Only three verses, but worthy of much contemplation!

Rom. 16:25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began 26 but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith— 27 to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.

It just makes me want to worship Him!

 "Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

Nothing like exploiting the word for advertising!

I saw an add for Christian Mingle online today and it had the following verse quoted above a very happy looking couple.

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself also in the LORD,
         And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

The dating service evidently feels this verse in some way applies to finding a man or woman that will make you happy. Evidently, they think they can play a role in helping you find the one - assuming you are delighting yourself in the Lord of course!

A closer look at the context of the passage reveals it is dealing with the short term success of the wicked and their final destuction, contrasted with the ultimaite eternal deliverance of those who trust in the Lord!

Psalm 37: ¹ Do not fret because of evildoers,
         Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
 ² For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
         And wither as the green herb.
      
 ³ Trust in the LORD, and do good;
         Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
 ⁴ Delight yourself also in the LORD,
         And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
      
 ⁵ Commit your way to the LORD,
         Trust also in Him,
         And He shall bring it to pass.
 ⁶ He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
         And your justice as the noonday.
      
 ⁷ Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
         Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
         Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
 ⁸ Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
         Do not fret—it only causes harm.
      
 ⁹ For evildoers shall be cut off;
         But those who wait on the LORD,
         They shall inherit the earth.
 ¹⁰ For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;
         Indeed, you will look carefully for his place,
         But it shall be no more.
 ¹¹ But the meek shall inherit the earth,
         And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. 

It would seem that rather than fretting over our lack of a mate, we should do as we find in this passage: not fret, nor be envious, trust in the LORD, do good,  feed on His faithfulness, commit your way to the LORD, rest in the LORD, wait patiently for Him, cease from anger!

These are just a sampling of what the verse shows we should do while we wait for the Lord to do the thing the verse is actually about - the defeat of His enemies and deliverance of His people - resulting in contentment now, because of our eternal life in Him!

¹¹ But the meek shall inherit the earth,
         And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

Wow, it sounds like we should not only delight ourselves in the Lord, but also He, His righteousness, and His eternal kingdom should be the main desires of our hearts now!

Dating services may be OK, but it is no small thing to use a verse out of context to promote a business and  miss or even mislead regarding the incredibly important truth this passage was intended to convey!

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

Book recommendation!

I read quite a bit and like to recommend books when I feel they are very helpful. I just finished The World Tilting Gospel by Dan Phillips. I found it to be a very strait forward presentation of the gospel and how we should live in response to it. Phillips does an admirable job of keeping it on point, entertaining and theologically deep - all at the same time. I would definitely recommend it for someone who is having trouble grasping reformed doctrines on salvation and Christ's glory in all things. Here is a link for more information -

http://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/7927/?utm_source=dphillips&utm_medium=blogpartners

The connection between unity and theology

I will be preaching on Rom. 16:17-20 this week. As Paul addresses division in the church he suggests using doctrine as the tool for deciding what is truly divisive. This idea of using doctrine to define what "causing division" looks like is perfectly reasonable, but contradicts modern liberal ideas that would see doctrine/theology as the cause of division rather than the means for diagnosing and correcting it. Consider the following errors of theology regarding division and please share your insights or other examples of  this common and dangerous error.

We put people over doctrine!

We put unity over theology!

We love people too much to take some parts of the Bible literally!

We want to be graceful like Jesus, so we don't teach things that might hurt people's feelings!

Consider for a moment if taking scripture very serious on all matters, including the call to unity in Christ as taught in His word, would really be the cause of church splits, denominations and false churches? Or, is it more likely that where doctrine is taught and embraced true unity exists and it is the rejection of Christ's teaching that leads to division?

As the Apostle John suggested: They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. (John 2:19 KJV)

Thinking we could achieve true unity or love folks better by ignoring God's word and His definition of love is prideful, foolish and an act of idolatry!

Using homosexuality as the main tool for interpreting God's word and love?

The following line began an article on the same sex marriage debate by John Frank. It appeared in the News and Observer Sept. 18, 2001. Read the entire article here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/09/18/1497957/churches-speak-up-on-gay-marriage.html#ixzz1YgRbmjpt

"Before the same-sex marriage debate enters the voting booth next year, it will pass through the pulpit. Does the Bible dictate that marriage is a union between a man and a woman and that homosexuality is an abomination? Or is the Bible open to interpretation, and is God's love all-encompassing?"

I find the way his possible answers to the question of homosexuality/gay marriage are framed to be extremely bias at worst and ignorant at best. The error is a common one and I don't think it requires having to read anything into the language of the authors thesis to summarise it as follows -

Either the hate monger extremist Christians who take the Bible literally and think it actually says most things clearly and coherently are right. Of course this way of reading the Bible leads to belief in a God who is hateful towards Gay folk.

Or

You can be one of the moderate "Christians" who say the Bible is not really able to tell us things in an absolute way and it is OK to pick and choose. This way of seeing the Bible as "open to interpretation" leads to the conclusion that God's love is "all encompassing" including His approval of homosexuality and gay marriage.

Clearly we can work backwards in the author's logic here and see that the test of God's love being "all encompassing" is His approval of homosexuality and if that is what we are using as a test for God's love then any Bible teaching that seems to disagree must necessarily fall into the "open to interpretation" category.

I would like to propose the following analogy that, while imperfect, may get to the real point:

Suppose as a loving Father I tell my two sons that running in the street is wrong and dangerous and they are not to do it. I even command them not to do it - because I love them! My two sons both love to run and the younger one is especially good at it and sees it as the most important thing in his life. In conversation the younger son tells his older brother that he doesn't think their father could have really meant that running in the road was forbidden because it comes so natural, means so much to him and doesn't seem to be hurting anyone. The older son considers the argument and then responds by reminding his younger brother that the father's words were quite clear, that he loves them and surely he knows what is best for them. He, as a loving brother, encourages his younger brother to fight the urge and obey the Fathers commands about running in the street. He even tries to help his brother see that where you run is not the most important thing in life and some who don't run at all live joyful lives. This makes no impact as the younger brother who is convinced he was born to run in the streets and he could have no meaningful life without it!

The younger brother may conclude that his father and brother don't love him because they are saying he should not do the one thing that is most important to him. Further, when he does do it in spite of the father's commands, he feels a sense of guilt that takes much of the fun out of it.

The younger son eventually finds a group of people who affirm his suspicions about his father and brother. They tell him that they had once been told these same things, but had united together under the firm conviction that anything that said there behavior was wrong was unloving and could not be true. They even got members of the press to promote their view and help others be set free from the oppression of bad feeling rules!

After several years of running in the street the younger son is killed in an accident that also claims the lives of several others as the car swerved to avoid him. Unfortunately, he dies thinking his main problem was that his father and his brother did not really love him!

Using our wants and desires as the main interpretive lens for God's love and word would be fine if there is no God and the Bible is just a human book. However, if God has spoken and He says something is wrong, dangerous or even an abomination  - are we really being loving by trying to explain it away?

Something New Under Links I Enjoy!

I had heard of and even viewed videos form The Gospel Coalition before, but I had never fully looked into what they were about. I spent some time today milling around their website and was completely blown away. They have a great vision for the church and also a great many resources available for the edification of the church. I would encourage anyone to take a few minutes and look at some of the free books and educational courses available. They also have books to purchase and tons of sermons from current and past Pastors. I look forward to supporting their work financially and hope others will do the same so they can continue to make much of the Gospel!

How should we impact the culture?

I sent this to my church after preaching on a similar topic this past Sunday.

Calling all Christ Followers –

I would like to implore all those who receive this email and especially those who attend MHCC to consider the biblical model of church and how God worked when things were done His way! As many people are bemoaning the moral degradation of our nation and wondering what we individually or collectively can do to make a difference, it seems wise to consider how the church was intended to impact the culture in the first place. Immediately after Peter’s preaching of Christ at Pentecost we read the following description of the church in its purest form.

Acts 2:41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.  And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

A few verses later we see the fruit of doing things God’s way – Acts 2:47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

A couple diagnostic questions to help us individually and as a church –

Are you continuing steadfastly in “the Apostle’s doctrine”? Are you committed to the lifelong learning from the scriptures about Who God is, what He has done to save us and how we should structure our lives and church in response?

Are you continuing steadfastly in “the fellowship”? Not just hanging out! Throughout the scriptures we read about the need to encourage one another in the faith. The doctrine we learn as we study the word will be contrary to our natural fleshly desires so it is no surprise we read: Heb. 3:12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; ¹³ but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Having fun, eating together, meeting people’s physical needs are all good, but we must see people’s spiritual needs as primary since they are the ones that impact eternity and are the main focus of the fellowship as defined in the Bible.

Are you continuing steadfastly in “the breaking of bread”? This is a reference to Lord’s Supper - celebrating/recognizing the body that was broken and the blood that was shed for us as Jesus Christ bore our sin on the cross. The Lord’s Supper is not what saves us, but Jesus Himself designated this as a regular way to remember His work. How important is this to you? Is it simply a religious ceremony or a way to remember the reality that defines who you are and drives all you do? In other countries people risk death to receive the Lord’s Supper with fellow believers while meeting illegally in the woods or elsewhere. In America, many who call themselves Christians don’t seem bothered by missing this precious time. Do you understand and value it?

Are you continuing steadfastly in “prayer”? Is this about asking God’s blessing before a meal? It may include that, but consider some of the last words Jesus told His followers: Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Later we see this idea applied to all believers, in case we had any doubts: 2 Cor.5:20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. Would we dare take on the role of Christ’s witnesses/ambassadors on earth without being committed to prayer? Is God’s call important enough to keep us continuing steadfastly in prayer as individuals and as a body of believers?

Will it work? It is God’s world to direct as He sees fit, it is our job to believe and follow as He calls. Clearly the things He says do, individually and as a church, we should do and how He blesses it is up to Him.

If you feel you are doing all these exactly as directed by God’s word, please have patience with the rest of us. For those of us who aren’t perfected yet, let’s continue to devote ourselves and call the church as a whole to be devoted to these most primary and basic things. Our salvation is 100% secure if we believe upon the work of Jesus Christ on the cross to save us, but let’s not sell ourselves or our church short by not being what He calls us to be now!

God’s blessing today Ambassadors for Christ!

Thanks

Comment on a Comment!

I posted a link to an article on The Logical Atheist blog a few weeks back. It examined the atheists inability to call anything wrong within their evolutionary worldview, here is the link to the post -

http://5solas4claytongarner.blogspot.com/2011/07/logical-atheist-strikes-again.html

I received a comment which had little to do and also much to do with my post and the Logical Atheist post as well. The comment was - "Threatening children with a made up hell is child abuse."

This raises several interesting questions and I do hope to get a response on them from the annonymous commenter.

First  - the obvious question of where they get their concept of "abuse" or any other moral judgments.

Second - would not telling children about a real Hell be child abuse? I am not for lying to children at all and I am not here interested in trying to prove Hell exists, but I would ask a couple questions of my sceptical commenter:

1. Can you be sure there is no Hell and if so how?

2. Would you feel comfortable telling a child there is absolutly no after death accounting for evil acts done in this life?

I beleive there is much evidence that the Bible is God's revelation to man and it explains the existance of evil, God's perfect justice and God's love/mercy in Jesus Christ. I also realise that whether I beleive it or millions of others believe it - that does not make it true. Truth is truth, facts are facts and our beleif or disbelief has no impact on reality whatsoever. I can't beleive away gravity any more than I could beleive God in or out of existance, He is or He isn't - period!

With that said - do you really want to advocate for a world that lacks any ultimate justice? I don't know your answer to these other questions, but I wonder if your worldview which seems to be without absolute eternal justice "Hell", would agree with these assertions as well -

The universe is without any moral absolutes.

The universe is without any purpose, but is simply a progression of amoral chemical reactions.

Assuming you beleive these things to be true - are you positive of your beleifs? Do you have so much evidence of their truthfulness that you would feel good about teaching them to children?

I look forward to your response. Thanks

OT Theology in Rap?

Shai Linne brings the word on Christ from the OT sacrificail system and priest's work!

God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life?

Acts 21:8 On the next day we who were Paul’s companions departed and came to Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.  9 Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied. 10 And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” 12 Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
14 So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.” (NKJV)

God's wonderful plan for Paul includes false accusations, prison and death for the name/sake of Jesus! Are we to assume it could be the same for us or do we think God just wants to give us what we think is a wonderful plan for our life?

Phil. 1:29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, (NKJV)

John 15:18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. (NKJV)

Matt. 10:34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. (NKJV)

Is there any chance that the PERFECT, HOLY, LOVING, RIGHTEOUS, WISE, AND ALL POWERFUL  SON OF GOD, who is worthy of all glory and honor is going to save us from sin by His own blood and then have us settle for our same pre-salvation: puny, pathetic, self-serving ideas/plans?

No, if He says to lose our lives for His sake is to find it, He knows best and we should want His wonderful plan according to His definition not ours!


"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

Can what is good, but optional, distract from what is best and necessary?

I am currently teaching through Mark on Sunday evenings and as I prepared for this week's lesson I was surprised by all it does not say.

Mark 1:9 It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. 11 Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

12 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. 13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him. 14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (NKJV)

Within six short verses - Jesus is baptized, identified as the Son by His Father, led into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan and John is imprisoned. The seventh verse may hold the key to this very short account of important information. The details are important, but the details support the message - Jesus, the Messiah has come, as was promised, and we must repent and believe the gospel!

Would we lose the importance of that message if we had ten pages on how deep the water was in the baptism, what cell John was in and exactly what the devil looked like when Jesus was tempted? I think it is clear from scripture and experience that we would often rather chase the details than follow the Lord even as believers and of course we will never really follow unless enlightened/changed by the Holy Spirit.

This raises an interesting question - If the church is called to teach and apply the scriptures, walk in love and unity as we go out and make disciples of all nations, should we be careful of distractions?

We have Jesus' baptism mentioned here and commanded for believers elsewhere, The Lord's Supper is commanded for believers in scripture also, and of course corporate prayer and worship is often encouraged, but beyond that are the other "good" things we do at church more likely to distract or help accomplish the main things?

An example: Say a church had  a regular and lengthy time for announcements/church business, recognizing accomplishments of church members, recognition of national holidays,  and lots of events/activities during the week that are good clean fun! When the time comes for the teaching of the word or the taking of the Lord's Supper are they going to be seen as just a couple of the many functions of the church or the incredibly more important and necessary functions of Christ's church?

I could imagine someone thinking - the Bible teaching stuff is OK, but I like the fun stuff or I prefer the holiday services over The Lord's Supper!

Can we do the other good/optional things and still keep the things commanded and most necessary/important the main things? Maybe, but would we be wise to make what we call church as uncluttered by the optional things as possible, so we can emphasize the necessary and important things? 

(Check The Logical Atheist? blog on list of sights to the right for a shocking, but atheistically consistent take on 9-11!)

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

Only Doctrine can Diagnose Division!

If several people in a church wanted to open a liquor bar to help minister to lost alcoholics, someone would surely say "no you can't do that here". What would happen if the several who wanted to do it said it was important to them, they had prayed about it, they felt it was what they should do and that to deny them would be causing division in the church. Is it true that not doing what others want is the definition of division? I hope most would go to the Scriptures and demonstrate why this is not OK.

For example -

Eph. 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. (NKJV)

If someone wanted to teach from the Koran, open a casino or do any number of other radical sounding things, many people in the church would be willing to turn to the scriptures to give a reason why the thing they don't want doesn't belong in the church. However, what happens when the thing is something that is wanted or maybe a long standing tradition. Is the scripture still the place to turn for answers? If most people in the church like the thing being done, will they be as quick to hold it up to scripture? Are things done because people think they are right, see others churches doing it, or simply because it has been done for a long time already at their church. Should there still be a willingness to hold these time honored traditions up to the word of God.

The word that was plenty clear and welcomed on several other issues can suddenly become "able to make say whatever you want" when it comes to evaluating a time honored tradition. The one who desires to allow the word of God to speak on the issue at hand, now may be seen as divisive. He or she may now be accused of "using or manipulating the word" to control people, the church as a whole or to cause division.

The reality is - either the word can be understood and has answers or it does not. Scripture itself claims that it is the standard by which division is diagnosed. Notice in the passage below, divisions are to be diagnosed as they are compared/subjected to doctrine (unless you think I am being divisive by appealing to scripture/doctrine). If someone does not wish to examine their desires or traditions  through the lens of biblical doctrine, then they are clearly being divisive if they continue to promote their agenda.

Rom. 16:17 Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. 18 For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. 19 For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil. 20 And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. (NKJV)

May we continue to turn back to the word of God for our good and His glory!

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."