There was a man sent from God...

John 1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. (NKJV)

Jesus is the true Light! He is the only source of spiritual rebirth unto salvation. We look at John's call to come before Jesus, as prophesied in Isaiah 40:3, to bear witness to the light/Jesus and we can easily see it as a unique and very special call. It is that, as even Jesus said:

Luke 7:28 For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” (NKJV)

However, is it really very different in nature than His call for us to bear witness of the Light after He has come?

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.” (NKJV)

OK, I realise this may be a little different, as we are not individually/specifically identified in OT scripture like John the Baptist, but aren't we just as much part of God's eternal, pre-conceived plan to make the Light/Jesus known in the world?

Eph. 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (NKJV)

We are called to do good works for the sake of Jesus Christ and that according to God's "prepared beforehand" plan. Not very different from John's call when you see it this way! Surely our bearing witness to the only Light that can save sinners, Jesus Christ, is the thing our good works and entire lives are meant to do as His now redeemed workmanship!

There was a man/woman/youth/church sent from God - YOU!

Could anything be better?

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

Feel my wrath Christmas Shoes!

I have already become weary of Christmas music. The Christian radio station I listen to has shifted to all Christmas music all the time (at least it seems that way). I would be more OK with it if they played a greater variety of songs. I know it is an exaggeration, but it seems like they play Charlie Brown Christmas, some synthesized/techno Christmas song and my nemesis Christmas Shoes over and over and over.

I am sure Christmas Shoes is a sweet and touching song, but I am 100% annoyed with it. I am not sure if it is just the poster song for over-repetition of songs, but here are my primary complaints against it:

First, who would want to risk being in line at Payless Shoes at the moment a loved one passed from this life?

Second, having been around many people in their last moments of life, I have yet to see anyone wearing attire that would lend itself to fine footwear.

Finally, would you really need the boy to explain the entire situation before "laying your money down". It says he "counted pennies for what seemed like years", don't you think you would cough up some money, even if only to get the line moving?

I like lots of Christmas music, but I am partial to songs about Jesus. Much Christmas music I hear fails to give any information on what Jesus was born to do! 

Matt. 1:21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” (NKJV)

The sweetest of sentimental lyrics and the most sacrificial good works won't accomplish what Jesus came to accomplish - it takes the blood of Jesus Christ to atone for our sin so we can enter heaven - fine footwear is nice, but optional!

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

Nominal Christians and the Diagnostic Power of the Word

By "nominal" (name only) Christians, I am referring to those who call themselves Christians or are outwardly associated with Christianity by church participation, but in reality are not followers of Jesus Christ. I also must admit I cannot be absolutely sure who these people are. However, the word of God offers some diagnostic help. I still may not know the deffinite salvation status of others, but at least the word gives me great encouragement when under attack by these seemingly "nominal" Christians.

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)

I have had several instances when alleged Christians have opposed changes in the church even when clearly supported by the scriptures. When asked to give a reason for thier fighting against the changes and church leadership the answer is typically something like, "I just don't think it is right". To this the appropriate response is, "can we sit down and see what the scriptures say about it". To my surprise the answer is almost always something like, "no, I just don't think it is right".

If someone is not interested in going to the word of God for answers or doesn't see their thinking as needing to be adjusted by God's word, is their any reason to think they any more than a "nominal" Christian? I have typically given people the benefit of the doubt and assumed they were simply immature, but the more I understand the connection between receiving the word and being truly saved, I am much more inclined to see these people as lost. I also can take comfort in the fact that they are not simply rejecting me and my words, but as long as the teaching is sound they are really rejecting the words of God.

I pray they come to know Jesus Christ and love His word. I also thank God that I was once blind and now see and that purely by His gracious choice!

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

Make a religion that suits you!

I found this quote on a Buddhism promoting website - http://www.bffct.net/id71.html

"Imagine a religion without original sin, judgment, a wrathful God, a multitude of gods and saints, an eternal hell, Satan, a sense of guilt, a personality cult, idolizing a book, a blood sacrifice for atonement, a rejection of personal experience, holy wars, hypocritical rules, sexism, a cultish mindset, and money and power obsessions. Luckily, a religion without all of this negative core baggage does exist and it is called Shin Buddhism." 

For comparison -

Imagine a place without absolute truth or morals. A place without laws, police, jails or justice. Imagine a place where everyone did whatever they wanted and they never felt any guilt or paid any consequences, even if they hurt others. Imagine their was no one powerful enough to save us from such a place. If such a place did exist, I assume it would be called Hell! Are we lucky if we find it?

Christ centered preaching?

I have great concern for those who are seeking "christian" ministry/teaching from those whom focus on health, prosperity and self-esteem. I want to speak with some knowledge of what these folks are preaching so I listened to another message by Joel Osteen this morning. I was mostly wondering how a prosperity preacher preaches on Thanksgiving, because their whole message requires being less than completely satisfied. Although not a Thanksgiving message, I found the following message on the website this week.

The Power of I AM

Link to the message  - http://www.joelosteen.com/Broadcast/Pages/ThisWeeksMessage.aspx

Foolish me, I would assume a message on the power of I AM would be about the unlimited power of God, who refers to Himself as "I Am" (Exod. 3:14, John 8:58). I can't help but think how worthy of our worship God is when I consider His totally independent existence as expressed in this name for Him! All of us now are, but once were not, God was and is and is to come! To be the all powerful creator is so much more important and worthy of our attention and praise than anything He has created!

Yet the message was not about God at all, He was mentioned as a means to an end a couple times, but the message was about us! It focused on how when we use "I am" words - "I am rich", "I am beautiful" and "I am young" and we can actually attract those things to us or create them in our lives with our words.

I would challenge anyone to look up the couple scriptures mentioned in the message and find that any were used in their right context to communicate the intended message. The worst offender had to be a bizarre account of the life of Sarah. It went something like this - In order for God to give Sarah a child in her old age, He first had to change her attitude about herself. To do this God changed her name to Sarah, which means princess. As Joel tells it, as she heard people call her princess over and over, her self-image changed and it was that change which enabled God's promise to come to pass. Her "I am" changed and brought God's blessing upon her.

Not only is this completely speculative, as the word never says anything about Sarah's self-esteem improving before she gave birth. The great and dangerous error is it puts the focus on Sarah's words/power and not God's words and power! God is the I  AM, when He makes a promise, He does not need the cooperation of anyone to bring it to pass. If we read the story, the message we will get is that God did this great miracle, not in recognition of Abraham and Sarah's positive attitudes and actions, but in spite of them - to show His power, for His glory! Sarah thought it laughable that she would conceive in her old age, but the Lord says to her - "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Gen. 18:12-14).

As natural idolaters, it takes very little prodding to get us to listen to encouraging words that are all about us and tell us we have great value and power. Unfortunately, when this is done, the creator, the one due all our focus, worship, respect and even fear, is reduced to second place and as we miss His greatness we fool ourselves into thinking we are the "i am" that makes things happen! It just is not true and a lie, no matter how good it feels, is still a lie!

Oh Glorious Day!

Simple, but profound lyrics from Casting Crowns - 

Living He loved me, dying He saved me
And buried He carried my sins far away
Rising He justified freely forever
One day He's coming, oh, glorious day, oh, glorious day