Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
The Path of the Cross
Over the past few years I have become increasingly more aware of the different ways that people present the Gospel. Some preach a twisted, perverted form of the Gospel which I have addressed in past blogs, but other present the true Gospel in partial form. (And there are several who present the True Gospel in complete form) What do I mean by this partial form? Well, this happens in several different ways and I am not condemning them. The potential problem is though that when we don't present the complete gospel then we can set the listeners up for failure. Now I know philosophically we can say that we should do the best we can and God will take care of the rest. I agree with that to a point, but the scriptures are very clear in the way that Jesus and the Apostles presented the Gospel...so why shouldn't we do the same?
There are two aspects biblically to the Gospel. There is the definition and the presentation. The definition is simply that Christ died for our sins and was buried. He rose again on the third day and then ascended to heaven to the Father's right Hand where he waits for his return. So we know that these are the obvious facts of the Gospel, but how do we make the Gospel real in our lives? How do we share with others how they can have their sins forgiven. Now make no mistake that there is a distinction between us having our sins forgiven and the Gospel. Having our sins forgiven is the outcome of making the Gospel real in our lives. It is like taking a pill and getting better. We don't go to the bottle and ask it to make us better, we simply submit and commit to the instructions by obeying them and trusting that it will work. If we don't submit and commit to the instructions and only take one out of the four pills we were supposed to take then the medicine doesn't work.
So how do we make it real in our lives and share it with others. The instructions are simple... submit and commit to Christ. We submit by taking up our cross which is true repentance and commit our trust and lives to him by crying out for him to save and lead us. The problem I see with some who do the partial approach is they speak about it as a temporary decision. In other words they get the definition right but they leave out certain facts in the presentation. They focus on the solution (Forgiveness of sins) rather than the instructions. Paul says that he preached the gospel by testifying about repentance toward God and Faith in Jesus Christ. This is a lifelong decision as Jesus said in Luke 14. This isn't about God forgiving our sins so that we can ensure our place in heaven... again that is the Blessed Reward. But we must focus just as intently on the understanding that we must repent and commit our lives to Jesus.
Now we know the Holy Spirit plays a large role in this. He convicts us of our sins and brings us into all truth. But that fact did not change the apostle's approach in the way they presented the Gospel. We know that the Holy Spirit is convicting everyone of their sin and God's Righteousness so that is why we must make sure to present the Gospel in the accurate way. We must make sure to tell the individual that we are sharing the "Medicine" with the correct instructions lest they don't understand and never get better. I continue to see people who claim to be Christians (and some of these may be) but their idea of the Christian life is what God is going to do for them. They continue in their life seeking out ways that God can bless them and give them their desires rather then making the cross of Christ real in their lives.
Here is the Path of the Cross: Be crucified with Christ and let Christ live in you. We have to understand that if someone does not make the Cross of Christ real in their lives than they have not been redeemed. This is not my thoughts but the Word of God. If I could give in to my compassion and have my way then I would say anybody that simply says a prayer will be redeemed. Anybody that says a certain set of words will be miraculously saved. But that is not God's way, it cheapens what Christ did for us. Christ came to save the sinners that they would have life, but they cannot have new life if they don't experience the death of the old. Yes, it is God's power that accomplishes all of this but do not let that become a false loophole for us to do nothing. Again The Medicine is there we simply need to heed the instructions. Yet, for those of us who are redeemed saints we must stop putting down the cross so we can go do what we want to do. We must realize that our desires...our ambitions are inconsequential to the Kingdom. This is something we all struggle with everyday, but it is in that struggle that we find success. It is in the denying of ourselves COMPLETELY that we have victory. It is in our failures that we have to go back and repent toward God. We continue picking up the cross and moving forward. A cross carrier will endure to the end. A cross carrier will examine his faith as to assure that they are doing right. Let your belief not be mistaken for faith. There are many who believe but do not have faith. There are many who know but will not take up their cross.
There are two aspects biblically to the Gospel. There is the definition and the presentation. The definition is simply that Christ died for our sins and was buried. He rose again on the third day and then ascended to heaven to the Father's right Hand where he waits for his return. So we know that these are the obvious facts of the Gospel, but how do we make the Gospel real in our lives? How do we share with others how they can have their sins forgiven. Now make no mistake that there is a distinction between us having our sins forgiven and the Gospel. Having our sins forgiven is the outcome of making the Gospel real in our lives. It is like taking a pill and getting better. We don't go to the bottle and ask it to make us better, we simply submit and commit to the instructions by obeying them and trusting that it will work. If we don't submit and commit to the instructions and only take one out of the four pills we were supposed to take then the medicine doesn't work.
So how do we make it real in our lives and share it with others. The instructions are simple... submit and commit to Christ. We submit by taking up our cross which is true repentance and commit our trust and lives to him by crying out for him to save and lead us. The problem I see with some who do the partial approach is they speak about it as a temporary decision. In other words they get the definition right but they leave out certain facts in the presentation. They focus on the solution (Forgiveness of sins) rather than the instructions. Paul says that he preached the gospel by testifying about repentance toward God and Faith in Jesus Christ. This is a lifelong decision as Jesus said in Luke 14. This isn't about God forgiving our sins so that we can ensure our place in heaven... again that is the Blessed Reward. But we must focus just as intently on the understanding that we must repent and commit our lives to Jesus.
Now we know the Holy Spirit plays a large role in this. He convicts us of our sins and brings us into all truth. But that fact did not change the apostle's approach in the way they presented the Gospel. We know that the Holy Spirit is convicting everyone of their sin and God's Righteousness so that is why we must make sure to present the Gospel in the accurate way. We must make sure to tell the individual that we are sharing the "Medicine" with the correct instructions lest they don't understand and never get better. I continue to see people who claim to be Christians (and some of these may be) but their idea of the Christian life is what God is going to do for them. They continue in their life seeking out ways that God can bless them and give them their desires rather then making the cross of Christ real in their lives.
Here is the Path of the Cross: Be crucified with Christ and let Christ live in you. We have to understand that if someone does not make the Cross of Christ real in their lives than they have not been redeemed. This is not my thoughts but the Word of God. If I could give in to my compassion and have my way then I would say anybody that simply says a prayer will be redeemed. Anybody that says a certain set of words will be miraculously saved. But that is not God's way, it cheapens what Christ did for us. Christ came to save the sinners that they would have life, but they cannot have new life if they don't experience the death of the old. Yes, it is God's power that accomplishes all of this but do not let that become a false loophole for us to do nothing. Again The Medicine is there we simply need to heed the instructions. Yet, for those of us who are redeemed saints we must stop putting down the cross so we can go do what we want to do. We must realize that our desires...our ambitions are inconsequential to the Kingdom. This is something we all struggle with everyday, but it is in that struggle that we find success. It is in the denying of ourselves COMPLETELY that we have victory. It is in our failures that we have to go back and repent toward God. We continue picking up the cross and moving forward. A cross carrier will endure to the end. A cross carrier will examine his faith as to assure that they are doing right. Let your belief not be mistaken for faith. There are many who believe but do not have faith. There are many who know but will not take up their cross.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Humility and Unity
In studying the book of Philippians we see Paul echo not only his previous writings but those desires of Jesus. He addresses this letter to all the saints in Philippi along with the Overseers and Deacons.
I want to address this first before going on because this tiny verse in the greeting establishes the tone of the entire book. Look at the city of Philippi at the time of the NT. In its prominent place some describe it as the gateway between Europe and Asia at this time in History. So at the very least we can compare it to Indianapolis or St. Louis. Although the population would have been less at this time in History you get the idea that it was a large city. It is said to have been 700 square miles. So as Paul is writing to the saints and elders in Philippi we have to understand there wasn't one big church building where all of the disciples met for worship. Remember that it was against the law to be a Christian because the Christian had to reject the Caesar as a god. Thereby as there were multiple overseers and deacons in a large city we can assume with confidence that there were several different meeting places for the different parts of the communities. We can also look at it's position geographically and Historically and understand this would have been a city of many mixed cultures and ethnic groups.
Now I set all of that up to say this that the rest of the letter will be based upon the fact that there are many disciples several different elders and "local church bodies". So Paul in the first chapter addresses them generally and updates them and encourages them in the Gospel.
However, in chapter two he begins to exhort them concerning humility and he uses Christ as an example of that. If Jesus was able to display the perfect example of humility than how much more should the disciples be humble. He then goes on to say the three fold purpose of this:
To work out their salvation
To be a pleasure to God
To be a much needed light in this world
Now in chapter 3 he begins to exhort them in what they should be focused on... The gospel. They should not be putting confidence in the flesh because they worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus! Then Paul enters into what I believe is our primary doctrine that should unite us as the humility of Christ is our attitude towards others... Seeking their good in love. Giving up things for Christ seeking to know him and his power more. Having a righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus and not of works of the law. Putting our past successes and failures behind us to press on toward the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
So to bring this to an applicable point we must be careful in our private lives and in our churches not to criticize others and condemn others for not believing exactly as we do in the doctrines that don't directly deal with faith in Christ for redemption which again I believe is summed up in the third chapter of Philippians. This darkens the very light that Paul is saying we need to shine to this world by being humble. We even more so need to be practicing this principle in the boundaries of our own local churches. If we can't practice humility, love, and unity with those that we meet with on a daily/weekly basis how can we ever expect to display it with our siblings in Christ that we don't meet with?
I was at a church recently where there was a very long prayer and other remarks condemning people who partake in contemporary worship in their churches. That comes from pride not humility. It comes from an attitude of self righteousness not the Love of Christ. If a church prefers traditional hymns and organs for their worship times then great... do it unto the Lord. But be careful that you don't desecrate your worship by your pride and make it a clanging cymbal in the ears of the Lord.
So love the brotherhood and fear God. For if Christ was able to humble himself in love than with awe and trembling I dare not want to be found lacking in humility and love.
I want to address this first before going on because this tiny verse in the greeting establishes the tone of the entire book. Look at the city of Philippi at the time of the NT. In its prominent place some describe it as the gateway between Europe and Asia at this time in History. So at the very least we can compare it to Indianapolis or St. Louis. Although the population would have been less at this time in History you get the idea that it was a large city. It is said to have been 700 square miles. So as Paul is writing to the saints and elders in Philippi we have to understand there wasn't one big church building where all of the disciples met for worship. Remember that it was against the law to be a Christian because the Christian had to reject the Caesar as a god. Thereby as there were multiple overseers and deacons in a large city we can assume with confidence that there were several different meeting places for the different parts of the communities. We can also look at it's position geographically and Historically and understand this would have been a city of many mixed cultures and ethnic groups.
Now I set all of that up to say this that the rest of the letter will be based upon the fact that there are many disciples several different elders and "local church bodies". So Paul in the first chapter addresses them generally and updates them and encourages them in the Gospel.
However, in chapter two he begins to exhort them concerning humility and he uses Christ as an example of that. If Jesus was able to display the perfect example of humility than how much more should the disciples be humble. He then goes on to say the three fold purpose of this:
To work out their salvation
To be a pleasure to God
To be a much needed light in this world
Now in chapter 3 he begins to exhort them in what they should be focused on... The gospel. They should not be putting confidence in the flesh because they worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus! Then Paul enters into what I believe is our primary doctrine that should unite us as the humility of Christ is our attitude towards others... Seeking their good in love. Giving up things for Christ seeking to know him and his power more. Having a righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus and not of works of the law. Putting our past successes and failures behind us to press on toward the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
So to bring this to an applicable point we must be careful in our private lives and in our churches not to criticize others and condemn others for not believing exactly as we do in the doctrines that don't directly deal with faith in Christ for redemption which again I believe is summed up in the third chapter of Philippians. This darkens the very light that Paul is saying we need to shine to this world by being humble. We even more so need to be practicing this principle in the boundaries of our own local churches. If we can't practice humility, love, and unity with those that we meet with on a daily/weekly basis how can we ever expect to display it with our siblings in Christ that we don't meet with?
I was at a church recently where there was a very long prayer and other remarks condemning people who partake in contemporary worship in their churches. That comes from pride not humility. It comes from an attitude of self righteousness not the Love of Christ. If a church prefers traditional hymns and organs for their worship times then great... do it unto the Lord. But be careful that you don't desecrate your worship by your pride and make it a clanging cymbal in the ears of the Lord.
So love the brotherhood and fear God. For if Christ was able to humble himself in love than with awe and trembling I dare not want to be found lacking in humility and love.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The Gospel According to Disney
When you believe upon the Son
Makes no difference what you've done
Everything your heart desires
Will come to you
(To the tune of When you wish upon a Star)
This is the Gospel that most preach today. Now if you have been keeping up with my past blogs you are probably tired of me talking about this, but yet I keep hearing this same message over and over so I guess I need to keep addressing it to look at different aspects of it and understand what the message really is.
The message that keeps coming out whether from the small Baptist church to the non denominational Mega Church is usually this-
Simply ask God to forgive you your sins and believe in Jesus by saying this prayer.
People that is not the Gospel of the Bible. We have been sold an American Dream, Disney style Gospel that has lost it's redeeming power and leads people not to be reconciled to God but to have their own desires satisfied.
In fact no matter what church we go to it is a gamble whether they truly understand and present the gospel according to the Scriptures regardless of denominational association. The Gospel that is being preached is steeped in a magical fantasy. Recognize two principles (Your a sinner and Jesus died for those sins) and say a magic prayer and you will be saved and get to go to Heaven. Here is the problem with that idea. First of all its not magic, it is not a dream come true scenario. We are being taught that God does not want his children to suffer he wants you to be happy and taken care of. This is partially true...He does want good things for you but they come through suffering. I know when my kids do without and suffer that they are developing the long lost idea of Character. This will make them in the future have good things that I want for them. The same is true with God. As we suffer it makes us more like Christ and in the end we will inherit the Kingdom...A very good thing. Men are so earthly minded that we just want to be happy here and have our desires satisfied now. Paul said in Philippians those type of people are enemies of the Cross.
Understand the Gospel is that Jesus paid a price for our sin and He was raised from the dead to bring us righteousness and reconcile us to God. So Redemption comes at a price in fact we are told in 1 Corinthians that we were bought with a price, Romans 6 says that we have become slaves of God and righteousness. This is a principle that if you want to be saved and reconciled we give our lives to Jesus and in Colossians it says that Jesus hides our lives in Him. We are to be following Jesus and working out our salvation. This idea of simply believing in Jesus and not following Him out of the darkness is absolutely unbiblical. Yes, we will sin and mess up. The Gospel is not about being perfect for we are given the righteousness of Christ. However, we see the apostles constantly pleading with the christians to stay away from sin. Why? Because when we are in Sin we are not working out our salvation. Not only can sin be destructive to us personally, but it takes away our devotion to God. So if Jesus died to bring us out of sin how can we still live in it and claim to know Him.
So understanding that lets look again at this Disney Gospel. Forgiveness of Sins through believing in Jesus. I will admit this is very close to what is written in scripture in some verses and this is why we need to know the Bible completely. First of all Forgiveness of Sins should be repentance. Not a Worldly Sorrow but a Godly repentance that we despise our sin and who we are. Secondly, believing in Jesus we must understand what that is as well. Believing should read in most of these verses if translated properly as faith. But what is faith? It is commitment. You cannot have someone say they are bought with a price and are willing slaves of God and there not be any commitment involved. The new testament is a covenant between God and Man and in any covenant there is commitment. Now some might argue then that this doesn't display grace and we are totally depraved so how can we willingly commit to God?
I will address Grace first. Understand that Grace is the Salvation process not the desire to be saved. Jesus is Grace. His death on the Cross was Grace. His allowing us to receive him and follow him is grace. The reconciliation is Grace. It is all done by God through Christ not by us. This is Grace that God redeemed us by his son and his obedience on the Cross. It is like being aboard a prison ship as a prisoner and the prison ship is almost at Alcatraz but the Governor sends a boat up next to the prison ship and calls everyone to get off into the boat who wants to be free. "Now understand when you get on this boat there will be stormy seas and very little food and we can't bring you back to shore right away you will need to sail up to Alaska in order to get off the boat." So now there is cost involved. The boat is the way to freedom but there will be difficulties involved. So only a few prisoners decide to go, because it will be a very uncomfortable and perilous journey. But here is my point... the boat is Grace, and not our decision to get on the boat. The idea that Grace must be nice and comfortable and pleasing to our flesh is a false notion. Grace can be difficult but not as bad as the end result of death and Hell. We are so spoiled in our lives that if God offers us grace it means a completely free ride of fun and fortune. No, absolutely not! Grace was costly as it cost Jesus all that he could give so don't expect that it will be a carnival of pleasure for you. We will have joy and strength absolutely, but those are our munitions along the way. These are the spiritual supplies that keep us going given by Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
This brings me to my second point...If we are totally depraved how do we commit to God. Well, this is where the Holy Spirit and Word of God come in. They do their work and we often try to over analyze this point but it is simply some heed the call and trust Christ and others don't. They don't because of the cost involved of giving up their lives to Him, they don't because they are not genuinely repentant to the Creator. I will be the first to admit I don't understand why I repented and gave my life to Christ, but others don't. I don't get it, but the fact is I did. The Fact is that with the help of the Spirit and Scripture I saw the light of Jesus and followed it. But it was a committed trust in Christ and not simply a magic prayer. If I hadn't then you wouldn't have to be reading this long tedious blog right now.
So how do we suffer? How do we know we are committed? I can't give you a detailed answer, but the Bible tells us to examine our faith. Suffering I believe can be comparative and personal. In other words how you may suffer may be completely different than how I suffer. How do you know you are committed? Are you bearing fruit? Are you giving up things for Christ? That is commitment. If your not and you are living in Sin whether it be a wrong lifestyle or the lack of doing good then you are probably not committed and following Christ. But this is not something that I can tell you. This is something you must figure out for yourself by going to God and seeking Him.
So this tune seems more apropos:
You must trust upon the Son
Makes no difference what you've done
Turn from all your evil ways
and Follow Him
Makes no difference what you've done
Everything your heart desires
Will come to you
(To the tune of When you wish upon a Star)
This is the Gospel that most preach today. Now if you have been keeping up with my past blogs you are probably tired of me talking about this, but yet I keep hearing this same message over and over so I guess I need to keep addressing it to look at different aspects of it and understand what the message really is.
The message that keeps coming out whether from the small Baptist church to the non denominational Mega Church is usually this-
Simply ask God to forgive you your sins and believe in Jesus by saying this prayer.
People that is not the Gospel of the Bible. We have been sold an American Dream, Disney style Gospel that has lost it's redeeming power and leads people not to be reconciled to God but to have their own desires satisfied.
In fact no matter what church we go to it is a gamble whether they truly understand and present the gospel according to the Scriptures regardless of denominational association. The Gospel that is being preached is steeped in a magical fantasy. Recognize two principles (Your a sinner and Jesus died for those sins) and say a magic prayer and you will be saved and get to go to Heaven. Here is the problem with that idea. First of all its not magic, it is not a dream come true scenario. We are being taught that God does not want his children to suffer he wants you to be happy and taken care of. This is partially true...He does want good things for you but they come through suffering. I know when my kids do without and suffer that they are developing the long lost idea of Character. This will make them in the future have good things that I want for them. The same is true with God. As we suffer it makes us more like Christ and in the end we will inherit the Kingdom...A very good thing. Men are so earthly minded that we just want to be happy here and have our desires satisfied now. Paul said in Philippians those type of people are enemies of the Cross.
Understand the Gospel is that Jesus paid a price for our sin and He was raised from the dead to bring us righteousness and reconcile us to God. So Redemption comes at a price in fact we are told in 1 Corinthians that we were bought with a price, Romans 6 says that we have become slaves of God and righteousness. This is a principle that if you want to be saved and reconciled we give our lives to Jesus and in Colossians it says that Jesus hides our lives in Him. We are to be following Jesus and working out our salvation. This idea of simply believing in Jesus and not following Him out of the darkness is absolutely unbiblical. Yes, we will sin and mess up. The Gospel is not about being perfect for we are given the righteousness of Christ. However, we see the apostles constantly pleading with the christians to stay away from sin. Why? Because when we are in Sin we are not working out our salvation. Not only can sin be destructive to us personally, but it takes away our devotion to God. So if Jesus died to bring us out of sin how can we still live in it and claim to know Him.
So understanding that lets look again at this Disney Gospel. Forgiveness of Sins through believing in Jesus. I will admit this is very close to what is written in scripture in some verses and this is why we need to know the Bible completely. First of all Forgiveness of Sins should be repentance. Not a Worldly Sorrow but a Godly repentance that we despise our sin and who we are. Secondly, believing in Jesus we must understand what that is as well. Believing should read in most of these verses if translated properly as faith. But what is faith? It is commitment. You cannot have someone say they are bought with a price and are willing slaves of God and there not be any commitment involved. The new testament is a covenant between God and Man and in any covenant there is commitment. Now some might argue then that this doesn't display grace and we are totally depraved so how can we willingly commit to God?
I will address Grace first. Understand that Grace is the Salvation process not the desire to be saved. Jesus is Grace. His death on the Cross was Grace. His allowing us to receive him and follow him is grace. The reconciliation is Grace. It is all done by God through Christ not by us. This is Grace that God redeemed us by his son and his obedience on the Cross. It is like being aboard a prison ship as a prisoner and the prison ship is almost at Alcatraz but the Governor sends a boat up next to the prison ship and calls everyone to get off into the boat who wants to be free. "Now understand when you get on this boat there will be stormy seas and very little food and we can't bring you back to shore right away you will need to sail up to Alaska in order to get off the boat." So now there is cost involved. The boat is the way to freedom but there will be difficulties involved. So only a few prisoners decide to go, because it will be a very uncomfortable and perilous journey. But here is my point... the boat is Grace, and not our decision to get on the boat. The idea that Grace must be nice and comfortable and pleasing to our flesh is a false notion. Grace can be difficult but not as bad as the end result of death and Hell. We are so spoiled in our lives that if God offers us grace it means a completely free ride of fun and fortune. No, absolutely not! Grace was costly as it cost Jesus all that he could give so don't expect that it will be a carnival of pleasure for you. We will have joy and strength absolutely, but those are our munitions along the way. These are the spiritual supplies that keep us going given by Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
This brings me to my second point...If we are totally depraved how do we commit to God. Well, this is where the Holy Spirit and Word of God come in. They do their work and we often try to over analyze this point but it is simply some heed the call and trust Christ and others don't. They don't because of the cost involved of giving up their lives to Him, they don't because they are not genuinely repentant to the Creator. I will be the first to admit I don't understand why I repented and gave my life to Christ, but others don't. I don't get it, but the fact is I did. The Fact is that with the help of the Spirit and Scripture I saw the light of Jesus and followed it. But it was a committed trust in Christ and not simply a magic prayer. If I hadn't then you wouldn't have to be reading this long tedious blog right now.
So how do we suffer? How do we know we are committed? I can't give you a detailed answer, but the Bible tells us to examine our faith. Suffering I believe can be comparative and personal. In other words how you may suffer may be completely different than how I suffer. How do you know you are committed? Are you bearing fruit? Are you giving up things for Christ? That is commitment. If your not and you are living in Sin whether it be a wrong lifestyle or the lack of doing good then you are probably not committed and following Christ. But this is not something that I can tell you. This is something you must figure out for yourself by going to God and seeking Him.
So this tune seems more apropos:
You must trust upon the Son
Makes no difference what you've done
Turn from all your evil ways
and Follow Him
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Star Trek: The Unholy Spirit of Evolution
Space: The Final Frontier- These are the voyages of FICTIONAL PEOPLE.
It occurred to me as I am doing a study on creation vs. evolution for a short video we are going to make to use as a tool in evangelism that as we have the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit to show us the truth the atheists also have theirs. We see the sacred scriptures of evolution are written down in their text books and published findings in Scientific Journals/ Published books, and documentaries. But what really drives this belief for many people? What really inspires people to take up these unfounded and in some cases far fetched theories that the Anti-God culture tend to thrive on?
I believe this has come in the way of science fiction media. Whether it be TV shows, movies, or graphic novels the Sci-Fi Genre has perpetuated this belief far greater than any simple factual book. Now I am not saying that watching an episode of Star Trek or other Sci-Fi show is evil, but we have to look at what is really behind peoples beliefs. I was once speaking with someone about God and they started bringing up a Sci-Fi movie on why they believe what they believe about God. Now we as Christians would think this is crazy as these are fictional entertainment pieces created by a person, but we see how when people want to deny God and seek after their own way they will grasp at anything to validate their belief system. So as we look at why when scientific evidence is causing several atheistic scientists to turn toward Intelligent Design how then does the uneducated masses continue to grasp hold of this foolish and extremely warped belief system? The other reason for this, I believe, is that the Sci-Fi Genre feeds the flesh as well. It allows people to become excited through the adventurous stories and in many cases seem to give the person watching meaning to their otherwise menial and boring existence.
Add to this what almost every movie or tv show does in the area of delivering up for us absolute fantastical visions of what life should be like such as great looking people always looking great. Characters that are usually exciting and successful no matter their approach. If a character puts forth a theory or a statement they are almost always proven right by the end of the show. This displays that mankind is knowledgable and they can solve anything. Now think about that...Especially in the area of Science. The Media puts forth the idea that Man because of his knowledge can accomplish anything with ease. So in most cases of Science you will see it based in Evolutionary Science especially in the case of Sci-Fi shows and then they are proven right. Now some like us would say its just a show and dismiss it completely because our roots of truth are in the Bible, but those who don't read the Bible often or are unsaved are bombarded with this philosophy. Many continue to grow to make these shows a lifestyle and attend conventions. They see it as harmless fun, but it continues to feed their idolatrous hearts. They are running towards their gods.
So what can we do about it? Not much unfortunately. But know and be prepared because the next person you share the gospel with that cites why they don't believe in a God you might be able to direct the conversation in a way that confronts that their belief in evolution doesn't come from their in depth study of the sciences, but from their being fed philosophy through their entertainment programs and their desire to simply not believe in a God.
It occurred to me as I am doing a study on creation vs. evolution for a short video we are going to make to use as a tool in evangelism that as we have the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit to show us the truth the atheists also have theirs. We see the sacred scriptures of evolution are written down in their text books and published findings in Scientific Journals/ Published books, and documentaries. But what really drives this belief for many people? What really inspires people to take up these unfounded and in some cases far fetched theories that the Anti-God culture tend to thrive on?
I believe this has come in the way of science fiction media. Whether it be TV shows, movies, or graphic novels the Sci-Fi Genre has perpetuated this belief far greater than any simple factual book. Now I am not saying that watching an episode of Star Trek or other Sci-Fi show is evil, but we have to look at what is really behind peoples beliefs. I was once speaking with someone about God and they started bringing up a Sci-Fi movie on why they believe what they believe about God. Now we as Christians would think this is crazy as these are fictional entertainment pieces created by a person, but we see how when people want to deny God and seek after their own way they will grasp at anything to validate their belief system. So as we look at why when scientific evidence is causing several atheistic scientists to turn toward Intelligent Design how then does the uneducated masses continue to grasp hold of this foolish and extremely warped belief system? The other reason for this, I believe, is that the Sci-Fi Genre feeds the flesh as well. It allows people to become excited through the adventurous stories and in many cases seem to give the person watching meaning to their otherwise menial and boring existence.
Add to this what almost every movie or tv show does in the area of delivering up for us absolute fantastical visions of what life should be like such as great looking people always looking great. Characters that are usually exciting and successful no matter their approach. If a character puts forth a theory or a statement they are almost always proven right by the end of the show. This displays that mankind is knowledgable and they can solve anything. Now think about that...Especially in the area of Science. The Media puts forth the idea that Man because of his knowledge can accomplish anything with ease. So in most cases of Science you will see it based in Evolutionary Science especially in the case of Sci-Fi shows and then they are proven right. Now some like us would say its just a show and dismiss it completely because our roots of truth are in the Bible, but those who don't read the Bible often or are unsaved are bombarded with this philosophy. Many continue to grow to make these shows a lifestyle and attend conventions. They see it as harmless fun, but it continues to feed their idolatrous hearts. They are running towards their gods.
So what can we do about it? Not much unfortunately. But know and be prepared because the next person you share the gospel with that cites why they don't believe in a God you might be able to direct the conversation in a way that confronts that their belief in evolution doesn't come from their in depth study of the sciences, but from their being fed philosophy through their entertainment programs and their desire to simply not believe in a God.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
A Disciple Disappointed
Today we went to yet another church on a search for a good church in the South Jersey area. I continue to find pastors in this area to be rude and a bit on the arrogant side. Now some may attribute this to the fact that we are in New Jersey and that is the way people here are, but I believe that we as "Christians" should be above that especially the pastors. Although the rudeness does not portray the love of Christ, my main concern is the message that I keep hearing.
We were sitting in a certain church this morning who by their statement of faith I would think they would be a good church. However, the Pastors message today made it hard for me to classify this as a good church. We sat and listened to a message on end time events and even though I disagree with some of the pastors interpretations of those events that is not at all where my problem came with the message. In prophecy we must allow room for different interpretations within reason and have no problem listening to others thoughts and theories. This pastor today even though the topic was on end time events the message came across clearly as God does not want His people to suffer. Really? Tell that to the Jews...Tell that to the Early Church...Tell that to His only begotten Son. So even though the Scriptures are clear that we are to suffer preachers today have no problem departing from scripture to exclaim wonderful flesh tingling comments like God doesn't want His children to suffer. Then to add to this he took a minute to call anyone who doesn't agree with his view of the end times as absurd and then put forth another untruth to try to intimidate anyone into believing something different. I have to admit I almost stood up and left at that point, not because the comment offended me personally but that kind of teaching is not glorifying to the Lord. But to top it all off he gave an invitation that was probably the most confusing that I have ever heard. Now I don't want to judge this church as not portraying the gospel correctly, because this was only the second time I had been and so my experience there may have been a fluke. However, the call to Christ came out from one sentence being filled with cheap grace and easy-beliefism to the next being someone who gives their life to Christ, which is the Gospel. So again they may take someone aside and give them the more accurate gospel, but after the other things I heard in the message I would not bet on it. Angie noted to me in the car that she was not a fan of his either due to some other things that he had said.
Here is my Disappointment... I keep running into this kind of ministry. I cannot avoid pastors and churches praising the name of Jesus only to insult him by not presenting the true Gospel. Only to insult him by not showing love. Only to insult him by changing scripture. Where does it end? I am a very tolerant person when it comes to those who have different views of what I call our secondary doctrines. I know that no matter what church I go to that they are going to believe something slightly different than me in any one of those subjects. But how is it that I keep running into what some could correlate as an apostate church. How is it that I am hard pressed to find a church that will simply preach the truth.
We were in Lancaster for a few days before we came to New Jersey and we went to a Bible Church in that area. Now that is not where we are called to minister, but it seemed to be a great church. They preached the clear true gospel. They had great teaching by the pastor and it seemed to be a church that truly exemplified love and unity. But I am disappointed because this seems to be such a rarity today. It seems to be that I cannot find a true church (although for any that might be reading this, yes, there are several in the central Indiana area, but not in many of the places that we are looking to minister) and I don't say that to be mean or hateful. It just boggles my mind that this is the majority of churches today. I mean I guess why bother being a christian if you aren't going to be the real thing. Why bother going to church when you don't want to give all for Christ. I see now where in II Corinthians 11 Paul warns of others coming and preaching a different Jesus. So people get to continue living how they want, but get a free ticket to heaven. If we want to participate in the resurrection like Jesus than we must first die like Jesus.
Trust me ( I say this not to boast, but out of a plea for sanity) I could be having the time of my life right now. I could be doing things that many would consider to be amazingly fun and exciting, but I am not. Why? Because I follow Jesus. Because I know that if I am to be like him than I must live like him. And If I am to live like him I must daily die like him. Don't think that the only death Christ experienced was the one on the Cross. Yes, that is the one that paid for our sins, but he died daily to self far more than we can understand. He could have annihilated the pharisees when their arrogance came against him, but he didn't. He could have lived in a palace and had people serving him right or left, but he didn't. No, he served, he sacrificed, he died daily.
So what does this mean for us? It means we keep on the journey to serve. It means we don't let the Devil use the false teachers and the rude pastors to get us down. Joseph was in prison for years and a slave before that. But he endured and God blessed him. Paul endured many things and God blessed him. So we must endure, we must all endure not only the hardships, but the attacks on the Gospel. To me I would rather be beaten and lain up for days then to hear someone preach the Gospel in a twisted way. It makes me sick to my stomach and weary in my soul, but the Lord brings me my strength. He lifts me up, because he is the true Gospel.
We were sitting in a certain church this morning who by their statement of faith I would think they would be a good church. However, the Pastors message today made it hard for me to classify this as a good church. We sat and listened to a message on end time events and even though I disagree with some of the pastors interpretations of those events that is not at all where my problem came with the message. In prophecy we must allow room for different interpretations within reason and have no problem listening to others thoughts and theories. This pastor today even though the topic was on end time events the message came across clearly as God does not want His people to suffer. Really? Tell that to the Jews...Tell that to the Early Church...Tell that to His only begotten Son. So even though the Scriptures are clear that we are to suffer preachers today have no problem departing from scripture to exclaim wonderful flesh tingling comments like God doesn't want His children to suffer. Then to add to this he took a minute to call anyone who doesn't agree with his view of the end times as absurd and then put forth another untruth to try to intimidate anyone into believing something different. I have to admit I almost stood up and left at that point, not because the comment offended me personally but that kind of teaching is not glorifying to the Lord. But to top it all off he gave an invitation that was probably the most confusing that I have ever heard. Now I don't want to judge this church as not portraying the gospel correctly, because this was only the second time I had been and so my experience there may have been a fluke. However, the call to Christ came out from one sentence being filled with cheap grace and easy-beliefism to the next being someone who gives their life to Christ, which is the Gospel. So again they may take someone aside and give them the more accurate gospel, but after the other things I heard in the message I would not bet on it. Angie noted to me in the car that she was not a fan of his either due to some other things that he had said.
Here is my Disappointment... I keep running into this kind of ministry. I cannot avoid pastors and churches praising the name of Jesus only to insult him by not presenting the true Gospel. Only to insult him by not showing love. Only to insult him by changing scripture. Where does it end? I am a very tolerant person when it comes to those who have different views of what I call our secondary doctrines. I know that no matter what church I go to that they are going to believe something slightly different than me in any one of those subjects. But how is it that I keep running into what some could correlate as an apostate church. How is it that I am hard pressed to find a church that will simply preach the truth.
We were in Lancaster for a few days before we came to New Jersey and we went to a Bible Church in that area. Now that is not where we are called to minister, but it seemed to be a great church. They preached the clear true gospel. They had great teaching by the pastor and it seemed to be a church that truly exemplified love and unity. But I am disappointed because this seems to be such a rarity today. It seems to be that I cannot find a true church (although for any that might be reading this, yes, there are several in the central Indiana area, but not in many of the places that we are looking to minister) and I don't say that to be mean or hateful. It just boggles my mind that this is the majority of churches today. I mean I guess why bother being a christian if you aren't going to be the real thing. Why bother going to church when you don't want to give all for Christ. I see now where in II Corinthians 11 Paul warns of others coming and preaching a different Jesus. So people get to continue living how they want, but get a free ticket to heaven. If we want to participate in the resurrection like Jesus than we must first die like Jesus.
Trust me ( I say this not to boast, but out of a plea for sanity) I could be having the time of my life right now. I could be doing things that many would consider to be amazingly fun and exciting, but I am not. Why? Because I follow Jesus. Because I know that if I am to be like him than I must live like him. And If I am to live like him I must daily die like him. Don't think that the only death Christ experienced was the one on the Cross. Yes, that is the one that paid for our sins, but he died daily to self far more than we can understand. He could have annihilated the pharisees when their arrogance came against him, but he didn't. He could have lived in a palace and had people serving him right or left, but he didn't. No, he served, he sacrificed, he died daily.
So what does this mean for us? It means we keep on the journey to serve. It means we don't let the Devil use the false teachers and the rude pastors to get us down. Joseph was in prison for years and a slave before that. But he endured and God blessed him. Paul endured many things and God blessed him. So we must endure, we must all endure not only the hardships, but the attacks on the Gospel. To me I would rather be beaten and lain up for days then to hear someone preach the Gospel in a twisted way. It makes me sick to my stomach and weary in my soul, but the Lord brings me my strength. He lifts me up, because he is the true Gospel.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
The Rules For Carrying Your Cross
As I am sitting here on my Saturday afternoon studying the things of God, I want to answer a question. I believe the gospel very clearly teaches that if one is to be born again and inherit eternal life that the must take up their cross and follow Jesus. So the question might be posed "What does that mean to take up my cross? What must I actually do in order to inherit eternal life?"
We can teach the principles and put forth the theoretical outline of heeding the call, but for the unredeemed what does this mean for them in their actual life? The simple answer is to give your life to Christ. They need to submit and commit themselves to him. However, this still might lead to more questions of what that actually means. In our society we are so far gone from the idea to actually submit to a king or authority, people really might have a spiritual and intellectual problem with understanding this concept. Do we give them a nice little prayer to say and hope the Holy Spirit does the rest? Or do we do what Jesus said and make Disciples, baptizing them and teaching them his commands. I want to look at this in three points since he gave us three.
1 . Make the disciple- present to them the gospel and tell them they now must surrender everything in their life to Christ. This does not mean they will become perfect people. This doesn't mean the very next day they wake up all of their addictions will disappear. They might disappear as many times one has an addiction to fill a void in their life and Jesus now fills that void, but there may be something more physical or psychologically engrained in them that this may take time. However, this I believe is where they cry out to Jesus and ask him to save them and lead them. They need to cry out. I hesitate to give anyone an example prayer as I believe this takes away from the genuiness of the cry. This can also lead them to make an idol out of the prayer itself and begin looking at the idea that the prayer saved them and not Jesus. In someways this could be described as a work based faith because they said a special prayer that led to their salvation.
2. Baptize them- there is nothing that justifies us through baptism but it displays the disciples submission and commitment to Christ.
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Romans 6
3. Teach them what I have commanded you- What did Jesus command? Well, this is a very detailed study, but essentially he commanded them to be active ministering people. The idea of getting somebody saved so they can come and sit in a pew every Sunday is not what Jesus commanded. He told us to be the light of the world. This light has no impact on the darkness of this world when it is cloaked by the walls of the church building. This also helps the disciple to bear fruit. Those who claim to be a disciple will either despise it and leave or embrace it and be fruitful.
In conclusion, what are the rules? Give everything. More specifically,however, call out to the one you give your life to and would follow and ask him to simply lead you. I can think of no better way of displaying the principle of submit and commit.
We can teach the principles and put forth the theoretical outline of heeding the call, but for the unredeemed what does this mean for them in their actual life? The simple answer is to give your life to Christ. They need to submit and commit themselves to him. However, this still might lead to more questions of what that actually means. In our society we are so far gone from the idea to actually submit to a king or authority, people really might have a spiritual and intellectual problem with understanding this concept. Do we give them a nice little prayer to say and hope the Holy Spirit does the rest? Or do we do what Jesus said and make Disciples, baptizing them and teaching them his commands. I want to look at this in three points since he gave us three.
1 . Make the disciple- present to them the gospel and tell them they now must surrender everything in their life to Christ. This does not mean they will become perfect people. This doesn't mean the very next day they wake up all of their addictions will disappear. They might disappear as many times one has an addiction to fill a void in their life and Jesus now fills that void, but there may be something more physical or psychologically engrained in them that this may take time. However, this I believe is where they cry out to Jesus and ask him to save them and lead them. They need to cry out. I hesitate to give anyone an example prayer as I believe this takes away from the genuiness of the cry. This can also lead them to make an idol out of the prayer itself and begin looking at the idea that the prayer saved them and not Jesus. In someways this could be described as a work based faith because they said a special prayer that led to their salvation.
2. Baptize them- there is nothing that justifies us through baptism but it displays the disciples submission and commitment to Christ.
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Romans 6
3. Teach them what I have commanded you- What did Jesus command? Well, this is a very detailed study, but essentially he commanded them to be active ministering people. The idea of getting somebody saved so they can come and sit in a pew every Sunday is not what Jesus commanded. He told us to be the light of the world. This light has no impact on the darkness of this world when it is cloaked by the walls of the church building. This also helps the disciple to bear fruit. Those who claim to be a disciple will either despise it and leave or embrace it and be fruitful.
In conclusion, what are the rules? Give everything. More specifically,however, call out to the one you give your life to and would follow and ask him to simply lead you. I can think of no better way of displaying the principle of submit and commit.
Friday, September 2, 2011
His Eyes Are Always On Us
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matthew 10
Amazing! I think of the times that I have my eyes on my children. I desire to be looking after them every second to protect them and care for them, but I am limited. God is not. He is omnieverything...All Powerful, Wise, Present. So think of how closely He is watching us. If we who struggle against our wicked nature still desire to care for our children that much think about how much your Father in Heaven desires to care for you. (Matthew 7:11)
But be warned as the Father desires to look after His children so are their conditions to His benevolence. Mathew 6 & 7 go on to say you must seek first after His Kingdom, you must bear fruit, you must know Jesus as LORD.
So do not be anxious, but submit to Christ. Do not be worrisome, but follow Jesus.
Amazing! I think of the times that I have my eyes on my children. I desire to be looking after them every second to protect them and care for them, but I am limited. God is not. He is omnieverything...All Powerful, Wise, Present. So think of how closely He is watching us. If we who struggle against our wicked nature still desire to care for our children that much think about how much your Father in Heaven desires to care for you. (Matthew 7:11)
But be warned as the Father desires to look after His children so are their conditions to His benevolence. Mathew 6 & 7 go on to say you must seek first after His Kingdom, you must bear fruit, you must know Jesus as LORD.
So do not be anxious, but submit to Christ. Do not be worrisome, but follow Jesus.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
They Honor Me With Their Lips
6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. Mark 7
This is a continuation of my last few blogs in recognizing that there are those out there who put their beliefs and traditions before God. Those who add rules or doctrines apart from scripture even when they don't directly deal with salvation are being just like the Pharisees. Now I am not crying legalism or hypocrite for the sake of justifying or legitimizing my sin, but looking at the very nature of churches today and how they portray Jesus to others. These men who would rather worship their idea of God and their traditions rather than obey the Word of God and be a united body of Christ are those who offer Lip service to God. Those who would change the gospel to advance their ambitions or careers their hearts are far from God. If love believes all things, endures all things, hopes all things, if it is patient and kind, if it is not arrogant or boastful and we are known to be Christ's by our love then why are we bombarded by churches that do not exemplify this? Why do we not have churches that are ready for every good work?
And with all caution and humility I say this regarding not those that are designated "Christian" by the world, but those who so flippently throw around the phrase " born again". And even though they use this phrase to indicate through their vernacular that they are different than the works oriented denominations of Christianity they don't understand what it means to be born again. If I am reborn than I am not myself I can no longer live in the darkness, I have died to who I am to live out Christ. Now I admit this is a daily occurrence, but if there is no initial commitment to die to self or pick up our cross then there never will be. So we don't live to rules or traditions,but we live so that we might die daily. Warring against our flesh, struggling against this world, we sacrifice our desires to show love to our brothers and sisters and share Jesus with the world.
This is a continuation of my last few blogs in recognizing that there are those out there who put their beliefs and traditions before God. Those who add rules or doctrines apart from scripture even when they don't directly deal with salvation are being just like the Pharisees. Now I am not crying legalism or hypocrite for the sake of justifying or legitimizing my sin, but looking at the very nature of churches today and how they portray Jesus to others. These men who would rather worship their idea of God and their traditions rather than obey the Word of God and be a united body of Christ are those who offer Lip service to God. Those who would change the gospel to advance their ambitions or careers their hearts are far from God. If love believes all things, endures all things, hopes all things, if it is patient and kind, if it is not arrogant or boastful and we are known to be Christ's by our love then why are we bombarded by churches that do not exemplify this? Why do we not have churches that are ready for every good work?
And with all caution and humility I say this regarding not those that are designated "Christian" by the world, but those who so flippently throw around the phrase " born again". And even though they use this phrase to indicate through their vernacular that they are different than the works oriented denominations of Christianity they don't understand what it means to be born again. If I am reborn than I am not myself I can no longer live in the darkness, I have died to who I am to live out Christ. Now I admit this is a daily occurrence, but if there is no initial commitment to die to self or pick up our cross then there never will be. So we don't live to rules or traditions,but we live so that we might die daily. Warring against our flesh, struggling against this world, we sacrifice our desires to show love to our brothers and sisters and share Jesus with the world.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Origins
Origins are extremely important. If you don't know where you came from then you really don't know who you are or where your going. If we don't know our heritage then how do we know what is true or genuine?
I bring this up for two reasons. One is in the worldview debate of creation vs. evolution and the other is in how we view Jesus and the Church. So in tackling the debate of creation vs. evolution I will use the abbr. of CVE.
So in CVE I continue to see such a large portion of our society and the world as one that continues to believe in the the evolutionary side of things and this continues to grow. No matter how many times the evolutionists theories prove to be wrong and no matter how many times they must change their theories they portray them as absolute fact and anyone that disagrees must be as dumb as a chimp.(although they are the ones that came from them) The problem that I have with this world view is more than the idea that we evolved from chance or a chance of a chance of a chance into a single celled organism that had to survive and reproduce after each mutation, but it is the fact that their science is not based on fact but unobserved and unproven theories. They praise Darwin for his observations that some animals have similarities to other animals which may be the case in micro-evolution, but in macro evolution these observations are like a child going to the zoo. "Daddy that lizard has the same neck as that bird. Are they related?" "No, son. Just because something has a similarity to something else doesn't mean it is related."
I don't mean to sound mean but that is the simplicity of things. Man tries to over think so many things in order to give himself measure and prestige, but sometimes truths are simple.
So of what importance is this? Well, I continue to see it becoming an issue in evangelism. The devil has brought forth a lie that continues to spread and makes the gospel useless in the persons life that believes in evolution. The more and more that people believe in evolution they resist the gospel more, because if we had natural origins then we cannot have supernatural destinations. So when we witness to someone who believes in this deception I believe it to be my response to them that they are the creature and they know deep down inside that they have a creator and they need to stop choosing to follow this lie and submit to Him. My hope then is that the Holy Spirit will reveal himself to them and lead them into the truth. But this is why the CVE is so important as it is a real warfare going on around us and yet we as Christians seem to just accept it.
The other issue of Origins is for the Christian and it is who Jesus is and who we are as his people. I continue to see an idea that the church should be different than it was before the AAC. I continue to see instead of people following Christ people getting bogged down in excessive conflicting doctrines and thought, rules and regulations. People from the early church did not have Seminaries and Colleges to go and get there masters or doctorate in Theology, yet they did just fine serving the Lord and perpetuating the gospel. Many, many will say that was the early church and we (God) work differently now. Really? Was that God's plan was to have 3 centuries of Christians go all out and give their entire lives for Him in service and sacrifice, but since then he has decided to let the rest of us coast and simply pursue a higher education so that we can "expound" on the things the apostles already wrote about in the Bible? Again like the Scientists of evolution there are many who hold to the name of Christ that want to over think the word of God. They want to create something more than what is in the text. Now I am not totally against a higher education as I myself am looking to further mine through potential colleges. However, I hope no matter what I learn and how high my degrees may take me that I never forsake the simple truths of scripture for the elitist experience that comes from adding onto scripture. I have been involved with many churches and the one thing most always boast about is how true to scripture they are and how important it is never to add to scripture. But then they will turn around and add something to scripture by putting forth a rule or belief that has no basis in scripture whatsoever. These examples are countless and for me to even begin would just take too much time, but whenever we add to scripture we lift ourselves up as idols. So we must be careful not to over think the scriptures and simply obey them. I find that many times these churches that create all of the rules and regulations that are added to scripture are the same ones who would deny that one must take up their cross and follow Jesus in order to inherit eternal life. INTERESTING... But that all being said we cannot deny our origins in Christ. The deeds the early church did though not prescriptive and possibly just descriptive doesn't matter because if that was what describes the early church than I want to follow in their example. If the early church was commanded to give all and love others than sign me up too. Again, how are we so arrogant and excuse the terminology, but ignorant to think that some how after a certain period in time God just decided to do something different and decided not to tell us about it through scripture as he did with everything else. There in and of itself is adding to scripture, but if you study history you see the changes that have occurred are not through scripture or some divine revelation. These changes that have occurred are rooted in the Catholic Church and stem out through the churches of the Protestant Reformation. They never went to a place where they said "We need to get back to the Biblical Church that the Catholic Church interrupted." Instead they continued on in the same formats and ideals of the Catholic Church, but changed a little bit of doctrine here and there.
So now today what do I suggest? I suggest following in the examples of the apostles and their immediate offspring. I suggest us focusing on Jesus Christ and all out serving him in any way shape or form available to us. I suggest giving up our focus on Churches having to be ran in a certain way under certain traditions and rules. Now I am not suggesting Chaos but simply being flexible to changes that bring us closer to the format of the AAC Church. Maybe we don't have a Wednesday night service, but have a time where the whole congregation goes out and knocks on doors or meets at a public place where they can have interaction with the people who are there. Maybe instead of a Sunday night service you have a short bible study and then go help out and serve a family in the community. But this cannot just be an annual occurrence, for things like this must become a monthly if not weekly thing or else they are just a hollow event. Most churches that I have been to or go to continue to teach the same basic things over and over again, yet where is the training of the saints for works of the ministry? Where is there time that we as a church go out and serve the lost and share the gospel...together. We must also not teach in a way that allows our secondary doctrines to be lined with arrogance where if someone else doesn't believe the same way we do then they are of the Devil or the nicer version they are very misguided... followed by laughing.
Origins... know your roots so that you know how you should branch out. Understand that simply because things are done someway today doesn't mean that is the way they have to be done. Most things that are done one way today was originated by a man only a few centuries ago.(or maybe decades ago) They are not biblical mandates, but traditions that man has put forth for himself to follow. So know you were created and your destiny is eternal.(Heaven or Hell) Know that many people gave their lives for the gospel and we must give everything up including our traditions and preferences to continue in the furtherance of the gospel.
I bring this up for two reasons. One is in the worldview debate of creation vs. evolution and the other is in how we view Jesus and the Church. So in tackling the debate of creation vs. evolution I will use the abbr. of CVE.
So in CVE I continue to see such a large portion of our society and the world as one that continues to believe in the the evolutionary side of things and this continues to grow. No matter how many times the evolutionists theories prove to be wrong and no matter how many times they must change their theories they portray them as absolute fact and anyone that disagrees must be as dumb as a chimp.(although they are the ones that came from them) The problem that I have with this world view is more than the idea that we evolved from chance or a chance of a chance of a chance into a single celled organism that had to survive and reproduce after each mutation, but it is the fact that their science is not based on fact but unobserved and unproven theories. They praise Darwin for his observations that some animals have similarities to other animals which may be the case in micro-evolution, but in macro evolution these observations are like a child going to the zoo. "Daddy that lizard has the same neck as that bird. Are they related?" "No, son. Just because something has a similarity to something else doesn't mean it is related."
I don't mean to sound mean but that is the simplicity of things. Man tries to over think so many things in order to give himself measure and prestige, but sometimes truths are simple.
So of what importance is this? Well, I continue to see it becoming an issue in evangelism. The devil has brought forth a lie that continues to spread and makes the gospel useless in the persons life that believes in evolution. The more and more that people believe in evolution they resist the gospel more, because if we had natural origins then we cannot have supernatural destinations. So when we witness to someone who believes in this deception I believe it to be my response to them that they are the creature and they know deep down inside that they have a creator and they need to stop choosing to follow this lie and submit to Him. My hope then is that the Holy Spirit will reveal himself to them and lead them into the truth. But this is why the CVE is so important as it is a real warfare going on around us and yet we as Christians seem to just accept it.
The other issue of Origins is for the Christian and it is who Jesus is and who we are as his people. I continue to see an idea that the church should be different than it was before the AAC. I continue to see instead of people following Christ people getting bogged down in excessive conflicting doctrines and thought, rules and regulations. People from the early church did not have Seminaries and Colleges to go and get there masters or doctorate in Theology, yet they did just fine serving the Lord and perpetuating the gospel. Many, many will say that was the early church and we (God) work differently now. Really? Was that God's plan was to have 3 centuries of Christians go all out and give their entire lives for Him in service and sacrifice, but since then he has decided to let the rest of us coast and simply pursue a higher education so that we can "expound" on the things the apostles already wrote about in the Bible? Again like the Scientists of evolution there are many who hold to the name of Christ that want to over think the word of God. They want to create something more than what is in the text. Now I am not totally against a higher education as I myself am looking to further mine through potential colleges. However, I hope no matter what I learn and how high my degrees may take me that I never forsake the simple truths of scripture for the elitist experience that comes from adding onto scripture. I have been involved with many churches and the one thing most always boast about is how true to scripture they are and how important it is never to add to scripture. But then they will turn around and add something to scripture by putting forth a rule or belief that has no basis in scripture whatsoever. These examples are countless and for me to even begin would just take too much time, but whenever we add to scripture we lift ourselves up as idols. So we must be careful not to over think the scriptures and simply obey them. I find that many times these churches that create all of the rules and regulations that are added to scripture are the same ones who would deny that one must take up their cross and follow Jesus in order to inherit eternal life. INTERESTING... But that all being said we cannot deny our origins in Christ. The deeds the early church did though not prescriptive and possibly just descriptive doesn't matter because if that was what describes the early church than I want to follow in their example. If the early church was commanded to give all and love others than sign me up too. Again, how are we so arrogant and excuse the terminology, but ignorant to think that some how after a certain period in time God just decided to do something different and decided not to tell us about it through scripture as he did with everything else. There in and of itself is adding to scripture, but if you study history you see the changes that have occurred are not through scripture or some divine revelation. These changes that have occurred are rooted in the Catholic Church and stem out through the churches of the Protestant Reformation. They never went to a place where they said "We need to get back to the Biblical Church that the Catholic Church interrupted." Instead they continued on in the same formats and ideals of the Catholic Church, but changed a little bit of doctrine here and there.
So now today what do I suggest? I suggest following in the examples of the apostles and their immediate offspring. I suggest us focusing on Jesus Christ and all out serving him in any way shape or form available to us. I suggest giving up our focus on Churches having to be ran in a certain way under certain traditions and rules. Now I am not suggesting Chaos but simply being flexible to changes that bring us closer to the format of the AAC Church. Maybe we don't have a Wednesday night service, but have a time where the whole congregation goes out and knocks on doors or meets at a public place where they can have interaction with the people who are there. Maybe instead of a Sunday night service you have a short bible study and then go help out and serve a family in the community. But this cannot just be an annual occurrence, for things like this must become a monthly if not weekly thing or else they are just a hollow event. Most churches that I have been to or go to continue to teach the same basic things over and over again, yet where is the training of the saints for works of the ministry? Where is there time that we as a church go out and serve the lost and share the gospel...together. We must also not teach in a way that allows our secondary doctrines to be lined with arrogance where if someone else doesn't believe the same way we do then they are of the Devil or the nicer version they are very misguided... followed by laughing.
Origins... know your roots so that you know how you should branch out. Understand that simply because things are done someway today doesn't mean that is the way they have to be done. Most things that are done one way today was originated by a man only a few centuries ago.(or maybe decades ago) They are not biblical mandates, but traditions that man has put forth for himself to follow. So know you were created and your destiny is eternal.(Heaven or Hell) Know that many people gave their lives for the gospel and we must give everything up including our traditions and preferences to continue in the furtherance of the gospel.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Can God be an Idol?
What? That doesn't even make sense or does it? Can God be an idol? I hope this question opens up how we actually view God and the things we consider to be of God. In Exodus 20:44- Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. So can we make a graven image of God or Jesus that is an idol? Can we take our traditions and beliefs and allow them to replace God even when we think that they are leading us to Him?
For some reason the Lord has had me doing a study on idolatry especially where Israel was concerned in the Old Testament. I have been studying this for about a year now and it has been on my heart and mind. As I see the parallels between Israel and the "church" today they are eerily similar. This also strengthens my belief in the principle of the Disciple of Jesus and our working in the ministry of discipleship. Can we allow our churches, our doctrines, even our Bibles to replace God himself? The more I experience and study the church of America today the more I see a religious network and private clubs extended from the protestant reformation and the ideals of the American Nationalists. As much as we can look back at the reformation and see it as a good thing it was more of a conflict of thought than it was of discipleship.( or politics in the case of Henry VIII and Vasa) Now I am not saying who is really redeemed or not, such as Luther, Calvin, Arminian, Knox, etc., but the intense idealism that was behind it was more based on doctrine and theology than on picking up your cross and following Christ. But I am not here to detract on them as I will never earthly know if they ever were truly redeemed or not.
However, I have to look at God's plan from a historical perspective. Did he intend for the true gospel to be silent for more than a millennia under the Catholic Church and then to slowly over several centuries become more visible through the theological debates of certain men? Or has it been there all the time through people who have never been a part of the mainstream church but met on their own as the AAC Church(Church before Catholicism) did? These are simply questions that I don't think we can truly know the answers of, but my point is this...As we see the church today being so ineffective when it comes to the true gospel and the church of the past being so wrapped up in sacraments and traditions, can we assume that most churches today are preaching a different Jesus? When we see churches training their people for mediocrity can we assume those leaders are false teachers? When the Heart of the Gospel is to leave family or land for Christ and to despise yourself can we assume that most people today that claim to be Christians have never been born again?
This has been an issue for me since I was 18. I was very disillusioned in the church I was in because I didn't see a church that the Scriptures described and as I went from School to School and Church to Church I continued to see a body of people that were perpetuating the idea of religion but not following Christ. It was in this period where I believe because of my lack of proper training in what it truly means to be a Christian that I made some poor decisions in my life which I have only myself to blame, but nevertheless had true Christianity been preached and put forth I believe as a soldier with proper training I would have been prepared for the fight. Now, I don't say this to anyways cast blame, but to point out the importance of the true gospel and our following of Jesus. So this goes back to my original question can God be an Idol? I believe that I had an idol at this time in my life that was God, but not the true God. An ideal that if I believed in Jesus, went to church, and partook in some ministries that I was a valiant Christian. But here is the crux of what is wrong with that...I wasn't giving up all for Christ. That is the Gospel. Jesus isn't about Sunday morning services or Wednesday night prayer meetings. He isn't about giving 10% or singing in the choir. The Pharisees did these types of things, the Roman Catholics do these types of things and in some cases more. So are we made righteous because we have belief in Jesus alone? So many look at the book of Romans as justification by faith alone in Christ by God's Grace to be what makes you a Christian. However, they don't look to the Gospels or many other books of the New Testament that expound on what it means to have faith in Christ. The Catholics which the reformers were breaking away from were steeped in all kinds of idolatry and different types of works for salvation, so their main focus was that salvation came by faith in Christ alone. AMEN, but what does that mean? Is it that simple belief or is it taking up your cross? Someone can simply believe without taking up their cross, but one who takes up his cross obviously believes. The watered down gospel and the unsurrendered Christian are equal principles. They want to preach and speak about service and ministering, but when the opportunities comes they turn it down citing some excuse which really is based in their desire for the status quo or comfort. Taking up the cross of Christ is not about comfort. It is about a daily desire for the sacrificial whether it be material or emotional for the sake of Christ.
Now if you have read this far you might be saying "What got Bryan so rattled?" or "Bryan, why do you think that you have all of the answers?" Well, to answer the first question I am not rattled, but concerned as I see the Gospel of Christ being trampled on and as I have more and more encounters with different "Good" churches it becomes more clear. Now, that is not to say that if a church doesn't want to work with us that this upsets me. I have no problem with that as I believe the Lord will lead us where He wants us when He wants us. But what I do have a problem with is when I encounter churches and I see in their beliefs and leadership how they portray the Gospel of Christ whether they want to work with us or not. To address the second question I believe that the Bible has the answers and I have dedicated myself to an unadulterated devoted study of God's word apart from the beliefs I was taught or the doctrines of modern churches. However, I do not believe that I am correct on everything. I have a lot of work to do and a lot more of my crosses to pick up, but I am very firm in the belief in what the Bible says about the Gospel and to turn from it in one way or another no matter how small means an absolute perversion of that Gospel that Christ and the apostles gave their life for.
So in conclusion can God be an Idol? If we are truly worshipping God YAHWEH through faith in Jesus Christ than no He is not an idol. But if we are worshipping a god of Church or of comfort, one of traditions or intellect, one that is of our own making even if it coincides with a belief in Jesus than yes "God" can simply be a god.
For some reason the Lord has had me doing a study on idolatry especially where Israel was concerned in the Old Testament. I have been studying this for about a year now and it has been on my heart and mind. As I see the parallels between Israel and the "church" today they are eerily similar. This also strengthens my belief in the principle of the Disciple of Jesus and our working in the ministry of discipleship. Can we allow our churches, our doctrines, even our Bibles to replace God himself? The more I experience and study the church of America today the more I see a religious network and private clubs extended from the protestant reformation and the ideals of the American Nationalists. As much as we can look back at the reformation and see it as a good thing it was more of a conflict of thought than it was of discipleship.( or politics in the case of Henry VIII and Vasa) Now I am not saying who is really redeemed or not, such as Luther, Calvin, Arminian, Knox, etc., but the intense idealism that was behind it was more based on doctrine and theology than on picking up your cross and following Christ. But I am not here to detract on them as I will never earthly know if they ever were truly redeemed or not.
However, I have to look at God's plan from a historical perspective. Did he intend for the true gospel to be silent for more than a millennia under the Catholic Church and then to slowly over several centuries become more visible through the theological debates of certain men? Or has it been there all the time through people who have never been a part of the mainstream church but met on their own as the AAC Church(Church before Catholicism) did? These are simply questions that I don't think we can truly know the answers of, but my point is this...As we see the church today being so ineffective when it comes to the true gospel and the church of the past being so wrapped up in sacraments and traditions, can we assume that most churches today are preaching a different Jesus? When we see churches training their people for mediocrity can we assume those leaders are false teachers? When the Heart of the Gospel is to leave family or land for Christ and to despise yourself can we assume that most people today that claim to be Christians have never been born again?
This has been an issue for me since I was 18. I was very disillusioned in the church I was in because I didn't see a church that the Scriptures described and as I went from School to School and Church to Church I continued to see a body of people that were perpetuating the idea of religion but not following Christ. It was in this period where I believe because of my lack of proper training in what it truly means to be a Christian that I made some poor decisions in my life which I have only myself to blame, but nevertheless had true Christianity been preached and put forth I believe as a soldier with proper training I would have been prepared for the fight. Now, I don't say this to anyways cast blame, but to point out the importance of the true gospel and our following of Jesus. So this goes back to my original question can God be an Idol? I believe that I had an idol at this time in my life that was God, but not the true God. An ideal that if I believed in Jesus, went to church, and partook in some ministries that I was a valiant Christian. But here is the crux of what is wrong with that...I wasn't giving up all for Christ. That is the Gospel. Jesus isn't about Sunday morning services or Wednesday night prayer meetings. He isn't about giving 10% or singing in the choir. The Pharisees did these types of things, the Roman Catholics do these types of things and in some cases more. So are we made righteous because we have belief in Jesus alone? So many look at the book of Romans as justification by faith alone in Christ by God's Grace to be what makes you a Christian. However, they don't look to the Gospels or many other books of the New Testament that expound on what it means to have faith in Christ. The Catholics which the reformers were breaking away from were steeped in all kinds of idolatry and different types of works for salvation, so their main focus was that salvation came by faith in Christ alone. AMEN, but what does that mean? Is it that simple belief or is it taking up your cross? Someone can simply believe without taking up their cross, but one who takes up his cross obviously believes. The watered down gospel and the unsurrendered Christian are equal principles. They want to preach and speak about service and ministering, but when the opportunities comes they turn it down citing some excuse which really is based in their desire for the status quo or comfort. Taking up the cross of Christ is not about comfort. It is about a daily desire for the sacrificial whether it be material or emotional for the sake of Christ.
Now if you have read this far you might be saying "What got Bryan so rattled?" or "Bryan, why do you think that you have all of the answers?" Well, to answer the first question I am not rattled, but concerned as I see the Gospel of Christ being trampled on and as I have more and more encounters with different "Good" churches it becomes more clear. Now, that is not to say that if a church doesn't want to work with us that this upsets me. I have no problem with that as I believe the Lord will lead us where He wants us when He wants us. But what I do have a problem with is when I encounter churches and I see in their beliefs and leadership how they portray the Gospel of Christ whether they want to work with us or not. To address the second question I believe that the Bible has the answers and I have dedicated myself to an unadulterated devoted study of God's word apart from the beliefs I was taught or the doctrines of modern churches. However, I do not believe that I am correct on everything. I have a lot of work to do and a lot more of my crosses to pick up, but I am very firm in the belief in what the Bible says about the Gospel and to turn from it in one way or another no matter how small means an absolute perversion of that Gospel that Christ and the apostles gave their life for.
So in conclusion can God be an Idol? If we are truly worshipping God YAHWEH through faith in Jesus Christ than no He is not an idol. But if we are worshipping a god of Church or of comfort, one of traditions or intellect, one that is of our own making even if it coincides with a belief in Jesus than yes "God" can simply be a god.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Tactics...Haiti
In our search for ways to reach out with people to share the Gospel we have found it somewhat challenging in New Jersey as it is the exact opposite from the American West. Out West people hang outside and come up to you and start conversations. In New Jersey people get in their car and drive to where they want to go and most don't care to speak to anyone along the way. This being the case we believe we can kill two birds with one stone. We have begun speaking with stores and shopping centers hoping they will allow us to set up a table in their area where we can promote the Orphanage in Haiti that we help out. We have begun developing posters and gifts that we can use to grab people's attention to donate and help out this great cause. However, in the process of sitting at a table in or outside of these stores we will be able to hand out free books, our "Light and Darkness Project" dvd's, and tracts that focus on the Gospel of Jesus. We will also have the opportunity to have conversations with people as they talk to us about the orphanage and our cause. Pray that we will have a good response from the Store executives, and for people to respond to giving to the orphanage as well as the Gospel items that we give them. Thank You!
Monday, August 22, 2011
He gave the...evangelists, pastors, teachers to equip
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. (Ephesians 4)
Let's look at the context before we address the main principle in verse 11-13. In the first part of chapter four Paul is stating that we need to be unified loving one another. For there is only one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all. Then in Verse 14 he speaks of us not being infants who are blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning of people. So many churches are moving away from the true gospel, so many churches are getting closed down in secondary doctrines and personal preferences. Yet, the true Gospel should be what unites us. Repentance and a committed trust in Jesus Christ is what should be bringing us together to stand against the evils of this world and to reach out to the Lost. We are not willing to work together for the body of Christ, but instead so arrogant about our own beliefs we pierce the very heart of that body by causing disunity. And according to what the Bible has to say about this which is in 1 Timothy 6 and Titus 3 that these people are warped and we should warn them then if they do not stop in their ways we should have nothing to do with them. So I have to look at some of these churches who close their doors to people who are not of the same branch of the same denomination or those who want to argue over the what version of the Bible we use as people who are self-condemed. (among other possible doctrines and preferences) These are not followers of Jesus Christ.
But this all being said helps us to understand the context of the principle in Verses 11-13. The principle is this that there are those who are evangelists, pastors and teachers who's goal is to what? Is it to have a nice church building? Is it to have attractive programs? Is it to have a successful career? No, it is to train his people for works of service. For what purpose? To build up the body of Christ in Unity. So is the evangelist to go out and preach the gospel to the lost? Yes, that is his partial duty, but deeper than that he should be training followers to spread the gospel themselves. Should teachers and pastors be coming up with really good sermons or lessons? Yes, that is their partial duty, but deeper than that they should be training disciples to do the work of the ministry (KJV). So I guess the principle I am trying to get across here is that the 5 that it speaks of in verse 11 are not to be the ones doing the work, but training others to partake in the work. So the context helps us understand we should all be united doing the works of ministry in love.
It amazes me when I hear people complain about where this country is going on a spiritual and moral level, but what are they doing about it? I hear preachers preach against sin but what are they doing about it except allowing their own sin to grow and manifest? "Let's close our doors to work with our Christian brothers to reach the lost because they believe that you can raise your hands during worship." (Just a random example) Let me state exactly where this mindset comes from...PRIDE! This is not something that comes from humility Eph. 4:2.
So I urge you to train and be trained, and to do the works of ministry for Jesus Christ together in love for his glory.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. (Ephesians 4)
Let's look at the context before we address the main principle in verse 11-13. In the first part of chapter four Paul is stating that we need to be unified loving one another. For there is only one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all. Then in Verse 14 he speaks of us not being infants who are blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning of people. So many churches are moving away from the true gospel, so many churches are getting closed down in secondary doctrines and personal preferences. Yet, the true Gospel should be what unites us. Repentance and a committed trust in Jesus Christ is what should be bringing us together to stand against the evils of this world and to reach out to the Lost. We are not willing to work together for the body of Christ, but instead so arrogant about our own beliefs we pierce the very heart of that body by causing disunity. And according to what the Bible has to say about this which is in 1 Timothy 6 and Titus 3 that these people are warped and we should warn them then if they do not stop in their ways we should have nothing to do with them. So I have to look at some of these churches who close their doors to people who are not of the same branch of the same denomination or those who want to argue over the what version of the Bible we use as people who are self-condemed. (among other possible doctrines and preferences) These are not followers of Jesus Christ.
But this all being said helps us to understand the context of the principle in Verses 11-13. The principle is this that there are those who are evangelists, pastors and teachers who's goal is to what? Is it to have a nice church building? Is it to have attractive programs? Is it to have a successful career? No, it is to train his people for works of service. For what purpose? To build up the body of Christ in Unity. So is the evangelist to go out and preach the gospel to the lost? Yes, that is his partial duty, but deeper than that he should be training followers to spread the gospel themselves. Should teachers and pastors be coming up with really good sermons or lessons? Yes, that is their partial duty, but deeper than that they should be training disciples to do the work of the ministry (KJV). So I guess the principle I am trying to get across here is that the 5 that it speaks of in verse 11 are not to be the ones doing the work, but training others to partake in the work. So the context helps us understand we should all be united doing the works of ministry in love.
It amazes me when I hear people complain about where this country is going on a spiritual and moral level, but what are they doing about it? I hear preachers preach against sin but what are they doing about it except allowing their own sin to grow and manifest? "Let's close our doors to work with our Christian brothers to reach the lost because they believe that you can raise your hands during worship." (Just a random example) Let me state exactly where this mindset comes from...PRIDE! This is not something that comes from humility Eph. 4:2.
So I urge you to train and be trained, and to do the works of ministry for Jesus Christ together in love for his glory.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Precept Focused Study or Sermon
I have heard from time to time people stating that they prefer an expository style of study or preaching. I have read articles and heard preachers say that is the best way to study or preach. They also say that the topical way is erroneous because it allows the individual to find verses out of context to support their topic or way of thinking. Well, of course, I am going to disagree with this, but not fully. I also think that we need to change our wording. Of course the word Topical sounds infantile and shallow (like some sort of cream), but I don't believe this truly describes the way that some individuals go about their study or sermons. I think a more accurate terminology would be Precept Focused study or sermon. The importance of the word of God comes from a consistent teaching all through His word. There are principles and precepts that must be understood. Of course, in any style no verse should ever be taken out of context although a verse can have meaning apart from its context. Example -Matthew 25 this is a passage that is dealing with prophecy in its context, but the principle of helping the poor rings true all through scripture. An expository style although good can leave an individual compartmentalized in their study and be missing out on the bigger picture that God has to show through all of scriptures to bring out the true meaning of that text. So this is not a condemnation on Topical or Expository preaching, but hopefully some insight and clarification how Expository preaching can be good as can a Precept Focused Sermon or study.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
The True Gospel- Simple Yet Hard
What is the True Gospel...There are so many versions out there and some are very similar and others are completely ridiculous. There are those that are so similar to the true gospel and yet it takes away from the truth and thereby taking away from its saving power. I want to go into depth on this as an "evangelist" and disciple of Jesus knowing it my duty to preserve the purity of the gospel of Jesus.
We know that simply we are sinners who need to be reconciled to our God and creator. We know that Jesus was sent to bear the penalty for our sin, but what does faith in him mean in order to be made at peace with God and inherit eternal life?
Let us look at three principles that we need in order for this to happen:
1. Repent- Be Humble and poor in Spirit- This is a genuine sorrow for your sin against God and recognizing that you need salvation.
2. Turn from yourself and this world- Jesus says in many scripture John 12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
This is an essential point that many leave out in their teaching of the Gospel. Jesus also says in Luke 14:26-27 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
This is the Hard part of the Gospel. For some it may be the initial humbling and repenting but for others it is number 2. In fact this is the principle of why Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. The Rich man who has luxury and wealth will have to give that all up to follow Jesus... just as Zacchaeus did. Now is this a work that earns salvation? No, but it is an understanding that if you are going to follow Jesus you may have to give up your sinful ways that earned you that money, or as you submit to Christ you may have to give that wealth away.
This is why in James it says that God has chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith.(2:5) They are the ones who will be more likely to give up the things of this world because they don't have much to give up.
3. Follow Jesus- As we follow the Light of this world he will lead us into righteousness. This gives the idea of trust and commitment. This is where Jesus speaks metaphorically of being born again. Once we have died in principles 1&2 then we are ready to be born again by calling on Jesus to be our Lord and Savior being reborn by the Holy Spirit. (John 3) The idea that we simply believe in Jesus or say a prayer is not entirely accurate. When you study the verses in their original Greek that seem to suggest this you will find that it means more than that and it also aligns with the many other scriptures that reference what we have already spoke on and so many more.
An added Bonus:
4. Bear Fruit- this is a principle that is not for the unbeliever to work unto salvation, but the disciple to work out his salvation. The Scriptures are very clear that if the "disciple" is not bearing fruit then they are not a true disciple and will not inherit eternal life.
So when I hear people leaving out from the Gospel any of these points then I have to say they are not really preaching the true Gospel. If a person does not repent and turn from his life, if he does not place his trust in Christ and follow him then he is not a true disciple. It is absolutely contrary to scripture and deceives the person who is being taught this perverted gospel.
We know that simply we are sinners who need to be reconciled to our God and creator. We know that Jesus was sent to bear the penalty for our sin, but what does faith in him mean in order to be made at peace with God and inherit eternal life?
Let us look at three principles that we need in order for this to happen:
1. Repent- Be Humble and poor in Spirit- This is a genuine sorrow for your sin against God and recognizing that you need salvation.
2. Turn from yourself and this world- Jesus says in many scripture John 12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
This is an essential point that many leave out in their teaching of the Gospel. Jesus also says in Luke 14:26-27 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
This is the Hard part of the Gospel. For some it may be the initial humbling and repenting but for others it is number 2. In fact this is the principle of why Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. The Rich man who has luxury and wealth will have to give that all up to follow Jesus... just as Zacchaeus did. Now is this a work that earns salvation? No, but it is an understanding that if you are going to follow Jesus you may have to give up your sinful ways that earned you that money, or as you submit to Christ you may have to give that wealth away.
This is why in James it says that God has chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith.(2:5) They are the ones who will be more likely to give up the things of this world because they don't have much to give up.
3. Follow Jesus- As we follow the Light of this world he will lead us into righteousness. This gives the idea of trust and commitment. This is where Jesus speaks metaphorically of being born again. Once we have died in principles 1&2 then we are ready to be born again by calling on Jesus to be our Lord and Savior being reborn by the Holy Spirit. (John 3) The idea that we simply believe in Jesus or say a prayer is not entirely accurate. When you study the verses in their original Greek that seem to suggest this you will find that it means more than that and it also aligns with the many other scriptures that reference what we have already spoke on and so many more.
An added Bonus:
4. Bear Fruit- this is a principle that is not for the unbeliever to work unto salvation, but the disciple to work out his salvation. The Scriptures are very clear that if the "disciple" is not bearing fruit then they are not a true disciple and will not inherit eternal life.
So when I hear people leaving out from the Gospel any of these points then I have to say they are not really preaching the true Gospel. If a person does not repent and turn from his life, if he does not place his trust in Christ and follow him then he is not a true disciple. It is absolutely contrary to scripture and deceives the person who is being taught this perverted gospel.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Sorrow- Genuine or Worldly
The Bible speaks in several places about having a worldly sorrow or a sorrow that doesn't lead to repentance. What does this mean and how do you know if your sorrow or regret is a Godly one? Well I am going to make this quick and to the point. I could sit here and list scripture after scripture but it would fill too much of this page. The idea of a worldly sorrow is one where we fear the consequences. It is one where we feel sorry not for the wrong we have done but for the blessing we have lost. A Godly Sorrow is one where we are genuinely sorry for our sin and the fact that it has offended God. We understand this is true repentance which is the only kind of repentance that leads to salvation. For someone to be sorry for their sins because they don't want to miss out on Paradise (Heaven) or suffer the consequences of Hell does not lead them to true repentance and following Jesus Christ. This False sorrow will lead them to a shallow belief in Jesus that is in word only and not in deed. It will cause them never to suffer, but to continue living their life in this world for this world. So do you have a genuine sorrow? Have you experienced a true repentance leading you to leaving this world of darkness and follow Jesus Christ? If you haven't or are unsure go now to the Lord in prayer and plead with Him for understanding and perhaps a genuine repentance.
2 Corinthians 7:10
For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
2 Corinthians 7:10
For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
A Disciple or Church Member?
A disciple or a church member, is there a difference? Yes,there is a radical difference. This may be a perspective issue for some, but for others this could be a life altering salvation issue. So we must define the differences, look at their history and origins, and understand how this changes the way that we approach the things of God.
First let me define the difference between "Church" and the Church. We know from Scripture that the Church are reconciled saints of God through Jesus Christ and refers to individual people. The word is "ekklesia" in the Greek and means a calling out of people. This was originally used by the Greeks in political arenas to describe an assembly of people for politicians to address their followers. Jesus used this word for the calling out of his people from the world to follow him. The Church would be known as a group of people that were established for his sake and purposes. The word "Church" that we use today is a word that is derived from our Catholic Roots. It is primarily the same word but has taken on different meaning. We see that a lot of what we do today in our churches have root in the Catholic System from many years ago. So in the AAC (ante annos catholicam- before the age of Catholicism) we see that the Saints or Christians were a people who were followers of Christ called out from this world and were involved in constant ministry meeting in houses, synagogues, and small places wherever they could meet. It wasn't until Constantine made his "conversion" to Chrisitianity that we begin to see Church buildings and a governmental form of structure in the Church. In fact it was Constantine who really began to establish these Church Buildings. So two questions come from this- 1. Was Constantine and this new Catholic Church really of Christ 2. Did Jesus ever intend for there to be Church Buildings.
Regarding the first question I would say no, if you study Constantine's conversion you will see that it was based on a "sign" in the sky that helped him win a battle. History shows that he also continued to worship some of the Roman gods such as Apollo. So basically a lucky symbol helped him in battle so he took on another idol into his portfolio of gods. Now the second point to this question is regardless of the genuineness of Constantine's conversion if you have the Emperor of an empire switch to a certain religion this will cause masses of people to convert based solely on the Ruler's decision. So the Catholic Church was most probably founded by pagans and its hierarchy ruled by them. So this brings us to our second question...Did Jesus ever intend for there to be Church Buildings? No, but does it matter? My point is this... No, I don't believe that it was the goal of Jesus to have Church Buildings established across the Globe, but I don't believe that it is wrong either. However, we as saints must understand how we conduct ourselves in these Church buildings is important and this brings us to being a disciple.
Being a disciple is about picking up our cross and following Christ. It is about constant ministry, love for each other, and reaching out to the lost to make more disciples. "Christians" have turned the Church into a giant religious club where people can have fun, be social, lose their guilt all in the name of a Jesus that they may not even know. With ministry comes sacrifice, with carrying ones cross this portrays agony, so where is the agony in today's churches? Where is the suffering and the struggle? So many people think that we are to have these things due to governmental persecution and since their isn't really any in America then we shouldn't expect these negative things. However, when the Bible speaks about suffering and struggle it is not speaking primarily about persecution, but the personal willingness of the individual to give up the things of this world and follow Jesus. It will be a struggle...it will cause agony.
The other potential negative effect of the Church perspective which originated under the Catholics was a lack of discipleship and accountability. The Catholic rulers had no desire for true discipleship as their churches were swarmed with the masses. They had no real passion for Discipleship because they had no real passion for Jesus. So people came and went as they wished living their lives how they wished all in the name of Jesus. Sound familiar? This sounds very similar to the current protestant churches we have today. The difference is where the Catholics established rules and regulations in order to get into heaven, the current protestant church of today has established a "Cheap Grace" form of redemption. Understand that in the AAC if you claimed to be a Christian there was great sacrifice involved. It was giving up not only the things of this world but potentially giving up the means to make any sort of living in the future. It meant potentially living in hiding or being on the run. It meant carrying your cross.
So how should we as disciples conduct ourselves in these church buildings? Well, first understand there is no such thing as a "Church Member" but a disciple who is part of the church. In our churches, however, we must be focused on a discipleship form of worship. Let the church building serve as a place for support, ministry headquarters, teaching and instruction, personal discipleship and accountability. Let it be known as a place of rest and rehabilitation for the suffering disciple to gain encouragement and exhortation from other disciples of Jesus. Let it be a place of Agape Love and a place of sacrifice. Let it be a place where we strengthen each other and plan our attack on the gates of hell. (See Blog- Ecclesia Ipsum)
So let's not dismiss the AAC Christians of the early church as simply a time in history that was a neccesity because of the culture, but let us see what they were as an example in the way we conduct ourselves.
Pauls states this after what I believe to be our primary doctrine- Philippians 3:8-15
Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. Philippians 3:17
First let me define the difference between "Church" and the Church. We know from Scripture that the Church are reconciled saints of God through Jesus Christ and refers to individual people. The word is "ekklesia" in the Greek and means a calling out of people. This was originally used by the Greeks in political arenas to describe an assembly of people for politicians to address their followers. Jesus used this word for the calling out of his people from the world to follow him. The Church would be known as a group of people that were established for his sake and purposes. The word "Church" that we use today is a word that is derived from our Catholic Roots. It is primarily the same word but has taken on different meaning. We see that a lot of what we do today in our churches have root in the Catholic System from many years ago. So in the AAC (ante annos catholicam- before the age of Catholicism) we see that the Saints or Christians were a people who were followers of Christ called out from this world and were involved in constant ministry meeting in houses, synagogues, and small places wherever they could meet. It wasn't until Constantine made his "conversion" to Chrisitianity that we begin to see Church buildings and a governmental form of structure in the Church. In fact it was Constantine who really began to establish these Church Buildings. So two questions come from this- 1. Was Constantine and this new Catholic Church really of Christ 2. Did Jesus ever intend for there to be Church Buildings.
Regarding the first question I would say no, if you study Constantine's conversion you will see that it was based on a "sign" in the sky that helped him win a battle. History shows that he also continued to worship some of the Roman gods such as Apollo. So basically a lucky symbol helped him in battle so he took on another idol into his portfolio of gods. Now the second point to this question is regardless of the genuineness of Constantine's conversion if you have the Emperor of an empire switch to a certain religion this will cause masses of people to convert based solely on the Ruler's decision. So the Catholic Church was most probably founded by pagans and its hierarchy ruled by them. So this brings us to our second question...Did Jesus ever intend for there to be Church Buildings? No, but does it matter? My point is this... No, I don't believe that it was the goal of Jesus to have Church Buildings established across the Globe, but I don't believe that it is wrong either. However, we as saints must understand how we conduct ourselves in these Church buildings is important and this brings us to being a disciple.
Being a disciple is about picking up our cross and following Christ. It is about constant ministry, love for each other, and reaching out to the lost to make more disciples. "Christians" have turned the Church into a giant religious club where people can have fun, be social, lose their guilt all in the name of a Jesus that they may not even know. With ministry comes sacrifice, with carrying ones cross this portrays agony, so where is the agony in today's churches? Where is the suffering and the struggle? So many people think that we are to have these things due to governmental persecution and since their isn't really any in America then we shouldn't expect these negative things. However, when the Bible speaks about suffering and struggle it is not speaking primarily about persecution, but the personal willingness of the individual to give up the things of this world and follow Jesus. It will be a struggle...it will cause agony.
The other potential negative effect of the Church perspective which originated under the Catholics was a lack of discipleship and accountability. The Catholic rulers had no desire for true discipleship as their churches were swarmed with the masses. They had no real passion for Discipleship because they had no real passion for Jesus. So people came and went as they wished living their lives how they wished all in the name of Jesus. Sound familiar? This sounds very similar to the current protestant churches we have today. The difference is where the Catholics established rules and regulations in order to get into heaven, the current protestant church of today has established a "Cheap Grace" form of redemption. Understand that in the AAC if you claimed to be a Christian there was great sacrifice involved. It was giving up not only the things of this world but potentially giving up the means to make any sort of living in the future. It meant potentially living in hiding or being on the run. It meant carrying your cross.
So how should we as disciples conduct ourselves in these church buildings? Well, first understand there is no such thing as a "Church Member" but a disciple who is part of the church. In our churches, however, we must be focused on a discipleship form of worship. Let the church building serve as a place for support, ministry headquarters, teaching and instruction, personal discipleship and accountability. Let it be known as a place of rest and rehabilitation for the suffering disciple to gain encouragement and exhortation from other disciples of Jesus. Let it be a place of Agape Love and a place of sacrifice. Let it be a place where we strengthen each other and plan our attack on the gates of hell. (See Blog- Ecclesia Ipsum)
So let's not dismiss the AAC Christians of the early church as simply a time in history that was a neccesity because of the culture, but let us see what they were as an example in the way we conduct ourselves.
Pauls states this after what I believe to be our primary doctrine- Philippians 3:8-15
Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. Philippians 3:17
Saturday, August 6, 2011
The Disciples Compass
I am beginning a new additional blog at http://www.disciplescompass.blogspot.com/ This will simply be daily truths that come from my study of the Word and prayer. These will be simple teachings that as The Lord shares them with me I will share them with you. I will continue Path Postings for longer more complex blogs and updates, but hope that the Disciples Compass will be something that will simply encourage you or direct you on the path of righteousness. I hope to post on a daily basis but cannot guarantee this as we are very busy and computers escape me sometimes. I hope they are a blessing to you!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Not TULIP, but TELL...And Why we must!
I want to give you a little background and reasoning of why this subject of Election and Salvation are so important to me. I have been fairly outspoken (at least in my blogs) of why we need to stay away from focusing on secondary doctrines that cause strife and divisions within the church body and focus on what should be our Primary Doctrine that unites us as Christians, which I believe Paul speaks of at the very least in both Romans and Philippians. Soteriology is probably the most important of the OLOGIES and must be kept pure and unperverted. When the Gospel is slightly changed in any way it loses its power to save and is no longer the true gospel. Now when it comes to the subject of Election I don't think that either side, whether Calvinist or Arminian, take away from the Gospel itself but it changes ones perspective on God and our responsibility as disciples. Here, however, is why I am addressing this in this blog. I had never heard much about this subject in detail until a pastor in New Jersey introduced it to me. He was what he claimed to be a 3 Point Calvinist. He agreed with T, U, and P. Now since he was the first to introduce this to me and did it in some ways on a personal level I pretty much just accepted it. As I continued in study of the Bible I had problems with this 3 Point concept of Calvinism and definitely had problems with TULIP as a whole as many scriptures seem to reject several of these points. However, Philosophically I can understand the merits of the logic behind it but then there are still some flaws in the logic which I will address later. So that being all said for the past nine years this has been a personal mission of mine to find the truth and understand at least part of the idea of election. I will say after my studies I do not agree with the Arminian position as a whole and do not agree with the Calvinistic position as a whole. In fact there are some points where I differ completely from both parties and go out on my own. I want to make clear that when I refer to the Calvinist and their beliefs I do so in love. This is not a derogatory term but simply a label that helps me explain my points.
Now here is why I want to address it more than just for personal reasons as I am putting this on my blog, and that is that the Calvinistic doctrine has permeated a great part of the church today and except in the rare case renders MOST people who subscribe to this doctrine as non-evangelistic. How convenient for the devil to introduce a belief system that makes us as Christians inert. Now I will put the TULIP Acronym down for those who are not familiar with it and then I will write down TELL and explain it in great detail. (This will be a longer read then most of my blogs)
Total Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace
Preservation of the Saints
In all fairness I will speak briefly on the TULIP concept. First of all as I have been studying it and the scriptures and hear many people claim being a 3 Point Calvinist (which I also did at one time) it has occurred to me that you cannot be a 3 Point Calvinist. 99% of 3 point Calvinists claim they agree with TUP. The problem with this is that you cannot believe in Unconditional Election and not agree with Irresistible Grace. They are conjoined principles almost to the fact that I is simply a redundant point in order to add a vowel and make it a flower instead of a nonsensical word. i.e. If God in His ultimate sovereignty chose you to be saved and there were no conditions to this election process, just completely His will, then logically you could not reject it. So when comparing the Irresistible grace point with scripture I have major issues. I have issues with Unconditional election as well which may be more debatable, but if I have very clear scripture that discredits the idea of Irresistible grace then Unconditional election must go with it. The problem I see with the Calvinistic way of study is that they compartmentalize their scriptures and studies. This is why I don't believe that we should only study or preach in an expository fashion. It is easy to draw a certain meaning from a passage if you are only looking at it in the context of that particular section, but when it is put in the light of all of scripture then it takes on its true meaning.
Now here is what through my study I have wrought. I am not saying that I cannot be wrong but I hope that if you disagree with me you don't simply disagree but show me why you do through email. So, hopefully, if I am incorrect I can be corrected or maybe I don't explain something clear enough and can help you understand my points. So here is my acronym that will help to explain my understanding of election which I have based on scriptures but have used the Calvinism/Arminian arguments to form.
Total Depravity
Election of a People
Limited Atonement
Liable Choices
I know there are only 4 points but the last "L" will address two of the others points. First we have to understand our "Soteriology". We need to understand that salvation is faith in Jesus Christ and his work on the cross and his resurrection from the dead to make good on his promise and in him alone. We need to understand that salvation comes to man through his faith when he submits himself to God and commits himself to trusting Christ. Here is why these two truths of Submit/Commit are absolute truth and I will provide a few of the many scripture that are available to back them up.
Submit- Acts 17: 30-31 (to repent is to submit)
I Peter 5:5
James 4:6
Acts 3:19
Commit- Luke 14 (we will discuss this chapter later)
Romans 10:9
Matthew 10: 21-22; 32-33
Matthew 13 (Parable of the sower)
Matthew 24:13
2 Corinthians 11:1-4
TOTAL DEPRAVITY of man is spoken through all of scripture that I won't spend a lot of time on with the scriptures because I believe this is one point most agree on, but I will bring forth a couple that will link this principle with the other principles. John 6:44 states
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:65
And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."
We know that the Holy Spirit has a ministry to the entire world convicting them of sin/righteousness/judgment (John 16:8) and bringing them/us to a knowledge of the Father. And through the reality of Creation and History God has put everyone within boundaries so that they can know Him.
Acts 17: 26-28
In Romans 8 and 9 the crux of the unconditional election idea is the story of Jacob and Esau and how God divinely appointed Jacob to carry on the Line of Christ rather than Esau. First let us look at the theme of the book of Romans and not look at those chapters by themselves. The theme of Romans is that righteousness of God comes through Faith in Christ not works of the law and is available to both Jew and Gentile. Not only is the discussion of it being available to the Gentile throughout the whole book it is littered in these chapters and the surrounding chapters. In chapter 9 right before the explanation of Jacob and Esau, Paul speaks about the nation of Israel not being Israel because of birth and God has the sovereign right to bring forth the Gentiles into His plan of redemption. So He will show mercy on the Gentiles as He will show mercy to whomever he wants and verse 16 it does not depend therefore on man's desire or effort. So understand this is not speaking by any means about personal salvation but the Election of a people Verse 29 of chapter 8 so that Jesus will be the first born of many brothers. And those verses are hard for some but do not get tangled in the grammar of those verses. I believe when he talks about "those" (Plural or group) he is speaking about the saints not John Doe. Understanding also that to the Jew this was a completely foreign idea as the Gentiles in their culture were wretched dogs not fit for anything Godly, and now comes a sect saying that Jesus is the Messiah and Gentiles are not dogs. So Paul is simply trying to explain this fact through the idea that God is the Creator and Master and He can do as He wills.
LIMITED ATONEMENT may surprise some of you that I would have this down, but Jesus said very clearly in John 10 that he lays his life down for his sheep. Christ's death was sufficient for the world, but efficient for the saints. In other words it is like looking at the end of a big sale. Everyone can come and buy something at the sale, but only those who do come and buy something experienced the rewards of the sale. Everyone can have their sins paid for, but only those who are redeemed experienced the atonement. So this is not..."For God so loved the Elect that He gave His only begotten Son", but "I lay down my life for the sheep".
LIABLE CHOICES will cover two issues of election and Calvinism. It will cover Irresistible Grace and Preservation of the Saints. I will start with Irresistible Grace and we see that in Genesis 4:6 the Lord begins speaking to Cain before he murders Abel and says-
Now here is why I want to address it more than just for personal reasons as I am putting this on my blog, and that is that the Calvinistic doctrine has permeated a great part of the church today and except in the rare case renders MOST people who subscribe to this doctrine as non-evangelistic. How convenient for the devil to introduce a belief system that makes us as Christians inert. Now I will put the TULIP Acronym down for those who are not familiar with it and then I will write down TELL and explain it in great detail. (This will be a longer read then most of my blogs)
Total Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace
Preservation of the Saints
In all fairness I will speak briefly on the TULIP concept. First of all as I have been studying it and the scriptures and hear many people claim being a 3 Point Calvinist (which I also did at one time) it has occurred to me that you cannot be a 3 Point Calvinist. 99% of 3 point Calvinists claim they agree with TUP. The problem with this is that you cannot believe in Unconditional Election and not agree with Irresistible Grace. They are conjoined principles almost to the fact that I is simply a redundant point in order to add a vowel and make it a flower instead of a nonsensical word. i.e. If God in His ultimate sovereignty chose you to be saved and there were no conditions to this election process, just completely His will, then logically you could not reject it. So when comparing the Irresistible grace point with scripture I have major issues. I have issues with Unconditional election as well which may be more debatable, but if I have very clear scripture that discredits the idea of Irresistible grace then Unconditional election must go with it. The problem I see with the Calvinistic way of study is that they compartmentalize their scriptures and studies. This is why I don't believe that we should only study or preach in an expository fashion. It is easy to draw a certain meaning from a passage if you are only looking at it in the context of that particular section, but when it is put in the light of all of scripture then it takes on its true meaning.
Now here is what through my study I have wrought. I am not saying that I cannot be wrong but I hope that if you disagree with me you don't simply disagree but show me why you do through email. So, hopefully, if I am incorrect I can be corrected or maybe I don't explain something clear enough and can help you understand my points. So here is my acronym that will help to explain my understanding of election which I have based on scriptures but have used the Calvinism/Arminian arguments to form.
Total Depravity
Election of a People
Limited Atonement
Liable Choices
I know there are only 4 points but the last "L" will address two of the others points. First we have to understand our "Soteriology". We need to understand that salvation is faith in Jesus Christ and his work on the cross and his resurrection from the dead to make good on his promise and in him alone. We need to understand that salvation comes to man through his faith when he submits himself to God and commits himself to trusting Christ. Here is why these two truths of Submit/Commit are absolute truth and I will provide a few of the many scripture that are available to back them up.
Submit- Acts 17: 30-31 (to repent is to submit)
I Peter 5:5
James 4:6
Acts 3:19
Commit- Luke 14 (we will discuss this chapter later)
Romans 10:9
Matthew 10: 21-22; 32-33
Matthew 13 (Parable of the sower)
Matthew 24:13
2 Corinthians 11:1-4
TOTAL DEPRAVITY of man is spoken through all of scripture that I won't spend a lot of time on with the scriptures because I believe this is one point most agree on, but I will bring forth a couple that will link this principle with the other principles. John 6:44 states
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:65
And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."
We know that the Holy Spirit has a ministry to the entire world convicting them of sin/righteousness/judgment (John 16:8) and bringing them/us to a knowledge of the Father. And through the reality of Creation and History God has put everyone within boundaries so that they can know Him.
Acts 17: 26-28
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
ELECTION OF A PEOPLE is the principle we will speak on now. This will be the most lengthy and most potentially debatable of the principles as we will look at all of scripture to try and understand this idea of election. Let's look first at the problems with Unconditional election and then we will get into the scripture that puts forth the idea of an Elected people. First we will look at the flaws with the Logic. If a man comes and shoots you and you lie on the floor dying and someone comes by with medical equipment and stands next to you watching you die and chooses not to use it would he be not as guilty as the man who shot you? This is the idea that Calvinism teaches but tries to avoid when confronted. Here is God with the power to save anyone but chooses to only save a few particular. Now I say this with all due respect in mentioning God I am not blaming Him. But under this flow of logic that is the picture that is drawn. I have heard the Calvinistic argument to this is that you are responsible for your sin and God cannot take responsibility for it. This sounds good but isn't completely true. We inherited sin from our Fathers from Adam and even Adam who was directly responsible with his choice was saved. So are we accountable for our sin and rebellion? Yes scripture clearly teaches this, but does this make us not eligible for the gift of redemption? No, Scripture clearly teaches this as it is for "whoever believes"-
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God." (John 3:14-21)NOT to condemn the world but to save it. That is a powerful statement and you can see in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 that Jesus blames the Devil and the things of this world for a person not being saved, not the will of God.
The next flaw in logic is this that if God uses his ultimate sovereignty to choose those who will receive salvation then by not acting in preventing the temptation of Eve and Adam he then played a part in the fall. Now I am not claiming that is what He did and no Calvinist will claim that either, but if you follow the logic of unconditional election than that is the conclusion that must be drawn. You cannot claim one thing and then when your reasoning gets too far gone just cut it off and say “No, it doesn't mean that though.” We know that God even though sovereign, in His sovereignty lets His creatures go the way they choose so that they can experience and then display true love if they choose. And I John is very clear that God is Love so how would it stand that He would allow so many people die and go to hell if he did not provide them an option for salvation. That is the basis of Jesus coming "For God so loved the world". Now it might be acceptable if we knew that once a person died then he just wouldn't exist any longer. That could still fit into the parameters of God's love and mercy, but to die eternally in torment doesn't seem like love if there was no salvation option offered to them. In other words the salvation option must be rejected by them, however, I will make clear that we the righteous do not earn it. We must be careful not to confuse the idea that accepting Jesus is some sort of work. This is another illogical idea from the Calvinist that if we see the light and submit, and that if God doesn't give us the faith then it is a work. That is a seriously misguided notion. If my father comes and gives me a gift of a new car (if I didn't have one to go to and from work) does it mean that he snuck into my house and brainwashed me in order to simply accept the gift that I needed? Or that somehow I take the credit of the gift by accepting it? "Yea, hey buddy, did I tell you that I accepted a gift the other day...my receiving abilities are pretty amazing!" Of course not so it must be distinctly noted that our submitting and committing is not a work of the law, but simply a reaction to the truth and our need. But here is why so many people reject the Gift of God and that is there is a cost. WAIT A MINUTE...How can a gift have a cost? Because Jesus says over and over that when we accept this Gift you must BE BORN AGAIN. This phrase of being born again requires the idea of dying to yourself and taking up your cross. It is a gift freely given, but one that is of High Maintenance. However we know that we have God himself there helping us maintain it, empowering us to be successful.
ELECTION OF A PEOPLE is the principle we will speak on now. This will be the most lengthy and most potentially debatable of the principles as we will look at all of scripture to try and understand this idea of election. Let's look first at the problems with Unconditional election and then we will get into the scripture that puts forth the idea of an Elected people. First we will look at the flaws with the Logic. If a man comes and shoots you and you lie on the floor dying and someone comes by with medical equipment and stands next to you watching you die and chooses not to use it would he be not as guilty as the man who shot you? This is the idea that Calvinism teaches but tries to avoid when confronted. Here is God with the power to save anyone but chooses to only save a few particular. Now I say this with all due respect in mentioning God I am not blaming Him. But under this flow of logic that is the picture that is drawn. I have heard the Calvinistic argument to this is that you are responsible for your sin and God cannot take responsibility for it. This sounds good but isn't completely true. We inherited sin from our Fathers from Adam and even Adam who was directly responsible with his choice was saved. So are we accountable for our sin and rebellion? Yes scripture clearly teaches this, but does this make us not eligible for the gift of redemption? No, Scripture clearly teaches this as it is for "whoever believes"-
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God." (John 3:14-21)NOT to condemn the world but to save it. That is a powerful statement and you can see in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 that Jesus blames the Devil and the things of this world for a person not being saved, not the will of God.
The next flaw in logic is this that if God uses his ultimate sovereignty to choose those who will receive salvation then by not acting in preventing the temptation of Eve and Adam he then played a part in the fall. Now I am not claiming that is what He did and no Calvinist will claim that either, but if you follow the logic of unconditional election than that is the conclusion that must be drawn. You cannot claim one thing and then when your reasoning gets too far gone just cut it off and say “No, it doesn't mean that though.” We know that God even though sovereign, in His sovereignty lets His creatures go the way they choose so that they can experience and then display true love if they choose. And I John is very clear that God is Love so how would it stand that He would allow so many people die and go to hell if he did not provide them an option for salvation. That is the basis of Jesus coming "For God so loved the world". Now it might be acceptable if we knew that once a person died then he just wouldn't exist any longer. That could still fit into the parameters of God's love and mercy, but to die eternally in torment doesn't seem like love if there was no salvation option offered to them. In other words the salvation option must be rejected by them, however, I will make clear that we the righteous do not earn it. We must be careful not to confuse the idea that accepting Jesus is some sort of work. This is another illogical idea from the Calvinist that if we see the light and submit, and that if God doesn't give us the faith then it is a work. That is a seriously misguided notion. If my father comes and gives me a gift of a new car (if I didn't have one to go to and from work) does it mean that he snuck into my house and brainwashed me in order to simply accept the gift that I needed? Or that somehow I take the credit of the gift by accepting it? "Yea, hey buddy, did I tell you that I accepted a gift the other day...my receiving abilities are pretty amazing!" Of course not so it must be distinctly noted that our submitting and committing is not a work of the law, but simply a reaction to the truth and our need. But here is why so many people reject the Gift of God and that is there is a cost. WAIT A MINUTE...How can a gift have a cost? Because Jesus says over and over that when we accept this Gift you must BE BORN AGAIN. This phrase of being born again requires the idea of dying to yourself and taking up your cross. It is a gift freely given, but one that is of High Maintenance. However we know that we have God himself there helping us maintain it, empowering us to be successful.
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
(John 15:1-2)
Now let us look through Scripture briefly at those who reject the plan of Salvation why they do and we will start with Esau. Genesis 25 tells us that Esau sold his birthright to Jacob because he wanted the soup for his belly. Jacob desired it and Esau rejected it. Now we know that Esau rejected it because he was after the things of this world mainly food at this point and Jacob was after it why? Now Romans 9 says it was not based on any good deeds that Jacob had done but God's foreknowledge Chapter 8 verse 29 and in a broader sense reiterated in I Peter chapter 1 verses 1-2. Here is what I can see out of the circumstances that Jacob was the server of the two, he was the poorer, not perfect by any means. I believe this is a symbol that God used to show us His grace not personal election for salvation.
Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
(James 2:5)
God does not seek out the rich and powerful as man does, but he displays His grace to the poor and the humble. So Jacob sought after the Heavenly blessing and Esau rejected it. But let's not stop there let's look at John 6 again. In verse 26 Jesus confronts the people following him that they were only doing it for the food. Then after he tells them they are not getting any food but they need to seek after spiritual food (or Him as the bread of life) then they turn and walk away. Yet the 12 stayed although Judas only for the sake of evil...Money primarily. But the other 11 were there why? Peter says because Jesus had the words of eternal life. They were seeking after the things of Heaven. Now let's go to Philippians 3 where in Verses 18 and 19 that there are enemies of the cross and their stomachs are their God, their mind is on earthly things, and their end is destruction. So if the Holy Spirit is convicting the world of sin and righteousness and creation cries out to everyone so that they are made aware of God from creation (Romans 1) and Matthew 13 tells us that it is because of Satan, the pleasures of the world and the trials of life that men reject the gospel then how can we claim that election is personal and is God choosing distinct peoples to be saved. But let's go to John 10 and 17 where Jesus is speaking and praying and I think explains it better. Understand that chapter 10 Jesus is speaking about authority being given to him by the Father, because then he says that those who are his sheep are given to him by the Father and he says the same in Chapter 17. We again have to be careful to say that because they are given to him that we were distinctively chosen and had no options. This is simply Jesus acknowledging the authority of the Father over him and claiming that he didn't take us from the world which would make him seem to be in authority over God the Father. If I thank God for my food does that mean that I played absolutely no part in obtaining it? No, it didn't just appear on a plate prepared for me, but we understand through his power and provision that it came to make its way on my plate and we are grateful for it. We must be careful again to mix the idea that our faith is work and we must be careful to presume that God gave us that faith when it does not say that in scriptures. Why did God choose Abraham? It was very clearly because of his faith. And God chose Israel because of the promise to Abraham originated by his faith. And then God placed Israel where He did so that they would be a Beacon and a Light to the rest of the world. They were at the Crossroads of the greatest empires and civilizations of the World, yet they failed because they "THE CHOSEN" continually sought after other gods and rejected the one true God. But they were chosen...oh! Did God's Sovereign plan not get carried out? Yes and No...It didn't get carried out because in His sovereignty He allowed His people to choose. We know from many scriptures that God's plan was for Israel to have much more land than they did, but they didn't. We know from Scriptures some did choose to serve Him but most did not. That is why we know what Jesus said is true that the way is narrow that leads to life and few will find it. Even in Deuteronomy 17 it said that God had a plan for Israel to have a king that would be righteous but He allowed them to place their own kings to rule over them. So we see that yes, God is Sovereign, but He allows people to choose. How could love be real if it is forced? That is just a logical question not that I have scripture to substantiate it. Another verse that the Calvinist uses would be
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
(John 15:16)
I absolutely believe he is speaking of the twelve in this case which I believe is confirmed in chapter 17 in his prayer. Jesus chose them to build his people and we see this in the prayer that they were given to him from the Father, but he chose them to be the beginning of His people. This refers not to personal salvation, but to a greater ministry that will carry all over the world. Remember Jesus went to each of them and called them to be his “Special Team” this does not mean that later they would have not been redeemed in Acts had he not chosen them. I just want to clarify this point so we don’t get confused with Jesus appointing people to ministry and those who are being redeemed.
LIMITED ATONEMENT may surprise some of you that I would have this down, but Jesus said very clearly in John 10 that he lays his life down for his sheep. Christ's death was sufficient for the world, but efficient for the saints. In other words it is like looking at the end of a big sale. Everyone can come and buy something at the sale, but only those who do come and buy something experienced the rewards of the sale. Everyone can have their sins paid for, but only those who are redeemed experienced the atonement. So this is not..."For God so loved the Elect that He gave His only begotten Son", but "I lay down my life for the sheep".
LIABLE CHOICES will cover two issues of election and Calvinism. It will cover Irresistible Grace and Preservation of the Saints. I will start with Irresistible Grace and we see that in Genesis 4:6 the Lord begins speaking to Cain before he murders Abel and says-
"Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."
(Genesis 4:6-7)
I believe this is one of the most evident and clear calls for salvation in the Bible that was rejected. God verbally pleads with Cain to do the right thing and Cain rejects it and murders Abel. We then see the Grace that Jesus bestowed on many during His ministry, but because of unbelief and their desires for worldly things they reject this grace. One that is amazing is the Rich Young Ruler-
Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
(Mark 10:21)
Look at that statement "Then Jesus beholding him loved him"...and offered Him salvation. But then the young man rejected it...Why? He could not give up the things of this world. I could go on all day with examples of this look at Romans 9 again.
I am speaking the truth in Christ--I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit-- that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
(Romans 9:1-5)
Paul states here that they were given all sorts of Grace and heavenly things leading them to Christ but they rejected it and for this he had great sorrow and wished that he could be cut off for their sake.
So what is my point is that we have Liable Choices that means that God holds us accountable for all that we do. It isn't a matter of God forcing His grace onto us, but allowing all the opportunity to receive it. The next issue is Preservation of the Saints and after a few years of struggling with certain scriptures on this subject I have to agree with the preservation of the Saints and I will explain. There is much scripture that indicates that we will never lose our salvation and there is plenty of Scripture that hints to the fact that Christians can walk away from the faith. But I want to address the ones that say we can walk away from the faith. I believe the main piece of scripture that alludes to this is found in Hebrews. The perception is that the author was writing to Christians, but from what I can tell by reading this over and over and over it sounds more like a gospel letter trying to convince the Hebrew people of their Messiah this being said in chapter 3 the author tells them not to be like their ancestors who did not believe in the wilderness and were cut off but continue on in their faith believing in the Christ Jesus. All this being said it also appears to be a type of beginner discipleship for believers tying in the heritage of the Hebrew people and their past relationship with God to Christ. So as far as this passage goes I have to say I am not sold on the fact that this is saying that people can walk away from the faith although I can respect the opinion of others who do because it is a very hard book when it comes to this subject. However, there are other passages that seem ambiguous to the fact of whether or not a Christian can walk away from the faith or "fall from Grace" but I am not sold on these either when there are so many scriptures that speak to the fact that we are forever saints. But where I draw my main conclusion is in my study of what a disciple of Jesus is and that clears up the matter for me. This also brings us back to this topic of Liable Choices so let us look at Luke 14.
(Genesis 4:6-7)
I believe this is one of the most evident and clear calls for salvation in the Bible that was rejected. God verbally pleads with Cain to do the right thing and Cain rejects it and murders Abel. We then see the Grace that Jesus bestowed on many during His ministry, but because of unbelief and their desires for worldly things they reject this grace. One that is amazing is the Rich Young Ruler-
Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
(Mark 10:21)
Look at that statement "Then Jesus beholding him loved him"...and offered Him salvation. But then the young man rejected it...Why? He could not give up the things of this world. I could go on all day with examples of this look at Romans 9 again.
I am speaking the truth in Christ--I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit-- that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
(Romans 9:1-5)
Paul states here that they were given all sorts of Grace and heavenly things leading them to Christ but they rejected it and for this he had great sorrow and wished that he could be cut off for their sake.
So what is my point is that we have Liable Choices that means that God holds us accountable for all that we do. It isn't a matter of God forcing His grace onto us, but allowing all the opportunity to receive it. The next issue is Preservation of the Saints and after a few years of struggling with certain scriptures on this subject I have to agree with the preservation of the Saints and I will explain. There is much scripture that indicates that we will never lose our salvation and there is plenty of Scripture that hints to the fact that Christians can walk away from the faith. But I want to address the ones that say we can walk away from the faith. I believe the main piece of scripture that alludes to this is found in Hebrews. The perception is that the author was writing to Christians, but from what I can tell by reading this over and over and over it sounds more like a gospel letter trying to convince the Hebrew people of their Messiah this being said in chapter 3 the author tells them not to be like their ancestors who did not believe in the wilderness and were cut off but continue on in their faith believing in the Christ Jesus. All this being said it also appears to be a type of beginner discipleship for believers tying in the heritage of the Hebrew people and their past relationship with God to Christ. So as far as this passage goes I have to say I am not sold on the fact that this is saying that people can walk away from the faith although I can respect the opinion of others who do because it is a very hard book when it comes to this subject. However, there are other passages that seem ambiguous to the fact of whether or not a Christian can walk away from the faith or "fall from Grace" but I am not sold on these either when there are so many scriptures that speak to the fact that we are forever saints. But where I draw my main conclusion is in my study of what a disciple of Jesus is and that clears up the matter for me. This also brings us back to this topic of Liable Choices so let us look at Luke 14.
Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
(Luke 14:27-33)
So here in Luke 14 Jesus says that we must bear our cross which has serious ties to the idea of a submit/commit salvation. He goes on to say that we must first count the cost and determine whether we can finish what we start. I believe in the realm of the Disciples of Jesus that there are 3 kinds- Effective Disciples, Ineffective Disciples, and False Disciples. You can read my other blogs that go into greater details on this point, but if a person makes a Liable choice determining and committing to take up His cross and follow Christ then he is a disciple of Christ and this person will endure to the end. The one who says he follows Christ but does not take up his cross is a false disciple. He is one that is just along for the ride until he finally gets fed up and falls away. There is not true submitting or commitment from the beginning. So we also see in scripture that we are to examine our faith and endure to the end. This is to make sure that we are not false disciples, but to continue in our faith of commitment. This is how we are sure by living by faith. If Faith is belief, repentance, trust and commitment then daily we will be living these out. Believing God for who he is and his promises, repenting and confessing our sins, trusting Christ for our salvation and strength, and committing to Him our love and devotion.
TELL- So this is why we must get the gospel right in the first place. We have to preach the gospel according to how Jesus preached it and the Scriptures explain it not how we want to share it or how someone else has taught us to share it. This is hugely important for the sake of people and God’s kingdom. These points are also why it is so important for us to Tell of Jesus to others and share the Gospel. As the Holy Spirit is showing people their need for salvation we must be there to deliver the word so that they can hear and understand.
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)
So again as God calls us, as he calls the entire world, we realize that we are falling off of a cliff into an abyss (Holy Spirit), we see the rope (The Gospel of Jesus) and all can grab on but the rope has large thorns (The Cost of Discipleship) so many doubt, hesitate, reject making the opportunity for salvation no longer advantageous.
Now under the Idea of Calvinism there really is no urgency to share the Gospel because God will save whom He will save. But when we look at the scriptures and what they really say about this doctrine of Election than we see and understand the urgency not only for sharing the Gospel but for praying for the lost. So with all of this being said go and tell others about Jesus and his love for them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)