. Now live a life of peace with God through how you live your life with others in the body, and in the world; but not at the expense of righteousness or the truth.
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5:1 For we know…
5:6 Therefore, being always of good courage and knowing
5:11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord
5:16 Therefore, from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have know Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.