Ministerial Meanderings

2012-01-31T16:59:00.002-09:30

It's About Christ

I love reformed theology. To me, it is the highest and most God glorifying system of theology there is. If you want to worship God to the highest then you want to be reformed. in my humble opinion.

It is no secret that there are many opposed to reformed theology. They come from a different mindset. They read the Bible and draw entirely different conclusions about God and his work than reformed Christians do. Some come to conclusions that put them outside the scope of the Christian religion. Most do not. But they do come different conclusions and God and salvation.

Let me back up and make a few things clear. I am speaking of theology within an American (and sometimes British and Canadian) evangelical framework. Lutheranism is something else. It is a different branch of Protestantism than Evangelicalism. Pelagianism is a heresy and I am not speaking of them here. I am speaking of, what is normally called, Evangelical Protestantism in the United States. On one side stands the Calvinists, the Reformed Christians. On the other, the Arminians, the non-reformed Christians. What divides them is the very nature of the world, of God, and God's work in the world. They understand it from two totally different worldviews.

And oftentimes these two sides debate. Sometimes civilly, sometimes not. I confess, a lot of times there is more heat than light generated by these arguments. My point for this blog post is to remind my readers of one (very often overlooked) point. It is all about Jesus.

It is important to discuss and come to an understand of who God is, what the world system is, and how God is at work in the world and in the hearts of men. How we view these affects how we worship, pray, evangelize, and live as Christians. There is a baptist saying that goes "Right belief leads to right living." What you believe makes a difference in how you live it out. So it is good and right to study these issues and debate and argue them. Iron sharpens iron the Bible says.

But we must not forget that these debates are in-house debates, that is, Christian on Christian debates. Arminian Christians argue against Calvinist Christians with each side trying to deepen their understanding of God and his work. Our goal is not to understand Calvin better or Arminius better unless such study and understanding leads us to understand Christ better. I pray sincerely that none of us who engage in such arguments ever hope to lift up John Calvin or Jacob Arminius. May it never be said that I glorified Calvin or Knox or Spurgeon or any one of the reformed saints whose writings I read and learn from. Any teacher, no matter who they are, are only as useful as they are biblical. Because every argument we have, every debate, every discussion is never, ever about Calvin or Arminius or Knox or any one else ... it is only Christ.

It is Christ who is our God. Christ is our savior. He is our Shepherd. Our Bright and Morning Star. He is the Fairest of 10,000. He is the One whose blood cleanses us from our sins. He is our Advocate. It is Christ and it is always Christ. All our study and debate has it's goal to bring us closer to Christ. Arminian Christians and Calvinist Christians must not ever think to lift up or exalt any man or even any system of theology but there is One who is worthy to be exalted. Christ Alone.

On a side note, may we ever conduct ourselves as befitting the high theology we each claim to hold. Amen.

2012-01-22T15:21:00.002-09:30

Soli Deo Gloria

Those words are Latin for "To the glory of God alone." It is the 5th sola of the Reformation. "Sola" means "alone" or "only". In Latin they went sola scriptura, sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus, soli Deo gloria. In English we would say it like this ... "According to the scriptures alone, we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone for the glory of God alone." This 5th point was the tie that bound all the others. Everything that happens does so for the glory of God.

Over the years the various branches of the Christian church have struggled with the interpretations of the scriptures. This has caused the formation of various denominations and various systems of theology. Sometimes these groups have competing theologies. That is one group will say one thing based on their interpretation of the scriptures and another group will say something else.

The scriptures (ultimately) and the tradition of church history (as an advisor) tells us what the boundaries of orthodoxy are. And sometimes the scriptures are unclear and can possibly be interpreted in more than one way.

Now a small caveat belongs here. For every passage of scripture there is one and only one correct interpretation of the passage. (There may be more than one application but only one true interpretation). So, if men put forward two then one of them are wrong. However, we see through a glass darkly and we may need to wait till we all get to heaven to learn which one was actually correct.

Having said that, if we are offered two possible interpretations of a passage of scripture, we must choose that interpretations which most debases man and most glorifies God. Always, God is elevated about men.

That is one reason I find reformed theology to be the most biblical. I believe, as I read that Bible, that reformed theology is most correct on the nature of men and most glorifying to God. This is not saying other theologies are heretical, but I find reformed theology to be the MOST correct about glorifying God. Other theological systems may be within Christian orthodoxy but they are (in my opinion) not as correct or God glorifying as that theology of the reformers.

But this post did not start off to be about reformed theology but to remind readers that when they are offered two possible interpretations of a passage of scripture, the one in which God is most glorified is the one that must be embraced. Soli Deo Gloria.

2012-01-18T11:38:00.002-09:30

Are Mormons Christians?

A lot has been written this election year about the Mormon religion. Front running Republican Mitt Romney is a life long Mormon. As he works hard to convince conservative evangelical Christians they ought to vote for him he is trying to position himself as a solid Christian conservative. As he does so, many people have called his Mormon religion into question. This is bringing out commentators from the left and the right to declare what they believe about Mormonism. A Texas pastor called Mormonism a "cult" in a speech given on behalf of another Republican candidate. Is Mormonism a cult? More to the point, is it Christian?

The short answer is "no." Mormonism shares NO doctrines with Christianity, either liberal or conservative. Even Mormons will say "We have to be Christians we have the name of Jesus in our church's name." The official name of the Mormon church is "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." The are called the "LDS" church for short.

The LDS church was founded in the mid 1800s by a New York man named Joseph Smith who taught that he was a direct descendant of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. He was concerned about which Christian church to join when he was visited by an angel of God who told him ALL Christian churches were apostate and that the religion of Christ had passed off the earth. He had been appointed by God to restore the true faith to the earth. In another visitation an angel named "Moroni" led the young Smith to a hill in Palmyra, New York where Smith retrieved golden plates written in "Reformed Egyptian" detailing a civilization on the North American continent. This race were descendants of the Hebrews and were eventually wiped out in an epic battle. But a survivor carried the golden plates with their history on them to New York and buried them to be found by Smith at the right time.

Smith, using a magic seer stone, translated the tablets which taught truths foreign to any Christian church up to that time.

The core of the Mormon religion is summed up in the sentence "As man is God once was; as God is man may be." Mormons teach that a man can become a god by learning to perfectly the "Word of Wisdom" ... a list of 1000 commandments which include abstaining from caffeine and tobacco, among other things. Through successive lifetimes (one on earth and continued on other planets) one learns to obey. When perfect obedience is achieved the man has become a god. He appears before a Council of gods on the planet Kolob. The council includes Jesus, Elohim (the name of the god of our world), and Joseph Smith. That new man-god is assigned a planet over which he will be god. While alive, the man will have women sealed to him in celestial marriage ceremonies and each of these women are given secret names that only he knows. When he arrives on his planet, he uses the secret names to call his wives to himself. Through celestrial sex his wives produce babies who will become the people of the planet over which this man will rule as god.

Thus, there are many gods.

Joseph Smith taught that when Elohim wanted to set his children's feet on the pathway to godhood, he called his sons Jesus and Lucifer to him and asked them to present a plan of salvation which would lead them to godhood. Lucifer presented a plan whereby Elohim used his power to force his children to obey the word of wisdom and thus become gods too. Jesus presented a plan wherein he joined the human race physically and lived so as to show Elohim's children how they ought to live and thus set their feet on the path to eventual godhood. Elohim sided with Jesus. Lucifer then rebelled against Elohim and led one third of the spirit children in the heavenly realm to fight against Elohim. Jesus led the loyal forces and defeated Lucifer. Lucifer was given the name "Satan" and was cast out. His followers were forever denied human bodies and so could never become gods. Those who followed Jesus in heaven were promised to be born on earth "white and delightsome." This guaranteed they would eventually become gods.
Those who remained neutral in the heavenly war were to be born in dark skinned bodies to mark them to the loyal followers of Jesus. In 1978, Mormon prophet Spencer W. Kimball had a revelation from Elohim in which the stigma against black people was removed and they could begin the pathway towards godhood with their white brothers.

Women, by the way, only become goddesses if they are sealed to a Mormon man who will become a god. On their own, there is no pathway to godhood.

All I have typed so far should be more than enough to demonstrate that Mormons are in no way Christians. And all I have typed so far by no means covers all the differences Mormons have with Christians.

Mormons are taught to be strong supporters of strong families. This is good. They are generally good people who are honest and hard working. They believe sincerely in their religion. But they are not Christians. It is not mean nor antimormon to admit this. This is simple Christian discernment. It is just being honest.

So are Mormons Christians? Emphatically "NO!"

2012-01-02T17:22:00.002-09:30

We're Back!

A lot of things, both good and bad came up in 2011. They overall effect has been to keep me from posting very often. One of my plans for this new year is to do a better job of those things I need to be doing.

There is still a Calvinism worth defending, lesser theologies still diminish our Mighty God, and the people of God are under attack like never before from enemies both inside and outside the Church.

There is still a lot to say those who have ears to hear. Happy New Year. See you all throughout.

2011-11-02T08:00:00.002-09:30

An Arminian Dilemma

Paul asks in Corinthians "But you know who made you to differ..." He implies that we know that it was God who made those who are saved to differ from the unsaved around us. But this creates a dilemma for the Arminian who agree with the Calvinists that man is totally depraved. But the Arminians teach that God gives every human being in the world a measure of "prevenient grace", that is the grace that preceeds the other works of God. Now this prevenient grace moves all humans to a neutral position so that their salvation depends on whether or not the person will cooperate with the grace God has given him or her.

Then they teach that Christ's atonment was for every human being in the same way. So there is this ... if every person is given a measure of prevenient grace and if Christ dies for every person in exactly the same way, then who really makes one man to differ from another? God has done his part. The deciding factor lies in man, not God. This is called synergism in salvation. God and man works together in bringing man to salvation.

For folks who say they hold to salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, this poses a dilemma.

2011-09-11T11:23:00.002-09:30

Whosoever Will ... A Story

I knew a guy once who was a real wretch, by religious standards. If there was ever a candidate for reprobation (being unelect and outside the saving grace of God), this guy was one of them. There were no redeeming qualities that were apparent to anyone who knew him. But as with all things, his style of living eventually took a toll on him and he contracted a disease for which there is no current cure. It was killing him.

At the end of his life, his family members became concerned for his soul and told him of his sins and this man became greatly fearful of facing the wrath and judgment of God. He knew what kind of life he had lived and he knew the things he had done and he indicated to his family that he wanted to know how he could die and not have to fear God's wrath.

His family only knew one preacher who would spend time talking to this man ... so they called me. They told me he was on his death bed and would die that very day. The man's voice was gone so we had to communicate by me saying something and he would blink his eyes to indicate that he understood or agreed.

I reviewed his sins and he freely admitted to the things he had done and he knew he stood under the just wrath of God. He knew if he died without forgiveness then he would rightly spend eternity in the eternal lake of fire. All this he knew and admitted. Then I told him about how God came to the earth and died a criminal's death, taking on himself the punishment for sin that was rightly due to sinners and that every sinner who turned to that God-man believing that he died for him (the sinner) personally that sinner would find the forgiveness of sins and peace with God.

He indicated that he understood and (I certify) that with his next to last breath on this planet, he indicated that he had looked to Christ and found the forgiveness he was looking for. He died after his next breath and died at peace.

We humans do not know who God's elect people are. We don't know when or how God will choose to call them to Himself. Our job is to be faithful to preaching the good news of the forgiveness of sins through the shed blood and finished work of Jesus Christ. And do know this .. that every person, no matter how bad we judge them to be, every person who looks to Christ alone finds the forgiveness of sins and has peace with God. Truly the scriptures speak when they tell us "Whosoever may come and drink of the water of life freely."

This story I have told you is true. I am usually skeptical of deathbed conversions. But it is not my place to judge those who have professed faith in Christ as their savior. This man died assured of forgiveness and I told his family that God promises that every person who comes to him is received of him. God is good and He calls sinners everywhere to repent and turn to Christ alone as their one and only hope for salvation. And every sinner who comes, whosoever will, will have eternal life and favor with God.

2011-05-09T16:31:00.002-09:30

My Son Is Married

Two weeks ago today my son Stephen married a really nice young woman from Colorado named Hilary Harris (now Hilary Sneed). Who would have thunk it from Stephen? We wish them all the best. I know now he has his eyes turned towards his upcoming deployment to Iraq in August. I wish him health, safety, a happy marriage and a quick return from Iraq under only the best of circumstances.

It just goes to show no matter how old they get they can still surprise me. LOL

2011-05-01T06:46:00.002-09:30

When Everyting Else Is Stripped Away

When everything is said and done, there is one crucial difference between the Calvinist and the non-calvinist. The Calvinist has a Christ who died to save him (or her) and the non-calvinist has a Christ who died to give them the chance to save themselves. And that is the bottom line.

2011-01-24T14:30:00.002-09:30

Family News

I got a call earlier this evening from my son Stephen. Stephen is a Pfc in the United States Army. He is a sapper, an explosive demolitions expert who doubles as a bomb defuser. He got word today that he is being transferred to a new company and will be deploying to Iraq in August. At this time, we don't know how long his deployment will be for. I invite all those who read this blog from time to time to offer up a prayer for Stephen's safe return to the United States as well as all those brave military men and women who are serving in dangerous places far from home. May God watch over them all.

2011-01-17T15:57:00.002-09:30

A Break For a Time

It seems popular among bloggers to take a break from time to time. It is time I need one. I have been sporadic in my blogging and not highly motivated. So, I will taking a break from blogging for a while. I am not sure how long. If you follow this blog you will see it when I come back. I have a few things going on and a few irons in the fire that are demanding my attention. Thanks for understanding. See you before long I hope.

2011-01-03T10:12:00.002-09:30

The Turn of the Year ...

I like the start of a new year. It is like a fresh beginning. It starts over. Of course there is some baggage from last year. But overall, the start of a new year is the chance to start again.

It is a hope and a promise. There is a hope, a chance, that this year can be better than last year. Things that were wrong last year can be right this year. There is a hope that I can be a better man, a better person, more like the person I envision myself to be, than I was last year.

There is a hope that I can be a better Christian and walk more closely with Christ than I did last year.

The new year is like a fresh snowfall. Everything feels white and clean. It is a promise that anything can happen.

In many ways the new year is like sitting down to a fresh chess board. Everything is on the table and everything is in play. The game is full of possibilities. Nothing is written yet.

Friends, make this year a good one. In the providence of God, go into the year and let people see you as what you are... disciples of Christ. Love each other as Christ's disciples. Be light in the world and not darkness. Let this year be a good one for the people around you because you are in it. Make it count. As John Piper says, "Don't waste your life."

2010-12-25T08:52:00.002-09:30

We Remember ...

It is Christmas Day 2010 as I write these words. It is a good day of the year. It is a day when we remember the coming into the world of the Lord Jesus Christ, the baby born in Bethlehem. We call him the "Lord" Jesus because He is the Lord our God. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is the God-man, the second Person of the Holy Trinity. He is the one who lived a sinless life to satisfy God's demand for perfection and who shed his blood on the cross to purchase our remission of sin. He is our Savior. He is the God who came to earth to do for sinners what they could not do for themselves. Today, we remember His incarnation into the world.

But before I end this blog post, I want to remember a few others also.

I served 20 years in the United States Air Force. I didn't have a combat job. Far from it. I was a surveyor, draftsman and a construction inspector. In the Air Force they called us "engineering assistants" or "EAs" for short. I was never in harm's way during my 20 years. But lots of my friends were. And I spent more than a few Christmas' away from my family and friends because of places I was stationed.

Today, there are American heroes, our servicemen and women who are away from their families this Christmas Day. We want to remember them too. For many of them Christmas is another day for them to try and make it to the end without being hurt or killed. For a lot of them it is another day of guard duty or patrols or routine duties far from home. They risk it all away from home so that we can be safe in our homes. Remember them too. My son is one of them, PFC Stephen A. Sneed, US Army. He serves at Ft. Carson, Colorado.

And while we are talking about American heroes, let's remember just a few others. While we celebrate Christmas in our warm homes, there are police officers in their cars, firefighters in their station houses and EMTs standing by, working around the clock to keep us safe where we live. Crime and catastrophes know no holidays. Neither do the dedicated people who work to keep us secure. Remember them too. I used to be one of those too. Officer John Sneed, Badge 103, Snyder Police Department, Snyder, Nebraska.

We remember Christ first of all, above all else. But let's now forget those who serve us far from home, under life threatening conditions. I hope with all my heart, that when the sun rises tomorrow, that we all had a "Merry Christmas" 2010.

2010-09-02T11:47:00.002-09:30

Do Calvinists Think Only Calvinists Go To Heaven?

The short answer is emphatically "NO!" Now, a little more detail.

Calvinism does not save you. No system of theology saves a person. What saves a person is personal, life changing faith in the Person and work of the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. That means that faith in who Jesus is and what he did for each sinner personally is what determines who is saved and who is lost. Most people who come to Christ for salvation know no theology at all. They may not know more than the few Bible passages that were used to lead them to faith in Jesus. Therefore, salvation transcends any system of theology. There are saved Arminians and saved Calvinists.

Let me go further. A person may know they are a sinner in need of a savior and yet (for a variety of reasons) not believe in total depravity. They may know that they cannot contribute anything to their salvation and yet not believe in unconditional election. They may believe that Jesus died for them personally and yet not believe in limited atonement (or particular redemption, if you will). They may believe that they chose to come to Christ for salvation and not understand that they were brought to Christ by God. They may think salvation can be given back (and lost) and not know that God is working in them to keep them. In short, a person may not understand any of the historic five points of Calvinism and yet still be clinging to Christ as their only hope of salvation.

So, a person may ask, "If all that is true, then what good is being a Calvinist?" Well, we Baptists have a saying, "Right belief leads to right living." The better your doctrine the more holy will be your life as a Christian. Calvinism is the highest theology (in this writer's humble opinion) that is available to men. Learning Calvinistic theology will lead one to a better, more godly, more God glorifying Christian walk. The better our theology the better we will live as Christians. If Calvinism is the best theology, then we ought to learn it and embrace it.

However, let me say again that if one is not a Calvinist it does not mean they are lost. To me, it means they hold to a lesser theological system. But a person is not saved by good or perfect theology. Let it be shouted from the housetops "Jesus saves!" and Jesus alone.

Charles Spurgeon believed that Arminian divine John Wesley would be in heaven. Once he was asked if he expected to see Wesley at the Eternal Throne. Spurgeon's answer (paraphrased slightly) was this, "No, I don't. I expect that Wesley will be so much closer to the throne of God than I that I do not expect to see him."

And remember, no matter what a person's theological system, if we believe they are a Christian, hear me here, a Christian, then we are bound by Christ's command to love our brother and sister as Christ loved us. We may not like what they believe but if they are indeed a Christian then they are one of Christ's elect and precious sheep (whether they believe that or not) and one of our brother's and sister's in the Body of Christ.

The Calvinist-Arminian debate will be argued till Christ returns to settle it for us. But, by and large it is an "in the family" debate. Let's try to behave like it. Do Calvinists believe that only Calvinists go to heaven? No, not at all.

2010-08-31T16:16:00.001-09:30

A Quote ...

"My religion teaches me that I am as safe in bed as on the battlefield."

Stonewall Jackson

2010-08-20T18:04:00.002-09:30

Some Words from Martin Luther

"If I profess, with the loudest voice and clearest exposition, every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point."

2010-08-18T16:27:00.002-09:30

Spurgeon's Wisdom

On the Christian's light ....

"A Christian should be a lamp, and not a damp. He should cheer and enlighten his brethren, and never act as a wet blanket to their zeal."

2010-08-04T18:58:00.002-09:30

Reprising John 3:16

This is a repost of an entry from December 2008. There are still many people who think that John 3:16 is the magic bullet that slays all things calvinistic. Here are my thoughts on this great and important passage of Holy Scripture.

Some years ago, a friend of mine gave me a pencil drawing of the bust of Jacob Arminius. Under the picture is the caption "I don't care what you say, I still believe in John 3:16." Ah! The magic bullet! John 3:16. The instant slayer of everything Calvinistic. Whenever a Calvinist mentions the doctrine of election, the opponent simply pulls out John 3:16 and says "See? It says 'whosoever'" and sends the defeated Calvinist to lick his wounds in some deserted dark corner.

But does John 3:16 really support an anti-calvinistic position? Certainly some inside the SBC seem to think so. When the big names in the SBC leadership gathered together to attack Calvinism in the Convention, they called their conference the "John 3:16 Conference" or the "J3:16C" for short.

But I don't think that John 3:16 supports an anti-calvinistic position. Of course, that is not a surprise to my readers. You know I am a Calvinist, so of course I am going to say that. But if John 3:16 does not deny God's election of certain individuals to salvation, then what does it say? Let us look closely at the passage and see ...

The verse opens with the word "For." This word connects the content of John 3:16 with the preceding passage. John 3 opens with Jesus speaking to Nicodemus of the new birth and it's necessity for salvation. Jesus mentions the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit as he moves through the world touching people (verse 8). Then Jesus chides Nicodemus for being a master of Israel and not knowing of the things of which Jesus spoke. Jesus then tells Nicodemus that people speak of what they know and that no one knows the Father except the one who comes down from heaven. In verse 14, Jesus comes to the crux of the matter. He says that even as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness by Moses, so also the Son of Man (a favorite name Jesus used for himself) must also be lifted up "that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (verse 15). In this context, verse 16 gives the reason why verses 14 and 15 are true."

For God so loved the world ..." "For" means "because." Verse 16 is going to show why everything before it is true. Because God "so loved the world ..." Most people read this as "God loved the world so much ..." but this would be wrong. A better reading would be "For God loved the world in this way." Well, in what way did God love the world? The answer is that "he gave his only begotten Son." God's sacrifice of His One and Only Begotten Son is his demonstration of love for the world.

But that begs the question ... what do we mean by "world"? Is it every single human being as our Arminian opponents believe? No, it is not. Why? Because Jesus did not die for the sins of those people who were already in hell at the time of his death(for example). Just excluding that one group demonstrates that Jesus' death was not for every single human. So, you ask, who was it for? "World" in this verse is best seen as "Jews and Gentiles." Let me paraphrase John 3:16 in a way that will show you what I am saying. "For God loved not only the Jews but also the Gentiles in this way, that He gave His only Begotten Son ..." This paraphrase accurately captures the meaning of the verse without doing violence at all to the context.

What happens because God gave his only begotten Son? "So that whosoever believeth ..." Most opponents to Calvinism believe that one word, "whosoever" defeats the entire system of Calvinistic theology. But does it? Strong's Concordance defines "whosoever" as meaning 1. individually as "each, every, all, any, the whole, everyone," 2. collectively as "some of all types." Now that begs the question, each and every who? The answer ... each and every one who believes. The promise of everlasting life is to the believers and not to each and every human on earth. No ... only to believers.

So then John 3:16 can be paraphrased and read like this ...

"Because God loved not only the Jews but also the Gentiles in this way, that He gave His only begotten Son so that all the ones who believe (or each and every one who believes), whether Jew or Gentile, will not perish but have everlasting life."

And this agrees perfectly with verse 15, and also lines up perfectly with all other scriptural verses dealing with who God saves. The passage has nothing at all to do with the doctrine of election, whether for or against. It is simply a promise of God that all those who believe in Jesus as savior, no matter what "tongue, tribe, nation or people" will find eternal life.

So, going back to my cartoon drawing of Jacob Arminius, the caption read "I don't care what you say, I still believe in John 3:16." And you know what? I do too.

2010-07-28T08:13:00.002-09:30

Minimal Christianity

There is no secret that North American Christianity is in trouble. White the causes for that are many and far beyond the scope of this blog to decipher, let me focus today on one observation.

I note that we seem to be caught up in a cycle of what I am calling minimal Christianity. Run with me here ... it seems to me that we Christians worry more about what the minimum is that we can get away with and still say we are good Christians in the eyes of God. What is the minimum amount of money we can give to our churches? What is the minimum number of Bible verses we can read and still be good? What is the minimum amount of time we can spend at church? and so on it goes ...

We want to be right in the eyes of God but we don't want to be bothered by God. We want to do what is right but we don't want to be inconvenienced. So we try to find the minimum about of effort we have to put into being a Christian. We balance our lives trying to do just what we need to do to get by.

Then we stand aghast at the condition of the church. Evil seems to be gaining. There seems to be little spiritual discernment. No one seems to care. And we wonder why.

2010-07-22T17:51:00.003-09:30

Be A Christian:

One thing I see these days that is prevalent in Christianity, especially the North American variety is this ... that Christianity is mostly a club that people join. They attend the club meetings on Sundays and (sometimes) Wednesdays and the rest of the week they have little or nothing to do with the club. It is as though they don't see themselves as "being" Christians but they see themselves playing the part of a Christian.

But being a Christian IS something we are. It is our state of being. Just as I am a human being I am a Christian. Just as I am a man I am a Christian. People would look at me strangely if I behaved in ways contrary to being a human. For example, if I were invited to a friend's house for dinner, and when dinner was served if I put the plate on the floor and began to lap up my food with my tongue, I imagine I would gather some odd looks. And rightly so. That is not typical human behavior. If I, being a man, choose to start to wear dresses to work and wear eye liner and lipstick, people might think me a little odd. They would know that is not typical behavior for a man. People would think me odd because I am a human. I am a man. It is what I am.

In the same way, we are Christians. We are born again new creations through faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our Christianity is not a club we are members of. It is what we are. So, just as it is odd when we behave like something we are not. It is odd for us as Christians to behave in none Christian ways.

We need to learn to be what we are and stop playing at it. The world will never take our faith claims seriously until we take our faith claims seriously. We say knowing Jesus is a "life changing experience." Yet we do not live like our lives have been changed.

Our lives were meant to be living epistles, God's letters to the world proclaiming his truth through us and the lives we live as we live out the truth of God's work in us. The truth of the gospel is demonstrated to the world by the lives of the people who have been affected by the gospel. Beloved reader, if this is what you SAY you are .. then let it BE what you are. Amen?

2010-06-28T18:11:00.002-09:30

A Calvinist is ....

a person who is utterly dependent on God and knows it. In the end of all the debates it boils down to these two things ... man's utter helplessness to please God in and of himself AND man's dependence on God to do for himself what he cannot do for himself. Salvation is not God and man working together. It is God revealing to man what He has done for him and man believing it in such a way that it changes his life. Ultimately, it is all about God. Soli Deo Gloria! To God alone be the glory!

2010-06-27T16:22:00.002-09:30

What a Difference a Few Months Make!

It has been a while since my last post. But it has been an extremely busy time for me. Aleta and I press on as always. Truly, we have the most boring lives on Earth. We are in such a routine, nothing out of the ordinary ever happens.

Hannah is still in Minot doing her thing. I am not always sure what that is but she is there doing it.

Stephen however .... finished Army AIT (the equivalent of "tech school" in the Air Force) at the end of April. They trained him to be a "sapper." That is an explosive demolitions expert. In the Air Force, we called such people "EOD." In Stephen's job, he defuses bombs and also builds bombs to blow things up. He is stationed at Ft. Carson, Colorado in the city of Colorado Springs. Beautiful country up there. I have never stopped there but I have been by there many times.

Hannah's ex-husband Josh is here right now with my granddaughter Naomi. Wow! That is all I can say. Since they live in North Dakota it is hard to see them all the time. In fact, I have seen Naomi once every year since she was born. So, this is her third time seeing me (and me seeing her). She will be three years old in September. She is so big! I had Josh bring her by the place I work so I could show her off to all my friends there. She is something else. I can tell she is a Daddy's girl. (Hannah was that way when she was very young). But while she is here, Naomi is grandpa's girl.

My studies continue slowly. I am finding I am a better procrastinator than I am a theologian. Work is work.

I am back on the blog though. After a bit of a lay off, I have my head screwed on straight again and have many ideas for new posts that I want to put into this blog.

Remember ....

Q. What is the chief end of man?

A. To know God and to enjoy him forever.

2010-03-13T16:43:00.000-09:30

A Quote I Love ...

"If I have a little money I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food and clothes."

- Erasmus of Rotterdam

2010-02-24T07:15:00.004-09:30

Not Dead Yet ...

No, I haven't died. I haven't become a Catholic and joined a monastery. I am not sequestered somewhere writing a book. I haven't been kidnapped by aliens for X-File type experiments.

No, I have been 1. somewhat busy and 2. procrastinating. I am really good at the second one. But I am around and things are getting back on track. So those of you who take the time to read this blog will be seeing some new material soon.

Thanks for not giving up on me.

2010-02-02T20:45:00.002-09:30

A Horrendous Number

150,000 dead in Haiti! The number staggers the imagination. An earthquake struck the island nation and in the space of a few minutes hundreds of thousands of people were left dead and dying. Many died immediately and many others lingered for days before losing their lives. The destruction has rallied the world to respond. But we find ourselves horrified by the almost unimaginable number ... 150,000 dead. The number staggers and numbs us. We are repulsed by the videos of bodies piled in the streets and of the mass graves where nameless Haitians will be finally buried with nothing to mark their passing. Staggered, numbed, repulsed ... and well we should be. It is good to do all we can to relieve the suffering of the survivors and to remembers the victims.

But there are other victims of other tragedies that are forgotten far too easily and we forget them every day.

I heard another number recently. It staggers the imagination just as much as the numbers coming from Haiti. I found out recently that 130,000 babies a day are aborted by the abortion industry worldwide ... every day. Every single day 130,000 babies lose their lives to the whims and convenience of people who get rich peddling death as a way of social improvement. Every single day. One hundred and thirty thousand. Wrap your mind around that ... every day. America accounts for 3,000 of that number ... every single day.

The number of dead from Haiti is a horrendous number. There is no disputing that fact. But just as horrendous, if not more so, are the number of babies killed ... butchered ... murdered ... every single day.

130,000 every day ... that is a horrendous number ... may God have mercy on us all ...

2010-01-06T19:39:00.003-09:30

A Prayer Request

My son, Stephen is in Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri (just 75 miles from his mother and I), starting today. He is there to go through the ordeal of U.S. Army basic training. He begins his three years as a full time active duty American Soldier.

My daughter Hannah remains the last of the family in Minot, North Dakota. Now she is there with no family near her. It will be her first time completely alone, apart from any of us.

Pray for my children, for safety and wisdom in decision making, when the Lord brings them to your minds. I do, of course. I ask for you faithful readers to join me. Thank you.

2010-01-03T15:22:00.002-09:30

Rejoice!

"If you are saved, rejoice! God loves you. Salvation comes to a person, not because God loves the world in some nebulous, undefined way. Salvation is personal. Christ died for YOU. If you are saved from God's wrath, it is because God loved YOU." Thank God for that!

2009-12-24T17:12:00.002-09:30

Merry Christmas 2009

As we pause from our lives to ponder the coming to earth of the Lord our God, incarnate in the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior, from all my family to those of you who read this blog, Merry Christmas. May the love of Christ find a home in your heart, not only in this Christmas season, but throughout the year 2010. As Tiny Tim observed, "God bless us ... every one."

John Sneed

2009-12-20T16:13:00.002-09:30

Spurgeon on Christmas

"Stop Christian, and consider this a minute. See how every attribute is here magnified. Look! what wisdom is here. God becomes man that God may be just, and the justifier of the ungodly. Look! what power, for where is power so great as when it conceals power? What power, that a member of the Godhead--God Himself, should unrobe Himself and become a man! Look, what love is revealed to us when Jesus becomes a man. See what faithfulness! How many promises are kept on this glorious day? How many solemn commitments are fulfilled at this very moment? Tell me one attribute of God that is not manifest in Jesus; and your ignorance will be the reason why you have not seen it. The whole of God is glorified in Christ; and though some part of the name of God is written throughout the universe, it is here best read--in Him who was the Son of Man, and yet, the Son of God."

Charles H. Spurgeon
The First Christmas Carol

2009-12-03T17:44:00.002-09:30

Tis The Season

It is the holiday season again. And I admit, it leaves me wondering. In the place I work we are hearing Christmas music almost constantly now. And I watch people come in and go out and I wonder, they are hearing the same music I am hearing and I wonder if they are hearing the message of Christmas when they hear the music being played.

Now let me explain what I mean. There are certainly the secular Christmas songs. I hear Jingle Bells and Rocking Around the Christmas Tree a dozen times a day (I think the music is on a play loop). But I also hear Joy To The World and Hark the Herald Angels Sing. When I hear the words proclaiming "Let Earth receive her king." I wonder if people understand why we call Jesus the King of the Earth.

For most people, Christmas is a time of year when we ought to be a little bit more generous with our charitable giving and a little bit nicer to each other. We enjoy getting with our family, exchanging gifts, and eating until we can't eat anymore. But for most people, this is all that Christmas is. Even Christians behave like this is all that there is to Christmas.

A few years ago a message than gained a certain level of popularity proclaimed "Jesus is the Reason for the Season." This is a good and true message. But it is more than a T shirt or a bumper sticker. I conveys a very real truth.

God entered into human history by entering into the world. Mankind is lost in sin and had no way to find God or to be reconciled to Him, so God did what man could not do. We could not go to Him, so He came to us. The babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger is the Incarnate God of the Universe. Jesus is the King of the World because is the Lord our God. He is the Creator of the World. He holds the world together by the power of His word.

As we Christians celebrate Christmas we are celebrating the incarnation of God into the world. This is what Christmas is about, the coming of God to the earth. If it were up to me, I'd forgo Christmas gifts and holiday meals if I could just focus all my attention on the truth that God came into the earth. God came for sinful men and women. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. "Behold we bring you glad tidings of great joy which will be to all peoples. This night, in the city of David is born a savior .. who is Christ the Lord." Glad tidings of great joy to all the peoples of the world. A savior (one to redeem us from our sins and reconcile us to God), who is the Messiah .. our God. The God-man Jesus Christ. He is the reason for the season, and we sin if we forget it.

Have a Merry Christmas but make it a Christmas centered around Jesus Christ. Christmas makes a statement about who Christ is and why He had to come. Let's not let the message be lost amid the food and festivities. Yes ... let us open our hearts to greater acts of charity. Yes ... let us strive to be a little nicer to each other, not just at Christmas but throughout the year. But above all let's remember our depravity in sin and the need for God Himself to come to the earth to make atonement for us so that we can be converted and worship Him as true sons and daughters of God. A Christmas centered around Christ ought to be the goal of every one of us. I can't think of anyone who would argue with that. Can you?

2009-11-08T10:51:00.002-09:30

The Mark of a Genuine Christian

This post is the result of a sermon I preached some days ago and the reflections I have made since that time. It is probably the most important post I will make on this blog.

What is it that marks the true Christian? One could argue with some validity that it is our love for God. Certainly Jesus called this the "Great Commandment." In Matthew 22:37 Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. If that is the greatest commandment, then you could argue that doing it would be the one mark of a true Christian. But Jesus actually spoke very clearly about the thing that marks the life of a true Christian.

That mark is love. Yes, love for God. But Jesus went farther.

We owe it to every person to love them like we love ourselves. Jesus called this the second greatest commandment. In Matthew 22:39 he said this was like the first greatest commandment. The commandment to love others as we love ourselves goes out to all people. It is the kind of love we are to show to everyone. Beloved, this is a hard saying, like many of the things that Jesus said. We ought to love men, women, gays, lesbians, straights, blacks, whites, Asians, Hispanics, drug users, prostitutes, teachers, lawyers, our bosses, our coworkers, our friends, our enemies, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, witches, atheists ... all of them .. just like love ourselves. This is the command of our Lord.

But there is another kind of love. One that goes beyond the way we love ourselves. Jesus said in John 13:35 "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you have love one for another." But just before that he said ... "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." See that? "as I have loved you..." We Christians are supposed to love each other, our fellow Christians, in the same way that Jesus loved us. If you thought the first part was hard, this is harder. The way Christians love one another is supposed to be of such a quality of love that even lost people see it and mark us as being disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. The mark of the genuine Christian is the way he or she loves their fellow Christians. Do you see that?

That means that if you accept someone as being a Christian, then by Jesus' own command, you must love them with the same kind of love with which Jesus loved you. It doesn't matter who they are, if they are a Christian then you must do this.

Each Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit in you is not part of the Holy Spirit. He is not a different Holy Spirit than the Holy Spirit in the other Christian. It is the same Holy Spirit. He is One. He binds us all so tightly together that when one Christian hurts, all hurt. When one rejoices, all rejoice. We are bound more closely to each other than we are to our blood kin. This is the koininea ... the Fellowship. It is the indwelling Spirit that gives us the ability to love each other the same way Christ loved us.

The love of Christ for his people transcends our differences. It doesn't matter what denomination one is. It doesn't matter what your system of theology is. It doesn't matter what ethnic origin you come from or what country your church is located in. We are bound by Christ to love as we are loved. And this love is to be of such sublime quality that it alone marks us as being disciples of Jesus.

This is a hard saying. But it is the command of our Lord. Knowing what we know, we have two choices. We can be willfully obedient or willfully disobedient. But we cannot pretend we are ignorant. We can't hide from our joy and our duty any more. So where are you? Yo might say "Well, no one else loves Christians like this?" That doesn't matter. Even if everyone else does it wrong, is that a license for you to do it wrong too? No. You are compelled by Christ to do it right.

I am not where I need to be on this. But I think about it a lot. I am working on it. So how about you? Do you bear the mark of a genuine Christian? If not, what are you going to do about it? It is well worth thinking about. Don't you think?

2009-11-07T17:04:00.002-09:30

A Deep and Rich Theology

There is a basic mistake that a lot of folks who call themselves "Calvinist" make. It is to reduce the whole system of theology to the "5 Points of Calvinism." Now, this little acrostic is an important shorthand.

When the Arminian Remonstants petitioned the National Church of Holland to replace certain elements of it's doctrine with five articles of doctrine derived from the writings of Jacob Arminius, there petition was rejected and the Synod (of Dort) responded with five "Canons" or standards of doctrine. These were called the "Canons of Dort." Much later, the five canons were reduced to the heading titles and rearranged to form the acrostic "T U L I P" in English. These are the first letters of the phrases "Total depravity; Unconditional election; Limited atonement; Irresistible Grace; Perseverance of the Saints." These are the "Five Points of Calvinism." For most Calvinists, these words and their short definitions are all they know. To them, these short phrases form the whole of Calvinism as they know it.

But this is a grave error. The theological system called "Calvinism" is a rich and deep system. Some of the greatest minds ever produced within the Church have devoted themselves to deepening the understanding of Christians in this system of theology.

Consider this ...

"THERE is but one, and only one, living and true God. He is self-existent and infinite in His being and His perfections. None but He can comprehend or understand His essence. He is pure spirit, invisible, and without body, parts, or the changeable feelings of men. He alone possesses immortality, and dwells amid the light insufferably bright to mortal men. He never changes. He is great beyond all our conceptions, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty and infinite. He is most holy, wise, free and absolute. All that He does is the out-working of His changeless, righteous will, and for His own glory. He is most loving, gracious, merciful and compassionate. He abounds in goodness and truth. He forgives iniquity, transgression and sin. He rewards those who seek Him diligently. But He hates sin. He will not overlook guilt or spare the guilty, and He is perfectly just in executing judgment."

That is from chapter 2, paragraph 1 of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. It is a Calvinistic confession and mirrors the Westminster Confession of the Presbyterian churches. Read that paragraph and think about it. No one talks like that about God anymore. You can see, it is more than the five points.

Calvinism has produced theologian - pastors and academic theologians who have given us a wealth of written material. Almost all of it is useful for the Christian's faith and life. I could name books and articles written by reformers and puritan authors. But anyone I listed as useful would have several people leaving me comments about other useful writings that I forgot. But a few names stand out. In times past, men like John Knox, Jonathan Edwards, Richard Baxter, John Bunyan, Jeremiah Burroughs, Matthew Mead, Charles Simeon, Charles Spurgeon, James Montgomery Boice, James Pedigru Boyce, John Broadus and many many others. In current times the Calvinist baton is being carried high by men like Albert Mohler, Bryan Chappell, Philip Ryken, Michael Haykin, John Piper, John MacArthur, Phil Johnson, James White and many many others.

In their writings they are unanimous that Calvinism is not only the five points, but an entire worldview. It is a filter for understanding God and life. It is a way of thinking. It is a way of living. It is a way of worship. It affects everything about the Calvinists life. If it doesn't, it is nothing but words.

My friend, it is time to stop reducing Calvinism to the five points. It is time to embrace the whole system. But to do that requires time and effort. It means we have to stop reciting the five points and thinking that we know everything there is to know about Calvinism. It means studying and reading and learning what the giants of the past and present have left for us to learn and to build on.

We live in a day when people want something real and deep to latch onto. They think it does not exist within the Protestant tradition, so we hear of people converting to Rome or to some other church or religious tradition. But the truth is that everything a person could hope for to have a lifetime deepening relationship with the living God can be found within the Calvinist tradition. It is a flower with far more than just five points.

2009-10-28T12:33:00.002-09:30

Beware the Magic Word Syndrome

I take it as a given that a thing can be said in two different ways and yet say the same thing.

I also take it as a given that we Christians are humans who are yet to be gloried in heaven and thus, we are still fighting our depravity. See Paul in Romans 7 where he says he finds two laws in his members. One of those laws is always trying to lead us to sin.

One of the results of that is what I call the magic word syndrome. Basically that is when a Christian questions the doctrine or the salvation of another Christian because that second Christian does not explain or articulate his or her doctrine the same way as the first. In other words, if you don't say it the way I like to hear it, I question whether or not you are saved. This syndrome manifests itself in various ways. You need to use the right phrase, or word(s) or quote the right quote or so on. But the result is always the same. If I don't hear it the way I like to hear it, you are on my "suspect list."

Our Lord Jesus prayed for the unity of His people. The very fact that believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit demands the unity of believers. The Holy Spirit living in me calls out to the Holy Spirit living in you and binds us closer together than we are to our blood kin. Also, Christians today have more than enough enemies both inside and outside the Church that we don't need to go looking for friends to ostracize.

Beloved, beware the magic word. There are many who bow the knee to the Lord Jesus just as we do and yet, may explain it differently. We stand shoulder to shoulder with all true believers in the Lord Jesus. As we stand with our brothers and sisters in Jesus there are many things that come against us and against our Lord. Let's not let the magic word be one of them. It is wrong and it is sinful. And that is a place no Christian ought to go.

2009-10-20T18:45:00.002-09:30

Mixed Emotions

I was home for lunch today and got a phone call from my son Stephen. He was in Fargo, North Dakota where he took the oath of enlistment into the United States Army. His reporting date is January 6th, 2010. Wow.

He will serve three years on active duty then transfer into the Army National Guard.

Pray for Stephen and for all of our servicemen and women. May God keep them all safe until their end of service.

Amen.

2009-10-20T16:40:00.000-09:30

Worth Repeating

"It is not our job to preach Calvinism. We are to preach Scripture. Since Calvinism is the most biblical system of theology we have, people who are biblically taught will taste Calvinism in our preaching ... but not because we preach Calvinism, but because we preach Scripture!"

Pastor John Sneed
July 13th, 2008

2009-10-19T19:05:00.002-09:30

Captive to the Word

This is a repost from a year ago. As we approach Reformation Day, I thought this was something that was worth thinking about again.

I was watching the newer version of the movie "Luther" tonight. It is a good movie. Who among us can help but be moved during Luther's great defense of himself at the Diet of Worms? Luther stood against every pressure to recant what he had written and go back to confessing the doctrines of Rome as his accepted truth.

Our time in history, our churches, our souls have turned decadent. Christians, by and large today, look just like the unsaved world around us. Theology used to be the queen of the sciences, because it was once thought that the highest knowledge was the knowledge of God. But no more. Churches were granted tax exempt status in their communities because it was believed that the preaching and teaching of Christ produced better citizens and therefore, benefited the community. Now, local and state governments are wondering if that is true anymore. The gospel preached today is all about me ... man centered ... self glorifying. It is all about what God can do for me or what God owes me. The god most people pray to is a cosmic candy man who grants wishes just like the genie in the story of Aladdin's Lamp. Except among a remnant, the God of scripture seems to be unknown (or certainly unprofessed) among Christians today. Instead of finding men like the prophets of old, today we have preachers who want to be relational, nonconfrontational, happy, and as much like the people they preach to as they can be. Holy living is considered judgmental. Grace is an excuse for lawlessness. It is like seeing the worst traits of all seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 all rolled into one.

But what would a family look like, or a church, or a community, or a denomination, if Christians were to be like Luther, whose conscience was captive to the word of God? How would things in your life be changed if you knew such a person? How about if YOU were such a person?

O Lord, send us Christians whose consciences are captive to the word of God! Send us Christians again like Luther, Knox, Whitefield and Spurgeon. Let the word of God be proclaimed from sea to sea in the United States from the lips and the lives of fearless Christians who are slaves to the Sovereign Lord of Glory! O Lord, show us our sin, individually and collectively, and let us taste the bitter cup of your discipline. But after our brokenness and repentance, let us taste the sweet taste of your grace and mercy once again. And do it all O God, for the glory of Your Holy Name.

Spurgeon once asked, "Here is the day for the man, but where is the man for the day?" Are you one whose "conscience is captive to the word of God"? If not, why not? How much longer will we have to wait until Christians emerge who are hopelessly, fearlessly, faithfully, zealously, passionately sold out to the word of God and to the God of the word? With all my heart, I hope it is not too long.

2009-10-16T18:30:00.002-09:30

An Arminian Dilemma

"For who maketh thee to differ [from another]? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive [it], why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received [it]?" (1 Cor. 4:7)

Paul asks the question "For who maketh thee to differ?" The implied answer to Paul is that it was God who made one person to differ one from another. The context of the verse is that what we have we were given by God. Therefore it was God who decided that one person would receive this and another person wouldn't.

In Arminian theology, this passage leads to a problem. One Arminian writer has written that the heart of Arminian belief is the doctrine of prevenient grace. Arminians hold to the Calvinistic doctrine of total depravity. However, they believe that God gives every human a measure of prevenient grace to overcome the effects of man's depravity. Prevenient grace is the "grace that precedes human action." It moves man to a neutral position in regards to the things of God. Now each human has to decide whether or not to cooperate with the grace God has given them and be saved. Of note is that this prevenient grace is given to every human being.

Also, in Arminian theology, Christ died on the cross for each and every human being in exactly the same way. His death on the cross makes salvation possible for every human who wants it (who cooperates with the grace God has given them).

So, that brings us to the Arminian dilemma, if God gives each and every human a measure of grace and Christ died for each and every human in exactly the same way ... who really makes one man to differ from another? It looks to me like God has done everything he could to make it possible for a person to be saved. But the truth of that salvation is in the hands (or decision making ability) of each and every person. So when Paul asks "Who maketh thee to differ?" the Arminian has to answer ... "You do."

2009-10-11T19:29:00.002-09:30

It's Been A While

It has been a while since I last blogged. It seems like there is never enough time to do all the things I need to get done. The place I work had a walk through by the CEO of the company himself. Our managers were making us all jump through hoops to get ready. It reminded me of my Air Force days. Every time a visiting general would come through, we would be assigned tasks to touch up paint, clean up, redecorate and all kinds of other things to make every thing look good for the general.

In the middle of that very time period, my children decided to drive down from North Dakota for a visit. It was good to see them. My daughter even brought my granddaughter with her. She (my granddaughter) is getting really big! They grow up so fast. My son is just a couple of weeks away from leaving for Army basic training so that he can take his place in the Army National Guard. It was the first time that all my family (me, my wife, the kids and the granddaughter) have been together since I left Minot back in August of 2006. That was a good time.

But on top of that we (my wife and I) have battled a bout of the flu (no not the swine type) and other minor illnesses.

All of this is to say that my time and attention have been everywhere except on this blog. But we are still here. Things seem to be calming down now so I expect to be back making blog posts very soon.

Remember that as you are out and about in your daily lives that God gives us each a day at at time. Take time to savor the day. Carpe Deum as it were! Stop and smell the flowers. Enjoy kissing your spouse. Make some quality time for your kids (I read that parents have less than 30 seconds of meaningful contact with their kids in a days time). If you can, walk instead of drive someplace so you can take in the air. Remember when people used to do that? And thank God for the time He gives you.

I'll see you all in a future post soon.

2009-09-15T18:46:00.002-09:30

My 15 Minutes of Fame

My blog post on Hypercalvinism drew the attention of none other than TurretinFan. He wrote about my blog on his blog. He did not agree with everything I said, but thought I did well on the whole. You can read his comments here ....

http://turretinfan.blogspot.com/2009/09/defining-hyper-calvinism.html

His blog teaches us these important lessons. First, in looking for the truth of a matter, it is best to do in a manner befitting our high profession of faith and without the mindset of "getting the guy" who might be wrong. And second, that no matter how much we may get right, we rarely, if ever, get everything right. Therefore, we always have more to learn.

May God continue to raise up Christians who love peace and the truth above their pet theological systems, no matter how good (or bad) that system may be.

2009-09-13T14:32:00.002-09:30

Hypercalvinism

This is a repost of one I wrote almost a year ago. But certain issues keep coming up and certain things need to said over and over. So, here it goes ...

I have learned that truth in Christianity is usually balanced. Now that does not mean that one cannot be excessively zealous for the truth. But the truth itself is balanced. When you hear something that seems extreme, or fringe, it usually is. John Calvin once said that when the Bible speaks, we speak. But when the Bible is silent, we dare not speak. Those are wise words that are worth remembering.

There is such a thing as Biblical Calvinism. It is a high truth, full of God glorifying doctrine and a biblical worldview that carries through our daily lives. You can read about that Biblical Calvinism here at http://www.seeking4truth.com/5_points.htm . But it has been noted by others that wherever Biblical Calvinism can be found there is a danger of Hypercalvinism appearing. This is of interest to us today because there are many, including some in the SBC leadership, who warn about the dangers of Hypercalvinism and then try to lump Biblical Calvinists into that group, trying to make them all look the same. But they are not the same.

Hypercalvinism is what one gets if one takes biblical doctrine then goes beyond what the Bible says. Hypercalvinism teaches that God works without means. In other words, if one is elect, then God will save that person even if they never hear the gospel or believe in Jesus as savior. Hypercalvinism teaches that since there is an elect people, we need not evangelize. Since God is completely sovereign over all things then man is not responsible for his sin. Since Christ died for his people then the gospel is not genuinely offered to those who are not elect. God does not love all the human race. And other such teachings. All these are found within the boundaries of Hypercalvinism. But none of them are biblical. All of them are, as the Hypercalvinists would say, the logical conclusions that you would get if you followed Biblical Calvinism to it's ends. But no Biblical Calvinist teaches these things. Hypercalvinism is wrong because it goes beyond what the Bible teaches. All these things I have mentioned are NOT taught in the Bible. Nor can they be derived from the Bible's true teaching.

God uses the means of the gospel and faithful preachers and witnesses to bring his chosen people to faith in Christ. God uses means. God is sovereign over all things and man is responsible for his sin. Christ did dies for God's elect people and we still must be zealous for evangelism and missions. Christ is genuinely offered every time the gospel is faithfully presented. God does have a love for all the human race. He just loves his Bride more. As Calvin said, when the Bible speaks, we must speak .. but where it is silent we dare not speak. Hypercalvinism presumes to speak for God things He has not said. And it leads people to bad conclusions.

Hear me here. Hypercalvinism is not just an error, it is a heresy. Hypercalvinism is not a Christian teaching. It is outside the faith. That is why we must be on guard against it. Remember that wherever true Biblical Calvinism is found, there is always a danger of Hypercalvinism appearing. We must watch for it and repudiate it whenever we find it.

As Christians, it is our goal to be biblical Christians. We err greatly if we speak where God has not spoken. Calvinism in it's totality is a beautiful and God honoring doctrine. But it is an ugly thing in it's perversions. May God fill our present generation with God honoring and Biblical Christians. Anything else is just ... well ... something else.

From this blog, December 2008.

2009-09-04T18:12:00.003-09:30

A Hard Truth

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. " (Acts 4:12).

One of the central teachings of the Christian religion is the exclusivity of Christ. That means that salvation is found exclusively in Jesus Christ. No other god, man, religion, philosophy, idea, work, deed or anything else will be able to reconcile a person to God. Only Jesus Christ.

Most Christians would acknowledge that as a given fact, an axiom. But with it comes a whole load of baggage that goes along with it. Because if it is true that salvation can only be found in Jesus Christ, then it also means that every person outside of Christ is lost and on their way to hell (barring some intervention). It also means that every person who dies without Christ goes to hell.

First, let me define what I mean when I say "dies without Christ." It means that the person has not heard the gospel message OR not believed it when they did hear it. It means that the person has not trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as their God and Savior and put their saving faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross of Calvary alone. If Peter was right (and I believe he certainly was), and the Ark of Noah was a picture of Jesus and that those inside the Ark were saved and those outside it perished in God's judgment, then those who die without Christ are those who are outside the Ark (who is Christ) on judgment day.

Let me be perfectly clear here. Every person who dies without having personal saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, dies lost and condemned. It does not matter that they never heard the gospel message or if they ever heard the name of "Jesus," if they die without believing the gospel, they die lost.

That is why we spend so much time and money on training and sending missionaries to every part of the world. Because we know that people must be confronted with the gospel if they are going to be saved from God's wrath on the day of judgment. How can a person believe in someone of whom they have never heard? And how can they hear unless someone tells them? And how can someone tell them unless he is sent? Sent to do what? To preach the gospel of the good news of the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God through the death and life of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hell is real my friends, and people go there. No one in the world and be saved without hearing the gospel. That is why we go. Our love for Jesus, who looked in the multitudes and was moved with compassion, impels us into the world to preach the gospel to every creature.

The knowledge that there are people who, as if yet, have not heard the blessed gospel message, should break us and compel us to do everything possible to see that the gospel is carried to the uttermost parts of the earth. Remember, hell is real, and only Jesus Christ can keep a person from ending up there. And WE are the ones he has entrusted with this truth. So what are we going to do about that? That is a hard truth for us to hear and a hard question we need to answer. But it needed to be said clearly.

2009-08-30T18:59:00.002-09:30

A Faith Of My Own

Some years ago I read a book by a former professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. He recalled a time when he was on a panel interviewing folks who had applied to enter a doctoral program at the school. He recalled the questions that were asked of these candidates. They were questions that don't seem to me to be all that difficult to answer. As an example, one was "Defend from scripture the deity of Christ." He said all the men held master's degrees. Some taught in seminaries and others were pastors. Yet, very very few could answer the questions they were asked adequately. From this he concluded that many of them believed in a second hand faith.

By second hand faith I mean this, they are believing things that other people had told them were true, but they never researched these things out for themselves. Therefore, the things really were not part of their own faith. They were riding the coattails, as it were, of somebody else's faith. And this is a real danger.

We live in a day of popular and famous preachers. John Piper, John MacArthur, Paul Washer, Al Mohler and many, many others could be named. We have access to the writings of some of the greatest Christian teachers of past centuries, more than any generation before us. Thanks to the Internet, all this information is available to us. But it also comes with a real danger attached to it.

We must be, above all things, students of scripture. Recall the words of Martin Luther at Worms "My conscience is captive to the word of God." Oh! That that would be true of all of us. But far too many of us have our pet teachers and we give them our implicit trust and we trust what they tell us. The danger is that we will become lazy and not study out for ourselves the things they teach. Therefore, I cease believing for myself and I start believing because Piper, or Mohler, or someone else told me so. If something is going to be part of us, then it must be something we believe for ourselves. That means we have some work ahead of us.

Every Christian is called to be a theologian. We must all study the scriptures for ourselves. We must know it for ourselves. It can never ever be because someone else said so. Now, lest I be misunderstood, let me be more clear. We are all discipled by someone. It is good and right to have godly teachers to guide us in our Christian growth. It is good and right to read books written by godly men and women of the past and to lean on their wisdom. But those resources must never be an excuse to stop us from studying for ourselves. We must test every lesson, every sermon, every written page, against the word of God. Our consciences are not captive to the word of Piper, or Mohler or Calvin or any other. It is captive to the word of God!

Too many errors are rampant in the Church (universal) today because Christians trust their teachers to always tell the truth. Too many Christians are hoping to ride into heaven on the coattails of their favorite preaching celebrity. It is time to test everything against scripture and make it our own faith. It is time to own the faith for ourselves.

Anything else is not real Christianity. It is living off the table scraps from someone else's table. And that is no way to be when the King of Kings has set out the banquet table for us. Is it?

2009-08-16T15:57:00.002-09:30

Seize the Day!

We are foolish sometimes. I think we are never so foolish as when we begin to think that we are immortal. Face it, we live like we think we will never die. Yet, the truth is that death is all around us.

A friend of mine recently was watching a video on You Tube of a church's revival services in her hometown. There were many people in the video that she knew. Yet, on the very day that she was watching the video, one of the young men in the video had a terrible car accident and was killed.

When I was a police officer in Nebraska, I remember being struck by the complexity ot human life. There were car accidents when the driver ought to have been killed and yet walked away. Other accidents seemed to be hardly worth mentioning yet the driver was killed. I am often struck by how easy it is to kill someone.

When I was a young boy living in Landover, Maryland, I had a next door neighbor who was killed while walking home from school. He was passing a construction site and an improperly supported wall was struck by a gust of wind and fell on him.

Very few people wake up in the morning and think "Today is the day I am going to die." Yet, every day that is a real possibility. Only God knows the time of our death. It could be today.

That being so, we need to live like it. That is to say that we ought to wake up every morning thanking God that He has given us today to live in. We need to be thankful for as much time as God gives us.

We need to imagine that each thing we do may be our last thing. So we need to stop wasting time on trivial things. We need to live each day enjoying the time. Enjoy every kiss, every meal, every sunrise or sunset ... as the scripture says "Whatsover things you do, do it with all your might."

Think that if you are doing the last thing you will ever do, is this the thing you want to be doing? If I am going to see God tonight, do I want Him to see me right after I have done this thing? The late Walter Martin once said "We need to live our lives as though Christ won't be back for a thousand years. But we need to live each day like we are going to see him tonight."

If that is the truth, then live each day to the fullest. Seize the day! Make it count. Today may be all you have.

2009-07-30T18:52:00.002-09:30

Grandmaster Satan

Some years ago, while I was in the Air Force, I had the opportunity to study Tae Kwon Do. Tae Kwon Do is a Korean form of karate. From start to finish, I studied under various instructors for 14 years. I was awarded the rank of second degree black belt and was able to open my own studio for a couple of years the second time I was stationed in Utah.

One of the differences I saw between beginners and experts was the way they fight. Part of Tae Kwon Do training is called "free fighting." That is where people pair off with a partner and fight without being told what to do. They can do any technique they can. White belts, beginners, will set up in their ready stance and when the referee calls "Fight!" they charge in with a kick or a punch and then fall back into their ready stance and then go again. One technique, then ready, then another technique. Punch, break, kick, break, punch ... and so on it goes.

Not so with black belts. They set up in their ready stance and when the command is given to start, they let loose with a barrage of techniques on each other until one person scores or his opponent is driven out of bounds. When they get the chance to attack they keep on attacking until they are defeated or until they get the victory.

Our adversary, the Devil is not a black belt. He is a Grandmaster. He attacks us constantly. The Apostle Paul says that we are not ignorant of Satan's devices. We know his strategy and his schemes. He would turn us against God and drive us out of bounds so that we are no longer in the fight.

I could write a book about the kinds of things Satan does to cause us to turn against God and give in to the flesh. It is enough to know that whenever you see anger (not the righteous kind), and strife, envy, backbiting, gossip, selfishness, frustration, harshness, meanness, unbelief, hardness of heart, sinful addictions, indifference to the things of God ... these are symptom of Satan's attacks. He attacks us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Every second of every minute he is after us. He attacks from every angle with a variety of approaches. Some are subtle. Others are more blatant. But always he is after us.

Out defense is to draw near to God. The very things that help us most are the things Christians struggle the most to do. Simple as it sounds, Bible reading and prayer are still the best defenses against Satanic attack. Faithful church attendance is another one. The assurance of your salvation and believing the promises of God in the Bible are indispensable helps.

Satan is an expert. He is very good at what he does. He does all he can to get us to give into sin and to turn against God. He is ever out to defeat and depress us so we are ineffective in the battle against the forces of darkness in this world. he is every offering us substitutes to God. Things to give first place to in our hearts. Be careful. Be watchful. When you see signs of Satan's work, in your life or in the lives of those around you, reject it. Go to God in prayer and reject the works of Satan.

We live in bad times. Christians are under attack from within and without the church. We need to learn again that it is not the world and other people who are the enemy, it is one far older and more dangerous than all those others put together. And we need to learn again how to fight him. If we don't, we are already out of the battle.

2009-07-23T20:06:00.002-09:30

Prayer

In any relationship, communication is essential for success. In a marriage, spouses have to talk to each other to ensure the success of the marriage. When we are dating, when we are trying to learn about each other, talking is essential. When we are trying to raise our children to be good and godly people, communication is necessary. At work, at church, in our recreation, in every area of life, good communication is essential for the success of that endeavor.

It is the same way in our relationship with God. Communication is essential if we are to have a living and growing and deepening relationship with God. Prayer is talking to God. Prayer is how we talk to God. Prayer is conversation with God. In it, we speak to God, pouring out our heart to Him. He also speaks to us in the still small voice by which His Spirit speaks to our hearts about the issues between us. It has been said that prayer is oftentimes more about changing us than about changing God's mind.

But most of us do not pray as we ought. We neither devote enough time to prayer or we do not pray for the things we ought to pray for. A lot of times our prayer becomes a list of sins we want to be forgiven for and things we want God to do for us. And even those prayers are short and not given our true attention. Think for a moment about how you pray over your food. Many Christians do not even put any thought into their meal blessings. Yet, even those prayers are moments when the Christian is talking to Almighty God. So how then should we pray?

First, prepare your heart to pray. Prayer is talking to God. Get ready to approach God and to talk to Him. Make your heart ready to pray. Second, make your prayer time a time of worship. Worship God in prayer. Don't make it something you want to do and get over with as quickly as you can. Use your prayer time to draw closer to God. Third, let God speak to you. Be ready to have your heart changed by the things God brings to your mind during your times of prayer with Him.

Consider the Lord's Prayer (found in Matthew 6:9-13). Use it as a model of your own prayers. It has a section of worship, of petition (asking), of repentence, and closes in worship. Or you might use this outline P-R-A-Y. Each letter stands for a portion of your prayer. There is Praise (worship). There is Repentence (confession of sin). There is Asking (making our needs known to God). There is Yielding (purposing to respond to God in obedience). Maybe you have a way to pray that works better for you. And set aside a time to pray. Make it (as best as you can) around the same time each day. That way praying at that time of the day will become a habit. Determine not to let anything interfere with your time with God.

As a Christian we need breath and we need food to grow. The Bible is our food. It is manna from heaven. But prayer is our breath. It is life to us. We dare not neglect it. When the disciples watched Jesus, they saw He had power. He had power with God. He had power with people. They approached Him and of all the things they could have asked for, they said "Lord, teach us to pray." (Luke 11:1). Prayer has power with God. It can change us and it can change our circumstances. It is the one discipline that brings us closer to God and to His heart. Yet, it is often the most neglected discipline that God has given to us.

God has said that His house shall be a house of prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56:7). The church is the house of God. It is a place of prayer for all people. If that is so, shouldn't we be about this very important business of being praying people in God's house? Let's purpose in our hearts to start today. Because ... if not now, when?

2009-07-15T19:00:00.002-09:30

I Believe ...

Here is my confession. I don't know much, but these are the things I know and put my hope in for life and the life to come.

I confess I have a vision of what a church and what a Christian ought to be like. My vision is based on what I believe a great, sovereign miracle working God can do. Let me share a few things with you ...

I believe that God is God, that His will is reality in heaven and on earth and that no one nor nothing can stop His mighty power when He sends it forth.

I believe He is holy and that there is no darkness nor shadow of darkness in Him at all.

I believe man is far, far beneath God.

I believe man is utterly lost and without hope in his sin, dead to the things of God and a slave to every thing that works against the holiness of the Almighty Majesty.

I believe there is no bottom to how low man can see himself when he is compared to the Infinite, Majestic, Almighty, Most High God.

I believe every single jot and tittle in the Bible is the God inspired Word of God given through the minds and pens of His inspired writers, to men.

I believe that if man is going to be saved (from the coming wrath of God) that it must be God that saves him.

I believe salvation is a life changing encounter between a helpless and dead sinner and the Sovereign King of Life.

I believe the gospel is the only hope of humanity, in this life or the next. It has power to change the lives of those who believe it's message.

I believe God has called me to be faithful to scatter the seed of the word of God far and wide, to everywhere I can. The results, who gets saved, is in His hands.

I believe in a church where truth is believed and Christians accept and love one another in genuine holy affections just as the Bible teaches us.

I believe none of us are sinless but that we can learn from Christ and learn to live well as Christians, in the church and in the world.

I believe the God who lives in us all (all of us Christians) walks and talks with us and points us to the Holy Scriptures, which is His true voice to men.

I believe Jesus will one day return to gather all His people to Himself, so that we can spend eternity with Him, where He is.

I believe prayer first and foremost changes us, but that, in the mystery of prayer, it pleases God to answer the prayers of His children.

I believe it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.

I believe (again) that this world's only hope is the good news of salvation and reconciliation with God through saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

These things I believe. Amen.

2009-07-11T18:35:00.003-09:30

Calvin at 500

Yesterday, July 10th, was the 500th birthday of John Calvin. Calvin is one of those enigmatic figures in church history. People either love him or hate him but very few people who know of him are passive about him.

John Calvin was only 8 years old when Martin Luther posted his 95 Thesis on the church door in Wittenburg, Germany (October 31st, 1517). While Luther went on to lead the way in the Reformation, it is Calvin's name that is most often associated with "reformed theology."

Calvin's chief contribution to the Reformed cause was his magnum opus, The Institutes of the Christian Religion. This monumental book explained, in clearest terms, the doctrine of the Protestant Reformers. The original version of the book followed the outline of the Apostle's Creed. It was revised and updated several times before it's final edition was released. It is still widely read among Christians today. My own copy is within easy reach of my right hand as I type these words. Calvin was a Christian model of piety, hard work, zealousness, evangelical passion, and study of the divine word. As John Piper describes it, Calvin's two chief passions were the majesty of God in the word of God and the glory of Christ in salvation. These two thoughts were the foundations of everything he taught and wrote.

Many people charge that Calvinistic theology kills an evangelistic impulse in the people who hold it. In other words, if you are a Calvinist, then you will not want to win people to Jesus. Yet Calvin trained hundreds of evangelists. More than 500 were sent back into Calvin's native France, where many were martyred for the faith. Others travelled to other European countries carrying the Reformed doctrine with them. Calvin maintained a correspondence with almost all of them.

But Calvin's zealousness also surrounded him with controversy. Chief among these was the infamous burning of the heretic Michael Servetus. Servetus denied the Trinity and was condemned by the Catholic Church and sentenced to be executed. But he escaped from his captors and made his way to Geneva to confront Calvin. Calvin recognized Servetus and had him arrested. The city leaders also condemned Servetus and sentenced him to be burned at the stake. Calvin argued that Servetus should be beheaded, but to no avail. Calvin spent much time arguing with Servetus trying to get him to profess faith in the Trinity, thus changing his method of execution, but also to no avail. The day Servetus was executed, Calvin spent in private prayer for Servetus' salvation. History however, has laid the blame for Servetus' death at the doorstep of Calvin.

Calvin spent much time also in conflict with the city leaders and with the libertines in the city (those who loved their sinful lifestyles). They would threaten his life and do things to frighten him and confuse him. They would play loud music outside his house, or fire guns over the roof of his house.

Calvin's writings have influenced western thought in the areas of education, government, philosophy, charity, finances .... in fact, it is hard to think of an area of life that has not been touched by Calvinistic thinking. Now, many sources report that Calvinism is having a resurgence in the church and the world. Time magazine has reported that the resurgence of Calvinism is one of the top ten influences shaping 21st century life in the United States.

At 500 years Calvin is still relevant to the Church and to the world. This is not something that is easily done. We often say in church what God could do with one man who has the devote and zeal of an Apostle Paul. Calvin was one such man. 500 years after his birth, he still touches our lives. One man, utterly devoted to the majesty of God in the word of God. One man, utterly devoted to the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ in the salvation of sinners. One man, 500 years old, still being used mightily of God. Would that we all had a little bit of Calvin in us.

2009-06-26T18:39:00.002-09:30

"His God Is God."

"His god is God." That was quote from Yul Brenner in the movie "The Ten Commandments." God had just defeated the Egyptian army and Yul Brenner as the Pharaoh Ramses was lamenting to his wife the defeat of his army. He summed up the entire battle with those four words.

Over and over in the Bible we are told that there is but One True God. Only One. There is no other God but Him. He is not like anything that exists. He is totally 'other' than His creation. He is so different that men are forbidden to make any image and either call it "God" or say that it is a likeness of God. Nothing we can image, in any medium, could capture the image and essence of the Person of God. In this, God is perfectly holy. Holiness is the quality of being separated and God is completely separate from His creation. As I said, He is totally "other."

God is also a mystery to us. All that we know of Him is what He has chosen to reveal to us. He describes Himself to us in human forms and word pictures. We call these "anthropomorphism's." It means to give some non-human human like qualities. We speak of leaning on God's everlasting arms. But God does not have arms like we do. We speak of His eyes looking into the hearts of men. But He does not have eyes like we do. But God uses terms like these because we humans could not even begin to comprehend what He is really like. Even in giving us holy Word, the Bible, God uses words we can understand. He has to accommodate Himself to us. Otherwise, we would not know Him at all.

His Being is a mystery to us. He is three Persons. They are co-eternal, co-existent, and co-substantial. Each One is 100% God. Yet, the Three together are the One True God. That is One God, not three gods. How can this be? Who can tell? Yet, it is the teaching of the Bible. We do not understand it. But we believe it. Al Mohler said it well when he said that a god who could be comprehended by men wouldn't be a God at all.

His knowledge and power are mysteries to us. He saw all the creation in His mind and then spoke it into existence. And, there it was, from quarks to for flung massive galaxies, all in one moment and all right on the first try. He is truly a God who is "worthy of worship, worthy of praise."

For all this, He is not a God who is far off, but the Bible presents Him to us as "our" God. Especially the God of His people. But of course, He is the God of all the world, all the universe. But He is our God. Feel the weight of that ... our God.

Try out that word "God." Feel it a moment. There is a weight to it. You just don't banter it around. It has meaning. It has substance. And not just "God," but "Our God." My God. Like Thomas' pronouncement at the appearance of Jesus ... "My Lord and my God!" It is an awesome thing to claim to be a disciple, a follower of a God. It is more awesome to be a follower of the One, True and Living God. He is God! You just don't call on Him, pray to Him, speak for Him ... lightly and without reverence and devotion.

When Isaiah saw God he saw Him "high and lifted up." Our churches and our Christians are going to be powerless, weak and mediocre until we once again see the Lord God for ourselves "high and lifted up." When we start to worship for Who He really is, then we will see the fire and the power return to our lives and our churches.

Most people today worship a god who is a lot like themselves. Even many professing Christians enjoy a god who conforms himself to them instead of One who calls them to conform themselves to Him. May we all pray that God will open all our eyes to the reality of His true Person. May we all be transformed by the true sight of Him.

2009-06-19T18:06:00.002-09:30

The Christian's Warfare and Weapons

In light of some recent news events, I thought this was a timely post. It is reposted from August 17th, 2008. I think it speaks to some current events.

Some people just don't get it. I am thinking of two groups of people. One group of people would try to further Christianity and slow the spread of evil by trying to get the right people elected into political office. The other group would try to slow the spread of evil by killing or bombing those they think perpetrate it. Both instances are groups of so called Christian people.

But in all seriousness, we cannot win the world by taking up the weapons of the world. Politics has proven it's inability to help the Church. Not too many years we had a Republican Congress and a Republican President. These were people who all said the right things that Evangelical voters wanted to hear. I was there. I was moved by the rhetoric. But years later, nothing in the nation had really been changed.

Then when you look at the people who think that killing abortionists or blowing up abortion clinics is the way to fight that particular evil. But we still (as a nation) put to death over a million babies a year. And violence has only further hardened the world to the message of new life in Jesus Christ. But even discounting that, for all the ones that have been killed, and the clinics that have been blown up, nothing has really changed.

I recall a quote that said "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." Obviously, using the world's ways has accomplished nothing. Perhaps it is time we started to fight with the weapons that God has given to His Church.

The Church's only weapon against the evil of this world is the Holy Bible. God's Holy Word is truth. The gospel is our message. It is the "power of God unto salvation." We seem willing to trust everything else except the scriptures. We are quick to trust our own wiles and our own power and ignore God's wisdom and God's power. We engage the culture through argument and debate. We write, we teach, we discuss, we debate and we hammer home the truth contained in the scriptures.

Christian, if you feel the need to be armed against the world, don't take up a gun, take up your Bible. The power of the word preached backed up by a holy lifestyle is an argument the devil himself can't refute. We Christians are in a war. We are in combat every minute of every day. Charles Spurgeon once told his church that the Christian life was a battlefield not a playground. We are only given two weapons by God to help us win in our combat, prayer and the preaching of the word. Pity that so few use them.

2009-06-18T17:20:00.002-09:30

Still Learning

I mentioned in the my last post that I have been accepted into the PhD program at Whitefield Theological Seminary in Christian Education. http://www.whitefield.edu/ The amount of work required is staggering. It has been a few years since I have been in school and I am having to re-learn how to write again. Writing for a grade I mean. Also, even though I am working on a PhD I am listening to lectures from people who are, without question, smarter than I am. I have a lot to learn.

Lighthouse Baptist Church is doing well. Last Sunday we baptized three people. There is so much to do and so much to teach. I have been involved in ministry now for over 18 years and I still feel like a novice sometimes. Indeed, I have a lot to learn.

Last week, I spent the day in my doctor's office being given a glucose test. This past Tuesday I found out I am diabetic. Today, I stuck myself with a needle for the first time in my life. If you know me, you know what a coward I am when it comes to getting shots. I have a book to read describing the lifestyle changes I will have to go through. I have classes to attend and new medications to deal with.

I joke with my wife that I am a life long student. I love school, being in school, studying, ... it is something I am really good at. The Lord teaches me that no matter how old I get, I really am a life long learner. Some days I think I am an "old dog" but God humbles me and shows me I am just a "pup" after all. Till my next post, here I am ... still learning.

2009-06-06T20:11:00.002-09:30

Busy, Busy, Busy

Since my last post I have been extremely busy.

First, my son came down from North Dakota for a visit. It was a good time. I had not seen him in nearly three years. Mostly we were separated by distance and the ability to afford to visit each other. Today, the day this posts, it is his birthday. He is 21 years old now. He told me he joined the Army National Guard. Nutcase. At least I had the good sense to join the Air Force. Oh well. But don't be fooled. I am proud of him. Just surprised. His visit was too brief. But we hope to do better at seeing each other as the future unfolds, God willing.

On a side note, last Friday was his sister's birthday. My daughter turned 20. It was odd. She was born two days before Stephen's first birthday. So, for two days of the year, they are the same age. On Friday, they were both 20. Same on Saturday. Then on Sunday, Stephen turned 21. Now I have no children who are in their teens anymore. Wow. Paradigm shift here.

I have been working through the application process and late last month was notified that I have been accepted into the PhD program in Christian Education at Whitefield Theological Seminary. One former student described the program as read - read - read then write -write -write. As I look over the material they sent me, I can see why. I will produce hundreds of pages of material before I ever get to my dissertation. I look forward to the challenge.

On top of that I have been mentoring a young woman who is preparing for her GED test. Her test date is July 11th. We still have a lot to do but I am optimistic she will pass.

Now, my mother has come down from St. Louis to visit me for two weeks. She takes a lot of attention but we are still having a good visit.

So, there is a great deal going on. Be patient my friends, I will be back blogging soon. I just need to let my schedule settle down and see how it will all shake out in practice. God be with you all.

2009-05-21T16:11:00.002-09:30

My Christian Rights

I have seen this quote in a couple of different places. But I am not sure who was the one who first said it. And this may be more of a paraphrase than a true quote but it will get the original point across.

"My Christian rights are to be treated exactly and precisely as the world treated my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ... and nothing else." - Unknown

It makes you think, doesn't it?

2009-05-10T19:07:00.002-09:30

Above All ... Have Christ!

I will tell you what bothers me. Paul says in 1 Cor. 4:7 "For who maketh thee to differ [from another]?" The implied answer there is that it is God who makes us to differ, one person from another. Yet there are many people, who by their theology, end up answering that it is they, themselves, that make them to differ. And that bothers me.

Now, if you are a follower of my blog, you will know that I call myself a Calvinist. More accurately, I am a Reformed Baptist within the Southern Baptist Convention. I am SBC because I am convinced that it is the best vehicle available to us for reaching every corner of the world with the good news of Jesus Christ. The missions imperative and the sweet fellowship of like minded brothers and sisters in Christ makes me Southern Baptist.

But my views on God, Christ, salvation, indeed the whole world ... make me Reformed. Mostly, I am reformed because it makes me know who it was that made me to differ from other men. I am no better than anyone and worse than many. On my own I could not, ever, make myself different from the people around me. I know who made me to differ.

But, there are others, people who are NOT reformed, who also know who made them to differ. Now, there are many I have met, that I mentioned in my first paragraph, whose theology makes them answer that they made themselves to differ. But I am not talking about these folks right now. I am talking about those folks, who not being reformed, still know that their salvation is of the Lord, who have no hope of redemption apart from Christ alone. I am talking about those folks who know that faith is a gift from God and that apart from the finished work of Christ on the cross that there is nothing they have to offer towards their salvation. In short, I am talking those non-reformed people whose faith is in Christ alone.

As important as I think Calvinism is, I think it is more important that one be a Christian. What good is correct theology if you are wrong about Christ? What good is it to know all good doctrine about Christ if Christ does not know you? A system of theology, any system of theology, is nothing more than a way to put the doctrines of the Bible into an understandable way of thinking and by doing so, lead us closer to Christ. Any doctrine that does not draw you closer to Jesus is not worth the time it takes to explain it. Beloved friends ... listen to me ... have good doctrine, yes, even the best doctrine ... but have Christ first!

As for me, I am always against those people whose theology causes them to claim for themselves some of the credit for the work of God and thereby robbing God of some of His glory. I am always against those folks who teach heretical doctrines and teachings that lead Christians away from sound doctrine and true piety in Christ. But my hand of Christian fellowship is always extended to those who know who it is that made them to differ. To every person who knows their only hope is in Christ alone, I am a brother and a friend. A brother or sister in Christ is no bother to me at all.

2009-05-04T18:31:00.002-09:30

Above All Else

The following is a column I write weekly for our church bulletin. I like doing this. It makes me think about some point of teaching that I want people to think about throughout the week. I wanted to share this one with my readers.

Beloved Friends, I wish sometimes that you could see the Christian faith through the same I eyes I do. I am afraid that many people hold such a low and sub-christian view of the faith that they find their greatest pleasures in other places. Now, when you think through that last sentence I wrote, you will see that ... yes ... I said people find pleasure in places other than the Christian faith.

Let me be more specific. Our greatest treasure (and hence our greatest joy and pleasure) is Jesus Christ. Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ! Beloved, I want to teach our church to love Christ above everything else out there. I want us all to learn to love Christ more than sex, more than sports games, more than books, more than our spouses, more than our children, more than sin, more than food .. more than anything that competes in our hearts for our affections.

Jesus Christ is the Lord our God, who left His glory in heaven to become a human being. He lived a sinless life. He died on a cross for our sins. He rose from the dead to validate everything He said and did. He sits today, at the right hand of God the Father, forever making intercession for us. That means He is always talking to the Father on our behalf. He did all this because He loved us, personally, from before the foundation of the world. He sent the Holy Spirit for find us and bring us to him for salvation. He gave us the Holy Spirit to live inside us as a down payment of the glory that will one day be ours when He comes to take us all home to Himself. He did this for us!

He loves us as the most perfect husband loves his perfect and beautiful wife. Friends, are we not the Bride of Christ? He yearns for us. He fawns over us. He showers us with His love day and night. He calls us to return that love. We are to return His love so much that we find living on this earth to be a burden and we wait eagerly for the day when we will be in his presence forever. Just as a young bride waits zealously .. jealously .. for her husband when they are separated, we wait in the same way for the day when Jesus comes to take us home. He is called the "Fairest of Ten Thousand" and "The Bright and Morning Star." He is called the "Altogether Lovely" by the Puritans.

When God opened our hearts and gave us spiritual minds He gave us a hunger and thirst for the presence of Christ in our lives. We need Him, yearn for Him, desire Him ... we must have Him ... our Blessed Christ!

To be a Christian is not only to be a follower of Jesus Christ but also to be a lover of Jesus Christ and of all things connected to Him. We love His word, His people, His works, His Church, His laws, everything! I wish I could make you see Christ like that. As your pastor, that is my deepest heart .. that I could teach us all to be lovers of Jesus above all else. Help me do that. In that day, when we all meet Him face to face, we will be able to hear Him say to us "Well done good and faithful servant. Come and enter into the rest of your Lord." May it be so with all of us. Amen.

2009-04-20T20:16:00.003-09:30

Soli Deo Gloria

Some years ago, I was at the Founder's Conference Midwest when the music leader challenged the pastors present to write hymns. I took it to heart and between Kansas City and Omaha the words and tune to this hymn came to me. A year later, the same music leader put the music with the words (I had a tune but I could only hum it) and at the last session of that latter conference, my hymn was the opening song for the day. I still have the tape of that morning session. I wanted to share this hymn with you, my readers.

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be the Glory)

Words and Music by John Sneed
Harmonization by Grant Watson

Wretched and naked, I stood in sin and shame;
Dead in my trespasses, with none but me to blame.

Chorus

Soli Deo Gloria, I sing before the throne!
Soli Deo Gloria, all glory to God alone.

Quickened by His Spirit, His word pierced through my soul.
I saw that I was helpless to save and make me whole.

Chorus

I cried out for God's mercy, He led me to a tree,
Jesus hung there broken, crucified for me.

Chorus

Jesus only savior, He cleansed me by his blood.
By grace I am converted, held steadfast by his love.

Chorus

Ok. It isn't A Mighty Fortress is our God. But it was good for a first hymn. I like it. I hope you enjoy it too. Oh .. and the tune ... If you imagine the first and last line to each verse of "The Church's One Foundation" you will have it.

2009-04-11T18:35:00.002-09:30

It All Hinges on the Resurrection

Everything hinges on the resurrection. At Easter time we like to stop and reflect on the resurrection of Jesus, but according to the Apostle Paul, everything hinges on it. Let me give you a little background on this.

On Palm Sunday Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a donkey and being proclaimed the King of the Jews. It is on that day the Jewish national leaders decide that Jesus must die. Jesus spends his week teaching his disciples important things they need to know. Late in the week, the Jewish authorities make a deal with Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus into their hands. Jesus is arrested in the Garden after Judas betrays him with a kiss. Jesus is interviewed several times by the Sanhedrin, the rulers of Israel, and by Pilate and King Herod. Eventually Jesus ends up back in front of Pilate, the Roman governor for Judea. Pilate has Jesus severely beaten, hoping this would appease the Jews and save Jesus' life. But the Jewish leaders threaten Pilate and he gives Jesus to them for them to do whatever they want with him. They want him dead.

So, on Friday, Jesus carries a Roman cross outside the city walls and is crucified (a slow and agonizing death where a person suffocates to death while being tortured for the placement of the nails in their hands and feet). Some records speak of criminals lasting up to three days on a cross. Jesus lasted six hours. That evening, before the beginning of the Sabbath, disciples of Jesus take his body to a hasty burial. Jesus is dead and in the grave. But when the Sabbath was over and the disciples went back to perform a more permanent burial, the grave was open and the body was gone. Jesus was seen by his women disciples, the 12 Apostles, men walking on a road to a nearby town, and to even larger crowds. The way these disciples lived their lives is proof that they believed beyond all doubt that Jesus was alive.

Paul the Apostle says that if Jesus is NOT alive, then we are more miserable than all people. We live holy lives, and sacrifice ourselves (even to the point of death in some cases) and give up everything the world considers valuable in order to follow Jesus. Paul says that if Jesus is not risen, if he is still dead, then our faith is in vain and we are still in our sins. If Jesus is not risen, then everything we believe is a lie. BUT if he IS risen, then we are the most joyful of all people. Our Savior lives and since He lives, we will live too. The ancient Christians would greet each other like this ... one would say "He is risen." and the other would reply "He is risen indeed." Let the truth of Easter settle into your soul. Forget the eggs and the rabbits and the candy. Remember Christ, our God, King and Savior! He is alive! Hallelujah! He is alive!

Have a Happy Easter.

2009-04-06T16:14:00.003-09:30

Another One of Those Hard Things

The Christian life is a narrow road. It is a hard road and it is surrounded by enticements and snares designed to sidetrack Christians into sin and into impairing their walk with God. God knows this. In His mercy He gives us help along the way. We have helps like the indwelling Holy Spirit, prayer, and the Holy Scriptures. But one help we often take for granted is the local church.

God has drawn us by His Spirit into the fellowship of like minded believers who are there to help us walk the narrow road. They do that by helping to build us up in our faith. The Bible word is "edify." To edify means to build up. Our brothers and sisters in Christ, fellow members of our local church, are there to help edify us, to build us up.

Not only are they there to build us up, they are to build us up in love. Now, that brings two things to mind for me. One, they are supposed to help build up the love that is in us for God and for our fellow believers. Second, the attitude they are supposed to have while they build us up is a loving attitude.

The church is a place where believers are to be built up, not torn down. Satan comes to kill, steal, and destroy. Christ gives us abundant life, love, and all the treasures of heaven. Satan does enough to us to tear us down. Christ is about building us up.

Now friend, this is a sword that cuts two ways. Just as others are supposed to be building us up in love ... we are also to be about building up our brothers and sisters in Christ in love. Here is an application for Christ's words "whatsoever you would that men do to you, do ye likewise to them." Our business, the business of the local church, is to be about building up Christians as we walk the narrow road towards the Eternal City.

Often, it is not that way. But our words, our actions, and our attitudes, we are all about tearing each other down. We use the Devil's devices of slander, gossip, and backbiting (and backstabbing), to get the dirt on each other and hurt each other. Christians can be mean people. I remember an article I cut out of a magazine once entitled "Why Do Christians Shoot Their Wounded?" Too many times, when a brother or sister is having trouble walking the narrow road, we seem to enjoy helping to push them off. Instead of picking them up and helping restore their walk on that difficult road, we seem to be happy to see them fall.

But you and I both know that these things ought not to be. God sets before us two ways, one of death and evil and one of life and good. How will we Christians use our words, our actions, and our attitudes when dealing with our brothers and sisters, who are also saved by grace and owned by Christ and indwelt by the Holy Spirit? They are not one whit less than you or me. The love of Christ, given by the Holy Spirit in us ought to be reaching out to the indwelling Holy Spirit in our brothers and sisters and calling to Himself (the Spirit to the Spirit) in love. We are captured by an inter-trinitarian love. Do we act like it? Shouldn't we?

2009-04-04T13:37:00.002-09:30

A Give Away ...

The blog For the Cause of God and Truth is giving away a copy of John Gill's collected works. You can read all about it here ...

http://gillites.wordpress.com/

It is worth the time to check out.

2009-03-30T16:07:00.003-09:30

Disturbing

That is what I call some of the statistics I have been reading. It seems that, in almost every way, the Evangelical Church in North America is indistinguishable from the world around us. We have the same rates of bankruptcy, child abuse, spouse abuse, drug use, pornography addiction, divorce, and other vices, as the surrounding world. My beloved readers, this ought not to be.

Being in Christ, our God and Savior, ought to be a life changing experience. It ought to mean something. Now, at the risk of sounding prideful, let me make a few observations that I think are very true and need to be said.

People ought to expect Christians to act like .... well ... Christians. Some things that ought to be true of Christians. For one, we are supposed to be living testimonies of the truths we say we believe. Our sins are forgiven. We hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. God illuminates scripture for us. We are freed from our slavery to sin. We ought to behave better than the world. While many other groups advocate violence against people who differ from them, Christians don't. Our weapons in this world are truth, and scripture, and debate. Why? Because we are not like the world around us. We are Christians! Followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, Incarnate God. We walk in the light as He is in the light. That should make us different.

Our bosses ought to be able to expect an honest employee who will give 8 hours of work for 8 hours of pay. Our spouses ought to expect to be treated like they live in a Christian home. Our children too. The government ought to expect us to live up to all of our civil responsibilities, including paying our taxes and obeying the laws set over us. People ought to expect us to be charitable, merciful and gracious in our dealing with people. If anyone should be expected to behave well in public, it ought to be Christians. People should expect to be safe and secure around us. No one should ever feel threatened in the presence of a Christian. We need to remember that the heart of the law is mercy and good works.

Friends, we are worshippers of the One, True and Living God. We should be better than the world around us. Too often we are not and that ought to be to our shame. God has called us to be perfect as He is perfect. And just because we fall short does not give us a license to stop striving for that perfection to which we are called. Let me ask you this ... when people look at you or when they think of you ... do they think of you as a Christian? Or are you just another guy to them? When people are around you, do they smell the fragrance of Christ on you? I hope you can yes to that. But if you can't, are you going to do anything about it? When? I say how about now?

2009-03-19T17:41:00.004-09:30

Ode To A Virtuous Woman

In 4 days it will be my anniversary. My wife and I will have been together 24 years. Wow! It hardly seems so long, yet, at the same time, it seems to me like I can't look back and remember a time when we were not together. My wife, Aleta, said something like that when we got engaged. She said that she felt like we had been friends forever, though we had known each other only a few weeks.

Yes, I only knew her 2 weeks when I asked her to marry me. We joke with each other now, that we did everything wrong. She was still 17 years old when I proposed and only 3 months past her 18th birthday when we were married. We did everything wrong, but God smiled on us. Now, 24 years later, we are still together. We are happy with each other. We have two children, Stephen and Hannah, who have been God's blessings to us. We have one grandchild, Naomi, and what a joy she is to our hearts.

Over the years, I suppose we have given each other lots of reasons to want to leave the other, but we never did. When we were first married, we said we would never consider divorce as an option for us. And we never have. We have always worked out our problems within our marriage. We have never abandoned each other. We try to find ways to show the other how important they are to us. (Did that make sense?)

I remember, when I first started at Liberty University, a lecture by Dr. Falwell, where he laid out a Christian's priorities. He said we needed to have God first above all else. His view was that if you were not right with God, you couldn't be right with anyone else. Next, under God, was our spouses. Our spouse is half of our own person. He or she is part of us. Under our spouse was our children. They are given to us by God for a time, about 18 years or so, then they go onto their own lives apart from us. But our spouses remain till death do us part. Under our children came our ministries, those tasks entrusted to us by God. Under that came everything else. Dr. Falwell wanted us to realize that our relationship with God was most important, but next to that, that there is no ministry without being one with our spouse. No person could abuse his spouse, or neglect his spouse, and hope for any kind of ministry success. I took that message to heart.

I have not always put my wife above everything else but God. In that, I have not always been the husband that I should be. But I have put her above everything else consistently, I think. In that, I think I have tried to be the husband I should be. I realize looking back, that we have forgiven each other a multitude of faults and failings and hurts. We have a lot of water under our bridge. We really don't hold any past wrongs (that I know of) against each other. We've let them fade into the past. We have had our ups and downs, but in the end, we also have each other.

I am writing all this to say these things. I rejoice to celebrate my anniversary with my wife. She is a gift to me from God. I know she is part of me and I would not live well if I did not have her around me and in my life. She has done me good all the years we have been together and forgiven me often when I have not done the best for her. Very few women I have known would have been good wives for me. Not that there was any failing in them, but rather that I am a difficult old curmudgeon and few of them would have lasted very long if they had to put up with me. But Aleta has done it all these years and still loves me for who I am. Next to God, she is the most important person in my life. I know that without her, I would have no ministry and that I would be a very different person than I am. And not different in a good way.

She loves me very much. And I love her very much. My wife, my partner, my friend ...

2009-03-16T18:07:00.002-09:30

A Life Changing Experience

Some years ago, I got to through the F.A.I.T.H. training in El Paso, Texas. F.A.I.T.H. is an evangelism strategy for reaching people with the gospel. Central to this strategy is the gospel presentation. The presentation follows a three part format ... how I was before I was a Christian and it ends with how I am now that I know Jesus. In between the two parts however is a phrase. We were told to use the same phrase all the time. This is the phrase we were taught to use ... "Then I had a life changing experience." You see, F.A.I.T.H. taught what the Bible teaches, that meeting and knowing the Lord Jesus Christ, is a life changing experience.

Henry Blackaby echoes this idea in his study "Experiencing God." He says that no one can truly meet God and walk away unchanged. To see God, to meet God, to speak with God, to hear God, to know God, is always a life changing experience.

But too often in our churches it is not a life changing experience. There has been a lot of discussion about this in the SBC in recent months. Our many programs have made us numbers conscious and it has hurt our churches. We rely on people signing a decision card, or raising their hands, or praying a prayer or some other non-obtrusive way to show they are responding to what we are saying. We are afraid of driving people away, so we soften the gospel to make it not be offensive. In these ways and many others, we keep on moving ourselves away from the very things that made us Baptists to begin with.

One Baptist distinctive is a regenerate church membership. That means that no one should be a member of our churches who has not given evidence of being born again. You see, being born again is another word for regeneration. They are the same thing. Our church membership ought to be born again people. Regeneration is the sovereign act of God by which He imparts spiritual life to the soul of the sinner. We don't ask for it but we respond to it when it happens to us. Our eyes are open and our ears can hear, and we hear the gospel and see Jesus Christ in His glory as our God and Savior and we do what? We have a life changing experience!

But too often our churches are like the Jews described by the Apostle Paul in Romans 2. Paul's indictment of the Jews is summed up in verse 24 where he says,

"For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written."

Even though they all the spiritual blessings available to any earthly people, they did the very things they were not supposed to do. So much so that the Name of God was blasphemed among the Gentiles because of how they saw the Hebrews, the People of God, acting. It is the same with Christians today. Now I am not denying that there are many good and holy people in our churches. But friends, it doesn't take a prophet to see that North American Evangelical Christianity is in trouble. Studies demonstrate that incidents of child and spouse abuse, of divorce, of adultery, of pornographic addiction (and many other things) are NO DIFFERENT in the Church as in the world!

Beloved, we are to be different than the world. We are God's children, Christ's brothers and sisters. We are holy people. We are Priests to God and Kings in heaven. We hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. We have the indwelling Christ. We have the holy scriptures and the illumination of the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth. We are the light of the world, a city set on a hill. Our lives are supposed to be living testimonies to the truths we proclaim. As Tom Ascol cried out many years ago "Can't we agree that being a Christian means something!?"

If you cannot see in yourself a life changing experience in meeting Christ, it is possible you were never genuinely converted. If that is you, then look to Christ alone and be saved. If you are a Christian and have had that life changing experience, then live it out. Be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only. For the sake of truth and the glory of the Living God, go out and be what you are. You are a disciple of the Lord God, Jesus Christ! You are a Christian!

2009-03-08T13:59:00.002-09:30

Another Quote

I am not sure where I saw this, but it stuck with me...

"Prayer is the work of the ministry." - Anonymous

2009-03-03T06:17:00.004-09:30

Quoting Myself

Just a moment of vanity while I type out a quote I made in a sermon some time ago.

"A Calvinist is a Christian whose chief aim in life is to see God glorified in all things - for all things."

John Sneed

2009-03-01T17:57:00.003-09:30

A Milestone and a Thought

This is my 200th post. I never thought I'd make it that far. One of my best friends set this blog up for me as a way to let me express my thoughts and say a few things I thought were important. I began this trip almost two years ago. Now, I have posted 200 posts. Wow!

This milestone reminds me of something. When I started blogging I had read other blogs that had reached 200 or more posts. I thought to myself that I might like to stay on the Internet that long. But how long a person stays on the earth (how is that for a switch in focus?) is in God's hands. We are guaranteed to have what we need for today. We are not guaranteed to be here tomorrow. The minutes of a person's life are measured by God. The time of our death is in His hands. We never know, when we go out in the morning, if we will make it back that night.

James tells us that it is vanity for a man to make future plans, since the future is so unsure to us. Instead, James counsels us to say "If the Lord wills, we will do this or that thing." But if the Lord does not will, then we won't. With all that being true my friend, savor your time on the earth. Don't waste it on trivial fights and petty jealousies. Stop and smell the roses. Kiss your spouse and hug your kids. Whatever you do, as scripture says, do it with everything you have. Live life with all your strength. Serve the Lord with gladness and love God and your fellow men with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And thank God with every day He grants you. Live today and if God gives you tomorrow, then live in that day too.

No one knows when God might call them home. He owns us and it is His right to call us home anytime He chooses. But in the time that God gives us here on the earth, be grateful and use it to good purposes. John Piper has a book called "Don't Waste Your Life" that captures this idea perfectly. Remember that, at the end of life, we will give an account of how we have lived as Christians. Today may be the last day you will be on this earth. If that turns out to be true, will you look back over your final day and think that you wasted your time, or will you look back and think "I lived it as fully and completely as I could"? For me, I'd rather it be that latter than the former. Wouldn't you?

2009-02-20T14:48:00.002-09:30

Praying For You

That is the title of a book I read some years ago. Tryon, Howard A. Jr., Praying for You. Kregel: Grand Rapids, 1996. It was a good book that opened up my thinking about ways God might use me to minister to people in my community.

The heart of the book is the simple question "Is there anything I can pray about for you?" Or some variation of that question. If you're in a restaurant, before blessing your food, turn to the waitress and ask "We're about to pray. Is there anything you'd like us to pray for?" Immediately, many other opportunities come to mind. Just asking people if you can pray for them seems to open them up to want to talk. That talk can lead to many ministry opportunities.

Once, as I pastored in Nebraska, our Director of Missions took us to a town in Kansas to go door to door. The stated purpose was to gather canned goods for a newly opened food pantry. We were also feeling out people as prospects for a new church start in the area. Unknown to us, the night before was the town's prom night. One of the young high school students, having made a bad decision on his way home, tried to pass an SUV where he should not have and met a tractor-trailer head on. It was a small town and everyone was either related or very good friends with everyone else. As we stepped into the town that morning, eternity was close to everyone's heart. As we asked the question, "is there anything we can pray about for you?" People opened their hearts and we did real ministry work that day in that town. One question opened up a world of ministry.

I have found that many times people want to talk and this simple question is a way to open up lines of communication. Ask a friend this week ... "I am headed for prayer meeting tonight. While I am there, is there anything you'd like for me to pray for?" Or how about "I take time every evening to spend a few minutes alone talking to God in prayer. Is there something in your life I can pray for?"

God is good oftentimes to use these encounters to open the doors of people's hearts to eternal things. People open up and we get the chance to tell people of the importance of a life changing encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Keep it in mind my friend, as you go out and about your daily routine. You never know who is waiting for you to pray for them. Maybe God brought you into their life at the very moment they need you. So find out. Ask them ... "Can I pray for you?"

2009-02-13T05:27:00.002-09:30

Where Am I (Part 2)?

I am in Springfield Missouri. We left Davenport last Saturday morning and arrived here near 8 at night. We unloaded the truck until 10:30 pm. I have been sore in places humans ought not to be sore. I have spent the week moving boxes from room to room and establishing ourselves here. I had forgotten how much work was involved in moving.

But the house is starting to look like a house. We attended our first prayer meeting Wednesday night. I have my internet connected again (Praise God!) ... not like I am addicted to the Net or anything. We are alive again.

So I will be back to blogging again tomorrow and look forward to serving Jesus here in Springfield. Pray for me and our church if you happen to think about us.

2009-02-05T06:30:00.002-09:30

Where Am I?

Things have been crazy around here. last week I had the flu. It was a good reminder of why I hate being sick. This coming Saturday, the day after tomorrow, I am moving to Springfield, Missouri to take up my new pastorate at Victory Baptist Church of Springfield. So, I have been packing up my house this week. Usually, I have people who do this for me and now I am having to do it for myself. Now I know I hate moving as much as I hate being sick.

I told my wife we aren't moving again, except under one condition. If I am at home one evening, perhaps reading over the latest Piper book or a treatise of Jonathan Edwards, and I get a phone call, and one of the elders at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London England is on the line telling me they need a pastor and they want me to come right away ... I will move. But only under those circumstances.

Now it is back to work. I will blog again from the other end.

2009-01-27T19:38:00.002-09:30

Why Calvinism?

I was going over the arguments against Calvinistic theology in my mind the other day and I had a picture appear in my mind of a friend asking me, "Why Calvinism?" There are many systems of theology out there, two main ones within Protestant theology, so why settle on Calvinism? I thought about it for a while and I think I have developed a good answer to the question.

It is not a secret that North American Protestant Christianity is a mess right now. We could even broaden that to Western Protestant Christianity. More and more people are moving away from a doctrinal faith towards a pragmatic faith of whatever works. Earlier today I read a blog that decried the emphasis on what the author called the "three B's" (baptisms, buildings, and backsides). It is all about the numbers. When I was an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist pastor, we had a joke that you tell everything you needed to know about a man by three things ... who he is, where he went to school (ie. who trained him), and how many souls sat under his preaching every Sunday morning.

[Extending hand] "Hello sir, I am John Sneed, Liberty University, class of '94, 35 in Sunday morning service." There and then, everything anyone would ever want to know about me was laid bare.

In other quarters we see a drift away from a biblically based faith towards an experience based faith. This is most often seen among the Pentecostals and Charismatics. However, this is not unknown in Baptist life either. Another trend that was well documented in Dr. John MacArthur's book "Ashamed of the Gospel" is a drift towards a buffet approach to Christianity. Today's Christians choose what teachings they want to believe in based on what they think is biblical, what they think sounds fair and right, and what they think requires the least of them to get by. The result of this is the that door is wide open for all kinds of errors and heresies to infiltrate our churches and our denominations. One Mormon bishop boasted that up to 60% of converts to Mormonism in North America come out of Baptist churches. He called Baptist churches the best training grounds for new Mormons there are. This tells me we are doing a dismal job of teaching our members what they believe and why.

Recently, Emergent Christianity has developed which has little or no truth at all. That is to say that Emergent leaders see doctrine as something that cannot be known but is something we encounter on our own personal faith journeys. In short, anything works as long as you are sincere and true to yourself. Friends, whole books have been written documenting these trends I have mentioned here.

What has all this got to do with why I believe Calvinism to be the most God honoring system of theology we have? Consider this quote from Charles Spurgeon, "We care far more for the central evangelical truths than we do for Calvinism as a system; but we believe that Calvinism has in it a conservative force that helps to hold men to the vital truth." Out of the Reformation came five great truths, or solas as they were called. Sola means "only, or alone." In Latin, sola scriptura, sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus, and sola Deo gloria. In English, scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, for the glory of God alone. I believe with all my heart that these five truths are anchors of truth to hold our doctrine fast and faithful to the truth of the Bible. I believe when you begin to move away from any one of these five things, you move more and more into error. I find these great truths most loudly, passionately, and forcefully proclaimed in the system of doctrine called Calvinism. I will go so far to say that every other system of doctrine I am familiar with either denies these truths or waters them down or redefines them to mean other things.

"According to scripture alone, we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone for the glory of God alone." Read Calvin, read Luther, or Bunyan, or Knox, or Wishart, or Taylor, or Fuller, or Edwards, or Spurgeon, or Camp, or MacArthur, or Piper or the Puritans or hundreds of others and you will see these fives things extolled over and over and over. It is said that our modern theology is a mile wide and an inch deep. We know about a lot of things, but we don't know much about a lot of things. Puritan theology was often times an inch wide and a mile deep. They would pick a topic and they would mine it until they knew it.

And it was always God exalting, Christ honoring, Spirit powered experiential Christianity. It was a Christianity of the head and the heart. Not only a Christianity to be studied, but one to be lived too. And always it was Calvinism, or the Doctrines of Grace, or Reformed theology, whatever you want to call it, it was these doctrines that raised up the banner of sola scriptura. It was these doctrines that taught us of justification by faith alone. These doctrines taught us of salvation by grace alone. These doctrines tied us tightly to the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and taught us life by His glorious works.

Beloved, when I read the scriptures, taking them as my one and only measuring rod fr my life and my beliefs, I am compelled to be a Calvinist. As Luther said, "My conscience is captive to the word of God." Other kinds of Christians don't think or talk like that. But Calvinists do. In the scriptures I see God, high and lifted up. I see man low and helpless. I see God as just, not letting any sin go unpunished in the universe. I see Christ, mighty and capable to save. I see the Holy Spirit moving through the world with power. I see lives changed by the power of the Living God given through His mighty word. and I see all of that taught in the system called Calvinism.

So, I am compelled by scripture to hold the same things to be true that are taught within the Calvinistic system. I am compelled by experience to know that when you move away the truths taught within the Calvinistic system, more and more errors seem to appear. If I am to build my faith upon the Rock of Christ, I must build it on the Christian doctrine that holds me closest to Bible truth. That is why I am a Calvinist.

2009-01-26T18:54:00.000-09:30

Jesus Actually Saves by C. H. Spurgeon

Even as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28)

Some preachers and professors affect to believe in a redemption which I must candidly confess I do not understand; it is so indistinct and indefinite — a redemption which does not redeem anybody in particular, though it is alleged to redeem everybody in general; a redemption insufficient to exempt thousands of unhappy souls from hell after they have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus; a redemption, indeed, which does not actually save anybody, because it is dependent for its efficacy upon the will of the creature; a redemption that lacks intrinsic virtue and inherent power to redeem anybody, but is entirely dependent upon an extraneous contingency to render it effectual. With such fickle theories I have no fellowship. That every soul for whom Christ shed his blood as a Substitute, he will claim as his own, and have as his right, I firmly hold. I love to hold and I delight to proclaim this precious truth. Not all the powers of earth or hell; not the obstinacy of the human will, nor the deep depravity of the human mind, can ever prevent Christ seeing of the travail of his soul and being satisfied. To the last jot and tittle of his reward shall he receive it at the Father’s hand. A redemption that does redeem, a redemption that redeems many, seems to me infinitely better than a redemption that does not actually redeem anybody, but is supposed to have some imaginary influence upon all the sons of men. C.H. Spurgeon (1834 - 1892)

This is taken from the Wittenburg Door blog, which got it from the Reformation Theology blog.

2009-01-22T08:36:00.002-09:30

Calvinists and Evangelism

One of the most recurring complaints made against Calvinists is that our theology kills our passion for missions. What is so frustrating is that this old straw man has been dealt with over and over and over again by many different writers and speakers. For all the words used to put this dead horse into the grave, it is still one of the most used attacks by non-calvinists against Reformed theology. I doubt this blog entry will put the matter rest once and for all time, but I want to go on record one more time on this topic.

Let me say this as bluntly as I can, Calvinists are passionate about evangelism and missions. Now, having said that, let me interject the inevitable caveat. Of course there may be some Calvinists who are not passionate about evangelism and missions. However, I do not believe that these people exist within Calvinism at any higher rate than they exist within non-calvinist ranks. I been in both Calvinist and non-calvinist churches and I heard sermons exhorting us (listeners) to be more passionate and more about the work of evangelism and missions. It seemed to me to be something that needed to looked at in both Calvinist and non-calvinist churches. To hear the critics of Calvinism tell it, Arminians are the consummate evangelists and Calvinists sit huddled in their churches and say "To heck with the rest of the world."

But nothing can be further from the truth. Believe it or not, in western Christianity there was a time when missions was not a priority. It was a Calvinist, Andrew Fuller, who noted the glaring omission of missions work among the Christians of his day. It was himself and some friends who organized the first foreign mission society. The first people to answer the call to go overseas for the furtherance of the gospel among the lost nations were Calvinists. It is no exaggeration to say that everywhere when you read the history of missions work, or when you read accounts of the people who gave their all to the work of missions, you will find pages filled with the works of Calvinists. When I say these folks gave their all, don't think I only am talking about giving their work a good effort. These men and woman buried spouses, and children, and lost their homes and belongings, often starting over several times, on the mission field. Many of these missionaries were buried among the people they ministered to.

Today, there is not a nationally or internationally known Calvinist who does not often exhort listeners to be passionate about evangelism and missions.

Why is this so? Because the first concern of the Calvinist is the glory of the Living God. Because the Calvinist knows that the problem with humanity is depravity and sin. They also know that the cure is the Lord Jesus Christ. Calvinists know that God has a people who are lost among every tongue, tribe, nation and ethnic group. They also know that gospel, faithfully preached and witnessed to, is God's means for calling His people out of the world to Himself. Calvinists have God's promises that His word will not return to Him void, and that the sheep will hear the Shepherd's voice and will follow him. "All that the Father gives me will come ... " Promises such as this give the Calvinist confidence that God's power will save in His own time.

But the work is not easy. Many missionaries served years before seeing their first converts. Hudson Taylor, of the China Inland Mission, served 7 years before anyone was saved. Spurgeon once said that if God had painted a white stripe down that back of every elect person, that he would go around London raising men's coattails to find the elect and give them the gospel message. But God has not done this. He calls on us to preach the gospel to every creature. Then he promises that "as many as were ordained to eternal life were saved."

Calvinists want to see God worshipped by all His people in every corner of the world. So, for His glory, they are passionate and zealous to carry the message of the forgiveness of sins in Christ to every human on the planet. Instead of killing a passion for evangelism and missions, the doctrine of election gives the Calvinist confidence that sooner or later, if we are faithful to the message, that people will be saved. A Calvinist without a heart for missions and evangelism is an oxymoron. Just as a Christian without a love for their fellow Christians is something that should never be, neither is a Calvinist Christian without a love for the lost people of the world ... from those in their own homes to those in the farthest corners of the planet.

My friend, examine your heart. Whether you are a Calvinist or an Arminian, no Christian ought to be without a passion for the lost of the world. Our passion ought to begin in our own hometowns and never be quenched until we can say the gospel has been preached to every human in the world. To the Calvinist, I say this ... we claim to have the highest form of systematic theology there is. If that is so, we should have the highest commitment to the commands of Christ and to His glory. If we are what we claim to be, it will show in the things we say and the things we DO. As James challenges us, let us be doers of the word and not hearers only.

There may be some few who call themselves Calvinists who do not have a passion for evangelism and missions. I pray this is not the majority. It is not my heart (to be passionless about evangelism and missions). It is not the heart of anyone I know. Honestly, I pray it never is. For the glory of God let us carry His good news into every corner of the world. It is His command and our joy.

2009-01-20T12:12:00.002-09:30

A Moment of Sadness ... er ... Silence ...

Earlier today, Americans installed into office the least experienced, most liberal, most pro-abortion, most pro-homosexual President ever to be the leader of the free world.

Let's take time to observe a moment of silence.

May God have mercy on us all.

2009-01-17T17:30:00.002-09:30

A Very Religious People

That is what Americans are, a very religious people. Notice I didn't say a very Christian people. But they are very religious. It has been estimated that 98% of Americans believe in God, or a god, or a higher power, or "something out there that is more than us."

I like to follow the apologetic websites. Now, apologetics does not mean we apologize for being Christians. In theology, apologetics is the field of study that deals with the defense of the faith. It shows us the rational basis for what we believe. Well, if you were to take a quick tour of some of the major apologetic websites you would see a variety of beliefs out there.

There are a number of new age beliefs. There is a guy in Florida who is claiming to be the Messiah. And this guy has quite a following. Two guys in Washington state teach that they are the two witnesses in the book of Revelation. Cults are growing exponentially and new ones are starting almost daily.

Even within the Christian Church, you can find all manner of beliefs. Almost every ancient heresy is today being taught in Evangelical churches in North America. All across America people want to touch God. Even though I have mentioned Evangelical churches, the things I am talking about is not limited to those types of churches alone. Every time someone yells "Revival!" people will flock to that place from all over the world. Some of the wildest stories imaginable come from those revivals too. You will hear of gold dust falling from the ceiling. You will hear of amalgam filling being turned into gold. In other churches apparitions of dead saints appear in the most unlikely places ... on telephone poles, underpass walls, slices of toast and elsewhere. And people will flock by the hundreds and thousands to see these things. Some will pay big money on Ebay to own this stuff.

God and god-stuff is everywhere. Self help books, even at Christian bookstores, are big sellers. On TV things like "Ghost Whisperer" and "Saving Grace" and "John Edwards Speaks to the Dead" and other similar TV shows seem to continually find audiences. TV preachers are still big business, drawing hundreds of millions of dollars a year from their faithful watchers. Yoga, Zen, meditation, reincarnation, and even trance channeling dead people have come back into vogue. We live in religious times.

But all of that together won't bring a single soul closer to God. There is a truth. The world has a problem called "sin." And God has come to the earth to deal with the problem we couldn't. God has one "Only Begotten Son" and his Name is Jesus Christ. Jesus has come to show us the way of salvation and the way of life. He is Incarnate Truth. He has saved us and now he lives inside of us. Our lives are changed by meeting our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Now our lives are supposed to be living testimonies, living sermons, to the truths we say we believe. We say there is a God who is holy, who saves from sin and gives us the words of life and good. We say that knowing God intimately is a life changing experience. Our lives bear witness to those truths. Scripture says that people will see our good works and glorify the God that brought them about.

You see, we live in a religious world. But what religion misses is the truth. We, on the other hand, have the truth. If the world is going to learn the truth, they will have to learn it from us. It will not be enough to tell them the truth. They have to see it lived out in our lives. The combination of the true words with true living is a combination even Satan can't defeat. Let us all, who claim the Name of Christ, be light to a dark world that is drowning in religion.

2009-01-15T20:18:00.002-09:30

"I Believe in God"

This post is inspired by several authors, among them, Dr. John MacArthur and Dr. Erwin Lutzer. I can't forget the upcoming inaugural ceremonies and the many people who will be offering prayers there.

I read today how President-elect Obama has invited the openly homosexual Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson to pray at one ceremony. Bishop Robinson has reportedly studied the prayers of many past inaugurations and has concluded that they are too sectarian and too Christian in nature. He has said there will be none of that in his own prayer offering. Indeed, he suggests, perhaps he will offer his prayer in the name of the "god of our many understandings." My question was "huh?"

You see my friend, one of the goals of 21st century North American Christianity is to be as inoffensive as possible to anyone. Try not to upset anyone. There are many ways of doing that. One is to downplay unpopular doctrines like the existence of hell, or the fact that there is a moral law established by God. You know ... stuff like that.

Another way of not offending people is to make our religion as broad and all inclusive as we can. To that end, we talk a lot about God. God doesn't upset people much because when you use the term "God" it is a nebulous term that can be defined many ways depending on the hearers. God is a big idea. He or she (depending on how you define him or her) is almost too big to wrap your mind around. So, when people are in public, it is popular to talk about God. Many times, on TV, the radio, or the Internet, you will hear that nice phrase ... "Yes, I believe in God." One pollster tells us that up to 98% of Americans believe in "God" or a "higher power" or a "cosmic force" or something "bigger than we are." Think of it ... 98%. God is popular in America.

But not Jesus. If you want to start a fight, and I mean a real knock down, drag out, my fist on your nose, punching match, quote John 14:6 "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no man comes to the Father except through me." Tell people that means you have to have a personal, relational faith in the Person and finished work of the God man Jesus Christ or that person will go to hell. Tell them that and you will end up finding out if you wasted your money on all those self defense lessons.

If you get asked by your state government to open a session in prayer ... if you pray in the "Name Above ALL Names" or in the name of the "Lord our God" or the "Most High One" or some thing like that, no one will bat an eyelash. Finish a prayer in the "Name of Jesus Christ" and you will be reprimanded and banned from ever returning.

Tell people God has one savior for the world, Jesus Christ, and you will be labelled a bigot, a racist, as delusional, as an idiot, as not being in touch with the real world, among other things. People will laugh at you to your face. Or they will marginalize you and shunt you off as a caveman or a nutcase who needs to be put away for the protection of society. Most broadly, it is hip to be religious. It is almost a crime to be a Bible believing zealous follower of Jesus Christ, a Christian, in today's North American society.

We Christians are more and more under attack. Our foundational beliefs are questioned. If a Christian should end up in public life, they are quickly attacked and their intelligence questioned. Not long ago we had an Attorney General for the United States who was a member of an Assembly of God church. In his confirmation hearings, it was claimed that he was unfit for office because he believed the Bible to be true. In Canada, certain provinces are questioning whether public school teachers should be credentialed if they believe in a literal creation. A list of similar things could very easily and quickly be filled.

Charles Spurgeon once asked "Here is the day for the man; but where is the man for the day." This is our day. This is the time in history when the Lord our God has US be born to live in it. It is our time to be the Church and to leave our footprints in history. God, Jesus told us, is looking for those who worship Him in Spirit and in truth. It is time for Christ's disciples, his Body, his Church to stand up and let herself be known. It is time for the general "I believe in God" to give way to the bolder "I am a Christian, a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ." Goodness, 98% of Americans believe in God. How many really believe in Jesus?

2009-01-13T12:21:00.002-09:30

Eternal Things ... Real Things

When I was in grad school, I learned about a thing called cognitive disconnect. It means that I have knowledge but for some reason I would fail to apply that knowledge to my life. We say we believe certain things ... things like Jesus is God, that there is a heaven and a hell. But we go through life absorbed with our own small Christian lives.

In this, our critics have a valid criticism of us when they accuse us of playing Christianity for a hobby. We get up, get dressed, and take our fat old Bibles to church. We sing, we pray, we listen to the sermon, then we go grab a bite to eat. When it is all over, we put it all away until next Sunday. But rarely is our decision making or our behavior influenced very much but our Christian religion. When our critics say that about us, they are often right.

But I want my readers to challenge themselves and ask "Do I really believe?" The reason I bring this up is that we are dealing with real things.

When we debate doctrine, it isn't an academic exercise. There is a Baptist saying "Right belief leads to right living." Doctrine matters. They way we believe affects the way we live. We live for the glory of God. Wrong belief leads to sin and robs God of His glory. If there is a real God (and there is ... ) then this is true.

If we get the gospel wrong, then people go to hell. The worse thing we can do to people is to tell people they are saved when they aren't. When a person who is deceived in this way, and then hears the real gospel, they are harder of heart to it. That is why Paul is so adamant about the Galatian Christians holding fast to the truth.

We do all this stuff like it is a game. My mind is swirling around so many ideas dealing with this... when we are in our Sunday worship ... it is not just singing ... it is singing to the Lord our God. Prayers are not just words spoken out loud that we have to do to get through the moment. They are petitions to the Lord our God. We bring the lost the gospel so that the Holy Spirit might call His elect to faith in Christ the Lord. We live as Christians to bring glory to the Lord our God and to give a witness to the truth of the things we say we believe.

But too many times, we don't live like that. Songs and hymns are just songs and hymns. Prayers are just words. The Christian life is no different than any other life. We do what we have to in order to get by. The gospel is an embarrassment that we tell to folks when we are cornered into doing it.

But it ought not to be that way. There is a real heaven. People go there. There is a real hell. And people go there. There is a real God and we live for Him.

Friends, we call on our best and smartest to give their lives in the service of God. Some of them we become pastors. And that is hard. Some of them will become missionaries. Some of those will go to harsh places in the world. Some of them will give their lives as martyrs for the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We Christians deal with eternal things .. and they are real things. These are things that are about life and death. They aren't a hobby. They aren't empty traditions. Beloved readers, isn't it time we acted like the things we believe are true?

Almost every day we read about how this teacher or that church has fallen into sin and compromise. No one wants to offend anybody so we don't tell people hard things anymore. One TV preacher once said his personal philosophy was to tell people things that made them feel good and always to send them home with a smile on their faces. But the Bible has some hard things as well as the good and glorious things. A preacher is unfaithful to Jesus to not tell people both.

Mankind, for all the problems of this world, has one over-arching problem. It is called "sin." God has one remedy for sin, it is called forgiveness and reconciliation through faith alone in the God-man Jesus Christ, our savior. One problem - one solution. But in an effort to be nicer than nice, we don't tell people about the problem and so they never find out they need the solution. Why? Maybe we forget that the things we say we believe are real things. Things that are true. Things that affect people's lives. If we ignore that, or pretend that we don't know it, we are living a lie. Now tell me, what's Christian about that?

2009-01-12T17:08:00.002-09:30

From Spurgeon

I have always liked this quote from the Prince of Preachers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon;

"After all, there is a Protestantism still worth contending for, there is a Calvinism still worth proclaiming, and a gospel well worth dying for."

This quote is courtesy of Colin Maxwell, Pastor of Cork Free Presbyterian Church, Cork, Ireland.

2009-01-05T16:17:00.002-09:30

Does 2 Peter 3:9 Really Teach That God Wants to Save Every Person?

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9).

On it's face, this looks pretty cut and dried. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. That is what it says. And if this were all it said, it would be case closed. But when I was in school, I learned that the first three rules of Biblical interpretation were "Context, context, context." In context, this verse says something very different that what people make it say.

2 Peter 3 talks about the state of those who deny the coming judgment of God. Let me break this passage down in context and show you what I mean.

In verses 1 and 2 of this chapter Peter tells his readers that is this second epistle he wants to remind them of what had been spoken by the prophets and the apostles. Now this is what he wanted them to remember.

First of all "that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of the creation." (2 Pet. 3:3b-4). Notice ... there would be "scoffers" who deny the coming judgment. They say that everything (in creation) is continuing just as it always had. The sun rises and sets. People are born and die. Death and taxes have not gone away. Everything seems to just keep on keeping on. So they ask "Where is the promise of his coming?"

Peter assures his readers that the judgment is coming. Peter says in verse 5a that these scoffers are willingly ignorant of the things of which they speak. Because God created the earth, and life was going on as normal then, and that world was destroyed by water. And just as that world was destroyed by water, this present world, the world that now is, is reserved to be destroyed by fire against the day of judgment of ungodly men.

But these scoffers scoff because things keep on going as they always have. Time seems to keep on stretching out just as it always has. So Peter adds this next verse to remind us that God does not see time like we humans do. "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." (2 Peter 3:8). No, God doesn't see time like we do. Be that as it may, why is God withholding his hand of judgment?

Because the Lord is not slack concerning his promise. What promise? He is longsuffering or patient towards "usward", not willing that any should perish (the context supports the fact that those he is not willing should perish are those included in the group called "usward"), but that all should come to repentance (and again, those God wants to come to repentance are those who God does not want to perish, again ... the "uswards" in the first part of the verse). So, the proper interpretation of this passage hinges on identifying who are the "uswards" talked about in this verse.

The following verses go on to affirm that when all the uswards come to repentance then the judgment of God is sure to follow.

So, what is God's promise that he is not slack about? This verse is telling us that God is patient to see that his promise comes to a full fulfillment. So, first of all, the passage cannot be teaching that God wants to save every single human, because if God is going to bring his promise to a complete fulfillment he has failed in light of the fact that people go to hell. And very few groups claimed that God has promised to save every single human. And all the groups who do affirm that are considered to be outside historic orthodox Christianity. But God has told us about who he will save.

He will save his people (Matt. 1:21), those who believe (John 3:15-16), those the Father has give to him (Christ)(John 6:37), all that the Father draws to him (John 6:44), his sheep (John 10:11), those that the Father has given him (John 17:2), as many as are ordained to eternal life (Acts 13:48), his Church (Eph. 5:25), and other verses. If God has made a promise that he is being patient to fulfill, it is to his elect people.

This passage teaches us about two groups of people, the scoffers who deny the coming judgment, and "us" who are preparing ourselves for the judgment that we know is coming. The group that God has made a promise to, that he is being patient to fulfill, is to the "us" group, not to the scoffers.

So what is our conclusion? God is not unfaithful about his promise. Therefore, God is patient towards "us." He is not willing that any of "us" should perish, but rather that all of "us" should come to repentance and therefore, have everlasting life. And who has the promise of everlasting life? John 3:16 says that everyone who believes .... believers ... no matter what nation or people they are from, they will be saved from God's judgment and have everlasting life. It is not the scoffers, but the believers who have the promises of God for life in Jesus Christ. Therefore, we have to conclude that 2 Peter 3:9 does NOT teach that God wants to save every single human being but that God has promised to save believers, and that is a promise he is keeping. He is holding off his final fiery judgment until his promise is kept. Because in the end, God cannot deny his word.

2008-12-30T20:30:00.002-09:30

Calvinism and John 3:16

Some years ago, a friend of mine gave me a pencil drawing of the bust of Jacob Arminius. Under the picture is the caption "I don't care what you say, I still believe in John 3:16." Ah! The magic bullet! John 3:16. The instant slayer of everything Calvinistic. Whenever a Calvinist mentions the doctrine of election, the opponent simply pulls out John 3:16 and says "See? It says 'whosoever'" and sends the defeated Calvinist to lick his wounds in some deserted dark corner.

But does John 3:16 really support an anti-calvinistic position? Certainly some inside the SBC seem to think so. When the big names in the SBC leadership gathered together to attack Calvinism in the Convention, they called their conference the "John 3:16 Conference" or the "J3:16C" for short.

But I don't think that John 3:16 supports an anti-calvinistic position. Of course, that is not a surprise to my readers. You know I am a Calvinist, so of course I am going to say that. But if John 3:16 does not deny God's election of certain individuals to salvation, then what does it say? Let us look closely at the passage and see ...

The verse opens with the word "For." This word connects the content of John 3:16 with the preceding passage. John 3 opens with Jesus speaking to Nicodemus of the new birth and it's necessity for salvation. Jesus mentions the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit as he moves through the world touching people (verse 8). Then Jesus chides Nicodemus for being a master of Israel and not knowing of the things of which Jesus spoke. Jesus then tells Nicodemus that people speak of what they know and that no one knows the Father except the one who comes down from heaven. In verse 14, Jesus comes to the crux of the matter. He says that even as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness by Moses, so also the Son of Man (a favorite name Jesus used for himself) must also be lifted up "that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (verse 15). In this context, verse 16 gives the reason why verses 14 and 15 are true.

"For God so loved the world ..." "For" means "because." Verse 16 is going to show why everything before it is true. Because God "so loved the world ..." Most people read this as "God loved the world so much ..." but this would be wrong. A better reading would be "For God loved the world in this way." Well, in what way did God love the world? The answer is that "he gave his only begotten Son." God's sacrifice of His One and Only Begotten Son is his demonstration of love for the world.

But that begs the question ... what do we mean by "world"? Is it every single human being as our Arminian opponents believe? No, it is not. Why? Because Jesus did not die for the sins of those people who were already in hell at the time of his death(for example). Just excluding that one group demonstrates that Jesus' death was not for every single human. So, you ask, who was it for? "World" in this verse is best seen as "Jews and Gentiles." Let me paraphrase John 3:16 in a way that will show you what I am saying. "For God loved not only the Jews but also the Gentiles in this way, that He gave His only Begotten Son ..." This paraphrase accurately captures the meaning of the verse without doing violence at all to the context.

What happens because God gave his only begotten Son? "So that whosoever believeth ..." Most opponents to Calvinism believe that one word, "whosoever" defeats the entire system of Calvinistic theology. But does it? Strong's Concordance defines "whosoever" as meaning 1. individually as "each, every, all, any, the whole, everyone," 2. collectively as "some of all types." Now that begs the question, each and every who? The answer ... each and every one who believes. The promise of everlasting life is to the believers and not to each and every human on earth. No ... only to believers.

So then John 3:16 can be paraphrased and read like this ...

"Because God loved not only the Jews but also the Gentiles in this way, that He gave His only begotten Son so that all the ones who believe (or each and every one who believes), whether Jew or Gentile, will not perish but have everlasting life."

And this agrees perfectly with verse 15, and also lines up perfectly with all other scriptural verses dealing with who God saves. The passage has nothing at all to do with the doctrine of election, whether for or against. It is simply a promise of God that all those who believe in Jesus as savior, no matter what "tongue, tribe, nation or people" will find eternal life.

So, going back to my cartoon drawing of Jacob Arminius, the caption read "I don't care what you say, I still believe in John 3:16." And you know what? I do too.

2008-12-28T17:16:00.002-09:30

The Christianity Most People Believe

Michael Horton, in his very excellent book Christless Christianity describes the Christian religion that is held by the vast majority of American Evangelicals. He calls it moralistic, therapeutic deism and says it can be summed up thusly:

"1. God created the world.

2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and most world religions.

3. The central goal in life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.

4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when needed to resolve a problem.

5. Good people go to heaven when they die."

(Christless Christianity, pg. 41.)

When I reflect on this, I think this is the belief of a lot of people I know. It is worth thinking about and comparing with Biblical Christianity.

2008-12-27T16:52:00.002-09:30

What Kind of Calvinist is a Baptist?

Generally, the term Calvinist is used for anyone who believes in the 5 points of Calvinism. many people believe that the 5 points originated with John Calvin but this is not so. In fact, they were not even formulated until after Calvin's death.

Jacob Arminius, who was 4 years old when Calvin died, wrote against the Calvinistic doctrine of irresistible grace. This led him to a number of conclusions that conflicted with Calvin's writings. After Arminius died, his followers, called the Remonstrants formulated a document called the Remonstrance which petitioned the National Church in Holland to replace 5 points of stated doctrine with 5 doctrines championed by the Remonstrants. These 5 doctrines were:

1. Partial depravity - Although Arminius taught that man was totally depraved, but that depravity was overcome universally by prevenient grace, the Remonstrants taught that depravity was not total and that man retained enough freedom from the effects of sin to be able to respond to God's grace on his own.

2. Conditional election - that God chose to save those whom He foresaw would make a free will choice to believe in Jesus as savior.

3. Universal atonement - this is explained two ways. First, that Jesus' death did pay for the sins of every human throughout history. All that is needed is man's choice to believe to appropriate the benefits of Christ's death. Second, that Christ's death actually paid for no one's sins but acted to remove the barriers between men and God so that God can accept the sinner's faith and save him.

4. Resistible grace - the Holy Spirit employs every means at His disposal to entice the sinner to accept Christ. However, the Holy Spirit cannot act in any way which violates man's free autonomy. So, the Holy Spirit knocks, pleads, begs, cajoles, and in every way implores the sinner to accept Christ but whether or not the sinner actually accepts Christ ... is up to the sinner alone.

5. Conditional perseverance - the saint remains a saint so long as he continues in the faith. If the saint fails to continue in the faith, he may fall away to the point of losing or renouncing the salvation he has gained. It ought to be noted that Arminius himself was ambivalent on this point. Some of his writings seemed to indicate a believer could lose his salvation and other writings seemed to be against that idea.

The Church of Holland took the Remonstrance under advisement and debated it at the Synod of Dordt (short for Dordtrecht). Since the Remonstrance was a 5 point petition, the Synod answered in 5 points. They rejected the Remonstrance petition and declared that the doctrine formulated by Calvin was correct. As such they said that:

1. Man was totally depraved. And therefore, unable to contribute anything to his own salvation. Therefore, salvation was monergistic. All the work of salvation was done by God to which He calls men to respond.

2. Since man is totally depraved and there is nothing good in him to commend him to God, then election (God's choice of who He will save) has to be unconditional. God chooses who He will save simply because of the pleasure of his good and loving will. We are saved by grace, that is, God's undeserved favor.

3. Limited atonement or particular redemption - Jesus died on the cross as an actual substitute for those that the Father had given him - His people, his sheep, his Church, and so on. In so doing, Jesus actually paid for the sins of those he died for actually accomplishing their redemption.

4. Irresistible grace - this was the point of departure for Arminius. This doctrine says that the Holy Spirit will, by his power, find and draw those whom Christ died for, overcoming their resistance and ultimately ensuring that all of them come to Christ and find forgiveness and salvation.

5. Perseverance of the saints in God - that those whom Christ died for and the Holy Spirit brought to faith will be kept by God from ultimately falling away and dying lost.

When they were published they were called the Canons of Dordt. Later they came to be known as the 5 points of Calvinism.

With this background in mind, I can answer the question of what kind of Calvinist a Baptist can be. As I said in my opening paragraph, generally, everyone who believes in the 5 points are called Calvinists. But let's move past generalities and get to specifics.

Calvinists, more accurately, are those who hold to the doctrine that Calvin expounded. This is going to be Presbyterians, Dutch Reformed, Christian Reformed Church, and others along those lines. Baptists, according to this definition, cannot be Calvinists. So, a Baptist can only be a Calvinist according to the most general definition that I mentioned above.

Reformed Baptists are Calvinistic Baptists. These Baptists are confessional and covenantal. They are confessional in that they hold to the great Baptist confessions of faith like the 1644 London Confession of Faith, or the 1689 Baptist Confession, or the Philadelphia or New Hampshire Confessions. They are covenantal but not in the Presbyterian sense. They hold that those in the covenant are those who profess faith in Christ proving that God has written his laws into their minds and hearts. These Baptists are Calvinists in the sense that they hold to the 5 points and they agree in large part with the Reformed statements of faith of other Reformed Churches. But they diverge with these other Churches on certain key doctrines and hold fast to the Baptist distinctives.

Sovereign Grace Baptists are Baptists who hold to the 5 points as an explanation of how the gospel works. But they would not necessarily hold to the older confessions not would they necessarily be covenantal. But they do hold to the 5 points. In this sense, they would be Calvinists in the general sense of holding the 5 points, but they, themselves, would not call themselves by that nickname.

So Baptists would end up in one of three groups. They might be Calvinistic, leaning towards Calvinist theology but not really being Calvinist. Some might call this group "Reformed leaning." The second group would be the Reformed Baptists. The final group would be the Sovereign Grace Baptists.

These are the senses in which a Baptist might be called "Calvinist." Ultimately, no matter which of these groups (or whatever other group) a person falls into, as a Baptist, as people of the Book, we all need to seek to be Biblical Christians above all else. If our theology is not Biblical theology, it doesn't matter what you call yourself. You are wrong.

I hope this short explanation is useful.

2008-12-26T16:34:00.002-09:30

A Quote from Martin Luther

I have always liked this quote. This is provided courtesy of Apprising Ministries.

"If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefields besides, is mere fight and disgrace if he flinches at that point."

Martin Luther

2008-12-24T11:11:00.002-09:30

From All My Family

Every year has it's ups and downs. 2008 has been no exception. But through it all, we know that the Lord our God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. He stands with us no matter what the year throws at us. And we know Him more and grow closer to Him through it all.

Merry Christmas to all my family, friends, and readers. May God bless you richly and draw you closer to His heart in this holiday season. Enjoy the day and remember these two things ...

It is "Christ"mas, never X-mas.

and Christmas is all about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, our King and God, into the world. May that be a truth never forgotten among Christians.

Merry Christmas.

Pastor John and Family

2008-12-21T10:51:00.003-09:30

This is a repost from February of this year.

What Is The Gospel?

That was a question that was asked to me earlier in the week. It is a question every Christian ought to be able to answer. The Bible tells us to be ready to give an answer to every man for the hope that is within us. More importantly, this is the one question we dare not be wrong about. When I was in the Air Force we had a saying "It is good enough for government work." It meant that if it was close enough to what it was supposed to be it would be good enough. In the matter of the gospel, we dare not settle for "close enough." The gospel is the message of salvation. To be wrong about that is to be giving people a false message. One of the greatest evils that can be inflicted on men (generally) is to tell someone they are assured of going to heaven when they are not. If we are wrong about the gospel, we can put someone's immortal soul in danger. We dare not play games with the gospel.

The word gospel is the Hebrew equivilent of the Greek word evangel, from which we get our words Evangelical and evangelism. It literally means good news. But the good news of Jesus Christ contains both bad and good news. Ray Comfort tells it like this ... If I tell you I have a cure for cancer in my pocket, you would say that was good news. But if you are dying of cancer and I tell you I have a cure in my pocket, then the good news is really good news indeed! The power of Jesus Christ to save people from their sins is good news. But it is never really good news until a person is convinced that they (personally) need to be saved from their sins. As I tell it to my listeners at church, no one is saved believing that God so loved the world ... they get saved when they realize that God so loved them (personally) that He gave His only begotten Son. So the good news is both bad and good news together.

The bad news is that each and every one of us are sinners. God measures us against Himself and we all fall short of perfection. We are sinful in every part of our being so that there is nothing, not a word, an action, a thought, or even a good intent that we can offer God that is not somehow stained with sin. When God looks at us all He sees is sin. All we have to offer God is sin. The Bible says "All our righteousness is as filthy rags." Also, we are told "There is none righteous, no, not one."

And God has judged sin. The Bible says that the "wrath of God abides on them (sinners) already." God has already judged sin and has determined to send sinners to hell. If nothing happens to change this, every human in the world will go to hell.

Worse, there is really nothing we can do about it. Think about what I said above. We don't have anything to offer God except sin. We are already guilty and there is nothing we are capable of doing to make up for it. We are helpless. As the Bible says in one place, we are "without hope."

But God has purposed to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. We cannot go to Him. Human beings cannot bridge the separation between heaven and earth. So God came to us. God set aside his glory and took on the form of a human being. God became one of us. Jesus Christ, the baby born in Bethlehem, was the God-man. 100% God and 100% man and He did what no human could do. He lived a perfect, sinless life. And sinful men took him anyway, and killed him with a criminal's death. When Jesus hung on the cross and was crucified, God poured out all His anger and wrath against sin on Jesus. So Jesus paid the price for sin, Infinite God paid an infinite price and now God calls on sinners everywhere to turn to Jesus and believe that He died for them personally.

Let me be more clear. Jesus died for sinful men. And every sinner .... every sinner ... who comes to Jesus, confessing his sinful helplessness and asks for mercy ... finds it. A lot is made in some churches about a "sinner's prayer." There is only one sinner's prayer recorded in the Bible "God have mercy on me, a sinner."

The Bible tells us that such sinners have had their sins imputed to Jesus ... that means counted to his account. And at the time when you believe that Jesus died for YOU you have Jesus' perfect life counted to your account. Jesus was judged as though he were you so that you could be judged as though you were him! And that, my friend, is very good news.

If Jesus Christ is your savior ... you will know. Have you read this post and said to yourself, "I know that Jesus died for me"? The Bible says that "The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God." If Jesus is your savior than confess him as such. If we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus Christ, then we will be saved.

And if Jesus is your savior then he is also your Lord. He is the God-man. He is savior and God. If you are his then he owns you. The Bible says that "If he died for us then we ought to live for him." Jesus is alive today, at the right hand of the Father. One day, he will return to gather all his people to himself and take them to be with him wherever he is at.

Sinful men have no hope to save themselves. But God comes and saves us. He does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He did it in the person of the God-man, Jesus Christ. Jesus saves every sinful person who comes to him for mercy and salvation. Even if we die in our physical bodies, God takes us to heaven to be with our Lord, Jesus. One day, Jesus will come again and gather all his people, those on earth and those in heaven, to himself so he can enjoy them forever. That is the good news.

The Bible says that God calls men everywhere to repent. That means to turn from your old ways of thinking and to believe in Jesus Christ. There is nothing you can add to what Jesus did for you. Believe it. Confess it. Live it. Remember the old Christian hymn ... "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind but now I see."

2008-12-21T09:52:00.003-09:30

The Elephant in the Room

I have learned that truth in Christianity is usually balanced. Now that does not mean that one cannot be excessively zealous for the truth. But the truth itself is balanced. When you hear something that seems extreme, or fringe, it usually is. John Calvin once said that when the Bible speaks, we speak. But when the Bible is silent, we dare not speak. Those are wise words that are worth remembering.

There is such a thing as Biblical Calvinism. It is a high truth, full of God glorifying doctrine and a biblical worldview that carries through our daily lives. You can read about that Biblical Calvinism here at http://www.seeking4truth.com/5_points.htm . But it has been noted by others that wherever Biblical Calvinism can be found there is a danger of Hypercalvinism appearing. This is of interest to us today because there are many, including some in the SBC leadership, who warn about the dangers of Hypercalvinism and then try to lump Biblical Calvinists into that group, trying to make them all look the same. But they are not the same.

Hypercalvinism is what one gets if one takes biblical doctrine then goes beyond what the Bible says. Hypercalvinism teaches that God works without means. In other words, if one is elect, then God will save that person even if they never hear the gospel or believe in Jesus as savior. Hypercalvinism teaches that since there is an elect people, we need not evangelize. Since God is completely sovereign over all things then man is not responsible for his sin. Since Christ died for his people then the gospel is not genuinely offered to those who are not elect. God does not love all the human race. And other such teachings. All these are found within the boundaries of Hypercalvinism. But none of them are biblical. All of them are, as the Hypercalvinists would say, the logical conclusions that you would get if you followed Biblical Calvinism to it's ends. But no Biblical Calvinist teaches these things. Hypercalvinism is wrong because it goes beyond what the Bible teaches. All these things I have mentioned are NOT taught in the Bible. Nor can they be derived from the Bible's true teaching.

God uses the means of the gospel and faithful preachers and witnesses to bring his chosen people to faith in Christ. God uses means. God is sovereign over all things and man is responsible for his sin. Christ did dies for God's elect people and we still must be zealous for evangelism and missions. Christ is genuinely offered every time the gospel is faithfully presented. God does have a love for all the human race. He just loves his Bride more. As Calvin said, when the Bible speaks, we must speak .. but where it is silent we dare not speak. Hypercalvinism presumes to speak for God things He has not said. And it leads people to bad conclusions.

Hear me here. Hypercalvinism is not just an error, it is a heresy. Hypercalvinism is not a Christian teaching. It is outside the faith. That is why we must be on guard against it. Remember that wherever true Biblical Calvinism is found, there is always a danger of Hypercalvinism appearing. We must watch for it and repudiate it whenever we find it.

As Christians, it is our goal to be biblical Christians. We err greatly if we speak where God has not spoken. Calvinism in it's totality is a beautiful and God honoring doctrine. But it is an ugly thing in it's perversions. May God fill our present generation with God honoring and Biblical Christians. Anything else is just ... well ... something else.

2008-12-13T15:28:00.002-09:30

Practical Christianity

Doctrine is important. You cannot have a Christian faith without doctrine. I have met many people who profess not to have doctrine (they "just believe in Jesus"). But even saying that makes them have a doctrine. The word "doctrine" means teaching. Your doctrines are your beliefs.

It has been said though, that the longest distance in Christianity is the distance between the head and the heart. Lots of people know a lot of doctrine. But not a lot of people are living out the things they say they believe. One author recently said that the greatest need of Christianity in this day is a revival of holiness. That is, Christians who live like Christians.

This is called Practical Christianity. Putting the things we believe into practice. It is actually antithetical to Christianity to have a separation between the mind and the heart. The Holy Spirit uses the word of God in our minds to create in us a new heart, in fact, a new nature. When we become Christians we are different than we were before. But this difference has practical implications. To be a Christian means something.

Let me speak bluntly. The world ought to be a better place because Christians are in it. Your world, the place you live, ought to be better because you are there. Christians are concerned with peace, not fighting or being quarrelsome. Your boss ought to be getting a full day's work out of you. Christians don't cheat their employers out of a fair day's work for a fair day's pay. Our creditors should expect us to pay our debts. We ought to be ready to step out and help those people who need our help, whenever we can. People who come to us for mercy should find it. We know how much mercy was shown to us in Christ. When we do the right thing people should not be surprised. We should always do our best to do what is right. Lies and deceit are of the devil. Christians are slaves of our Lord, who is truth itself. Words like life, justice, freedom, mercy, grace, and yes ... love ... these are words that ought to come easy to a Christian. They are things people should see in us without too much effort.

The apostle Paul talks about the fragrance of our Christian lives. John Piper speaks about the ambiance ... the aroma of our lives. Wherever we go ought to be the aroma of Christ. Where we are, there He is. He is found wherever we are found. At least that is the way it ought to be. It ought to be that way, but too often it is not. And that is a problem. If we are going to be true Biblical Christians then we need to have orthodoxy and orthopraxy. Right doctrine and right living.

We live in a black world. If people are going to see the light of Christ it is going to be in the lives and the testimonies of God's people as they carry Him (Christ) with them wherever they go. These are hard things to do. John Calvin once said it is easy to preach ten sermons and hard to live one. But these are things we have to do. Indeed, as people who have the Holy Spirit inside them and who hear the voice of God ... these are things we are compelled to do. It is nothing more and nothing less than being what we are.

2008-11-27T18:40:00.002-09:30

An Old Discussion Resurrected

One charge against Protestant Christians that is often made by Roman Catholics is that Protestants have no connection to a historic faith. They believe the doctrine of sola scriptura (scripture alone) and the doctrine of soul liberty (every soul is competent before God to worship for him or herself) create conditions that allows every professing believer to invent a Christianity of their own. In a sense, this is true. But that is a topic for another post.

But the way the Roman Catholics argue it, it is not true. They are arguing that Protestants have cut themselves off from history and therefore, they have no connection to the church of the apostles. I spoke to this topic some months back and I wanted to repost that original post. I find that not only do Roman Catholics get it wrong, but many Protestants are confused about the relationship of tradition to the faith of those who hold to sola scriptura.

Beyond this, there are some who think that if a preacher quotes another preacher that he is not doing his own work. It is believed by some that such a preacher is living off other preachers. But is that true? Is that a reason not to quote from preachers of the past? I think rather, that we must quote from preachers of the past. Hopefully, this blog post will explain why.

In light of all that, I offer this explanation.

Why do we quote the writings of other preachers in our sermons? I have noticed a disturbing trend among some groups of Christians recently. It is disturbing because it opens the door to serious error coming into the Church. It is the tendency to cut ourselves off from church history. When we are cut off from church history then we can't learn the lessons of the church and we do not know the traditions of the church throughout it's history.

Yes, I used the "t" word ... tradition. We Protestants have a bad feeling about that word because of the Roman Catholic teaching that "Sacred Tradition" holds an equal authority over the Church as "Sacred Scripture." But we Protestants hold to sola scriptura (scripture alone) which tells us nothing is binding on the Christian for beliefs and life that cannot be proven from scripture. But there is a tradition of the Church, and yes, we test it against the Bible, yet, we let it also help guide us in our interpretations of the Bible.

If I am reading my Bible and I interpret my Bible a certain way, how can I know my interpretation is an orthodox interpretation? I am defining an orthodox interpretation as an interpretation of scripture which has been allowed as being within the true stream of Christian faith throughout the history of the Church. If I develop an interpretation of the Bible that agrees with a position which the church has held to be heretical, then I need to rethink my interpretation. If I develop an interpretation of scripture and I look back on church history and find that the church has allowed it as an orthodox interpretation, even if it is a minority position, it is still within the boundaries of orthodoxy.

So, why do I quote other preachers when I preach? Because it is important to my people to know that I am not teaching new doctrine. Jude, in his letter, speaks of the "faith once and for all delivered to the saints." There is a body of truth that comprises the "apostolic faith." I want my people to know that what I preach is Christian orthodoxy. By connecting my teaching with the teaching of other credible Christians from the past (and present) I can demonstrate that our teaching and our church is part of the faith stream of historic Christian orthodoxy.

Today, we live in a time when people have a "blender Christianity." People take a little Bible, a little Dr. Phil, a little Oprah, a little what sounds good and fair to them, toss it into a blender and mix it all together, and voila! Personalized Christianity. In my personal experience, much of this blender faith is sub-christian. Some of it is outright heresy. How can we oppose it without a way to know what is right and acceptable? Some will say "We have the Bible." It is true that we have the Bible. But both orthodox Christians and non christian cultists claim to base their beliefs on the Bible. How can we tell the difference? What makes the Baptist way of interpreting the Bible better than the Mormon way of interpreting the Bible? Because the Baptist way falls within the historic orthodox faith and Mormonism does not. If two people both read the Bible and come to opposite conclusions about what it teaches, the difference between right and wrong is what is acceptable to the church. Otherwise, you are left with each person doing what is right in his or her own eyes.

This sense of connectedness with church history is critically important to us today. I will tell you the truth... every ancient heresy is today taught in evangelical pulpits in the United States. People who do not know the past are doomed to repeat it ... and we see the truth of that saying in our churches today.

That is why I quote preachers and theologians from the past and present. I connect my teaching with the historic church's teaching. The first church, first of all, devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching. It is not my goal to be teaching new things to my church but rather old things, the faith once and for all time delivered to the saints. Because to be outside of that faith is to be outside the church.

2008-11-21T16:05:00.000-09:30

Another Timely Quote

"The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them...providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the church...the need is for Biblical doctrine, so understood and felt that it sets men aflame.”

Charles H. Spurgeon
Baptist Pastor

2008-11-20T19:15:00.002-09:30

A Worthwhile Quote

"A preacher's life should be a commentary on his doctrine; his practice should be a counterpart of his sermons. Heavenly doctrines should always be adorned with a heavenly life."

Thomas Watson
Puritan

2008-11-10T19:04:00.002-09:30

A Curiosity

From the Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) on Saturday, November 1st, 2008, it was reported that a local Methodist church would be hosting a U2Charist service. This is supposed to be a time to use the music of U2 while determining what the church can do to help with such global problems as world hunger, global warming and other such issues. I report it as is and ask this ... is there anything sacred anymore? Perhaps not.

2008-11-08T17:28:00.002-09:30

I am alive ...

I am alive. I am still in shock after this past week's presidential elections. I am angry and depressed over the outcome and I am still trying to figure out how to respond. I will post another blog entry when I have something to say. But I wanted my readers to know that I haven't died or been raptured or dropped off the face of the earth.

2008-10-31T19:12:00.002-09:30

Happy Reformation Day!

This is sort of a follow up to my last post. I am sorry to those of you who read this blog, but recently my health has not been good and I have had several pressing family matters to attend to. Things are returning to a state of normalcy (for me anyway), so I will be able to devote the attention to this blog that it deserves.

Anyway, much of the secular world, at least in the United States, is caught up in Halloween celebrations. Parents are dressing their children up in costumes so they can go out and collect candy from their neighbors. But Halloween has a much more significant place in history then simply the day when people dress fully and get candy.

It was on October 31st, 1517 that the Augustinian priest, Martin Luther, nailed his 95 Thesis to the castle church door in Wittenburg, Germany and touched off the Protestant Reformation. Rome has become corrupt at the time. Church offices were bought and sold, the faithful, even priests were often biblically illiterate. Salvation was sold for a coin to help build Saint Peter's basilica in Rome. Superstition ruled except where money had more power.

But one man thought to challenge the corruption of the Church and it's powerful leaders. One man who has studied what the Bible taught and compared the Church to scripture and found the Church coming up short. One man had a vision to re-form the Church according to scripture, putting every practice, belief, council and pope under the authority of the scriptures. One man who exalted scripture because it led him to the God of the scriptures. One man whose "conscience was captive to the word of God."

Martin Luther's challenge to the Church opened the door to the others who would come after him. Men like Calvin, Zwingli, Knox, and many others. One man led others to take up his challenge and so change the course of history.

We live in dark times as far as Christianity goes in North America. We could use men (and woman) like Luther again. People who are zealous students of scripture and who are not afraid to order their lives and their churches according to the word of God. We should ask ourselves where such people can be found. They are rare. Great, visionary leaders usually are. But I believe they are out there. Maybe one is sitting in your chair right now, reading these words? Maybe it is worth thinking about. Maybe.

2008-10-13T21:30:00.003-09:30

"My conscience is captive to the word of God..."

I was watching the newer version of the movie "Luther" tonight. It is a good movie. Who among us can help but be moved during Luther's great defense of himself at the Diet of Worms? Luther stood against every pressure to recant what he had written and go back to confessing the doctrines of Rome as his accepted truth.

Our time in history, our churches, our souls have turned decadent. Christians, by and large today, look just like the unsaved world around us. Theology used to be the queen of the sciences, because it was once thought that the highest knowledge was the knowledge of God. But no more. Churches were granted tax exempt status in their communities because it was believed that the preaching and teaching of Christ produced better citizens and therefore, benefited the community. Now, local and state governments are wondering if that is true anymore. The gospel preached today is all about me ... man centered ... self glorifying. It is all about what God can do for me or what God owes me. The god most people pray to is a cosmic candy man who grants wishes just like the genie in the story of Aladdin's Lamp. Except among a remnant, the God of scripture seems to be unknown (or certainly unprofessed) among Christians today. Instead of finding men like the prophets of old, today we have preachers who want to be relational, nonconfrontational, happy, and as much like the people they preach to as they can be. Holy living is considered judgmental. Grace is an excuse for lawlessness. It is like seeing the worst traits of all seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 all rolled into one.

But what would a family look like, or a church, or a community, or a denomination, if Christians were to be like Luther, whose conscience was captive to the word of God? How would things in your life be changed if you knew such a person? How about if YOU were such a person?

O Lord, send us Christians whose consciences are captive to the word of God! Send us Christians again like Luther, Knox, Whitefield and Spurgeon. Let the word of God be proclaimed from sea to sea in the United States from the lips and the lives of fearless Christians who are slaves to the Sovereign Lord of Glory! O Lord, show us our sin, individually and collectively, and let us taste the bitter cup of your discipline. But after our brokenness and repentance, let us taste the sweet taste of your grace and mercy once again. And do it all O God, for the glory of Your Holy Name.

Spurgeon once asked, "Here is the day for the man, but where is the man for the day?" Are you one whose "conscience is captive to the word of God"? If not, why not? How much longer will we have to wait until Christians emerge who are hopelessly, fearlessly, faithfully, zealously, passionately sold out to the word of God and to the God of the word? With all my heart, I hope it is not too long.

2008-10-09T19:55:00.002-09:30

A Recommendation

My friends, I wanted to recommend a preacher to you in this blog post. I have met some fine ones over time. I have personally heard Dr. John Piper and R.C. Sproul. Though I have never heard him in person, I have listened to the messages of Dr. John MacArthur for years. I have heard Dr. Al Mohler, the President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, several times. I have been exposed to some phenomenal preaching. I have been able to hear some preaching from some Not-so-well-known preachers. One such is Dr. Tony Mattia of Kansas. All these men and more are very good preachers. A Christian would be very edified if they could find their messages and listen to them.

But there is a preacher who has recently (within the last year or two) come on the scene. He is not flashy. He doesn't yell much. But he tells the truth in a way that grips you and let's you know that he knows what he is talking about. This preacher's name is Paul Washer. He is a former IMB missionary for the Southern Baptist Convention. Now, he preaches wherever he is invited. He has a message that will challenge your heart and make you think about hard things.

There is a book I found some years ago by the Puritan preacher Matthew Mead called "The Almost Christian Discovered." It was a sobering book. Well, Paul Washer's messages are sobering messages. He oftentimes is not invited back to speak again. He messages are disturbing in our man centered world and our man centered churches.

I invite you to go to sermonaudio.com and listen to this preacher. Pick any of his messages. You will not fail to be edified by any one of them. But beware, he will expose your hypocrisy, your mediocrity, your false Christianity, your veneer of moral religion. He will teach you what true faith in Christ involves.

Truth telling is almost a lost art in our modern churches. I invite you hear a plain talking, truth telling preacher. His message is one we all need to think about seriously. Thanks.

2008-10-07T18:50:00.001-09:30

How Heresy Gets In ....

"When heresy rises in an evangelical body, it is never frank and open. It always begins by skulking, and assuming a disguise. Its advocates, when together, boast of great improvements, and congratulate one another on having gone greatly beyond the “old dead orthodoxy,” and on having left behind many of its antiquated errors: but when taxed with deviations from the received faith, they complain of the unreasonableness of their accusers, as they “differ from it only in words.” This has been the standing course of errorists ever since the apostolic age. They are almost never honest and candid as a party, until they gain strength enough to be sure of some degree of popularity. Thus it was with Arius in the fourth century, with Pelagius in the fifth, with Arminius and his companions in the seventeenth, with Amyraut and his associates in France soon afterwards, and with the Unitarians in Massachusetts, toward the close of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries [& hyperpreterists in the twenty-first century -- my addition because it fits so well]. They denied their real tenets, evaded examination or inquiry, declaimed against their accusers as merciless bigots and heresy-hunters, and strove as long as they could to appear to agree with the most orthodox of their neighbours; until the time came when, partly from inability any longer to cover up their sentiments, and partly because they felt strong enough to come out, they at length avowed their real opinions." Samuel Miller, 1841

2008-09-24T18:01:00.003-09:30

Dealing With People Who Are Different Than Us

Some of the easiest things to say as a Christian are some of the hardest things to do. This is never so true as when it comes to dealing with people who are different than us. I am talking about people who hold to different belief systems than we do. When we think of our response to such people, we find ourselves thinking in two different directions. We will find that, generally, we can break the world down into two different major people groups ... the lost and the saved. Our response to each group has certain similarities and also certain differences.

If we determine that the person we are dealing with is lost, the Bible gives us some guidelines in dealing with them. First, we are to love them. Here is that part that is easy to say and hard to do. Yes, we owe them our love. We also owe it to them to give them the gospel message, the good news of the forgiveness of sins and of new life through saving faith in Jesus Christ the Lord. We owe it to them to respect them. Even lost, they are bearers of the image of God that is present within every human being. And since we don't know whom God will choose to be merciful to, every lost person we meet may one day be a saved person ... a brother or sister in Jesus Christ. We owe it to them to treat them like a person who will one day be a partaker of the Holy Spirit with us. We owe them love, respect, and the gospel, until the day comes when we are led of the Spirit to shake the dust off our shoes and move on. Remember, some plant, others water, but God gives the increase. It is not every one of us who get to see a person come to conversion. Some are planters, some are waterers, and yet others see the increase. We need to learn to treat lost people with love, respect, honesty, integrity, mercy, justice, good works, and all such good as comes from God. We are the Ambassadors of Christ to the world. They should see Him in us. We owe them that.

These are the same things that we owe to other Christians who differ from us. This is easy to say, but it is extremely hard to do. But we must learn this lesson. If we determine that someone has a credible profession of faith in Jesus Christ then we must be about everything we can do to show that person that we love them. One writer, I cannot remember who right now, said that the Holy Spirit within us calls out to the Holy Spirit in them, knitting us together in the bonds of God's love for Himself. That is why it is such a sin to refuse to attend a local congregation. Because if we say we love Jesus then we automatically must love his people too. And you want to fellowship closely with the one you love.

But even more is that the quality of love that we have one for another is of such a quality that even lost people see it and know that we are followers of Jesus by how we (Christians) love one another. It is a superior kind of love that can only be from the source of the Presence of God living within us.

We can find all kinds of reasons NOT to relate to each other with this kind of love, but honestly, we are only rationalizing our sin. Our flesh loves to be offended, loves to get the dirt, and loves the fight. But that is not the way of the kingdom of God. Love, respect, civility, mercy, justice, good works ... these are the things we owe each other as Christians. We are Christ's brothers and sisters ... kings and priests ... members of His own Body. We have the illumination of the Holy Spirit inside us. We hear God's voice. We owe it to each other as Christians to let our fellow brothers and sisters see Him in us.

It is easy to say. It is hard to do. There is a quote from John Calvin that says "It is easy to preach 10 sermons. It is hard to live one." I find that to be very true.

In theology, in the Church, there are sometimes great differences between Christians. There are differences between various denominations. There are differences between systems of theology. There are differences on how to run the Church. Goodness ... there are differences on almost every conceivable topic. Some of these differences are minor. Others are of major importance as to defining who we are as Christians. They ought to be debated ... zealously, vigorously, passionately .. but always as Christian debating Christian. We should expect it from each other. We should demand it from each other. We should also expect and demand it from ourselves too. I confess that in my dealings with others, I am less than the perfect role model for this post. But I take heart that I am a jar of clay and the Master Potter is not yet done with me. Even as I grow older, I know there is much yet for me to learn. I suspect I am not alone in this, but isn't repentance also part of the sanctified Christian life?

Christ prayed that we would be unified as Christians. Even though the Church seems hopelessly divided, if we are in Christ, there is much more that united us than separates us. We need to stop doing as much damage as possible to other Christians and learn to love each other as Christ commanded us. Anything less is simply unchristian.

2008-09-19T16:45:00.002-09:30

Precious Time

In James 4 we are reminded of this great truth ... "Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what [shall be] on the morrow. For what [is] your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye [ought] to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." (James 4: 13-15).

Time is one thing, I think, we all take for granted. We waste so much of it. And once an hour, or a minute, or a second is gone, it is gone. It can never be regained. But all of us are only granted so much life. In Job, we are told "Seeing his days [are] determined, the number of his months [are] with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass" (Job 14:5). God has our days numbered. Before we are born the Lord knows the time of our dying. It is a conceit of the young that they live under the illusion of immortality. But how many people who ought to know better still live as though they will never die. They spend their lives fighting God because they think they will never face Him. Scripture also tells us that "It is appointed unto men to die once and after this the judgment." (Heb. 9:27). In the history of the human race, only two people have gone to heaven without dying (Enoch and Elijah) and one died and came back to live forever. All the rest have died and passed on into eternity.

The point of all this is to remind my readers that the time we have on earth is precious to us. It is limited. Ask yourself how your life might change if you were told by your doctor that you had only a few months, or a year or so, to live. But the scripture passage I quoted at the start of this blog post reminds us that it is presumption on our part to assume we are going to be alive to see our beds tonight. We don't know, when we wake up in the morning, if this is not going to be our last day on the earth. We could be struck down by an unknown (or known) illness, a terrorist attack, a drunken driver, or our own careless stupidity. Any number of things could happen to us. And we would find ourselves suddenly facing God.

The late Walter Martin had it right when he said "We need to live our lives as though we don't expect to see Jesus for another thousand years; we need to live each day as though we expect to see him tonight." The thing you are doing now may be the last thing you do in this life. Therefore, make it worth doing. Enjoy your time. Savor it. When you leave for work tomorrow, take time to really say something to your children. Kiss your spouse and enjoy it. You may not ever have another. Take time to smell the roses along the way. Life your life in a way that is worth living if it were to be the last thing you ever do.

Life is a gift from God. Don't squander it. Make it count for something. Make it count for God. Whether you have a lot of life left, or a short time left on earth, you don't know. That knowledge is in God's hand. But whatever time you have, use it wisely and with all your might. Live life! To the glory of God alone! But live it! And do your best to not waste a second of it. Remember, once it is gone, it is lost forever. So try not to lose any precious time.

2008-09-01T17:31:00.002-09:30

Becoming Like Jesus

Imagine there is a line that separates being Christian from being worldly. Much of modern North American Christianity spends it's time trying to get as close to that line as possible and still stay on the Christian side. Of course, that is a recipe for failure. Those of us who believe the doctrine of total depravity know that humans default to sin. If we are not careful we always lean towards sin. So, that line we talked about gets crossed quite often. Or it gets straddled. Either way you end up with professing Christians living worldly lives. Ask yourself how long it has been since you have heard a sermon in church on worldliness. Yet, the Holy Scriptures tell us that to be a friend of the world is to be an enemy of God.

I was listening to a well known seminary professor recently and he was mentioning the current trend to talk about doing deeds for Jesus. He spoke of how we (North American Christians) have come to believe that we believe the right things and that we simply aren't living them out. He quoted a well known Evangelical preacher who said that the first Reformation was about creeds and now we need a second reformation that is focused on deeds. But then this seminary professor goes on to point out that we are living out our beliefs. An old Baptist adage says "Right belief leads to right living." If that is true, then it also follows that the more we deviate from right beliefs the more we will deviate from right living.

Foundational among our beliefs is the belief that the Bible is the Holy Word of God. Jesus Christ is the Living Word, but the Bible is the written word of God. Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. We receive the Bible as Moses received the stone tablets on Mt. Sinai. Those tablets were written with the fiery finger of God and the Holy Scriptures were written by the Spirit of the Living God through the hands of His chosen writers. We call the Scriptures inerrant and infallible. And so they are. We call ourselves "People of the Book." And so we are. We make nothing binding on a Christian that can not be clearly shown from the Word of God. It is our "final rule for faith and practice." Yet for all that, we tent to take the commands of God as divine suggestions and we bend it's teachings so as to make ourselves comfortable in our modern, worldly lifestyles.

Beloved, how do we become like Jesus? I will tell you how. We must remember what we say we believe about the Bible, the Holy Word of God. Then we need to make that belief a part of our innermost being. Then we need to read the Bible and receive it as words spoken to us from on high. Then, and this is the hard part, when we find something we are not doing, we must do it. IF we find something we are doing that we ought not to do, we must stop it. Above all we need to quit arguing with the Word, reinterpreting the Word, changing the Word, ignoring the Word and (in short) quit disbelieving the Word. We must stop treating God's commands as suggestions to be obeyed or not as we wish. Believing every one of us ought to be Bible Christians we need to know that ignorance is not bliss. We need to twist, bend, or break our lives to make them conform to the Word of God. Is it not true, that all too often we twist the Word of God to make it conform to our lifestyles?

Beloved friend, be a Bible believing and Bible living and Biblically conformed Christian and then you will be like Jesus. That is the goal for every one of us ... Christlikeness.

2008-08-25T15:38:00.002-09:30

"Do Unto Others ..."

This is a reprise of a post I wrote a little bit over a year ago.

Scripture tells us "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." (Matt. 7:12). And most people interpret this passage straightforwardly enough. Whatever you want other people to do you, do that to them. Or, put another way, treat other people the same way you want them to treat you. If a person were to do just this much, they would be doing well.

But I was reading the puritan commentator Matthew Henry on this passage and he added a whole new level of meaning for me. In Henry's thoughts, to be able to do unto others, you first have to put yourself into that person's position and then treat them as you would want to be treated if you were them. Let me explain further. In deciding how to relate to a single mother of two children, first we would have to put ourselves in the place of a single mother of two children and then treat her the same way we would want to be treated if WE were a single mother of two children.

Once you let your mind wrap itself around this idea, the implications can be unsettling if not outright frightening. How would we relate to a prostitute? A skid row drug addict? A teenager struggling with an unwanted pregnancy? A ex-con? The list is endless. But the answer is this ... that we must first put ourselves in their position and then treat them as we would want to be treated if we were them. Then we Christians would come to learn how to "love our neighbor as ourselves..."

It is not enough to simply treat someone well. That is a surface response to Jesus' words. Surface responses are for baby Christians. But the mature believer must go beyond the simple meaning of the words to the intent of the words. To be able to do unto others as Jesus commanded we have to be able to empathize with them. We need to know who the others are before we can do unto them we want to have them do unto us.

Too often communication breaks down because people talk at each other and not to each other. To really communicate we need to be able to "walk a mile in the other person's shoes." When we can see a situation from their point of view, then we are ready to decide how we are going to relate to them.

In my mind, Matthew Henry hit the nail right on the head. He shows us what it really means to go out and obey Jesus' command to "do unto others whatsoever we would have them do unto [us]." In this area, it is time for Christians to quit behaving like children and begin to walk like mature believers.

2008-08-20T16:32:00.002-09:30

Who is my Neighbor?

That is the question, isn't it? There is no question at all about the meaning of "love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength." But then there is that "love your neighbor as yourself" line that gives us trouble. It begs the question "Who is my neighbor?"

Many Christians attempt to limit the meaning of "neighbor" to mean only other Christians. Now it is true that we are supposed to love our brothers and sisters in Jesus. Matthew Henry reminds us that the Holy Spirit in us calls out to the Holy Spirit who indwells our brothers and sisters and since God's love for himself is the greatest love of all, the Spirit in us causes us to feel genuine love for those who are also indwelt by the same Spirit.

But according to Strong's concordance, Christ has not given us this option. Not really. According to Strong, Christ intends for this word "neighbor" to mean (to the Christian) any person with whom we are acquainted or any person with whom we might come into contact with. In other words, our neighbor is anyone we know or anyone we come to know. Pretty much any person you have contact with.

Jesus told us that it is easy to do nice things for people who do nice things for us. He said even sinners do the same. But it is harder to do nice things for people who treat us badly. That is the Christian thing to do. Likewise, it is easy to "love" or at least have a genuine fondness for, those who are close to us. It is harder to love those who are unlovable to us yet who the Lord brings into our lives. But that is the Christian thing we are called to do.

The point I want to make with this post is this ... we are most comfortable loving people we are comfortable with. In that, we work hard to shrink the circle of who is our neighbor. We try to make it so that less and less people are our neighbor, so there are less people we have to deal with in order to be obedient to Jesus. But this is a great error. Instead of shrinking our circle, we should be trying to enlarge it as much as we can. We should be liberal, yes, very liberal, in the exercise of our love given to our fellow human beings.

Our neighbor is not a small few whom we have to deal with. It is everybody who crosses our path, no matter how briefly. Our neighbor, frankly, is everyone we meet.

2008-08-17T20:02:00.002-09:30

The Weapons of our Warfare

Some people just don't get it. I am thinking of two groups of people. One group of people would try to further Christianity and slow the spread of evil by trying to get the right people elected into political office. The other group would try to slow the spread of evil by killing or bombing those they think perpetrate it. Both instances are groups of so called Christian people.

But in all seriousness, we cannot win the world by taking up the weapons of the world. Politics has proven it's inability to help the Church. Not too many years we had a Republican Congress and a Republican President. These were people who all said the right things that Evangelical voters wanted to hear. I was there. I was moved by the rhetoric. But years later, nothing in the nation had really been changed.

Then when you look at the people who think that killing abortionists or blowing up abortion clinics is the way to fight that particular evil. But we still (as a nation) put to death over a million babies a year. And violence has only further hardened the world to the message of new life in Jesus Christ. But even discounting that, for all the ones that have been killed, and the clinics that have been blown up, nothing has really changed.

I recall a quote that said "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." Obviously, using the world's ways has accomplished nothing. Perhaps it is time we started to fight with the weapons that God has given to His Church.

The Church's only weapon against the evil of this world is the Holy Bible. God's Holy Word is truth. The gospel is our message. It is the "power of God unto salvation." We seem willing to trust everything else except the scriptures. We are quick to trust our own wiles and our own power and ignore God's wisdom and God's power. We engage the culture through argument and debate. We write, we teach, we discuss, we debate and we hammer home the truth contained in the scriptures.

Christian, if you feel the need to be armed against the world, don't take up a gun, take up your Bible. The power of the word preached backed up by a holy lifestyle is an argument the devil himself can't refute. We Christians are in a war. We are in combat every minute of every day. Charles Spurgeon once told his church that the Christian life was a battlefield not a playground. We are only given two weapons by God to help us win in our combat, prayer and the preaching of the word. Pity that so few use them.

2008-08-17T07:27:00.002-09:30

Antithesis

One thing you don't hear much about in Christian circles is the problem of worldliness. Worldliness is defined as having thinking, actions, or motivations that are the same as those of the unsaved world. Actions, of course, include all sin. But any action motivated by the same motivation as the world (no matter how good or moral that action may be) is a worldly action. Thinking like the world is pretty much self-explanatory. Motivations of the world are allowing your decisions to be caused by the same motives as those that drive unsaved people. Greed, power, hatred, racism, prejudice, lust, and all the attendant other motives are those that make lost people do what they do.

We are called to be different than the world. It is more than simply saying we ought to have higher thinking, actions, and motives as the world has. In the Kingdom of Heaven what is weak in the world is powerful there. What is powerful in the world is weak there. We are supposed to think with the mind of Christ. Our actions are supposed to come from a heart that is free from the slavery to sin. Our motives are to come from the voice of the Holy Spirit in our hearts shown to us by the Scriptures.

The heart of the Christian is the antithesis of the world. Humility, peace, joy, love, faith, purity, good, right actions, justice, care for the poor, championing the helpless and beaten down. These are the things that drive us. The Christian heart is turned outward. It gives of itself. Above all, we give ourselves to the glory of God. We give ourselves to our fellow Christians, then to our fellow humans, finally we give ourselves to ourselves. But it is us last of all.

This is exactly the opposite of the way the world thinks. Everything is our world screams of self centeredness. But everything is the Kingdom of Heaven screams of "other-centeredness."

I suggest there are times when we need to step back and do a self assessment to make sure we really do think with the mind of Christ, that we really behave in a Christian way, and that our decisions really are based on God-centered motivations. The power of the Church is not to be as much like the world as we can be (and still call ourselves "Christians"). Our power comes from God, who is the antithesis of the world.

2008-08-11T04:15:00.002-09:30

May It Never Be Among Christians!

This post is going to be short and to the point.

I was reading my local newspaper late last week. As I turned to the nation section I saw a headline at the top of the page. The headline announced that racism is expected to increase if Barak Obama is elected President. I gave that one a lot of thought.

Racism is to discriminate against a person or group, in any way, based on the color of the person's skin. Christian, listen to me .. may it never be named among us!

Scripture, in Revelation 5 talks about God gathering people to Himself. They come from every tongue, tribe, nation, and people. What is not mentioned there is race. There is only one race of people on the earth ... the human race. We are all descendants of Adam and Eve. We are all children of the sons of Noah. It doesn't matter what color a person's skin is, we are all related to each other. We are all of the same race.

I have a quote on a card that I keep framed on the wall of my office. It is supposed to have come from Pastor Church Swindoll. It says "All of life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it." Christian, whether Obama is our next President is in God's hands. But whether we choose to hate, or to hate black people or white people or some other people, that is up to us. We have the indwelling Holy Spirit. We are joined with every other Christian in the world. We hear the voice of God. Racism is a sin that ought never to be found in the Christian heart. "Love your neighbor as yourself" ... these are the words of our Sovereign Lord Himself. Let THIS be what we are known for.

If Obama becoming President is enough to make you start wanting to hate black people (or some other group of people) then you seriously need to spend some time on your knees before God's throne. And that is all there is to say about that.