Once a Week for God

FROM THE INSIDE OUT

2010-11-19T22:46:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, we looked at the first of Martin Luther's famous Ninety-five Theses, the document that catalyzed the Protestant Reformation. I want to revisit that amazing little statement again. Here it is, in a somewhat literal translation from Luther's original Latin. Oh, and by the way, the quote is from Mark 1:15.

“Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said, ‘Pursue repentance’ willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.” – Martin Luther, October 31, 1517

Really? The will of Christ is that the whole life of believers should be repentance? Yes. Yes, I believe Brother Martin got it exactly right. But think with me about that.

What would it look like if your whole life – everything you think, say and do, and more importantly, everything you are – were entirely composed of repentance; and not merely acts of repentance, but an attitude and heart of repentance? Well, for sure your life would be undergoing constant transformation from the inside out, because genuine, biblical repentance means actively and continually renouncing self-reliance and leaning increasingly upon Jesus Christ. It would make all the difference in the world.

The Middle School guys I work with on Wednesday evenings are learning this. Lately we’ve been memorizing the text in Titus 2:11-12, which says, “The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No!’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.”

This text reminds us that there is an inside-out order to how God’s grace works. First, as verse 11 says, His grace brings salvation: it grants us conviction about our sins, creates faith in us, and causes us to be born again. Second, God’s grace teaches us to live in this new life, transforming the way we live. The sequence is crucial: first comes inner rebirth by the gifts of grace that include repentance and faith; second comes outward lifestyle change.

As my Middle School guys discovered, if we approach such matters of life and death in the wrong order, everything goes completely wrong. For example, if you’re in an airplane that’s going down, a parachute can save your life, but only if you employ that parachute in the right sequence: first, strap it on; second, jump; third, pull the rip-cord. Attempt this procedure in any other order, and you will die.

Too many folks attempt a pursuit of salvation in a deadly and unbiblical sequence. They suppose that the first thing they need to do is work at becoming better people. They try on their own to learn how to “say ‘No!’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives,” in the vain hope that they will somehow come to deserve the saving grace of God. These folks reduce the gospel to a moralistic plan for self improvement, which has no power to save.

The biblical gospel is, however, not merely an improved moral code. The gospel is the story of how God saves desperately wicked people from their sin. It is more that the gateway to salvation: it’s the way we live the life of salvation, constantly and perpetually turning from ourselves to God in Christ.

If you're a Christian, you live in a new way, not because you have new rules to live by, but because you have new life to live. Christ changes you from the inside out, creating new life within you that yields a new way of life.

JESUS, KEEP ME NEAR THE CROSS!

2010-11-03T22:06:00.000-06:00

How many of us can sing by heart the words of the song that starts “Jesus, keep me near the cross”? Can you recall the next few lines? Easy, right?

More than just a song, it’s a much-needed prayer for Christians. Far too many of us have a woefully inadequate understanding of what happened when Jesus willingly embraced the cross and died upon it. We tend to think of the cross as a way for us to get more of God’s goodies, the ticket, as it were, to our best life now.

Of course, there is a modicum of truth in that notion: without the death of God’s Son, you and I would still be in our sins, and therefore rightfully under God’s wrath. But there’s more, so much more to it. As John Piper points out, when Jesus died on the cross, He was not simply dying in our place, but He was also establishing a pattern for our lives.

Christ called us to follow Him in cross-bearing, in dying to ourselves, and in pursuing sacrifice as a strategic part of living out the gospel. We can’t do God’s will if we still want our will. We can’t pray, “Thy kingdom come” without also saying “And my kingdom go.”

And so, we ought to pray to be kept near the cross, saying “O Lamb of God, bring its scenes before” us, to correct our vision of all else that we see, lest spiritual myopia or the dazzle of other things distract us or cause us to stumble from God’s call. Until we see the cross (and see it again), we never rightly comprehend God’s righteousness. At the cross, where the Son of God was broken under the weight of the Father’s wrath, we see that the holiness of God exceeds all our imaginations. He is holy indeed.

Until and unless we see the cross, we can’t accurately understand our sin. The incomprehensible suffering of Christ reveals sin as no mere trifle. Look at the cross and see to what lengths the Son of God went to solve our sin problem! He took sin seriously, and so must we.

Until we see the cross more clearly, we will never appreciate Christ’s love. No sentimentalism here, no sappy “anything goes” tolerance is visible at the cross. Consider the awesome omnipotence of His love, not that He overlooks sin, but that on the cross He dies for it. He was under no obligation to do so; and yet, He died, horribly, all for love’s sake. This, this cross, this death of God’s Son – this is how much God loves sinners.

Finally, until we steadfastly look upon the cross in all its gory magnificence, it will be impossible to realize God’s call upon our lives. Jesus said you can’t follow Him without a cross. The road to the empty tomb still leads squarely over Calvary: you will never experience the power of the resurrection if you reject the pain of the cross.

In what area of your life is Christ calling you to die today? Are you willing for Him to keep you near His cross?

HE CAME TO RESCUE YOU

2010-10-13T11:28:00.002-06:00

Throughout the week, the world has waited and watched, and endured the agony of anticipation throughout the course of the slow and dangerous rescue of 33 miners trapped by a cave-in at a copper mine in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. We have been gripped by the thought of the indescribable hardships they endured in their more than two months confined in the deep and the dark, over 2,000 feet below the surface. At one point, they were even left for dead.

We have been fascinated by the rescue efforts; and rightly so. The work has been herculean, difficult, costly, and – I’m sure we all believe – well worth it. The devout have prayed. The families have held vigil. And the news has been good.
First, the trapped miners were located and a rescue plan was coordinated. A small emergency shaft was built to provide food, water and air for the trapped miners. Then the long rescue shaft was carefully drilled. Finally, in preparation for bringing the men up, three medics were sent down to get the miners ready to be saved.

And a watching world waited and wondered.

The entire process, from the tragic cave-in through the intricate rescue, all anxiously observed by us, reminds me of what God does to save rebel humanity trapped in the depths of our own sin. By our own efforts, we have tunneled far into the darkness, pursuing wealth and success, only to be trapped by the collapse of our own efforts.

We could have been left for dead. We, like those miners, have no hope of digging our way out. But God has a rescue plan prepared and implemented. At great cost to Himself, He sent the Best of heaven for the least of earth down into the dim abyss of our iniquity to secure our release. Taking our crimes upon Himself, Christ offers the trapped and broken a way up and out of our sin. All that is required is to trust Him, our only Hope of rescue.

Think with me about those Chilean miners. Imagine their excitement as the rescue shaft opened up! Consider their elation upon seeing the escape capsule come down!

And then, try to picture this: as one of the helpers emerges from the capsule to help the miners into it one by one, some of them respond to the invitation, “You know, we’ve decided to stay down here. We’ve grown accustomed to the darkness and discomfort; so, thanks, but no, thanks!”

Unimaginable? Of course it is. People in their right mind would jump at the chance to be saved from certain and agonizing death in the dark.

Jesus has come into the gloom of humanity’s self-made tomb and has called us to trust Him so that we may be delivered from the depths of our depravity and brought out into the light of His salvation. It is unimaginable that some would refuse His call, unthinkable that any would prefer to remain trapped.

Jesus came to rescue you. Don’t refuse His offer.

I LOVE THE CHURCH! DO YOU?

2010-09-23T14:15:00.000-06:00

The easiest job in the world is critic. Everywhere you go, you can hear experts and prognosticators of every kind and inclination pronouncing their assessments of what’s wrong with most everything. Quick to point out the problems they see, these self-appointed pundits are generally somewhat slower to jump in and become part of the solutions.

A common object of these critics’ disapproval is the church. It’s easy – even fashionable these days! – to be critical of the church. Composed of sinners, some of whom are saved by grace, and some not yet, the church is kind of a sinner hospital. It is exceedingly odd that a hospital for souls should be criticized for having as its clientele those who suffer from sin’s illness. Jesus did not “come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).

So it is that I love the church. And here are a few reasons why.

I love the church, because in the church, those who admit their sin-sickness can receive both the healing provided by God’s forgiveness in Christ and the sustainable health imparted by the sanctifying power of God’s grace. In the church, people can experience wonderful life-changes together, and share the glories of watching one another be transformed.

I love the church, because Jesus promised to make His presence known in a very special way when we gather in His name (see Matthew 18:20). When His people unite to study His Word, or to pray, or to worship Him, the Lord “shows up and shows off His glories,” as one of our members puts it. This means that many of the things of God simply cannot be experienced outside the gathering of the Body of Christ.

I love the church, because the church calls believers to account for their sins. In the church Christians have brothers and sisters who speak the gospel into each other’s lives, reminding one another that Christ died to deliver us not only from the penalty of sin, but also from the power of sin. They urge each other daily to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). And when some stumble and fall, the others bend down and pick them up in love.

Finally, I love the church, because the Son of God died for the church. Indeed, who would dare refuse to love those for whom Jesus hung in agony on a cruel cross? This quirky rag-tag bunch is what “He obtained with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). In other words, we are right to love the church, because Christ loves the church. Despite her many blemishes, Christ still calls the church His Bride, and He’s still passionately in love with her.

Can you imagine someone saying to God’s Son, “I love You, Jesus, but I can’t stand that ugly Bride of Yours”? Indeed, such a sentiment might rightly incur His displeasure! It seems so clear that, if you love Jesus, you have to love His church.

So, let me ask: do you?

Glenn Beck and Christianity

2010-09-04T16:40:00.000-06:00

I think perhaps I need to change the title of my blog, because it's been a while since I have been posting once a week. Maybe I should call it "Once in a Blue Moon for God." Anyway . . . this is NOT one of my articles from the local newspaper. A friend of mine sent me a link to an article about Glenn Beck, and said, "Read this article and tell me you think Glenn Beck is a Christian." This little piece is my reply.

In a recent article http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=1144072) posted online in Perspectives, Dr. Jim Garlow, pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, CA, stated that Glenn Beck has made a public declaration that he trusts the atonement wrought by Jesus for his salvation. On the basis of this declaration, some evangelical Christians are rushing to embrace Mr. Beck as one of our own.

Before we jump to this conclusion, it would be wise to raise a couple of important questions. WHICH Jesus is Mr. Beck trusting? Is it the Mormon “Jesus,” whom they believe was once the angelic brother of Lucifer and got adopted into the Godhead because of his willingness to come to earth for humanity’s sake? Or, is Mr. Beck trusting the biblical Jesus? This is the Jesus Who has always been the second person of the Trinity; Who, by His miraculous union with flesh, was incarnate for 33 years both fully God and fully human; Who lived a perfect life to provide righteousness for sinners, died a substitutionary death to remove the Father’s righteous wrath from His people, and rose to new life to impart this life to those Who receive Him. Which Jesus?

In point of fact, the Mormon version of Jesus is not qualified to provide atonement, and cannot save any who trust in him. To trust in the so-called atonement of this Jesus is patently not saving faith as defined by Scripture. Salvation is found only in the atoning work of the genuine, biblical Jesus Christ, and the Bible makes this claim very clearly.

Peter declared in Acts 4:12, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by Which we must be saved.” When he said this, Peter was referring to Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom he had confessed, by the revelation of the Father, to be the eternal Son of God (see Matthew 16:16-17). In other words, only the eternal Son of God has power to save, not an angel who took on the name “Jesus.”

In John 14:6, Jesus declared, “In am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me.” This is the Jesus, referring to Himself, Who later claimed under oath in a court of law to be the eternal Son of God, as recorded in Mark 14:63-64: “Again the high priest asked Him, ‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?’ And Jesus said, ‘I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven’.”

Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 2:5, “There is one God, and one Mediator between God and man, Christ Jesus, Himself a man.” For Paul, to put the title “Christ” (meaning Messiah) before the name Jesus (read, then “Messiah Jesus”), and then to say He became a human, meant that he understood Jesus of Nazareth to be the human incarnation of the eternal Son of God, the Messiah sent by God.

Perhaps most telling is what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 11:3-4: “But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” Mormons proclaim “another Jesus,” not the Jesus portrayed in the Gospels as the incarnate eternal Son of God. The Corinthian church seemed to think that the proclamation of another Jesus was acceptable. Sadly, parts of the evangelical church seem willing to do the same today.

Fascinatingly, the Mormons claim they received their revelation about their angelic version of Jesus from an angel. Listen to what God’s Word says in Galatians 1:8: “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed” (emphasis added).

I believe there is something remaining in most Christians, including me, as a continuing manifestation of our sin nature, that WANTS to be able to call others Christians when we have no solid Biblical warrant to be certain that they are. All of us know people who have testified to a teenage experience of accepting Christ at church camp, or who went forward and prayed the sinner’s prayer at a revival, but who nevertheless bear in their lives no credible evidence of regeneration. They may be nice folks in lots of ways, but there is no fruit in their lives. Do we WANT to believe they are saved? Of course. And because of our desire to affirm their alleged salvation, without any Biblically-defined evidence of it, it is easy for us to give in to the pull of misguided passion or sloppy theology, and declare that they’re Christians.

Perhaps Glenn Beck is a born again believer, and, of course, God knows whether he is or not. In contrast to God, however, I don’t know. Yet, for some evangelicals, the desire to affirm him as a member of our camp is intense. He is popular. He is articulate. He speaks the truth. In contrast to Rush Limbaugh (and a long list of other conservative talking heads), he is neither pompous nor proud. Additionally – and this is inestimably appealing to evangelicals, who have been so often disappointed by our spokesmen-champions! – he is squeaky clean, appearing to some to have the fruit of regeneration in his life. Some evangelicals think it would be wonderful if we could add to his credentials, “And, best of all, Glenn Beck is one of US”! Tempting as it may be to make such an affirmation, I cannot: not until I know for sure which Jesus he is trusting. Because, at the end of the day, it all comes down to that, doesn’t it?

CHURCH CAN BE MESSY

2010-05-27T08:47:00.000-06:00

In our market-driven culture, people learn “comparison-shopping.” That’s where you compare prices and features to get the most for your dollar. It’s not a bad idea when it comes to buying things and investing your hard-earned money.

The problem of comparison-shopping arises when we apply it beyond its intended scope. Take matrimony, for example. If, after some mileage accumulates in their marriage, Mr. Jones begins to compare his fifty-something wife with the twenty-something babe at work, he might end up making a grave error in judgment. The problem could have been avoided if Mr. J. had just refused to “compare” and “shop.”

Being in a church family is somewhat like that. Granted, church membership is not marriage, and none of us has been required to promise, ”Until death do us part,” as a condition to being part of the Body of Christ. Yet, there is a basic similarity.
Both relationships – marriage and church – are based upon committed love.

Committed love is a comprehensive obligation, which is why some find it too far-reaching, too difficult. Someone who occasionally attended my first church explained such a sentiment this way, with a rare honesty: “The reason I don’t come to church much is that it’s too much bother. I just don’t want to get that close to people, because when you get close to them, you have to deal with their messes.”

Yes, committed love has a cost. It’s not easy. It can be messy. In fact, it’s sometimes downright hard. But that’s what makes it so valuable and so vital. If love were easy, it wouldn’t be worth much.

Our model, of course, is Jesus, and from Him we learn that the essential character of committed love is that it is unconditional. There is no “if” in committed love. This means that we actively stand by each other in support and prayer, that we challenge and encourage one another, even when we’re not particularly crazy about each other. It means that nothing anybody does or says could ever keep us from our relationships in the Body of Christ.

This is what the Holy Spirit told the church at Colossae 1,960 years ago, and it’s what the Holy Spirit is telling the church in Sterling today. Here’s how Paul put it in Colossians 3:12-14: “Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other. Yes, forgive as the Lord forgave you. And above all, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

There’s no getting around the fact that church can be messy. That’s true, because committed love is messy. The only way to avoid the mess is to neglect the love. However, that’s just not a valid option, because Jesus commanded His people to love each other. Listen to His words: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

Listen, beloved, to that commandment. Listen, and then obey.

Why Christians Must Love the Church

2010-05-19T08:33:00.000-06:00

I love the church. I love being the pastor of a church. I love visiting other churches when I have the rare opportunity to do so.

However, let’s admit something: the church is a very imperfect group.

That’s because the church is composed of people. Not just any kind of people, but sinners. Indeed, the primary prerequisite for being part of the church is to acknowledge you are a sinner who needs the grace of God. People who think they’re good enough to reach heaven on their own merits generally don’t qualify for church membership. Only those who know they have no hope of salvation apart from the atoning sacrifice of Christ are suitable for the church.

That is one of the reasons I love the church. On Sundays, when I look out at the congregation God has given me, I see people just like me: sinners learning to live the truth of the Gospel in the context of their sin-tainted lives and this broken world.

To be sure, Christians have been given by God’s grace the miraculous privilege of right standing before God, this is not a standing that is achieved by any works of merit we have done. It is not by their good deeds or religious acts that Christians attain relationship with God.

It is by grace. God’s grace. Only by God’s grace.

Any church worthy of the name is a living declaration to the world that God is merciful, that He pours out His grace to forgive sinners with scandalous abandon. And that’s why I love the church. It is a local gathering of people committed to Christ and to each other, with a mutual desire to become more like Christ as we live out the position we have been given in Christ.

And, of course, that is the heart’s desire of every Christian: to become more and more like our Savior.

And that brings me to the most compelling reason why Christians must love the church.

Let me explain. If you want to become like Jesus, that means you will aspire to think His thoughts, pursue His commands, and love what He loves.

And Jesus loves the church; so much so, in fact that He calls the church His bride. Think of that term for a moment. How does the groom feel about his bride? Does his heart not burst with love for her? Of course it does. Does the fact that she is imperfect dim his passion or reduce his ardor for her? Not at all.

That same kind of passionately committed love is what Jesus has eternally for His bride. God’s Word says that one reason He gave us marriage is so that we could see in it a picture of the love of Jesus for His church (Ephesians 5:25, 32).

Oh, how Jesus loves His church! He is committed to His church!

If you love Jesus, you will learn to love His bride.

If you want to be like Jesus, you will love the church like He does.

Do you?

Have You Said "Yes!" to Jesus?

2010-05-07T20:56:00.000-06:00

In the last post I shared with you a sobering account of a man who approached death trusting his own goodness. His so-called “faith” was summed up in his words, “I’ve lived a pretty good life, and when it comes time to die, I’ll take my chances.”
As I pointed out last week, eternity is a very long time to take your chances.

Blessedly, some people learn this before it’s too late. John Watkins was such a man.

John’s wife Bernice had endured a sad life. Her first husband was killed in an accident early in their marriage. After living as a widow into advanced middle age, she married a widower from church who had lost his wife to cancer. Sadly, just a few years later, he suffered a life-ending heart attack.

Afraid of living out her days alone, Bernice accepted John Watkins’ marriage proposal. Those who knew him advised Bernice against the marriage: John was harsh, profane, and given to fits of rage. Despite the counsel of her church and friends, Bernice and John were married.

Not long thereafter, I became her pastor.

Bernice often asked me to pray for her unbelieving husband. Many times I offered to go visit him, but she always replied almost in fear, “Oh no, Pastor, he’d cuss at you for sure.”

Then an X-ray showed shadows in John’s lungs. Further tests revealed cancer throughout his body. John pursued treatment, but nothing worked. Bernice moved a hospital bed into their home, and John began the agonizing process of dying of bone cancer.

I had been cussed at before, so I decided to take the chance and visit John. He did cuss, but I kept going back. However, whenever I tried to talk about the gospel, he’d just roll over and turn his back to me.

Finally, I took my wife with me: surely he wouldn’t cuss at her. Besides, John had to hear the gospel before it was too late. So we went to his bedside, and said, “John, we all know you’re dying. Pretty soon, you’re going to be in either heaven or hell forever. Would you like to learn how you can go to heaven?”

To our surprise, he said he would like that.

Carefully we explained to him about God’s holiness, his sinfulness, and Jesus’ sufficiency to solve his sin problem. We reviewed biblical facts about Jesus, wonderful truths he had (astonishingly!) never heard. Then we asked him if he would admit to being a sinner in need of a savior. “That’s for darn sure,” was his honest reply. Finally, we asked him if he was convinced that Jesus was his only hope for salvation, and if would place his full faith and confidence in Him, trusting Jesus to be his Savior.

He said, “Yes.”

A few weeks later, I did John’s funeral. I told those in attendance how John had almost waited too long. He had heard the gospel just in time. And Jesus had saved him through that gospel, which is “God’s power to save everyone who believes it” (Romans 1:16).

You’ve heard the gospel, haven’t you? Do you believe it? Are you trusting Jesus to be you Savior? Have you said "Yes!" to Jesus?

ONE SURE FACT ABOUT LIFE

2010-05-01T12:20:00.000-06:00

J. I. Packer wrote, “Death, even when unmentionable, remains inescapable. The one sure fact about life is that one day, with or without warning, quietly or painfully, it is going to stop. How will I, then, cope with death when my turn comes?”

The Psalmist prayed to the Lord, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). Uncomfortable as these considerations may be, it is wise for the living to contemplate their death. It is doubly wise when death makes a close approach.

Some years ago I was asked to call on a man who had recently been told by his doctor that his days were numbered. So I called him, made an appointment, and went to visit.

During our conversation, I asked him, “Now that you know your death is near, are you ready to die?”

“Yes,” he said, “I suppose I am.”

“Where do you expect you’ll be spending eternity?” I asked.

“In heaven, I hope,” was his reply.

“You hope?” I questioned gently. “Where does this hope come from?”

“I’ve been a pretty good man all my life. Never cheated, always kept my word, never stepped out on my wife.” He continued to recite a litany of good deeds in which he apparently hoped.

Concerned that his confidence was misplaced, I asked if he would like to know how to be sure, not just hope. He said he would.

For the next several minutes, I carefully shared with him the basics of the gospel. After explaining that Christ had done everything necessary for the salvation of anyone who would trust Him, I asked the man if he would like to put his faith in the Lord’s finished work.

“No thanks,” he replied. “All my life I’ve trusted in myself, and I’ll die trusting in myself.”

I was astonished. I’d never heard anyone listen so closely to the gospel only to have him refuse it so plainly. I reviewed the work of Christ, explained what it means to trust Him, and asked the man once more if he would like to place his life in Christ’s hands. His response still sends chills up my spine: “I’ve lived a pretty good life, and when it comes time for me to die, I’ll take my chances. Now, preacher,” he continued, “I think this conversation is over. You can leave.”

I hardly remember what happened after I left the man’s home. I was shaken by those four words he said to me: “I’ll take my chances.”

Appalling words, horrifying words: “I’ll take my chances.”

The sum total of human folly: “I’ll take my chances.”

Eternity is a very long time to take your chances.

I wonder how many other people are taking their chances, trusting in their good works, not relying on the only hope they’ve got, which is the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The one sure fact about life is that it’s going to end some day. I pray you’re not taking your chances when that day comes. Trust Christ now. He is your only hope. And He is hope enough.

THE CURIOUS DATES OF EASTER

2010-04-07T15:22:00.000-06:00

With Easter just behind us, I’ve been looking at next year’s calendar, anticipating some aspects of Lent and Holy Week in 2011. I noticed that next year, Easter isn’t until April 24. My curiosity grew as I considered the curious dating process for Easter Sunday, which varies from year to year by up to 35 days. That’s because Easter is related to Passover, and the date of Passover is a function of a lunar calendar used in Jerusalem for about 3,200 years. Sounds complicated? We’re only getting started!

In the Fourth Century, in an attempt to actually reduce the confusion and establish a uniform date for this most important of the church’s celebrations, Easter was officially set as the first Sunday after the Ecclesiastical full moon that falls on or after the vernal equinox, which is the first day of Spring. “Ecclesiastical full moon” is a highly technical term that would take a couple of pages to explain, so I’ll let you look that one up yourself. Using this formula, the earliest Easter can be is March 22, and the latest is April 25.

In 2008, Easter was on March 23. Easter can be one day earlier, on March 22, but that happens so rarely that nobody now alive has ever seen or ever will see it on that date. The last time Easter was March 22 was 190 years ago, in 1818; and the next time will be in 277 years, or 2285. Additionally, only the oldest Christians among us have ever celebrated Easter as early as it was in 2008.

Easter will be April 24 next year. The last time it was April 24 was in 1859; the next time will be 2095. Thus, we who will have celebrated Easter on March 22 (two years ago) and on April 24 (next year) constitute a fairly small sample of the church through the ages.

As curiously interesting as all this information may be (to geeks like me, anyway), the real point of Easter is not so much when we celebrate it as why. And that is a point that many people seem to miss.

When Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead, the disciples that comprised the infant church were almost all Jewish. All their lives they had worshiped God on the Sabbath, which begins at sun-down on Friday and ends at sun-down on Saturday. However, within months after His resurrection, Jesus’ followers switched the day of worship to Sunday, the first day of the week, the day He rose from the grave.

Why?

Because they understood that every gathering of Christians for worship is a celebration of the reality of Jesus’ resurrection. Paul put it this way: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). His perfect life fulfilled God’s law and is reckoned to believers as our righteousness. His sacrificial death atoned for our sins. But it was His resurrection from the dead that verified His authority to act on the Father’s behalf as our substitute.

No matter when it happens, the center of the Easter celebration was and is all about Jesus: His life, His death and His resurrection. Do you know it? Do you believe it?

THIS IS EASTER

2010-03-31T16:45:00.000-06:00

This Sunday, all around the world worshipers will gather for Resurrection Sunday, recalling the fact that Jesus, after dying for our sins, didn’t stay dead, but rose to life again. I encourage you to join the crowds in church, celebrating the resurrection, sharing the songs, enjoying the worship, and saying or singing the ancient words, “Jesus Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!”

We say that, but do we mean it?

The fact is that we sometimes live as if He neither lived, died, nor rose again!

Every time we face our problems with a feeling of hopelessness, we’re acting as if He never came out of that tomb. Whenever we make decisions based upon fear or frustration, we’re denying the reality of His resurrection. Whenever we obsess about the economy or the political situation, rather than focus on the living Lord Jesus, we refute the empty tomb. When we let the problems of the past determine the direction of our future, instead of following the guidance of His Word, we are living as if He were still dead.

Every time we hold a grudge, refuse to forgive, indulge our pride in a pity party, cherish hurt feelings or recite wrongs done to us, we’re renouncing by our actions the very words we say and the truth we affirm on Easter: Jesus Christ, the Son of God crucified for our sins, dead and buried, has really, truly, literally risen from that grave.

But . . . if we are not living our lives by bringing the minutest facets of daily existence under the influence of His resurrected presence, it’s as if it never happened.

So, how do we make Easter more personally real?

I believe we have to stop playing religious games with Jesus. We have to let Him mess with our stuff. To whatever degree we may have developed a habit of being a certain way at church and another way elsewhere, we must confess that form of sin and learn to let Jesus run our lives moment by moment, breath by breath, choice by choice.

After all, He didn’t come out of the tomb just to be admired by crowds one day a year. He’s alive to be worshiped and obeyed 365 days a year. Long after Sunday’s special worship services are over, Jesus will still be very much alive, commanding our obedience, requiring our service, and expecting our allegiance.

At its most basic, the resurrection incontrovertibly proves that Jesus is exactly Who and What He claimed to be. He Who declared Himself to be the only way to heaven also predicted that after His death, He would come back to life. If His tomb were still occupied, it would put the lie to everything else He asserted about Himself. Conversely, His resurrection verifies His claims.

So this Sunday, when you say or sing, “Christ the Lord is risen today,” remember what that means for you: it means He expects and deserves that you trust Him as your Savior, and serve Him as your Lord.

This is Easter. Nothing other, nothing less, and nothing else.

DO YOU KNOW JESUS?

2010-03-23T15:59:00.000-06:00

This Sunday, called either Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday, we begin our celebration of the most important week in Jesus’ life.

And we are at war.

Ironic? Not at all.

We’ve been at war since Adam and Eve welcomed Satan to this world. Every generation since Eden has replicated their sin by seeking to make ourselves gods instead of letting God make us His children. The demonic lie that says, “You can be in charge,” motivates not only mad tyrants. It also motivates the petty selfish dreams of sinners like you and me, who long to have our own way, and fuss when we can’t.

The wars raging around the world are graphic evidence of why Jesus came to earth. He came to save us from ourselves. He came to His own, and even His own rejected Him. Those who sang, “Hosanna!” on that first Palm Sunday were soon screaming for His blood.

Early in the last week of His life, one of Jesus’ followers met with those who were plotting His death and made a secret deal to hand Him over for a price. Later in the week, His closest and dearest friends fled Jesus in His hour of greatest need. One even swore he’d never met the Man.

But lest we be too harsh on them, let’s think about all the Sunday mornings of our lives when He has come riding into our midst amid the songs of our praise, and we ended up during that next week turning away from Him. Let’s recall the dark nights of our lives when we cursed rather than be known as His. Let’s remember the secret deals we made with sin and selfishness to sell Him out, if only we could stay popular and well-liked.

You see, that Palm Sunday crowd who sang His praise one moment and turned their backs on Him the next — that crowd still shows up in Church.

“Doubting Thomas.” “Fleeing Mark.” “Denying Peter.” Who are they?

They’re us.

He knew them then, and He knows us now. And knowing that we are weak, that we will fail and turn and run, He loves us still. For them and for us, He stayed the course. He followed through. He carried the cross. And He died on it.

Then they took His body down and buried Him in a borrowed tomb. On the third day, He rose from the dead. Alive!

In dying, He paid the guilt-price for your sins. In rising, He opened up His own home for you to join Him there. He is alive to be believed on and to be known, the eternal Son of God, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

The only hope of a world at war, as well as the only hope of wounded hearts and hostile souls, is to know the Son of God, crucified, dead, buried and resurrected.

Do you know Him? I’m not asking if you believe in Him. I’m asking if you know Him, if you can honestly say you’ve met Him alive and know Him personally.

After all, that’s why He’s alive! Is He alive to you?

THE MIRACLE OF FORGIVENESS

2010-03-17T15:04:00.002-06:00

So easily do the words slip off our tongues, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” Forgive? Really? Is this astonishing thing called forgiveness actually even possible?

Considering the nature of our sin, and what it means to God, forgiveness is, in fact, truly astonishing. God created us to reflect Him to the rest of creation: we’re made in His image and likeness, Genesis tell us. But we, each and all, decided instead that WE were the reason for living. We put ourselves at the center, just as the very word sin indicates: s – I – n. When “I” am in the center, it’s sin.

Thus, sin seeks to usurp the place and authority of God, to kick Him off His rightful throne, and make us the center of our own little universe. Though He created us for Himself, we said to Him, “No, I don’t want to live for You; therefore, You are dismissed. I choose me, not You. I and my fellow humans, we are the measure of all things.”

In view of God’s holiness and the nature of our overt rebellion against Him, let us never grow presumptuous about forgiveness, never treat the miracle of forgiveness lightly. Forgiveness is miraculous because it is the offended party, God, Who has taken the initiative to remove the offense that separates us, and has done so at His own expense.

Indeed, forgiveness is a whole long series of miracles.

Forgiveness is a miracle established for us by Christ’s incarnation, when He stepped out of eternity into time, out of heaven into earth, out of spirit into flesh.

Forgiveness is a miracle developed for us by Christ’s thirty-three years of holy living, during which He obeyed the law and fulfilled all righteousness on our behalf.

Forgiveness is a miracle finished for us by Christ’s substitutionary death, in which He took God’s righteous wrath upon our sin, and lifted the penalty of our transgressions from us.

Forgiveness is a miracle imparted to us by Christ’s victorious resurrection, as He came out of the tomb to come into our lives and live His life through us.

For the forgiven, this miracle means release: freedom from sin and guilt. The penalty of sin is removed. God declares us not guilty!

Forgiveness also means restoration: we regain our created status. God brings the forgiven into the covenant of grace and restores them to His family.

Perhaps most wonderfully, forgiveness means reconciliation: God draws us to Himself and makes us His own. He wants to be personally known by us, so He woos our hearts and calls us into a relationship of steadfast love.

What the old song says is available: “And He walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own.” How long has it been since you heard the Lord tell you that you are His own? That’s what the miracle of forgiveness can do for you.

And how do you access these miracles? By being better or trying harder? No, simply by confessing your sins to Him. God’s Word declares, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). It’s gloriously, amazingly miraculous.

ETERNAL PUNISHMENT?

2010-03-10T10:42:00.001-07:00

Among the issues raised about orthodox Christianity by skeptics or inquiring non-Christians is this: “If our sin is committed in time, why does it require eternal punishment?” It’s a reasonable question. Scripture asserts that those who don’t repent of their sin and trust Christ suffer separation from God forever. “How can this be fair?” some ask. I hope to provide a reasonable and biblical answer.

Let’s think logically about this. Any healthy system of justice measures out punishment on the basis of two considerations: the nature of the crime and the status of the victim. The following example illustrates this truth.

Suppose that little Billy shoves his ten-year-old class-mate on the playground at school, and knocks him to the ground. The penalty for Billy’s act might include a visit to the principle and lunch detention. If Billy persisted in his behavior, he might be suspended from school and suffer further punishments from mom and dad at home.

A few years later, Billy is in high school. He gets into a scuffle at school, and the principal attempts to break it up. Billy turns upon the principal and shoves him to the floor, where he strikes his head and is knocked out. Billy is arrested and sentenced to three months in a juvenile detention center.

At the detention center one day, Billy shoves an officer. His three-month sentence is extended to two years, and he must spend a month in solitary confinement.

Fast forward a few more years. Billy, now apparently an upstanding citizen, is in Denver to watch the President in a parade. As the Commander in Chief passes by, Billy runs from the crowd, hurls himself past the Secret Service agents, and shoves the President to the ground. Billy is quickly convicted of assault on the President, and spends the rest of his life in a mental institution.

In all four incidents, Billy’s acts were identical: he shoved somebody to the ground. However, the penalties were different, and understandably so. The punishments varied in proportion to the authority of those against whom the acts were committed. Nobody would expect Billy to receive the same punishment for shoving his third-grade class-mate to the ground as he would for shoving the President of the United States to the ground.

Let’s take it a step further. Suppose Billy chooses to shove God out of his life by usurping God’s rightful rule over his life. If shoving the President results in life-long incarceration, consider how much greater punishment is deserved for shoving aside the infinite and eternal God.

Never forget those two words: infinite and eternal. Sin against God is not like getting into a fight with a class-mate on the playground. Sin against God is infinite sin and eternal sin, because God is infinite and eternal. That is why atoning for our sin required an infinitely perfect and eternal sacrifice. And we’ll look into that in more detail next week.

SEEK GOD'S FACE

2010-02-25T09:57:00.001-07:00

“Don’t focus on the problem. Instead, just seek God’s face.”

It was a cryptic piece of advice from a treasured brother in the Lord, who knew some of the agony of prayer I had been going through. My first reaction was simple frustration with these words. I thought, “Right. Easy for you to say ‘Don’t focus on the problem,’ since you aren't dealing with it all day, every day.”

So, I figured I’d just ignore the advice until I heard something more in line with what I wanted to hear. After all, what I was looking for was a solution to the problem, and how was I supposed to find the solution if I didn’t think about the problem?

However, though I tried to ignore this piece of advice, it apparently wouldn’t ignore me. Every time I bowed my head to pray, every time I opened the Word for some time with the Lord, there it was, running through my mind again. Could this be the Lord speaking to me? Did God really want me to quit focusing on the problem and simply seek His face instead?

Well, two weeks later, I have begun to think that, yes, it is the Lord speaking to me. Almost every verse of Scripture I’ve read has said the same thing to me: seek the Lord’s face. That’s where the solution lies: not in human ability or ingenuity. Not in better organization, increased skill or improved work. Only in the presence of God, as I seek His face, will His solution to this or any problem ever be found.

Indeed, God seems to have set before me a challenge for Lent: that the focus of all my praying would be to seek His face, intently and intentionally. The difficulty with that is that I’m not so certain I know how to do that. Generally, when I come to God in prayer and quiet time, I’m seeking His advice, or seeking His blessing, or even seeking His power. Seeking His face: what’s that mean? I mean, really.

So . . . I’ve been asking God to show me how I should go about this. Two passages have come to me with a sense of urgency.

First, Psalm 16:11: “You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

The words “in Your presence” are literally “before Your face,” in the original language. In other words, as we come before God simply to behold His glory, and praise Him for the grandeur of His grace, there is available to us in that moment “fullness of joy.” The word translated “fullness” literally means “enough to satisfy:” this means that your desire for joy is fulfilled before the face of God. Since He is full of joy, we find our need for joy met simply by being intentionally with Him, focusing on Him.

Second, Psalm 27:8: “When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to You, ‘O LORD, I will seek Your face’."

This verse is simple. God wants us to seek His face. Our proper response is not to say, “But what does that mean?” or, “I don’t know how to do that.” Our proper response is simply to come before God in prayer and say to Him something like this:
“Lord here I am. You told me to seek Your face: and so, I am seeking Your face. I don’t know what it means, but I ask You to reveal Yourself to me. I need to know You personally, face-to-face: the real You, not some image I may already have in my mind. So, here I am. Show me Yourself, because when it’s all said and done, I need You desperately. More than solutions, I need You. More than answers, more than guidance, more than blessing, more than anything, I need You. Just You. Here I am. Please, show me Yourself.”

Do you have the courage to set aside a few minutes each day to join me in praying a prayer like this? Could you? Would you?

A BIBLICAL CHURCH, part 3: Responding to Biblical Truth

2010-02-18T09:55:00.001-07:00

Last week we looked at the three biblical truths that comprise an outline of the gospel. Let’s review briefly.

Biblical truth #1 is that God is holy. God also has many other attributes, but what always comes first in Scripture is His holiness. And since that’s where God’s Word starts with God, it’s also where we ought to start.

Biblical truth #2 is that people are sinners. Once we realize that God is holy, our sinfulness becomes immediately obvious. Indeed, in every Scriptural account in which God reveals Himself to people, the first thing these people do is acknowledge their sin. Nobody has to tell them they’re sinners: that knowledge comes instantly in the light of God’s holiness.

These two biblical truths mean that humanity has a serious problem. Since God is holy and we are sinful, we are separated from Him; and to be separated from Him ultimately means hell forever. And that, beloved, is the most serious problem that exists.

Biblical truth #3 is that Christ is sufficient to solve our sin problem. He lived a perfectly sinless life so He can give us righteousness. Then He died under God’s wrath for our sins, so He can take away our punishment. Finally, He rose from the dead to live His life out in us.

Scripture is very clear that once we know these three biblical truths, a response is required. And that response is as simple as A – B – C.

A stands for “Admit.” Specifically, you and I need to admit we are sinners who need a Savior. It is sheer folly to suppose that we could establish our own righteousness before God by our own effort. Even if we lived perfectly for the rest of our lives, it’s already too late. Admit it: we’re sinners, and we need a Savior.

B stands for “Believe.” Scripture is very clear that salvation is given to us when we believe something, not when we try to do something. And the thing Scripture instructs us to believe is that Christ’s finished work is all we need. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Sadly, our culture has hijacked the term “believe,” and rendered it captive to broad misunderstanding. We need to refresh our understanding of what “believe” means in Scripture. That’s where the “C” comes in.

C stands for “Commit.” Scripture unambiguously declares that if we believe in Jesus, our believing necessarily includes committing our very lives to Him. In other words, so-called believing that does not include submitting your life to Christ, so that He may exercise His rightful Lordship in you, is not biblical belief at all.

So, where do you stand? Have you made an A – B – C response to the gospel? If not, I pray that you will do so today.

A BIBLICAL CHURCH, part 2

2010-02-10T23:28:00.001-07:00

Last week I pointed out that, among everything else that it is and does, a church must have two key components to be true to Scripture. As authors Tim Chester and Steve Timmis put it in their rich little book called "Total Church," these two essential elements are the gospel and community. In other words, the primary "content" of the church is the gospel, and the primary "context" of the church is community.

Two questions obviously arise. First, what IS the gospel? Second, what is meant by community? Last week we saw that "community" means the sharing of life together in genuine Christ-centered love, care, support, prayer, and encouragement. It's what Jesus was talking about when He commanded us in John 13:34 to love one another.

Now to the other question: what is the gospel?

The best I can encapsulate it, the gospel involves three biblical truths, to which we must each make three biblical responses.

Biblical truth #1 is that God is holy. While God also has many other attributes, in Scripture, what always comes first is His holiness. Every glimpse of God given to us in Scripture shows us that He is holy. And since that's where God's Word starts with God, it's also where we ought to start.

Biblical truth #2 is that people are sinners. Once we catch a glimpse of God's holiness, the sinfulness of humanity becomes immediately obvious. Indeed, in every Scriptural account in which God's holiness is revealed, the first response of the people is to know and acknowledge their sin. Nobody has to tell them they're sinners: that knowledge comes instantly in the light of God's holiness.

These two biblical truths mean that humanity has a serious problem. Since God is holy and we are sinful, we are separated from Him; and to be separated from Him ultimately means hell forever. And that, beloved, is the most serious problem that exists.

Biblical truth #3 is that Christ is sufficient. In His incarnation, He did everything necessary to solve the sin problem that separates us from God, a problem we could not solve ourselves. He lived a perfectly sinless life so He can give us righteousness; and He died under God's wrath for our sins, so He can take away our punishment. Finally, He rose from the dead to live His life out in us.

Scripture is very clear that when we know these three biblical truths, a response is required. Just knowing these truths is not enough. It's like this. Since I studied Physics in college, I know one of the main reasons airplanes can fly: it's called Bernoulli's Principle of Fluid Dynamics. However, just knowing Bernoulli's Principle (even if I know a lot about it) wouldn't fly me to Florida: I would actually have to get on an airplane! Similarly, just being acquainted with these three Biblical truths doesn't save you. The truths call for a response.

And, as everyone in my church can tell you, that response is as simple as A - B - C. We'll look at that next week.

A BIBLICAL CHURCH, part 1

2010-02-03T21:35:00.003-07:00

Okay, I know I’m likely about to come in for some hot water, because what I’m going to write about (as promised last week) is what defines a biblical church. Actually, it’s pretty simple. Indeed, as Thom Rainer wrote in his book with the fascinating title of “Simple Church,” it’s really far more simple than most Americans think.

So . . . here it is, what defines a biblical church. Two things:
1. gospel; and
2. community.

Actually, Tim Chester and Steve Timmis, in their rich little book called “Total Church” speak much more eloquently to these two defining aspects of what makes a biblical church, so let me have you listen to them.

“Two key principles should shape the way we ‘do church’: gospel and community. Christians are called to a dual fidelity: fidelity to the core content of the gospel and fidelity to the primary context of a believing community. Whether we are thinking about evangelism, social involvement, pastoral care, apologetics, discipleship, or teaching, the content is consistently the Christian gospel, and the context is consistently the Christian community.

“Being gospel-centered actually involves two things. First, it means being word-centered because the gospel is a word – the gospel is news, a message. Second, it means being mission-centered, because the gospel is a word to be proclaimed – the gospel is good news, a missionary message.”

Throughout the rest of the book, Timmis and Chester make a resounding and air-tight case that Scripture requires the church to determine its identity, purpose and ministries around these two simple priorities: gospel, the content of the church’s message; and community, the context of the church’s mission. It’s a very good book. Very good.

However, two questions obviously arise. First, what IS the gospel? Second, what is meant by community?

Let’s take those questions one at a time, starting with the simple one: what is meant by community?

“Community” is our English word for the New Testament Greek term “koinonia,” which Scripture uses to describe the way the first Christians related to each other — with genuine love, fellowship, care, support, prayer, and encouragement. It’s what Jesus was talking about when He commanded us to love one another.

It’s certainly more than what we do on Sunday mornings over coffee in the fellowship hall. It’s living a shared life centered on the gospel. It means we actually live out – in practical terms! – the fact that we are connected to each other by a shared salvation wrought in us by God’s sovereign grace revealed in the gospel. We help each other. We share with each other. We pray for each other. We obey the 57 “one-another” commands in the New Testament, commands we can’t possibly keep if we live life in isolation from each other except when we meet in a big room on Sundays.

In other words, if there’s no community happening, the church is squeezing itself out from under its own biblical definition. To be a biblical church, there must be community

There must also be the gospel. And we’ll look into that next week.

THE DOCTRINE OF SNOW

2010-01-28T11:48:00.001-07:00

I had a very interesting encounter after the second worship service here at First Baptist Church a while back. A personable young man I have known for some time, who was a guest of some of his friends in worship, approached me with a serious look on his face. He shook my hand and told me how much he had enjoyed the service, and that he always loved it when he got to worship with the folks at First Baptist.

Then he said, “And you know, I agree with almost all of the doctrines you teach here. All except one doctrine.” Here he paused, and I immediately began to wonder what I had said that would make him raise a doctrinal issue in the lobby after worship.

“What doctrine is that?” I asked.

With apparent earnestness he said, “Well, Pastor, I hate to say it, but it’s your doctrine of snow. I just can’t agree with your position.” Then he broke into a smile and we both had a good laugh as he explained his mock concern.

He pointed out that during prayer time, I had voiced our gratitude to God for the wonderful moisture we had received over recent weeks, but went on to ask God if He might arrange for the temperature to be warmer the next time we get some precipitation. You see, I’m not personally all that crazy about snow. And yet, I know it’s a wonderful blessing to have the wheat lay under a blanket of the white stuff, which is just what we had experienced for the previous several weeks. As a result, as my people know, I struggle with how to pray for precipitation in the winter. I recall mentioning in my prayer that we were giving “reluctant though heart-felt thanks” to God for the snow: reluctant, because I hate snow; heart-felt thanks, because we always need the moisture.

This young man said that he, by contrast, loves snow, everything about it, and wishes it would snow more often. And so, with what turned out to be simulated seriousness, he indicated he could never sit under my teaching or be a part of any church whose “doctrine of snow” was so out of line with his. We laughed and laughed. It was hilarious. Simply hilarious. I continue to chuckle as I think about our conversation!

And yet, there’s a serious side to this young man’s remark. Every pastor in town knows that some people leave churches over matters no more consequential than a “doctrine of snow,” as our worship guest called it. Matters such as who gets to pass the offering plates or the color a room gets painted (or who gets hired to paint it) have actually split churches. The “doctrine of snow” is a genuine heavyweight by contrast!

The challenge for each of us is to do a well-prayed-through inventory of what really matters in a church. If you go to the Word of God, and read what it says, you may be surprised at the brevity of the list of truths that define a biblical church. More on that, next week.

SERVING GOD IN A BROKEN WORLD

2010-01-20T16:25:00.001-07:00

They were so sure of themselves, this little band of Jesus-followers. The miracles they had seen and the wonders He had performed apparently gave them a sense of importance, as if He had chosen them by virtue of some special character or assets they possessed.

So it was that as they left the temple precincts one day, Jesus came upon a man blind from birth, and His followers decided it was time for an explanation. “Teacher,” they asked Him, “why was this man born blind? On account of his parents’ sin, or his own sin?”

They were like so many in the church today, anxious to conjecture about the cause of things, even to find fault and place blame. They seemed to have forgotten that they were living in a broken world, and that in a broken world unexplainable tragedies take place. Babies die. Earthquakes strike. Children are born blind.

Jesus reminded them of this truth even as He rebuked them. “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents,” He said (an explanation they probably didn’t like very much), “but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” In other words, the issue was not so much who to blame, but rather, how God might be glorified in the situation. Not “Why?” but rather, “What now?”

“We must work the works of Him Who sent me,” Jesus continued, and immediately began to do so. He got down on the ground, made mud out of dust and spit, placed it on the man’s eyes and told him to go wash in the pool called Siloam. He went and washed, and came back miraculously able to see.

When the earth shakes and people die, it’s natural to look for reasons why. But Christ commands us not to let our curiosity paralyze us. When once we’ve asked the “Why?” question, and received whatever explanation God’s word affords (even if we don’t like it very much), it’s time to move on quickly to “What now?” What can we do now that the works of God might be displayed? How can we point to God’s goodness and mercy, and draw the wounded to their only all-sufficient Healer?

The extraordinary tragedy in Haiti should remind us of the more common tragedies among which we are called to work the works of God. Every month in America, 100,000 unborn children are killed, matching the Haitian earthquake’s toll once a month, twelve months a year. And what question do you ask? Why? Or what now?

Every hour in sub-Saharan Africa, a hundred children become orphans. Why? Or what now?

Every day on this broken world, 500,000 souls slip from this life into eternity, most of them due to old age, natural causes, the silent horrific incursion of the last enemy, death. Why? Or what now?

And every moment, all around you, marriages fail, children hurt, and people struggle and sin and suffer. It’s a broken world we live in; and what are you doing about it, for the glory of God?

Al Mohler Says It Better Than I Did

2010-01-15T15:06:00.001-07:00

Just go to his blog and read it for yourself. It's the article for January 14, 2010.

http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/01/14/does-god-hate-haiti/

What he said.

LIFE IN A BROKEN WORLD

2010-01-13T16:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a very long time since I posted anything here, and so probably nobody is looking in on my blog any more. Anyway, with the events of the last week in Haiti, I thought I'd enter the fray. Here's my article for the January 15 edition of the Sterling Journal-Advocate, our daily newspaper here in Sterling, Colorado. May it get you thinking.

We’ve all seen bits and pieces of the horrifying tragedy that has taken place in Haiti. Already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, this island nation is reeling under a blow from which it may never fully recover. The depths of heartbreak and hardship are beyond the capacity of most to even imagine.

Just before the earthquake happened, I began reading a new book by Randy Alcorn, called “If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil.” Alcorn does a spectacular job of wrestling with the truly difficult questions about what C. S. Lewis called “the problem of pain.” He dedicates a whole section to issues surrounding the occurrence of so-called “natural disasters,” including Hurricane Katrina and the December 2004 Asian tsunami. He doesn’t evade the knotty subjects, but faces them head-on with a firm conviction that God’s Word is true.

I strongly recommend the book to you, because Alcorn tackles the problems most Christian authors simply gloss over. As we think about what happened Tuesday afternoon in Haiti, let me lift up some of what Alcorn wrote.

“Many people blame God for natural disasters. ‘How could he allow this?’ they ask. But what if the Architect and Builder crafted a beautiful and perfect home for Earth’s inhabitants, who despite his warnings carelessly cracked its foundation, punched holes in the walls, and trashed the house? Why blame the builder when the occupants took a sledgehammer to their own home?”

Alcorn isn’t saying that the Haitian earthquake was the specific fault of some certain group of people, but rather that when God turned the earth over to the human race so that we could “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28), the planet was still in perfect condition. There were no earthquakes in Eden.

So . . . what happened?

Alcorn explains: “God placed a curse on the earth due to Adam’s sin (see Genesis 3:17). That curse extends to everything in the natural world and makes it harder for people to live productively. Paul says that ‘the creation was subjected to frustration’ by God’s curse, until that day when ‘the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay’ (Romans 8:20-21). The next verse says, ‘The whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth.’ Earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis reflect the frustration, bondage and decay of an earth groaning under sin’s curse.”

We live in a broken world. In a broken world, unexplainable tragedies take place. Babies die. Planes crash. Earthquakes strike. And when the world’s brokenness inflicts enough pain, thinking people start asking reasonable questions. As we seek answers to our profound uncertainties, it is important to remember who broke the world we live in. It wasn’t God. For thousands of years, He has called to humanity to follow His plans and submit to His order for creation. And since Eden, we have defied Him.

No, it wasn’t God who broke the world.

It was us.

Why Are You Alive?

2009-06-11T12:30:00.002-06:00

Former Secretary of Education William Bennett quoted George Orwell as saying, “Sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is the restatement of the obvious.” I intend to restate for you a truth so obvious that many Christians seem entirely to neglect it.

When you became a Christian, God might well have taken you directly to your eternal home with Him. Consider the blessings that would currently be yours if He had done so. You would now be in the presence of Christ, beholding His glory and enjoying His splendor. You would be in the assembly of the redeemed, delighting in the never-ending fellowship of the Bride of Christ. You would be experiencing all that your heart has ever longed for.

However, God did not take you immediately into His glory when you, by His grace, first repented of your sin and put your trust in His Son. He left you here. In fact, He did more than merely “leave” you here: He commissioned you to be here; and He had a well-defined purpose for doing so.

The Apostle Paul understood this purpose, and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he made it quite plain. In Romans 14:7-8, he wrote, “For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.”

First, God’s Word states in negative term why you are alive: “none of us lives to himself.” In other words, you are not the reason you are alive. The purpose of your existence emphatically does not focus on you. In the words of a song we often sing here at First Baptist, “It’s not about me, Jesus, as if You should do things my way.”

Can you say with conviction, “It’s not about me”? How much more complete and joyous your life would be if you could finally renounce your need to be at the center of all things and cease evaluating everything on the basis of how it effects your comfort!

“None of us lives to himself.”

Then there is the positive and straightforward declaration, “If we live, we live to the Lord.” That means He must be the center of your life, the focus of your thoughts, your daily preoccupation, your delight, the axis around which your life revolves. To “live to the Lord” is to dedicate your life to do his will and to promote his glory. Indeed, that is the definition of the truly Christian life.
Other people live to please themselves. Christians live to please the Lord.

At the moment you trusted Christ, God commissioned you to spend the rest of your life focused on Him and pointing to Him, so that others would see His glory and come to Him as well. Are you living up to your purpose for being?

THE GLORY OF RECONCILIATION WITH GOD

2009-05-25T09:10:00.001-06:00

As we saw last Friday, though God made us in His image and for His glory, humanity in general and each of us in particular have broken God’s image in us. We have intentionally supplanted Him from the center of our lives and have set up our own kingdoms in an aggravated rebellion against His glory and rightful authority. His wrath against His rebel creatures is therefore just and right.
Thus, it is the wonder of the ages that God has not utterly wiped us out. Indeed, rather than destroying us, He has made provision for our salvation. This salvation is so miraculous and comprehensive that an eternity in God’s presence will no exhaust our reasons to praise Him. Among the millions of evidences of God’s grace, consider just these three that demonstrate the wonders of redemption.
First, is it not astonishing that God gathered His righteous wrath upon our sin and placed it fully on His own Son?! What wondrous love is this, that He “did not spare His Son, but offered Him up for us all” (Romans 8:32)! Though Christ was utterly sinless, “yet it was the will of the Lord to crush Him” (Isaiah 53:10). Indeed, “He made Him to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Second, by pouring out upon Jesus His wrath against our sin, God affected for us a just forgiveness, meaning that when God forgives sin, He doesn’t simply overlook sin. The sin has actually been propitiated by the suffering and death of Christ. The penalty has been paid by Christ, and the punishment has been absorbed by Him so fully that there is no longer any sin-guilt between God and the redeemed. Therefore, in Christ “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7).
Third, perhaps the most glorious aspect of salvation is this: after pouring out His wrath upon Christ, and pardoning our sin in a grand act of forgiveness, God then graciously chose to transform His former enemies into His own beloved children. Speaking of Christ, John wrote, “to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). He reconciled us to Himself! He drew us into a relationship with Himself and injected into us Christ’s own resurrection life, thus making us new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). No wonder Christ explained this to Nicodemus as being born again (John 3:3-16)! It is new life, eternal life, God’s own life; and it makes us eternally His own dear children, “heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).
By His own choosing, and at His own expense, God has called the rebels not only into His forgiveness, but into His family. For those who say yes to His call, it will take us the rest of eternity to thank Him for this reconciling salvation. It’s time we got started.

THE BROKEN IMAGE OF GOD

2009-05-25T09:09:00.000-06:00

Last Friday we took a second look at the biblical truth that humanity is made in the image of God. As Scripture declares, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). This makes humanity entirely unlike the rest of creation: far from being highly-evolved animals, we are distinct and unique, the exclusive and personal product of God’s own creative genius.
As God’s image, our reason to exist is to reflect God’s nature and glory. In relationship to the rest of creation, this involves displaying and living out the truth about God. We are called to be stewards of creation under the authority of God, demonstrating His grace and holiness, His kindness and love to everything else that exists. In relationship to God Himself, being made in His image means that we reflect Who He is back to Him in worship, in love and in joyous obedience.
Thus, our very being should focus on Almighty God, as we seek to live into our purpose for being by glorifying Him and enjoying Him forever. Made in His image and for His glory, we are wondrously designed to find unfathomable joy simply by knowing Him and showing Him to the world around us.
However, we have refused this joy He offers us. Ever since Adam and Eve, we have shouted a firm and rebellious, “No!” to God’s generous offer to enjoy the promotion of His glory. We, each and all of us, have chosen rather to seek our own glory by making ourselves the center of the universe. Though we were made to mirror His glory, we’ve willfully broken His image in us.
Since Eden, the cry of the human spirit has echoed the lie of Satan, who, in his temptation of Eve, made the false promise, “ye shall be as gods” (Genesis 3:5). Following the devil’s prideful lead, humanity now boasts, “We are our own masters, accountable to none! We exist for ourselves, and no one may tell us otherwise!”
Seen in its true light, our sin is obviously no trivial matter. We have broken God’s image in us, and turned from Him Who made us. We have intentionally supplanted Him from the center of our lives, and sought to set up our own kingdoms in an aggravated mutiny against His glory and rightful authority.
His wrath against His rebel creatures is just and right. Thus, it is the wonder of the ages that God has not utterly wiped us out. However, rather than destroying us, He has made provision not only for the forgiveness of our sin, but also for the restoration of our relationship with Him as His image on earth. By virtue of His amazing grace, and at His own expense, He has chosen to reconcile the rebels to Himself, making His former enemies nor merely His chattel, but His own beloved children. The glory of this reconciliation is the most astonishing fact in the entire universe, and the elect will spend eternity praising Him for it.

Next week: The Glory of Reconciliation With God

IN HIS IMAGE FOR HIS GLORY

2009-05-25T09:08:00.000-06:00

Over 3,000 years ago, King David asked some questions about the nature of humanity. His inspired ponderings are very much on point in contemporary war of worldviews.
“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him? For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:3-5).
Through David (and through the rest of Holy Scripture), God revealed Himself to us as our creator, the source of our being and reason we exist.
As we saw last Friday, God made us with two primary purposes. First, as with the rest of creation, we exist for the glory of God. However, existing for the glory of God does not set humanity apart from the rest of creation, since glorifying God is the purpose for which all things exist.
Second – and this is what makes humanity utterly unique in the created universe!– we are created in God’s image. In the creation account, God declared, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). The following chapter in Genesis goes on to indicate that unlike the rest of creation, which was made by God’s speaking it into existence, humanity was created by God’s shaping and molding. His personal touch is upon us.
It is astonishing to consider what this means for us.
Made in God’s image, we possess a moral similarity to God. This means that we are created to make decisions based not on personal preferences and trained responses, as animals do, but based rather on considerations of moral right and wrong. We have the capacity to understand good and evil as objective categories that are beyond ourselves, not simply the projection of personal wants and wishes.
One implication of our moral similarity to God is that attempts to redefine morality as if it were something determined by culture really amount to redefining humanity. Think with me about this. To say, “Right and wrong is what I want it to be for me” is a rejection of one’s personal accountability to the God Who created us and gave us the capacity to know Him as the source of all moral truth. Moreover, this kind of moral relativism dehumanizes us, by asserting that we are just like other animals, who do what they want without reference to an objective moral standard.
This means that submitting our wills to God’s revealed moral truth is a primary way we achieve our reason for being. We were created to glorify God by learning to enjoy obedience to Him, as we reflect to Him our complete reliance upon His love and grace.
We are not self-existing: we exist from Him, by Him and for Him. Indeed, we are made in the image of God for the glory of God.
Next week: The Broken Image of God

DEFINING HUMANITY

2009-05-25T09:07:00.000-06:00

Point: a New Jersey couple sued their doctor for allowing the “wrongful birth” of their Down Syndrome child. Sadly, they are not the only ones: over 300 such cases have been filed in recent years.
Point: in Louisiana, embryos conceived “in vitro” (i.e., by joining sperm and egg in a laboratory, rather than in the womb) are protected by law. However, as soon as an “in vitro” embryo is successfully implanted into a human uterus, it can be aborted legally until the moment of birth.
Point: a pregnant Indianapolis woman was charged with attempted murder because she shot herself in the abdomen trying to kill her unborn child. Ironically, she lived not far from an abortion “clinic” where she could have had the child killed legally.
These three points typify our society’s efforts to redefine humanity. Because we seem incapable of determining what a human being is, we are at a loss to state when real human life begins. “What is humanity?” we ask, but we just can’t seem to find the answer.
King David asked the same question over 3,000 years ago. Listen to his inspired ponderings about human existence and meaning.
“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him? For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:3-5).
The basis for understanding humanity is right there. Did you see it?
“Thou hast made him . . .” There’s the key: we are created. We are not independent beings. We owe our existence to our Creator.
Because we are not self-made, we are therefore not self-defining. Only He Who made us has the right to define our existence. He has, in fact, already done so in Holy Scripture. He has told us two basic truths about why we exist.
First, we are created for His glory. We hold this purpose in common with the rest of creation: “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). God plainly declares His intention for those He formed and made, stating, “I have created [them] for My glory” (Isaiah 43:7). Therefore, the Apostle Paul exhorted believers to live up to their created purpose: “do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
However, existing for the glory of God does not set humanity apart from the rest of creation, since glorifying God is the purpose for which all things exist. Our uniqueness is founded upon the fact that we are created in God’s image. In the creation account, God declared, “Let Us make man in Our image” (Genesis 1:26). Nothing else in the entire universe can claim this attribute. Only humanity has this distinction.
We are creations of God uniquely designed to reflect His image back to Him in worship and to the rest of creation in stewardship. Once we understand that, it changes everything about our lives, from conception to death. We’ll look at this in more detail next Friday.
Next week: In His Image for His Glory

The Spectacular Opportunity of Hardship

2009-03-25T15:53:00.002-06:00

At the community Lenten Tryst (an inter-church worship service each Wednesday noon in Lent, here in Sterling, CO) Pastor Gene Zeller of Peace Lutheran Church used the words of Thomas Paine to characterize our nation’s current difficulties: “These are the times that try men’s souls.” Paine penned those words in 1776 in the first of a series of 16 pamphlets titled “The American Crisis.”

Many consider that our current situation would warrant a similar description.

I, however, choose to see it as a spectacular opportunity.

Christians are given the privilege of seeing our situation as God sees it. The fact is, God has either allowed or designed the circumstances in which we are now living, and His purpose in these trying times is what we must discover and pursue.
That discovery and pursuit is not as difficult as we might imagine. It involves asking God three basic questions in these tough days. The first question is, “God, where are You in these circumstances?”

Sadly, hardly anyone ever listens to God’s Word for the answer. Where is God in trials? Right in the midst of these trials with us. God’s Word says, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). Jesus promised His disciples, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). In the midst of hardship, God is with His people. Do we pay attention to His presence?

Another question to ask God is this one: “God, what are You doing in this hardship?” While the specifics may vary, one thing you may be sure of: God wants to use the hardship to make you more like Jesus. Indeed, that’s His plan in everything that happens in your life, good or bad. He is intent on producing Christ-like character in you, so that you can live for His glory just as His only-begotten Son did.

The third question to ask God is, “How can I live out the Gospel in this circumstance?” The answer to this one is simple: by giving glory to the Father for salvation! After all the joys and trials of this life are over, there is waiting for us a place of wholly-undeserved splendor, in which we will praise forever the Lamb Who was slain! Hardship demonstrates to Christians the astonishing privilege we have of being heirs to this miraculous promise!

What a spectacular opportunity hardship affords us! Jesus said to His followers, “You are the light of the world . . . people do not light a lamp and put it under a basket . . . In the same way, let your light shine before others” (Matthew 5:14). How much more visible is the light when the world is dark, and how much more attractive it is to those in the gloom.

Get your faith out from under the basket! Stop hiding the Gospel as if it were something to be ashamed of. Point to Jesus. Take these circumstances and point to Jesus in them!

Jesus Saves By His Victorious Resurrection

2009-03-12T11:20:00.000-06:00

For the last few weeks we’ve been considering the three atoning aspects of Christ’s work of redemption: that Jesus saves by virtue of His perfect life in fulfillment of God’s law, His substitutionary death under God’s wrath, and His victorious resurrection over the powers of hell and death.
As we noted last Friday, Jesus came to earth not only to die on our behalf under the righteous wrath of God for our sins, but also to obey God’s righteous requirements on our behalf. Thus, those who trust in Christ are given the same right standing with the Father that the Son obtained by His obedience.
Sometimes we get so caught up in the first two aspects of Christ’s atoning work (His righteous life and substitutionary death) that we forget the ultimate reason for His coming to earth. It was, like everything God does, primarily for the sake of His own glory. The resurrection is the clearest evidence of this: after dying in our place under the Father’s wrath, Christ rose from the dead to declare God’s victory over all the powers of death and hell (Romans 6:9-10; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 54-57).
Now Christ is alive forever, to live His life in union with all who trust in Him. One goal of His coming to earth is that you would be united to Him and He would be united to you, with the result that His life flows through you and produces His character in you.
The central text that teaches about union with Christ is John 15, where He says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4). The life of Christ flows in and through the believer, so that His life “takes over,” and bears the fruit of Christ’s life. (This process of “taking over” the believer’s life is how Christ accomplishes the believer’s sanctification; but that’s another series of articles!)
Because Christ rose from dead to live His life out in His followers, Christians are blessed to enjoy all of the blessings that are in Christ (Romans 8:32; 2 Corinthians 1:20). God loves the Son, and so He loves us, because we are united with Christ. Because Christ lives in believers, everything He accomplished for us is counted as ours: we died with Him, we were raised with Him, and we have a place in heaven with Him (Ephesians 2:5-6; John 14:1-6). Because Christ was resurrected and lives in His followers, His presence with us is not temporary or transient, but permanent and constant (Matthew 28:18-20; Hebrews 13:5).
If you are a believer, Christ is not somewhere “out there.” He came out of the tomb to come into your life and live His life out in you and through you. As the song puts it, “You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart!” It is my earnest prayer that those words are more than song lyrics to you, but rather that they are the genuine testimony of your salvation!

Jesus Saves By His Righteous Life

2009-03-12T09:57:00.001-06:00

For the last couple of weeks we’ve been considering the three atoning aspects of Christ’s work of redemption: that Jesus is able to save us by virtue of His perfect life in fulfillment of God’s law, His substitutionary death under God’s wrath, and His victorious resurrection over all the powers of hell and death.
As we noted last Friday, the most obvious aspect of Jesus’ atoning work is His crucifixion. The New Testament clearly presents Christ’s death as the key to our salvation: He died under the Father’s holy wrath, which is His just and rightful response to the rebellion of humanity.
Somewhat less widely understood is how Jesus’ perfect life plays a role in saving people. If the death of Christ for our sin were the only aspect of His saving work, it would not have been necessary for Him to have lived among humanity for over thirty years: He could simply have appeared as a full-grown man and died a short time later. We get a hint as to the purpose of His living when He is standing in the Jordan River about to be baptized: when John protests that Jesus does not need baptism, Jesus replies, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).
Clearly, Jesus came to earth not only to die on our behalf under the righteous wrath of God for our sins. He also came to obey God’s righteous requirements, or as He put it, “to fulfill all righteousness.” The glorious thing in which we can rejoice is that Christ did this for us. He was already righteous before the Father, so His fulfillment of the law was not something He did for Himself: instead, He did it on our behalf.
The wonder of grace is that for all who trust Christ, His righteous life and fulfillment of God’s law is credited to us. Because of His life of sinlessness and perfect obedience on this earth, God legally credits believers with the righteous acts that Christ performed on our behalf. Thus, those who trust in Christ are given by God the same position or standing with the Father that the Son obtained by His obedience.
This position of “right standing” before the Father is the source of tremendous benefits to the believer. Because God imputes Christ’s righteousness to us, we can come boldly before God in prayer, knowing that He accepts us as He accepts His Son (Hebrews 4:14-16); we are assured of peace with God because Christ’s perfection earned our peace (Romans 5:1-3); we have the child-blessings of God’s family established for us by Christ (Romans 8:16-17); and we are free from condemnation (Romans 8:1-4).
And how do you receive this righteousness of Christ? Only by the instrument of faith alone, plus nothing; and even this faith is a gift of God, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-10). Trust in Christ’s atoning work, and His righteousness is given to you.
Next Week: By His Victorious Resurrection

Jesus Saves By His Substitutionary Death!

2009-03-12T09:53:00.001-06:00

Last Friday we took an overview of the three atoning aspects of Christ’s work of redemption. We were reminded of the classic orthodox understanding of His redemptive ministry: that Jesus is able to save us by virtue of His perfect life in fulfillment of God’s law, His substitutionary death under God’s wrath, and His victorious resurrection over all the powers of hell and death.
As we noted last Friday, the most obvious aspect of Jesus’ atoning work is His crucifixion. The New Testament clearly presents Christ’s death as the key to our salvation.
To understand how Christ’s death works for us, we first need an accurate view of sin. From the account of our first parents’ sin in the Garden of Eden, until the New Testament, Scripture teaches that sin is intentional rebellion against God’s will as well as against His right to rule our lives.
The depravity of this rebellion is measured not merely by the act itself, but also by the nature of Him against Whom it is committed: because God is eternal and infinite, the rebellion is eternal and infinite as well. Let me illustrate.
If you were to punch a friend, your punishment might be as simple as losing that friendship. If you were to punch a police officer, you would spend some time in jail. If you punched the United States President, you would spend the rest of your life in a mental institution. In each case, the same act is committed: a punch. But the punishment varies with the authority of and respect due to the person you punch: the greater their position, the greater your punishment.
When we sin, we are actively rebelling against the highest Authority in the universe, One Whose nature rightly demands infinite and eternal respect. Our sin, therefore, dishonors God infinitely and eternally, and rightly places us under His righteous wrath.
It is this eternal and infinite rebellion that Jesus came to remedy, this wrath He came to suffer. In His death, Christ willingly submitted Himself to the just penalty which we deserved. He received it on our behalf and in our place so that we will not have to bear it ourselves. The penalty for our sins was removed from us and placed upon Christ, our substitute.
The benefit of this substitution is that we are no longer under God’s wrath. Irish poet Charitie Lees Bancroft wrote of this miracle of grace in 1863:
Because the sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free,
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.
God’s righteous wrath was poured out on the Son, Who, because He is also infinite and eternal, could receive the infinite and eternal measure of that wrath. Our pardon is made possible by His punishment.
Or, as Peter put it, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
Aren’t you glad He died in your place, to take God’s punishment for your sin?
Next Week: By His Righteous Life

Jesus Saves! But HOW?

2009-03-12T09:51:00.002-06:00

How glorious it is to know that God, the One against Whom humanity has steadily rebelled since Eden, has chosen to make peace with us rebels through His Son! His grace truly is amazing: that the offended would take upon Himself the responsibility of forgiving and reconciling the offenders is more wonderful than we can imagine.
And yet, it is true! Jesus saves us from our sins and restores us to relationship with God.
But how? How is it possible that what Jesus did 2,000 years ago and 5,000 miles away would save you, here, today?
The orthodox understanding of Christ’s saving work presents His redemptive ministry in three basic parts. For the next three Fridays, we’ll look more closely at each of these three parts of Christ’s atoning work. For today, here’s an overview of how Jesus saves.
The most obvious aspect of Jesus’ atoning work is His crucifixion. As the incarnate second person of the Triune God – and thus both fully God and fully human – Jesus was able as a man to die, and as God to do so perfectly. In His death, He took our place under the righteous wrath of His Father. Indeed, as Isaiah prophesied in the famous text about the suffering Messiah, “the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all . . . the Lord was pleased to crush Him” (Isaiah 53:6, 10). Those who trust Jesus are no longer under the Father’s wrath, because that wrath was fully poured out on the Son. Forgiveness is accomplished because the God’s wrath upon human sin has been satisfied.
But if Jesus came only to die, why would He spend over three decades living among sinful humanity before dying for our sins? Jesus Himself told us why: “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Because humanity’s sin rendered us incapable of meeting God’s righteous requirements, Christ lived a perfect and sinless life on our behalf. As our representative, He lived before God flawlessly and fulfilled all the Law. Those who trust Christ are given His righteousness, as God sees us in Christ, clothed in His perfection. Thus, not only are we forgiven by Christ’s death, but we are also reconciled to God by Christ’s righteousness given to us.
However, Christ’s atoning work would be incomplete if, after having lived a sinless life for us and died under God’s wrath for our sins, He then remained dead. His resurrection not only vindicates all His claims, but also guarantees our eternal life, as He lives His life out in us. Jesus came out of the tomb to come into your life and live in you. Thus, as He lives in you, His life flows through you, and by the union of His life with your life, you are able to bear the fruit of Christ-like living, and draw others to Him. (See John 15:1-11.)
So, here is how Jesus saves us. We are forgiven by Christ’s substitutionary death. We are reconciled to God by His righteous life. And we live in union with Him for God’s glory.
It’s really amazing, isn’t it?
Next Week: By His Substitutionary Death

GRACE AND GLORY

2008-10-01T14:28:00.002-06:00

One of my few good habits is to read Charles Spurgeon’s classical daily devotional book, “Morning and Evening.” Wednesday evening’s message struck a note I want to share with you.

Quoting part of Psalm 84:11, in which God’s Word declares, “the Lord gives grace and glory,” Spurgeon simply unpacked this brief phrase. Let me try to follow the example of the “prince of preachers.”

Note first that the Lord gives. His generosity is extravagant. There is nothing good in all the world that He has not given. The Apostle James wrote, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17). In other words, every moment of laughter you have ever enjoyed, each morsel of food, every hug, every kind thought, and all the blessings of friendship and family, have issued, each and all, from the generous heart of God. There is nothing good in all of life that did not originate with God.

It is, in fact, the very nature of God to give. In Himself, He is so completely satisfied and overflowing, that God would have to stop being God in order to stop giving.

Chief among God’s gifts is grace. If it weren’t for His grace, not a soul could survive the withering fury of His righteous wrath. It is grace that sent Christ to earth to live a holy life in fulfillment of God’s righteous requirements. It was grace that moved the Father to place upon His Son all His holy wrath for your sins. It was grace that taught you to see your need of a Savior and place your faith in Christ. By His grace God draws to Himself His insurgent creatures, not to make them His slaves, but to bring them into His family and re-create in them His image which they previously rejected by their aggravated rebellion.

It is the everlasting steadiness of God’s grace that gives His children a resilience which marks them with the family resemblance. Whether the economy is booming or busting, He gives grace. Whether you are well or ill, He gives grace. In both plenty and want, He gives grace. In living and in dying, He gives all the grace required for both. Indeed, as the Apostle Paul wrote, “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20).

With grace comes glory. Mark that little conjunction, “and,” which Spurgeon called “a diamond rivet binding the present with the future.” The gift of grace is God’s guarantee that those who receive it will surely spend eternity with Him in the glory of His presence. If we live in His grace, we will certainly die in His grace, and in His grace enter into the fullness of His glory. The Apostle John declared that there in the city of God, there is “no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light” (Revelation 21:23).

So, believer, are you living by the grace of God into the glory of God? If not, you’re living below your privilege. Step up into His grace and glory!

What Is the Church?

2008-07-31T09:43:00.002-06:00

We see them all around town: buildings with signs out front that have the name of a church on them. It’s quite common, and partly because of that, we rarely think deeply about the nature of the church. So today, get your brain in gear and let’s dig deep.

After being started in the pastor’s house in 1883, the church I pastor has met in three different buildings. The first was built in 1889, where the Post Office now stands. The second is now the home of Delgado’s Dugout. The current structure was erected in 1969. Yet, none of these buildings, nor any of the other similar edifices in town, should be called a “church.” “Church-building,” “meeting-house,” and even “gathering-place” are good terms for these facilities. A “church,” however, is not made of brick, stones and wood, but of people.

The word “church” is used in English-language Bibles to translate the New Testament Greek term “ekklesia.” (The New Testament was originally written in Greek.) This word is used 112 times in the New Testament to refer to the body of Christ.

Some background on the term helps us understand what the church is. “Ekklesia” literally means “called out ones,” or “chosen ones.” In secular society during New Testament times, “ekklesia” was used for the gathered body of those chosen by the people to be their leaders: in other words, the assembly of the called out and chosen ones.

Since Christians are those who are chosen by God (1 Peter 2:9), called out by Him (1 Corinthians 1:9), and commanded to assemble regularly (Hebrews 10:24-25), it made sense for Christians to be called the “ekklesia:” those chosen by God and gathered by God.

The church, of course, did not start in a vacuum. Early Christians were mostly Jews, who met weekly or more often in “synagogues,” a term that simply means “congregation” or “gathering place.” The early church developed most of its forms and government from the practices of the synagogue, practices in which Jesus Himself readily participated throughout His life and ministry.

In the New Testament, “ekklesia” is used 18 times to mean the universal church: everyone, everywhere who has ever been saved. But it’s used most often – 94 times, to be precise – to mean a local band of folks committed to one another, meeting weekly or more often to worship and pray; to make disciples and evangelize the lost; and to share each other’s lives in fellowship and service.

And the point of all this? Let me quote the old children’s song:

The church is not a building.

The church is not a steeple.

The church is not a resting place.

The church is the people.

Christians ARE the church. If you are saved, you are united with all Christians everywhere. That mystical union finds its functional expression in a local body of believers committed to Christ and one another. Something extraordinary happens when that group gathers in His name: Jesus shows up in a way He won’t at any other time. And that’s beautiful!

So, go be with the church this Sunday! Jesus will be meeting with His people! Don’t miss the gathering. It’s great!

Where Is Your Confidence?

2008-07-31T09:42:00.000-06:00

“ . . . as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by Whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” – 1 Corinthians 1:7b-9

I think this is becoming my new favorite passage of Scripture, in no small measure because of its context. The Apostle Paul, moved by the Holy Spirit, wrote these promising words to a church the likes of which I’ve never seen – and, I hope, never will see.

By all accounts, the church in Corinth was a mess. And yet, Paul begins his letter to this mess of a church by expressing his overt confidence in their sanctification.

I’m not sure I could have been so confident. Consider the condition of this church.

At least four rival factions were vying for power. One of the church leaders was sleeping with his mother-in-law, and the church didn’t seem to find that inappropriate. Church members were getting drunk at the Lord’s Supper. Members of the church were involved in suits against each other. Abuse of the gifts of the Holy Spirit was common. The church was so much like the perverse society of the Corinthian community that it was hard to distinguish Christians from pagans. Indeed, it was so bad that Paul offered his inspired assessment that their “worship services do more harm than good” (1 Corinthians 11:17).

It was to such a church that Paul wrote with a solid assurance that their future was bright, and their sanctification certain. How could he be so sure?

Look at the first few words of verse 9: “God is faithful, by Whom you were called.” Paul knew that God had started the Corinthian church, and that He was determined to finish what He had begun. God is faithful. He was looking to the faithfulness of God.

To whom do we look?

Paul also understood something of the call of God. The God Who is faithful had summoned these former pagans to Himself. He initiated the relationship with them by virtue of His prior choice; and He initiated a relationship with us in precisely the same miraculous manner. Our response to God’s call was preceded by the call itself: before we considered coming to Him, He called us to Himself.

And because He called us, how can our hearts do anything but burst with uncontrollable gratitude? Let us not entertain the vain notion that we deserved His call, or that we earned His favor. He is holy and righteous, inapproachable in the fire of His zealous perfection; and yet the miracle of grace is seen in this wonder: He called us.

That’s why Paul could be confident about the church at Corinth: the God Who is faithful called them. When you think of your church, your brothers and sisters in the Lord, and even your own walk with the Lord, where is your confidence?

The Wonder of It All

2008-07-31T09:41:00.000-06:00

When her mother came to pick her up one day at the close of that morning’s Vacation Bible School, she took Mommy’s hand and led her into the big meeting room. With wide eyes and a quiet kind of awe in her four-year-old voice, she said “This is where the music is.”

Then she escorted Mommy all around the room. There was the puppet stage where Nick and Cooper, Stan and Alex helped us learn what love is. Then there were the props and plants, along with the big umbrella, the hammock and the grill, that comprised our attempt to turn the sanctuary into “God’s big backyard.”

“Look, Mommy!” she said, as she pointed at each picture or prop.

“Look!”

And, though she wasn’t speaking to me, I too began to look. And to see.

During much of our preparation for Vacation Bible School, I could think of little else except how much work our volunteers were putting in. But then, as the third day of our week-long adventure drew to a close, God gave me a glimpse of the whole endeavor through the eyes of a four-year-old. Suddenly, the wonder was there, as it should have been all along.

The wonder is not simply that a group of busy adults would spend more than a hundred hours decorating a church building for a VBS program. The wonder is not only that many of them worked for weeks preparing crafts, lessons and Bible stories to tell the children. The wonder is not merely in the work of baking hundreds of cookies and sandwiches for Friday’s lunch and program, nor only in the uncounted sacrifices made by so many to make Vacation Bible School as successful as possible. Amazingly, this kind of supreme effort commonly takes place, in churches throughout this community, many times over every summer.

But the greatest wonder is not in the effort or the program.

The wonder is what lies behind all the work: hearts touched by God, full of His love, and gripped by a passion to share His love and let the little children come to Him, no matter how much work it takes.

The height and depth and length and breadth of the wonder is in the outpoured love of God seen in His Son dying on the cross for wide-eyed four-year-olds and weary middle-aged pastors alike. The wonder is the fact that He loved His rebellious creation so much that He came and lived among the rebels themselves, and took the just punishment for their rebellion upon Himself. That, indeed, is the greatest wonder there is.

I remember that when I was just a little child myself, my dad often sang these words made famous by George Beverly Shea. “Oh, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all! Just to think that God loves me!”

Indeed.

Just think of it, that wonder-full love of His! Then, like a little child, come to Jesus again, and thank Him for how much He loves you. It’s a wonder!

I LOVE YOU, JESUS!

2008-07-10T08:45:00.001-06:00

Last Wednesday morning, I stood next to my son and daughter-in-law, and gazed in wonder at the eight-pound miracle she had just brought into this world. Perfect in every way, and without question the most lovely grand-daughter ever born, little Katie tugged instantly at my heart. I longed to hold her, or rather, to be held by her, enthralled by her perilous beauty.

Later, as I held her and memorized her features, I thought of another little girl with the same name. Let me tell you that story.

When my wife and I were also just a couple of kids, she gave birth to twins, quite prematurely. Both were too small to live; but, wanting to acknowledge the reality of their personhood before God, we named them: Aaron Vaughn and Katherine Elizabeth. Both died within a day of their July 3 birthday.

Fast forward twenty-eight years to last spring. Our son and daughter-in-law had been to her doctor, and the ultrasound indicated she was carrying a girl, due in early July. A few days later, the two of them came to our home with a query. They wanted to know if it would be okay to name their daughter Katherine Elizabeth. They also want to add the name Grace, the middle name of our twenty-six year old.

With tears in our eyes, we gladly told them that would be a perfect way of redeeming the old scars in our hearts. More amazing still, their Katie was due around the same time our Katie had been born and died. So, God was determined to change even the memories of our loss that are evoked each summer by this season of fireworks.

All of that was whirling through my mind on Wednesday morning as I sat there holding this little grand-miracle in my arms, recounting the ways in which God had wondrously finalized the healing of an old pain. Then my wife slipped her arm into mine, and pulled me from one reverie into another. “Isn’t she beautiful?” she said.

“Oh, yes,” I replied.

“You know,” she continued, “Jesus came into the world in just the same way!”

“Amazing! It’s really just amazing,” I said, and the tears began to flow fresh.

He could have entered the world as an adult, you know, or ridden suddenly down from on high before the vanguard of heaven’s armies. He could have simply materialized one day in the temple, preaching the Truth, proclaiming the Gospel and demanding by virtue of His spectacular appearing the sudden loyalty of all who beheld Him.

But He chose a more common way, a more humble path to take into this world of rebels. He came in such a way as to claim not only your allegiance but also your heart.

Has He come to you? Remember then, how He enthralled you, drew you and claimed your heart. If it’s been a while, that’s all the more reason to turn to Him now and tell Him, “O Jesus, thank You for loving me and capturing my heart. I love You, Jesus!”

THE REST OF YOUR LIFE

2008-07-10T08:44:00.001-06:00

God has a very different value system than that which the world has.

In the early 1950’s, Jim and his young wife Beth set off for the mission field in South America. A brilliant linguist and scholar, Jim’s heart was to translate the scriptures into new languages and share the Gospel with unreached people groups. They lived in a small house near a remote river, with just a few other missionaries. After making significant progress learning the languages of the natives, they made a few halting efforts at sharing the Gospel. On their first overnight visit in one of the native villages, Jim and four of his missionary partners were brutally murdered by a group of ten Huaorani men. Jim was only 28 years old at the time of his death.

Many people would call the deaths of Jim Elliot and his young friends a tragedy, the waste of five good lives. But, that is not what God calls it.

Let me tell you about the tragedy of wasted lives.

Brian and Keesha (not their real names) pursued life in the financial fast lane for the first several years of their marriage. With fierce determination, they bought and sold, invested and saved, and for them, everything paid off. Before age 40, they had acquired enough cash and property to retire quite well. They made the Caribbean their home base, and started traveling the world. Most of their time is spent lounging on the beaches at their various oceanfront resort properties. In the moments when they’re not living the good life, they still run a business via the internet dedicated to teaching others how to get rich and retire early just like they did.

Now, THAT’S tragic!

On the one hand, consider five young men willing to “spend and be spent” (2 Corinthians 12:15) in joyfully rescuing people from hell as they display Christ for the eternal Treasure that He truly is. On the other hand, here’s a couple for whom the ultimate in success is to do nothing at all with the best years of their lives except teach others – at a handsome profit! – how to do nothing at all with the best years of their lives.

On October 28, 1949, just over six years before Jim Elliot was murdered, he wrote in his journal these amazing words that summarize God’s understanding of true success: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

All around us, even here in Northeast Colorado, are people who are just as much without the Gospel as were those Huaorani who murdered Jim Elliot and his partners. He was willing to risk everything for the sake of their souls. What are you risking for the sake of your neighbors who don’t know Jesus?

You don’t have to go far to be a missionary. Indeed, the mission field is all around you. What are you doing with the rest of your life?

The Dearest Place on Earth

2008-06-26T16:49:00.002-06:00

Sorry it's been a couple of weeks, but I actually had some vacation! Anyway, now that I'm back, here is this week's piece. It's about the church, as you can tell.

What’s the best day of the week? Monday, when many folks go back to work? Probably not. How about Friday, when the work week draws to a close for many and the weekend begins? More people would probably say Friday is the best day of the week than Monday.

I wonder how many would say Sunday is the best day of the week.

Just this morning I had a conversation with a member of the church I am blessed to serve, the topic of which was “the weekend.” She lamented how much time Americans waste through the week wishing the weekend would come. Somehow we have come to misunderstand Saturday and Sunday as the days that belong to us for us to do with what we will.

I got to thinking about what Sunday should mean in the life of every Christian. Saturday is the day to get ready for Sunday, to make our emotional, spiritual and physical preparations for the following morning. Way back in college days, before I was pastor, my friend and mentor Bill Mowrey told me, “John, a good Sunday morning begins with a proper Saturday evening.”

What Bill was trying to get across is that Sunday is too important for Christians to let the day simply sneak up on us. We need to prepare our hearts to receive God’s Word, just as surely as the pastor needs to prepare the message to impart God’s Word.

Sunday is the day set apart for the gathering of God’s people to worship Him, hear from Him, and encourage one another by our love. It’s the day to celebrate the mutual miracle of our salvation. It’s homecoming day. It’s family reunion time, when we see again the folks we’re related to by the blood of Christ. It’s the day we are blessed to rejoin with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and rejoice in the manifold evidences of grace we see in the family.

Evidences of grace like these. Last Sunday I saw a new widow praising God exuberantly as we sang to Him, “Here I am to worship. Here I am to bow down.” I saw a middle aged couple who had brought a young husband and wife to worship with them. I watched a college student hug an octogenarian. These were just three of the many dozens of such evidences of grace I saw last Sunday. And I’ll see dozens more day after tomorrow! And so will you, if you go to church with your eyes open.

Nineteenth century British pastor Charles Spurgeon called the church “the dearest place on earth.” I am convinced from scripture and experience that he was right. That’s where God gathers His family under the banner of His love, and shows them the evidences of His grace.

When you go to church this Sunday, will you be looking for evidences of God’s grace? If so, you will discover what Spurgeon said is true: it is, indeed, the dearest place on earth.

Joy and the Excellence of Christ

2008-06-04T12:14:00.001-06:00

The most gloriously joy-filled being in the entire universe is Jesus Christ.

To live your life in a radical quest to reflect His glory and experience His joy is the most satisfying endeavor a human being can pursue. Everything else pales in comparison. There is no joy to be found anywhere else under the sun like the joy that comes from the excellence of Christ.

The prophet Isaiah knew this to be true, and wrote this word from the Lord: “Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which doesn't satisfy? Listen diligently to Me . . . and let your soul delight itself in fatness” (Isaiah 55:2). Solomon, wise in the ways of the world as he was, knew this also, and he wrote, “Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:11).

So while there is no abiding joy to be found in things “under the sun” (as Solomon put it), there is supreme joy in Christ. And the good news is that Christ Himself wants His people to participate in this joy! On the evening before His crucifixion, Jesus said to His Father, “But now I am coming to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves” (John 17:13).

Did you catch that? Jesus wants HIS joy to be fulfilled in YOU! Amazing! Miraculous! The Son of God, Who from eternity past has dwelt with the Father and the Spirit in the holy inferno of the glory and joy of the three-in-one Godhead, passionately yearns to fill you with His joy! As Alexander Means wrote in his ecstatic hymn, “What wondrous love is this, O my soul!” Yes, indeed. Wondrous and full of joy!

And people think Christianity means weighty obligation! Where do they get such an erroneous idea? They get it from Christians who have never learned or have forgotten that “in [His] presence there is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11). They get it from believers who wrongly suppose that their “Christian duty” is unrewarded religious responsibility.

In his “Letters to Malcolm,” C. S. Lewis wrote, “It is the duty of every Christian, you know, to be as happy as possible.” That is what our “duty” is: to be so impassioned with Christ that His infinite delight floods our souls with the overflow of His boundless joy. This boundless joy, this ocean of Christ’s excellence, is what delivers us from the perilous weight of religious obligation, and turns the “got to” of duty into the “get to” of delight.

King David, after being confronted with his sin of seeking His delight outside of the Lord, prayed, “Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation” (Psalm 51:12). All of us should pray that prayer who have been seeking joy anywhere but in the infinite excellencies of Christ Himself. Let us pray it, now.

Joy and Certainty

2008-06-04T12:13:00.002-06:00

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot, and praying some, over that little verse in Philippians 1 in which the Apostle Paul so beautifully expressed his confidence regarding the future of the Philippian church. He wrote, “I am sure of this, that He Who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

That’s pretty remarkable assurance coming from a guy who was in jail! You might also wish to note that this little letter to the church Paul had founded at Philippi has more references to joy than any other book in the Bible. I believe that Paul’s substantial confidence and Paul’s overt joy went hand-in-hand. Let’s take a look at this. How could Paul be so certain?

If you examine verse 6, you’ll note that Paul’s certainty regarding the church’s future was founded upon the church’s past. Who started the church? Was it Paul, or the Philippians themselves? No! God began the work. And Paul knew that what God began, God will finish, even if it takes until Jesus comes back. Thus, Paul was filled with joy in anticipation of God’s exercising His sovereign greatness to complete His work – HIS work, mind you! – for His glory. The fact that Paul was in jail didn’t seem to distract him from this assurance, because, as he wrote to another church, “we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

What has God begun in your life? Did He at some point in your life grant you faith to trust the atoning sacrifice of His Son as the means and guarantee of your salvation? Then He has begun a good work in you, just like He did among the Philippians. So, since that beginning was made in you by God Himself, have you misplaced your confidence?

Honestly, I find the temptations to misplace my confidence are many and varied, and pressing upon us almost daily. That great whisperer of lies, the devil, is determined to distract us and sway our vision from the glory and grace of God. “Trust your common sense,” he murmurs to our worrying hearts. “Rely on your training or your background, your experience or your expertise,” he blithely chatters on, not perhaps in so many words, but in a kind of unformed doubt that creeps into the dark recesses of our fearful hearts.

Believers, let us banish the lies of hell to their source! God’s truth is the source of our certainty, and nothing else will suffice. Has God begun a good work in you? Then, regardless of the circumstances in which you find yourself, He will bring it to completion. And the joy you have will be determined in great measure by how fully you believe Him and how willingly you submit to Him and cooperate with His ongoing work in you.

Next week: Joy and the Excellence of Christ

Out of Complaining Into Joy

2008-05-21T10:12:00.000-06:00

My friend since seminary days, the Reverend Dr. Tom Steagald, is a pastor in North Carolina and the author of a couple of books on personal sanctification and prayer. He and I have been engaged in an intermittent email conversation for the last few weeks on this topic of joy. In a recent pastor’s letter to his congregation, Dr. Tom wrote the following.

“Joy comes from knowing we are saved. Salvation accompanies the knowledge that we are indeed forgiven. But to know that we are forgiven suggests a prior knowledge: that we are sinners, that we are not what God wants us to be, that we fail to do what God wants us to do and instead often do what God prohibits.

“Sadly, somewhere along the line someone convinced us that we were not sinners at all — that we do not need change, but instead only understanding, acceptance and affirmation.”

Truer words were never spoken, Brother Tom! As long as we view Christianity as a therapeutic source of understanding and affirmation, we will remain untransformed, and the joy of the Lord will remain a distant hope, reserved perhaps for heaven, but generally unavailable until then. And so, we muddle through, grumbling as we go, striving to remain faithful to this unhappy hope we have.

But what a contrast is this watered down version of Christianity with the robust, indefatigable joy of the early church! That group of societal underlings conquered the world with nothing but the love of Christ and the joy of the Lord. And God is still the same today. He is as full of joy today as he was when King David wrote, “In His presence there is fullness of joy, and at His right hand there are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). Christ is as willing to impart joy to you today as He was when He said on the night before His crucifixion, “These things I have spoken to you that My joy may be in you and your joy may be full” (John 15:11).

So, how do we access that joy? Never diminish the miracle of salvation. Never degrade the incarnation of Christ to a therapeutic mission trip. Never reduce the cross to a means to make you rich and healthy. The finished work of Christ is so much more than that! So! Much! More! Remember the miracle of your salvation.

Or, as Dr. Tom put it, “Joy comes from knowing we are saved.”

So, I ask you: do you know you are saved? Let’s review the Gospel.

God is holy, and in His presence no sin can abide. People, however, are sinners, both by birth and behavior. That means we’ve got a problem, just as we are. So God, Who is holy, made His Son to bear His wrath upon our sin, so that we could be forgiven by repenting of our self will and trusting His Son’s death and resurrection to save us.

As you contemplate and trust this Gospel, joy comes. And then you will able to agree with our North Carolina brother: “Yes, indeed, joy comes from knowing I am saved.”

Next week: Joy and Certainty

Complaining: That Joy-Killing Sin

2008-05-14T14:18:00.004-06:00

If someone asked you what is the most pervasive sin in the world, what would you say? Anger? Lust? Hatred? Sure, those are surely all high on the “Top Ten Sins” list, but I believe that higher still on the list is the sin of complaining. Indeed, if it’s not in the top spot, it’s certainly number two.

One of the problems with the sin of complaining is that it’s so universal that many among us aren’t even aware that it’s a sin. Everybody complains about stuff all the time. We are so surrounded by complaining that we hardly notice it, unless, of course, the complaints are directed against us.

However, let us not focus only, or even primarily, on what people think of complaining. We need to consider what God thinks about our complaining. It’s clear from passages like Numbers 11 and 14, Psalm 78 and 1 Corinthians 10, that God is not indifferent to complaining. He is very serious about it, so much so that He issues His church this command: “Do all things without complaining and contention” (Philippians 2:14).

God knows that complaining is an expression of our pride, and not only pride in general, but more specifically, arrogance against God Himself. Think with me. We Christians believe that God is sovereign: i.e., that in some way He controls our lives. Therefore, since we believe He either causes or allows everything that happens in our lives, complaining about what happens is an expression of our doubting His wisdom.

Puritan Thomas Watson, in a sermon on contentment preached in 1653, said, “Murmuring is no better than mutiny in the heart; it is a rising up against God. . . . The murmurer chargeth God with folly. This is the language, or rather blasphemy of a murmuring spirit: ‘God might have been a wiser and better God’ . . . Our murmuring is the devil's music.”

Do you see the subtle rebellion against God that Watson describes? Complaining is nothing less than demanding from God an explanation that suits our convenience and comfort. It is calling God to account for my expectations of how I think He ought to be and what I think He ought to do. St. Paul hinted at the danger of such an attitude when he wrote, “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?” (Romans 9:20).

A century before Watson, John Calvin wrote, “As soon as God does not send what we have desired, we dispute against Him . . . but from what spirit is this pronounced? From a poisoned heart, as if we said, ‘The thing should have been otherwise.’ . . . It is as if we accused God of being a tyrant or a harebrain.”

Complaining is sin because it disputes the goodness of God and thus maligns His character. St. Paul wrote, “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

You will be a more joyful Christian if you learn the secret of being free from complaining. We’ll look at that next Friday. Until then, “Rejoice in the Lord always! Again, I will say it: rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4).

Next week: Out of Complaining into Joy

Joy Grows Where Gratitude Takes Root

2008-05-14T11:55:00.001-06:00

Last week we looked at joy’s foundation in the lives of those who trust Christ. We saw that the primary reason for joy is the astonishing fact of our salvation. Today we’ll begin to examine how joy can grow to permeate all of life. As the title briefly states it, joy grows where gratitude takes root; and, if you’ve been born again, you have a thousand reasons to be thankful. Let me mention just four reasons for living a grateful life, all of which are based upon salvation.

We ought to be thankful to the Lord because of what He has saved us FROM. All of us have sinned, and not by accident. We have actively rebelled against God. By virtue of that, we deserve to be under His wrath in this life, and in hell after we die. But He chose to pour out His wrath upon His own Son, and deliver from hell all those who trust Christ. Thank God!

But that’s not all! We also can live a life of gratitude because what He has saved us TO. He hasn’t simply delivered us from wrath and hell, but He has saved us into a love relationship with Him here, followed by heaven forever. Thank God!

A third reason for being grateful to God is HOW He has saved us. We didn’t do anything to earn our salvation. As Scripture says, we are saved “by grace, through faith;” and even this faith is not something we conjured up, for it too “is a gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8-9). God saves people by His own initiative, through His own sacrifice, and by His own grace. It’s a gift! Thank God!

Finally, we can live in an unending flow of thankfulness because of WHY God has saved us. Scripture again is clear on this subject: our salvation is entirely for the glory of God. As we occasionally recite at First Baptist, “God saved us by His grace, from His wrath, for His glory.” If you are a Christian, God saved you so that you could display His glory. This means that your life has an eternal meaning that magnificently transcends the temporal and visible realm. You are alive to glorify God and enjoy Him forever!

And how do you do that? John Piper, author and preaching pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, states it most succinctly: “God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in Him.” As a Christian, whether you are eating or working, playing or worshiping – indeed, in everything! – make it your aim to be fully satisfied in the presence of God, Who is with you and in you.

Indeed, the most gratifying experience any human being can have is to live in the glory of God; and that is why God saves people. Christians get to live in the glory of God, and for the glory of God. The whole universe can’t contain His glory; but, if you’re born again, you have the astonishing privilege of living in His glory. Thank God!

Next week: Complaining – That Joy-Killing Sin

REASON FOR JOY

2008-05-01T15:26:00.006-06:00

Have you ever noticed how glum and somber Christians can become? Without much provocation or cause, we who sing "Joy to the world!" can act as if we'd never heard the song. Sometimes we’re grim and determined, going through life with clenched teeth and a grimace. Occasionally, indeed far too often, we're downright grumpy. This is a tragedy for at least three reasons. First, we’ve got plenty of cause to be joyful: we don't have to grumpy. Second, God commands us to be joyful, and we ought to learn how to obey Him. Third, unjoyful Christians don’t attract non-Christians to Christ.

With this in mind, today I’m starting a series of articles on how Christians can cultivate a lifestyle of real, deeply-grounded joy. I'm not talking about becoming naive or vapid: this isn't a head-in-the-clouds approach to life. Nor am I referring to personality types and dispositions. I'm talking about world-conquering joy, the kind of firmly-rooted approach to life that Christ commanded and the Apostle Paul exemplified. Other than the Lord Jesus Himself, there never has been anyone with more trouble and responsibility than Paul. Yet, he exhibited a profound joy in everything. His letter to the Philippian Christians includes more references to joy than any other document in antiquity, and yet he wrote it from jail!

Think with me. If ever there was a man with ample reason to be grumpy, it was Paul: five times he was whipped; three times he was beaten; he was shipwrecked; he was stoned and left for dead; he was imprisoned several times. Beyond this, he had the concern of all those baby churches that God led him to start. And yet, he had joy. Where did he get it?

More to the point, where can you and I get joy?

The kind of joy Paul had is founded upon the undeserved miracle of salvation. Think with me about how God saves people.

Though God is the absolute King of the universe, and though He created us exclusively for His glory, we have attempted a coup. We've set up as rebels against His reign, and have sought to supplant Him from His rightful Lordship, not only over our own lives, but over all the affairs of human existence. The human theme song of "I Did it My Way" is the marshaling-cry of the rebellion.

Despite this, God grants us each and all His common grace: the occasional pleasures of human relationships, the warmth of family, and the simple delights of food, drink, shelter, work and rest. Indeed, every good gift of human existence is evidence of His common grace to each human being. But there's more.

He loves us, courts us, woos us to Himself. Through creation and the Gospel, He portrays to us both His law for our lives and His love for our souls. And yet, though He draws us by His grace, we have rebuffed His love and stiff-armed His embrace. To these personal insults we have added our willful rejection of His good law, and have tried instead to make humanity the measure of all things. Paul summarized our willful rebellion against God with these words: “although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him” (Romans 1:21). Thus, having renounced both His love and His law, we turned so fully from God that we lost our ability even to seek Him.

And so . . . He sought us! Down the dark alleys of our sin, as we flee from Him, He has pursued us. It’s amazing, but it’s true. Though we deserved to die under aggravated condemnation, He sent His Son to die in our stead, to take upon Himself all the Father’s righteous wrath. Indeed, it pleased the Father to crush Him. By virtue of this unmitigated and indescribable grace, and through His gracious gift of faith, God saves us from the just penalty of our sin and brings us into a state of peace and favor with Himself. Amazingly, by His own act of sacrifice, He has sought His very enemies, and having found them, made them His own dear children. Astounding!

And – here’s the reason for unrestrained joy! – we bring nothing to this transaction. No merit. No credit. No effort. Nothing. He saves us by His own initiative, simply because He wants to. We don’t earn it. We don’t deserve it. It is entirely a gift, motivated by the astonishing fact that He longs for us with an unchanging, unchangeable love.

That’s all the reason we need for joy. Indeed, it’s reason enough!

Next week: Joy Grows Where Gratitude Takes Root

IT'S YOUR MIND

2008-04-10T14:25:00.001-06:00

Some time ago, my wife and I were awakened in the middle of the night by a noise. It sounded like someone was trying to get in our front door. The doorknob rattled like someone was trying to turn it, not once, but twice.

We prayed – very quietly! – about what to do, and then with no little amount of apprehension, we got out of bed and started turning on lights. I shouted, “Is anybody there?” as if I were expecting an answer. Right.

Much to our relief, nobody was there – we checked every room and closet, along with the garage and outside. All we found was that the gate into the back yard was standing open – but the wind had occasionally been doing that by itself.

We went back to bed, prayed a prayer of thanks to God, and went back to sleep.

We were not unaffected, however. A couple of nights later my wife had a dream that someone was breaking into our house. We bought a much-needed new front door – with a dead-bolt lock. I fixed the latch on the back yard gate.

Why? Because not everyone is welcome in our home. Nor should they be. Most especially, thieves and burglars aren’t welcome.

The fast is, there are locks on the doors of our houses for a reason.

Unfortunately, many, if not most, Americans have taken the locks off the doors of our minds.

When it comes to what we think and believe, we have learned to let almost anything in. Our society has developed a tragic open-door policy about thoughts and values, ideas and images. Spiritual burglars are prowling the conceptual streets of our culture, and we seem willing to let any of them in who knock.

We have been sold a bill of goods by the devil. We have been led to suppose that any thought which happens along is worthy to be welcomed into our hearts and minds. Satan’s servants rattle the doorknobs of our imaginations, and find easy entry.

The tragedy of open hearts and open minds is evidenced by out of control consumer debt, driven by a “see it, want it, buy it” approach to living. The burgeoning pornography industry takes advantage of our unlocked mental gates by breaking into many of our TV’s and computers, along with many of our hearts and minds.

Open-mindedness is obviously not all it’s cracked up to be.

We who are Christians face the challenge to control our imaginative processes, to “take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). We need to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds” (Romans 12:2). We are charged, “whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable . . . think about these things” (Philippians 4:8).

It’s time to close your mind to the evils around you. Get a dead-bolt lock for your heart. Install a security system for your imagination. Don’t let unwelcome thoughts or unwholesome imaginations break in.

It’s your mind. Protect it.

BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE

2008-04-03T16:11:00.000-06:00

It was one of “those” calls we pastors occasionally receive. A loved one with a ravaging disease was in terminal condition, in the final painful phase of life. Would I put him on the prayer list at Church? Maybe even go see him?

As usual, I prayed with the caller on the phone, then prayed again when the call was over. Instantly I sensed an insistence, a burden. “Go see him right away,” God seemed to say.

So it was that I was soon driving out into the countryside, searching for a home I had never seen before on a road I had rarely driven.

I found the house, was welcomed inside, and went immediately to the man’s bedside. One look said it all – he didn’t have long. With a conviction borne of the urgency of the situation, I jumped right in. “It looks like you don’t have long to live. Is that right?”

So weak he was almost unable to speak, he whispered, “That’s right.”

“It’s a pretty tough road you’re on, isn’t it? Do you know where you’re headed?”

A shrug indicated that he wasn’t sure what I meant. I explained, “The road you’re on right now is a rough one, but it’s going to end soon. The important thing is whether that road’s going to end in heaven or hell. Do you know which?”

“I’m not sure,” he whispered.

“Would you like to be sure?” I asked.

With tears in his eyes, he nodded his head.

A gentle twenty-minute conversation followed in which we revisited the basic truths of the Good News. God is holy. People are sinful. Our sin separates us from God. But Christ is sufficient to take our sin. His life fulfilled God’s righteous requirements. His death paid sin’s penalty. His resurrection broke sin’s power. To have eternal life, we only need to admit we’re sinners in need of a Savior, trust Jesus for our salvation and give Him our lives. Then we are born again and receive eternal life, and enjoy heaven after we die.

“Would you like to admit your need for salvation and put your trust in Jesus?” I asked.

And he said yes.

So with gasping breath and whispered words, he confessed his need for a Savior, placed his trust in Jesus and welcomed Him into his heart.

Less than three days later, his shallow breathing ceased, and he entered eternity with Jesus as his Savior – just in time, before it was eternally too late.

I’ve had the privilege of being in many such Gospel encounters with people near death. Through such experiences, I think God is issuing a reminder that all of us – not just pastors – are surrounded by the dying. Whether their deaths are coming in three days or thirty years, their time is limited.

Indeed, everybody we meet is in terminal condition. With a conviction borne of the urgency of their situation, we must tell them the Good News about what Jesus has done for them and will do in them. Somebody has to tell them, before it’s too late.

AFTER EASTER, THEN WHAT

2008-03-27T11:47:00.002-06:00

I know it's been a while; but the craziness of preparing for a very early Easter has now passed, and here's my latest article, from the Sterling, Colorado Journal Advocate.

Last Sunday, all around the world, Christians gathered in the largest Sunday services of the year to proclaim to one another the ancient truth, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!” The singing was wonderful, the preaching typically at its best, and the fellowship especially warm. It was a great day.

And now, in the weeks that follow, the typical pastors of average churches will stand in their pulpits and look out and wonder once again, “Where did the crowds go?” Of course, the issue far transcends numerical considerations. It serves as a living parable of the condition of American Christianity, in which so many people tend to show up when there’s a show, but disappear when it comes to discipleship.

Not long ago, well-known pastor Bill Hybels, whose 20,000 member Willow Creek Church in suburban Chicago has set the standard for “seeker-sensitive church” since the early 1980’s, admitted that though his church has attracted a lot of people to its services, not many of them have actually been living a life of Biblical discipleship. For two-and-a-half decades, this huge and apparently successful church has aimed most of its efforts at getting people to participate in programs, in hope that their participation would make them better followers of Christ. They counted and carefully recorded the number of people involved in their programs, and hoped that the more participants they had, the more disciples they were making.

They’ve discovered it hasn’t worked. In a talk at last summer’s Willow Creek Leadership Conference, Hybels admitted, “We made a mistake. We should have . . . taught people how to read their bibles between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.”

In other words, participation in programs does not necessarily produce Biblical disciples, people committed to following Christ rigorously in their daily lives. What makes Biblical disciples are the age-old “spiritual practices” Hybels mentioned: personal Bible study, vigorous personal prayer, accountable relationships and the pursuit of holy living by the constant infilling of the Holy Spirit.

The fact is that much of the American church seems to have forgotten what Jesus commanded us to pursue as our primary business. He never told us to draw a crowd, make converts, produce participants, or acquire attenders. He told us to make disciples. A key step in growing from a baby Christian into a maturing disciple is teaching that person to become “self-feeding.” That means the church must train its people to study Scripture daily with a view to obeying it, to have a vital personal prayer life, and to take responsibility for being in accountable relationships with fellow followers so that they can support and encourage one another.

So, now that it’s after Easter (or in the season of Easter, according to the church calendar), what now? I say it’s time to get serious about the business we’re called by Christ to pursue. Forget the crowds for now – they’ll be back at Christmas – and turn our energies to doing everything we can in the power of the Holy Spirit to make disciples.

Two Very Well-Known Hymns You've Never Sung

2008-02-29T15:21:00.005-07:00

Written by Bishop Thomas Ken in the mid 1670's, these two hymns, one to be sung in the morning upon rising, one before retiring at night, are perhaps the most well-known English-language songs in Protestant worship. Really? Yea, but not the entire songs. Sadly, only the last verse of each is ever sung, and it's the same verse in both songs. Before you read the common last verse, which I've printed below the two hymns, can you figure it out?

MORNING HYMN

Awake, my soul, and with the sun
Thy daily stage of duty run;
Shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise,
To pay thy morning sacrifice.

Thy precious time misspent, redeem,
Each present day thy last esteem,
Improve thy talent with due care;
For the great day thyself prepare.

By influence of the Light divine
Let thy own light to others shine.
Reflect all Heaven’s propitious ways
In ardent love, and cheerful praise.

In conversation be sincere;
Keep conscience as the noontide clear;
Think how all seeing God thy ways
And all thy secret thoughts surveys.

Wake, and lift up thyself, my heart,
And with the angels bear thy part,
Who all night long unwearied sing
High praise to the eternal King.

All praise to Thee, who safe has kept
And hast refreshed me while I slept
Grant, Lord, when I from death shall wake
I may of endless light partake.

Heav’n is, dear Lord, where’er Thou art,
O never then from me depart;
For to my soul ’tis hell to be
But for one moment void of Thee.

Lord, I my vows to Thee renew;
Disperse my sins as morning dew.
Guard my first springs of thought and will,
And with Thyself my spirit fill.

Direct, control, suggest, this day,
All I design, or do, or say,
That all my powers, with all their might,
In Thy sole glory may unite.

I would not wake nor rise again
And Heaven itself I would disdain,
Wert Thou not there to be enjoyed,
And I in hymns to be employed.

EVENING HYMN

All praise to Thee, my God, this night,
For all the blessings of the light!
Keep me, O keep me, King of kings,
Beneath Thine own almighty wings.

Forgive me, Lord, for Thy dear Son,
The ill that I this day have done,
That with the world, myself, and Thee,
I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.

Teach me to live, that I may dread
The grave as little as my bed.
Teach me to die, that so I may
Rise glorious at the judgment day.

O may my soul on Thee repose,
And with sweet sleep mine eyelids close,
Sleep that may me more vigorous make
To serve my God when I awake.

When in the night I sleepless lie,
My soul with heavenly thoughts supply;
Let no ill dreams disturb my rest,
No powers of darkness me molest.

O when shall I, in endless day,
For ever chase dark sleep away,
And hymns divine with angels sing,
All praise to thee, eternal King?

Okay, now here's the last verse of both songs:

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
Praise Him, all creatures here below!
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host!
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

Surprise!

"LEAP-DAY" PONDERINGS

2008-02-29T09:55:00.003-07:00

Today, February 29, comes to us only once every four years, during "Leap Year." So, I guess that would mean today is "Leap Day." That odd notion got me to thinking about the way the spring-time calendar works. My curiosity grew as I looked at the date for Easter Sunday, which varies from year to year by up to 35 days. That’s because Easter is related to Passover, and the date of Passover is a function of a lunar calendar used in Jerusalem for about 3,200 years.

Sounds complicated? We’re only getting started!

In the Fourth Century, in an attempt to actually reduce the confusion and establish a uniform date for this most important of the church’s celebrations, Easter was officially set as the first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon that falls on or after the vernal equinox, which is the first day of spring. (“Ecclesiastical full moon” is a technical term that would take a couple of pages to explain, so I’ll let you look that one up yourself.) Using this formula, Easter can be anywhere from March 22 to April 25.

This year, as you know, Easter is fast approaching, on March 23. As mentioned, it can be one day earlier, on March 22, but that happens so rarely that nobody who is alive now has ever seen or ever will see it on that date. The last time Easter was March 22 was 190 years ago, in 1818; and the next time will be in 277 years, or 2285.

In addition, only the oldest Christians among us have ever celebrated Easter as early as it will be this year. The last time Easter was on March 23 was in 1913.

As curiously interesting as all this information may be (to geeks like me, anyway), the real point of Easter is not so much when we celebrate it as why. And that is a point that many people seem to miss.

When Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead, the disciples that comprised the infant church we almost all Jewish. All their lives they had worshiped God on the Sabbath, which begins at sun-down on Friday and ends at sun-down on Saturday. However, within months after His resurrection, Jesus’ followers switched the day of worship to Sunday, the first day of the week, the day He rose from the grave.

Why?

Because they knew that every gathering of Christians for worship is a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. Paul put it this way: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). His perfect life fulfilled God’s law and is reckoned to believers as our righteousness. His sacrificial death atoned for our sins. But it was His resurrection from the dead that verified His authority to act on the Father’s behalf as our substitute.

As you plan to attend Easter services, focus on the center of the celebration. It’s all about Jesus: His life, His death and His resurrection. Do you know it? Do you believe it?

HOW TO GET RID OF YOUR PASTOR

2008-02-29T09:49:00.003-07:00

I actually wrote most of this PIECE a couple of years ago, and then I discovered that a church in the area actually was in the process of attempting what I describe in the first paragraph below. I decided that the timing might not be the best to publish this in the local newspaper, so I put it on hold. Now, with no local churches working at ousting their leader -- to my knowledge at least -- I've pulled this piece our of mothballs. Since it was in the paper a week ago, a lot of people have commented to me how much they enjoyed it. Hope you do too!

Some time back, I heard about a church that had been trying to “get rid” of their pastor. Sadly, this is something that happens a lot in the American church scene. We get unhappy with the pastor or with something the church is doing; and then, instead of doing the biblical thing and prayerfully seeking to work out the differences, we choose up sides. Then, if there are enough votes to dismiss or to make things uncomfortable, out the pastor goes.

It’s tragic, not only because of what it does to that pastor, but because of the broken relationships left behind and the slow-healing wounds caused when the congregation took sides, sides that often remain long after the pastor departs. Frankly, there are simpler ways. If you ever want to get rid of your pastor, instead of looking for votes, try one of these five ideas.

Idea #1 During the Sunday morning message, listen closely and take notes. Look your pastor straight in the eye, and occasionally nod your head and say, "Amen!" Begin to make serious efforts to apply the life lessons you learn from the sermons. In six months, he'll preach himself to death.

Idea #2 Pat your pastor on the back and brag on his good points two or three times a month. Make a bunch of phone calls to your friends and neighbors and tell them all the good things about your pastor. In a little while, so many more people will start coming to your church, you’ll have to hire an associate pastor, and your senior pastor will be free to leave.

Idea #3 Next Sunday, in response to the sermon, go forward to the altar and rededicate your life to Christ. Then make an appointment with the pastor sometime next week. Ask him to give you some job you could do for the church, preferably some lost people you could go visit with a view to winning them to Christ. He'll likely die of heart failure on the spot.

Idea #4 Organize a ministry to call on the shut-ins and elderly members of the church, and encourage the pastor to devote more of his time to prayer and the study of God’s Word. Tell him you’ll take care of the widows if he’ll take care of the preaching. He’ll think the whole congregation has gone completely crazy and start looking for another church immediately.

Idea #5 Get a whole bunch of the church members to unite in earnest intercessory prayer for the pastor, his ministry and his family. Organize prayer meetings in which you pray for the growth of the church and blessing of the pastor. The pastor may become so effective in ministry that some larger church will take him off your hands.

One note of caution, however: if you try one of these methods, you may find that you don’t want to get rid of your pastor after all.

Puritan Prayers

2008-02-08T08:15:00.000-07:00

Lately in my daily devotions I’ve been reading “The Valley of Vision,” a book of Puritan prayers given to me for Christmas by my daughter Laura, whose terrific blog is referenced in the list to the right. Edited by Arthur Bennett, former Canon of St. Albans Cathedral in England, the book was published in 1975 by Banner of Truth Trust. The edition I have is the seventh printing, which came out in 2007.

This beautiful compendium of written prayers comes from such Puritan greats as Richard Baxter, John Bunyan, Isaac Watts and David Brainerd, to name a few. Unaccustomed as I am to reading prayers, I first thought that this book might seem a bit dry to me. Nothing could be further from the truth. Though the language may seem a bit archaic to modern ears, I find myself moved almost daily to tears as I read and then personally pray these heartfelt words.

There is something about the studied and overtly Word-driven piety of these prayers (and there are over 200 of them in the book!) that both shows me how far I have to go in my walk with Christ and motivates me to keep growing. The Christ-centered focus and the intentional remembering of His finished work are both moving and inspiring. Consumed with the glory of the Father, Christ lived and offered for rebel humanity a perfect life and sacrificial death, and His atoning work is both pictured and praised in these prayers.

Here is just one example. I trust it will bless you.

My Father,

In a world of created changeable things,

Christ and His Word alone remain unshaken.

O to forsake all creatures,

to rest as a stone on Him the foundation,

to abide in Him, be borne up by Him!

For all my mercies come through Christ,

Who has designed, purchased, promised and effected them.

How sweet it is to be near Him, the Lamb,

filled with holy affections!

When I sin against Thee I cross Thy will, love, life,

and have no comforter, no creature, to go to.

My sin is not so much this or that particular evil,

but my continual separation, disunion, distance from Thee,

and having a loose spirit towards Thee.

But thou hast given me a present, Jesus Thy Son,

as Mediator between Thyself and my soul,

as Middle-man Who in a pit hold both him below and Him above;

for only He can span the chasm breached by sin,

and satisfy divine justice.

May I always lay hold upon this Mediator,

as a realized object of faith,

and alone worthy by His love to bridge the gulf.

Let me know that He is dear to me by His Word;

I am one with Him by the Word on His part,

and by faith on mine.

If I oppose the Word, I oppose my Lord

when He is most near.

If I receive the Word, I receive my Lord

wherein He is nigh.

O Thou Who hast the hearts of all men in Thine hand,

form my heart according to the Word,

according to the image of Thy Son.

So shall Christ the Word, and His Word,

be my strength and comfort.

Amen!

ONLY FOR HIS GLORY! ONLY BY HIS POWER!

2008-01-24T08:35:00.000-07:00

What an amazing God we serve! He can do wonders with average people. He can perform miracles using folks like you and me. He can change the unchangeable, save the unworthy, deliver the bound and make everything new. He is astonishing in His mercy, boundless in His kindness, all-consuming in His holiness, and unexplainable in His grace.

And — most amazing perhaps of all His attributes — He yearns with unbridled passion to be known and loved by you! Doesn’t it move you to wonder and worship that He Whom the universe cannot contain loves to reside in your heart?! Glory!

Yet how we limit the display of His glory by our habitual returning to our own resources, recalling past failures and rehearsing future fears! No sooner does He kindle in us a desire to experience His great promises than we recoil from the prospect of stepping beyond our comfort, and turn from His glory to our folly by reminding ourselves how small and weak we are, how poor and inexperienced, how frail and untrained.

Brothers and sisters, God never offers you anything you can receive without His grace. He never asks you to do anything you can do without utterly depending on His presence and power. “Faithful is He Who calls, and HE will also do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). Note that He will do it, when we venture out upon His faithfulness. But if we rely only on our own resources, we will never experience the miracle of His faithfulness.

In so many areas of our lives, we quench His move by fixing our eyes on ourselves rather than on Jesus. For example, God may call us to do something that, humanly speaking, is completely beyond our abilities, something like adding onto our church building. In the face of such an undertaking, we know enough to ask God, “Lord, show us whether we should do this or not.” But then, having prayed, where does human nature often look for the answer? Do we look to ourselves? Let’s hope not! Do we check our bank account, or our previous experience? Do we look to the economy, or to others in the church, to find clues about the will of God? Sadly, in all of these sources there is only more of ourselves. How vain it is to ask God for guidance, then look to ourselves to find it!

If in anything we are to find the guidance of God, we must take up His Word, discover the principles by which He rules His kingdom, and then apply them rigorously to our situation. What does God’s Word say about the needs of the lost in our community; and how are we to reach them? What principles are in His Word about making disciples and bringing the little children to Him? What does He say about ownership and stewardship, and matters of tithe and time and talents?

It is these Kingdom principles from His Word that should guide our decisions, as determined by Who HE is and what HE can do, not by who we are and what we can do. Then as HE directs, faith says, “I delight to do Your will, my God” (Psalm 40:8); and “not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39).

Let us never be found guilty of doing for God’s glory only that which we can do in our own power. May He give us grace to lean entirely upon His provision for the fulfillment of His promises! He is truly a mighty God! Let us do only for His glory what can be done only in His power!

HE DIDN'T LIKE MY DOCTRINE

2008-01-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

I had a very interesting encounter after the second worship service here at First Baptist Church last Sunday. A personable young man I have known for some time, who was a guest of some of his friends in worship, approached me with a serious look on his face. He shook my hand and told me how much he had enjoyed the service, and that he always loved it when he got to worship with the folks at First Baptist.

Then he said, “And you know, I agree with almost all of the doctrines you teach here. All except one doctrine.” Here he paused, and I immediately began to wonder what I had said that would make him raise a doctrinal issue in the lobby after worship.

“What doctrine is that?” I asked, a bit anxiously.

With apparent earnestness he said, “Well, Pastor, I hate to say it, but it’s your doctrine of snow. I just can’t agree with your position.” Then he broke into a smile and we both had a good laugh as he explained his mock concern.

He pointed out that during prayer time, I had voiced our gratitude to God for the wonderful moisture we have received over the last few weeks, but went on to ask God if He might arrange for the temperature to be warmer the next time we get some precipitation. You see, I’m not personally all that crazy about snow. And yet, I know it’s a wonderful blessing to have the wheat lay for weeks on end under a moist blanket of the white stuff, which is just what we’ve experienced for the last several weeks. As a result, as my people know, I struggle with how to pray for precipitation in the winter. I recall mentioning in my prayer that we were giving “reluctant though heart-felt thanks” to God.

This young man said that he, by contrast, loves snow, everything about it, and wishes it would snow more often. And so, with what turned out to be simulated seriousness, he indicated he could never sit under my teaching or be a part of any church whose “doctrine of snow” was so out of line with his. Hilarious. Simply hilarious. I continue to chuckle as I think about our conversation!

And yet, there’s a serious side to this young man’s remark. Every pastor in town knows that some people leave churches over matters no more consequential than a “doctrine of snow.” Concerns such as the color a room gets painted or who gets to pass the offering plates on Sunday morning have actually split churches. The “doctrine of snow” is a genuine heavyweight by contrast!

The challenge for each of us is to do a well-prayed-through inventory of what really matters in a church. If you go to the Word of God, and see what it says, you may be surprised at the brevity of the list of truths that define a biblical church.

2008 and Obedience

2008-01-03T09:16:00.001-07:00

Today, as we begin a new year, I am thinking ahead: imagining, praying, wondering what I will be looking back one year from now. I invite you to join me. As we together consider the magnitude of God’s promise, as we contemplate His incomparable character, where do you see yourself and your church in a year?

One year from now, what will be the same? In twelve months, what will be changed? In fifty-two weeks, where will you have grown? In 366 days (yes, 2008 is a leap year), what will God have done among us?

It is fascinating to consider that our great sovereign God, Who declares the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10), gives to us the responsibility of cooperating with Him in the fulfillment of His plans. Indeed, the next twelve months, though they ultimately are in His hands, will be molded in no small measure by the manner in which you and I respond to God’s Word.

And how should we respond to God’s Word?

With simple, trusting, sacrificial obedience. Let me repeat:

simple

trusting

sacrificial

obedience.

Let’s unpack that set of terms and see how they apply.

Simple obedience means that we just do what God says. If God tells you do some something, just do it. Don’t talk yourself out of obedience by making it complicated, fancy or clever. When God says, “Love your neighbor,” don’t think of all the impediments to loving your neighbor: just find something simple to do, something that conveys love, and then do it. When He says, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse,” don’t overcomplicate it: just do what He says.

Trusting obedience means that you leave the outcome in God’s hands. You do what God says, and trust Him to do what He says. It’s obeying God without a safety net, except for His promise to be God and stand behind His Word. That’s trusting obedience.

Sacrificial obedience is the place where faith is most deeply tested, and therefore most richly strengthened. It means holding nothing back from God, as you say to Him, in effect, “Everything I am is Yours already, Lord, so in whatever way You ask me to obey You, I am ready to do it. The cost doesn’t matter. I only want You to be glorified in me.”

That last sentence is what characterizes the very heart and core of obedience: “I only want You to be glorified in me.” Can you say to the Lord regarding your life for the next twelve months, “Lord, in 2008, I only want You to be glorified in me”? It is for that purpose that you are alive on this planet.

No matter what He calls you to do, resolve now that your response will be to render unto Him the obedience He deserves — simple, trusting, and sacrificial — so that He may be glorified in you. By His Spirit’s power, may New Years Day, 2009, reveal a greater glory among us than ever before!

A GOOD QUESTION

2007-12-27T16:01:00.000-07:00

A lot of Americans will be taking down lights and a tree in a few days. Ironically, many of them don’t know why they put them up: the number of people in the USA who don't actually know Jesus Christ is alarming.

Though as many as 90% of Americans claim to believe in God, statistically-significant studies indicate that somewhere around 150 million Americans say they don't have a "personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ." They may believe in God, but they don't know Him, don't follow Him, serve Him or worship Him. From what we can tell, their so-called faith hasn't made one bit of difference in their lives.

Information like that can be overwhelming if you ponder it in its full statistical enormity: 150 million people! I prefer to break it down into more manageable hunks, smaller pieces I can wrap my brain around – or, more importantly, my heart. When I do that, with God's help, I can remember that part of the good news about the Good News is that I don't have to share It with everyone. The 150 million unsaved people are not all my own personal responsibility, or yours either.

But some of them are.

Who do you know that you could share Jesus with? Is there a friend, a co-worker, a neighbor, or a family member you could talk with about what Jesus means to you? Is there anyone at all you could invite to your church, or to a Bible study? Surely there's someone you know and care about whose soul you could pray for and whom you could take with you to church.

Surely, there's someone. Some one. One life at a time: that's all you need be concerned about.

At the close of his book, "The Unchurched Next Door," Thom Rainer relates this true story shared by Emily about her new friend Celeste. Emily says, “I knew Celeste was different. In fact, I knew she had that peace that I didn't have. We had known each other for just three weeks when Celeste started telling me about her faith. She invited me to church. No, she came by my house and picked me up. Two months later, I accepted Christ.

"You need to understand that I went from totally unchurched, no church background, no knowledge of church to becoming a Christian in just a matter of weeks."

Celeste wasn't focusing on 150 million people. She was concerned about one person she knew who didn't know Christ: her co-worker Emily. Celeste was just one person, and she made an eternal difference in the life of one other person, Emily.

Emily concluded her story this way: "What I'm still trying to figure out, with the millions of Christians in American, is how come it took forty-three years for someone to share about Christ with me. Where are all the other Christians?"

That’s a good question, Emily. A good question.

The Big News of the Day

2007-12-19T10:33:00.000-07:00

It was Jesus’ birthday, but the big news of the day was the big new tax Rome was imposing on everyone. It had the whole empire in a tizzy. If there had been newspapers back then, the headlines in The Jerusalem Times might have read something like “New Nationwide Plan: Higher Roman Fees” or “Great Caesar A Great Seizer!”

As if Rome was the only place where anything newsworthy ever happened: emperor this, senate that; Caesar this, Brutus that.

What about Jerusalem? What about Herod and the Sanhedrin?

For that matter, what about Bethlehem? Everyone seemed to have forgotten about Bethlehem – until the new tax law was enacted, that is; and suddenly everyone was looking for a place to stay there.

Hundreds of years earlier, the prophet Micah, inspired by the Holy Spirit, had come to understand the importance of this quaint village called Bethlehem. God showed him that this little “house of bread,” as its name means, was more than just a backwater burg basking in the glorious memories of the days of yore, that golden age when folks still recalled that David – yes, King David, THE King – had been born and raised right there in her streets. Micah knew that one day the biggest news of any day would happen right there in good old Bethlehem. Micah knew because God had told him so.

And Micah had shared the big news. He put it in writing even – almost like a headline! – in a book God told him write. “But you, Bethlehem in Ephratah,” Micah had written on God’s behalf, “though you are so small among the towns of Judah, yet from you will come the One Who will be the Ruler of My people. His origin is from ancient days, even from eternity.”

But now folks seemed to have dismissed this ancient prophecy. For time out of mind, they seem to have neglected reading God’s Word, and so the promise was forgotten. Taxes were on everyone’s mind.

All Roman citizens were under orders – from Caesar himself! – to pack up the whole family and go back to their home towns and get counted. All for what? All for Caesar and his coffers. Time to cough up a bit more for the Romans. It was good for business, to be sure, especially for the people who ran the inns and fed the animals. But it was awfully distracting.

So it was that nobody seemed to notice that, in an out-of-the-way spot with a manger for a crib and a few shepherds as midnight guests, a couple who weren’t even received in their own home town had just welcomed The Child destined to be their Savior.

Times haven’t changed much, apparently. Jesus’ birthday, it seems, is still all about the money. The biggest, Good-est News ever to hit heaven’s headline, and most folks aren’t talking about anything except how much money it’s costing them.

How about you?

Have a Mary Christmas!!

2007-12-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

MARY CHRISTMAS!

No, that’s not a spelling error. I know that we usually spell that word “m-e-r-r-y.” However, I wrote it as I meant it. I hope you have a “Mary” Christmas. M-a-r-y.

In Luke 10:38-42, the story is told of Jesus’ visit to the home of Mary and Martha. During the Lord’s time there, Martha was totally preoccupied with the preparations for His visit, which she apparently intended to turn into an elaborate banquet. Her full name might have been Martha Stewart!

All joking aside, a lot of us tend to be like Martha, especially during the Christmas season! We get so caught up in the preparations, the cooking, the wrapping, the things to do, that we totally miss the Lord’s own presence.

Indeed, even many Christians have more of a “Martha Christmas” than a “Mary Christmas.” Jesus is right there to be loved and worshipped, and we’re too busy with the trappings and the trimmings to even notice Him!

While Martha was busy with the food and the party, Mary, by contrast, spent her time seated at Jesus’ feet, listening to what He had to say. So enamored was she with her Lord that she was perfectly content to let the hustle and bustle pass her by. She even neglected some of her domestic duties! We know this, because Martha kept getting after her to come help with the cooking.

We might debate which of these women was doing right by her Lord. After all, hadn’t Jesus come there for a meal? Wasn’t it appropriate that proper attention should be devoted to its preparation?

If Jesus Himself had not told us what He wanted, we might still be debating whether Mary or Martha made the better choice that day. However, here’s what actually happened.

Frustrated with her sister’s apparent lack of concern about the meal, Martha protested to Jesus. She actually made so bold as to ask Him to tell Mary to go help in the kitchen! Jesus rebuked her, and said, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

That’s pretty clear: Mary made the better choice. Occasionally, and certainly at this time of year, we too have to choose between spending time with Jesus and doing something for Jesus. And when that happens, He Himself has instructed us plainly which is the better choice: spending time with Him.

I believe that is what Jesus is calling His Christmas merry-makers to do: just to be with Him, basking in the light of His incarnate glory, feasting on the beauty of His grace, resting in the heat of His holiness.

Let Jesus show you how to have a truly merry Christmas! On Christmas morning, before you open those gifts, before you eat that meal, spend some time with Jesus and have a Mary Christmas! That’s the only way to have a Merry Christmas!

The Truth About Living: Soli Deo Gloria

2007-12-06T09:34:00.000-07:00

Today we conclude our six-week consideration of “The Five Solas,” five biblical truths about the nature and purpose of salvation. The final and perhaps most foundational of these five basic truths is Soli Deo Gloria, which in Latin means, “only for the glory of God.” This biblical doctrine teaches us that the purpose of salvation is centered in the glory of God. Indeed, this truth indicates that the sole reason for human existence is to reflect God’s glory back to Him and to the created world around us.

As with the rest of “The Five Solas,” Soli Deo Gloria rests firmly on the unanimous testimony of God’s Word. For example, 1 Corinthian 10:31 says, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Peter 4:11 tells us why we should serve God, namely, "so that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever.” And Romans 11:36 reminds us that “from Him and through Him and back to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever and ever! Amen.”

These verses remind us that God is sovereign over every aspect of the believer's life. The Christian understands that all of life (“whatever you do”) is to be lived exclusively and entirely for the glory of God (“do all to the glory of God”), because every aspect of life is under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. There is no division between the so-called sacred and secular: all activities, from the seemingly mundane to the obviously momentous, are to be consecrated to God’s service and glory.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism was a document written in the 1640’s to teach Christians the most basic doctrines of the Christian faith. It is comprised of 107 questions and answers, along with hundreds of scriptural texts. The first question in the catechism asks, "What is the chief end of man?” To phrase this question in modern terms, we might ask, “Why do human beings exist?” The answer is this: “Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." In other words, the primary reason you and I are alive is to spend eternity giving God the glory He deserves and enjoying His presence.

If you are a Christian, God created you and saved you so that you could display His glory. This means that your life has an eternal meaning and purpose that magnificently transcends the temporal and visible realm. You are alive to glorify God and enjoy Him forever!

And how do you do that? John Piper, author and preaching Pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, states it most succinctly: “God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in Him.” As a Christian, whether you are eating or working, playing or worshiping – indeed, in everything! – make it your aim to be fully satisfied in the presence of God, Who is with you and in you. Then your life will be lived as God meant it to be lived: Soli Deo Gloria!

The Truth About Believing: "Sola Fide"

2007-11-28T11:31:00.000-07:00

Today we continue our look at “The Five Solas,” the five biblical truths about the nature and purpose of salvation. One of these five basic truths is Sola Fide, which in Latin literally means, “by faith alone.” This biblical doctrine teaches us that salvation comes to humanity only through faith in the finished work of Christ, not by virtue of any deeds we do, trying to be good enough or earn our own way to heaven.

As with the rest of “The Five Solas,” Sola Fide rests firmly on the unanimous testimony of God’s Word. For example, Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” John 3:16, 18 declares, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. . . . 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.”

Based on these and many other such texts of Scripture, the early church taught that biblical faith consists of three complementary aspects: knowing, agreeing, and relying. Faith means knowing the truth that Christ died to save us, agreeing with that truth, and relying upon Christ to save you. In other words, it is not enough to merely know the facts of the Gospel and agree with them in principle: you must rely completely upon Christ. Without that ultimate dependence on Who Christ is and what He has done, faith is incomplete.

Notice also that biblical faith must have a proper object: it’s not simply believing in whatever or whomever we want to believe in, even if our faith is sincere and strong. Rather, biblical faith means believing in the one and only reliable Savior, Jesus Christ. Many people seem to put their faith in faith, and try to work themselves into a state of believing that if they just believe strong enough and long enough, then what they are hoping for will come to pass. Of course, then, if their longed-for result doesn’t pan out, they conclude that they didn’t have “enough faith.” Interestingly enough, this completely misses the point of biblical teaching on faith, which states that what matters is not the quantity of our faith, but the object of our faith. In other words, do you believe in believing, or do you believe in Christ?

It’s like this. Suppose you want to walk across a frozen river. You stand on this side, gazing across to the other shore, over the snow-covered ice on the river. As you stir up your faith with memories of other frozen rivers on which you have walked, you believe the ice will hold you, and step onto it to cross to the other side. Will you make it, or will you go through into the frigid water below? The outcome is determined not primarily by the strength of your faith, but by the strength of the ice.

The good news is that Jesus is strong enough: we can depend on Him, for He alone is mighty to save us. This is why the “Five Solas” go together. We have salvation only through faith in the grace of God as mediated only through Christ and revealed only through the Scriptures. May your faith be driven by God’s Word, rooted in Christ, and centered on His grace!

Next week: “Soli Deo Gloria,” only for the glory of God

The Truth About Salvation: Sola Gratia

2007-11-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

Today we continue our look at “The Five Solas,” the five biblical truths taught since the early church that constitute the unique claims of Christianity regarding the nature and purpose of salvation. One of these five basic truths is Sola Gratia, which in Latin literally means, “by grace alone.” This truth teaches us that salvation comes to humanity only because of God’s grace as revealed and mediated through the life, death and resurrection of His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

Grace itself can be defined as God's favor through Christ to people who deserve His wrath. By His grace, we do not receive the wrath we deserve. Instead, we receive the favor we don't deserve.

As with the rest of “The Five Solas,” Sola Gratia rests firmly on the unanimous testimony of God’s Word. A couple of texts in particular reveal this crucial truth. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Titus 3:5-7 declares, “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, Whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

The crucial aspect of this truth is that in our relationship with God, we bring nothing to the bargaining table. We are dependent entirely upon God’s grace to put us into a relationship with Him. As that prince of preachers Charles Hadden Spurgeon stated it, “It is not because of anything in us, or that ever can be in us, that we are saved; but because of the boundless love, goodness, pity, compassion, mercy, and grace of God.” In other words, we’re not saved because of anything we are or do, but only because God gave His favor through Christ to us who deserve His wrath.

It is the grace of God that shows us our innate sinfulness; that convinces us that we can’t save ourselves by our own merit; that reveals to us that Christ is sufficient to be our Savior; and that then makes us able to trust Christ’s finished work for our salvation. Thus, as we remember God’s grace, we are rightly moved to glorify Him as the sole source of this immense miracle of being forgiven, made new and adopted into His family.

John Newton, a slave-trader whom God saved and called to preach, wrote of the working of grace in his life this way:

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears relieved.

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed.

Never let yourself stop being amazed by God’s grace!

Next week: “Sola Fide,” only through faith

A note about this Blog's reading level . . .

2007-11-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

I just checked the reading level of this blog (at http://www.criticsrant.com/bb/reading_level.aspx), and discovered that you only need a JUNIOR HIGH reading level to understand my blog.

Not surprising, since it is written for publication in the local newspaper here in Sterling, Colorado.

Still, I occasionally have people in my church ask me to put some dictionaries in the pew racks. I think I don't take that as a complement.

"To extrapolate freely, paradoxical though it may appear, implies a tangential rather than an elliptical approach, inasmuch as the sum of the applied apologia tend rather to inculcate the ambivalence . . ." I seem to remember that from somebody's comedic monologue thirty or so years ago. Maybe George Carlin?

The Truth About Jesus: "Solus Christus"

2007-11-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

The doctrine of Solus Christus forces us to think clearly and logically about the biblical claims of Christ. At the heart of Christ’s claims are His words recorded in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth and the life. Nobody comes to the Father except through Me.” In other words, Jesus declared Himself to be not just ONE way to heaven, but that He was and is the ONLY way to heaven.

Oddly enough, some are offended by this claim. “How dare this Jesus make such a statement?” some say indignantly. “That’s not what He really meant” others maintain, as they do some interpretive chicanery trying to circumvent the plain evidence of Holy Scripture.

It’s like this. Humanity is drowning in a sea of our own sin, and Jesus has jumped in to save us, calling out as He does so, “Trust Me. I’m your only hope.” How tragic that so many of the drowning respond to Him, “How dare You claim to be my only hope?!” even as they sink under the everlasting waves of their own perdition.

And so, in an attempt to minimize Jesus’ claim to be the only way to heaven, some call Him a great moral teacher or a good spiritual example for humanity.

What nonsense! To say that Jesus was just a great teacher, when He claimed to be the Son of God and the only Savior of humanity, is just sloppy thinking. In the face of Jesus’ claim, only the following responses make sense: either His claim was false or it was true.

If His claim was false, He would be a deluded fool or the devil in disguise, but certainly not a great teacher or spiritual example. But, if Jesus’ claim is true, we should worship and trust Him with our whole hearts, for He alone is our hope of salvation.

Deride Him as a fool, denounce Him as a demon, or trust Him as Your Savior; but don’t try to pass off some silliness about His being merely a teacher or example. Humanity’s need for a Savior and Christ’s claim to be the only Savior available are too serious to treat with such flawed thinking. The truth is that God sent His Son as humanity’s only source of salvation: Solus Christus.

Some say it’s offensive to think that He claimed to be the only way to heaven. I say it’s an undeserved miracle of God’s grace that He has offered us any way to heaven at all.

What do you say?

Next week: “Sola Gratia,” only by grace.

The Truth About the Bible: “Sola Scriptura”

2007-11-11T07:13:00.000-07:00

Today we continue our look at “The Five Solas,” the five truths taught since the early church that constitute the unique claims of Christianity regarding the nature and purpose of salvation. One of these five basic truths is Sola Scriptura, which in Latin literally means, “by Scripture alone,” meaning that the special revelation of God by which humanity can know all that is necessary for life and salvation comes to us only by the Scriptures. In other words, the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and only all-sufficient revelation of the purposes of God, and in them are found all the revealed truths of God necessary for salvation and eternal life.

The obvious implication of this truth is that the Scriptures are authoritative in the life of every Christian as well as in the church. John Wesley stated it this way: “In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church.”

The point of this doctrine is that God gave us the Scriptures not merely as a compendium of vague spiritual advice. He meant the Bible to define our faith, direct our decisions and determine our lives. Indeed, that is precisely the role Bible claims for itself: “All Scripture is breathed out by God. It is profitable for teaching us, reproving us, correcting us and training us in right living, so that God’s people may be complete, lacking no good thing” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Sadly, some who claim to believe that the Bible is God’s revealed truth deny its practical authority in their lives. They habitually make decisions without reference to Scripture and instead allow themselves to be guided by the culture. That in itself is why we need to recover from the early church the important truth of Sola Scriptura.

During the first few centuries after Christ’s death and resurrection, the church found itself confronted by numerous heresies, usually involving false teachings about the way of salvation and the person and work of Christ. In every case, Scripture served as the sole source of truth by which these heresies were refuted.

The early church fathers, those second- through the fourth-century leaders who helped define the basic doctrines of Christianity, developed their teachings entirely and exclusively from the Scriptures. From the teachings of second century Polycarp of Smyrna and his student Irenaeus of Lyons, to those of fourth century Gregory of Nyssa and Cyril of Jerusalem, the defining doctrines of the early church are straightforward expositions of the Bible. Indeed, for the first four centuries of the church, it was universally taken for granted that for any doctrine to be accepted by the church, that doctrine had to be founded and built entirely and exclusively upon Scripture.

Clearly, the early church practiced the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. What about the church today? More to the point, what about you? Do you seek to live as a follower of Christ Sola Scriptura, “by the Scriptures alone”? I hope you do. Only God’s Word is the word of life.

Next week: “Solus Christus,” through Christ alone

Five Truths Every Christian Should Know

2007-11-01T11:00:00.000-06:00

Four-hundred and ninety years ago yesterday, All Hallows’ Eve, Martin Luther nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, ninety-five propositions for debate about the nature of the church and the way of salvation. He could not have imagined what would follow, as what became known as the Protestant Reformation began shortly thereafter and eventually revolutionized western Christianity.

Out of this astonishing move of God there developed a set of five biblical doctrines that the Reformers believed were a needed clarification about the central truths of how God intends humanity to be in relationship with Him. These five doctrines were stated in Latin (as was most church doctrine in the sixteenth century), and have come to be known as “The Five Solas,” using the Latin term for “only” or “exclusively” in each doctrine. Stated briefly, these five truths are as follows:

“Sola Scriptura” – the truth is found “only in scripture;”

“Solus Christus” – salvation is mediated “only by Christ;”

“Sola Gratia” – God grants salvation “only by grace;”

“Sola Fide” – we receive salvation “only by faith;” and

“Soli Deo Gloria” – in all things, “to God alone be glory.”

Over the course of the next several weeks I want to share with readers of this column how we can live by these five defining teachings of biblical salvation. For today, let’s look at why these five doctrines are important as the defining “boundaries” of salvation as taught in Scripture. By placing these truths into one sentence, we can integrate them as follows:

Salvation is revealed only in Scripture, available only in Christ, extended to humanity only by God’s grace, received only by faith, and accomplished exclusively for God’s glory.

When we combine these truths this way, we can see that they summarize not only the way of salvation, but also the very purpose of creation: that everything centers on God. It’s not about us. Humanity is not the center of all things. God is. He is both the founder and the focus of all that exists. Therefore, we can not rightly understand the nature of our existence unless we take ourselves out of the center of our thinking, and direct our attention to God. Thus, “The Five Solas” are an unshakable foundation for God-centered living, which is the only way for us to be delivered from the undeniably horrifying fruit of our own sin-stained natures.

Another way of putting it is that “The Five Solas” show us Who God really is; and because they show us who God is, they also show us who we are. He is the Benefactor; we are the beneficiaries. He is the Fountain; we are the vessels. He is the Giver; we are the recipients. He is the Holy One; we are sinners. He is the Savior; we are the saved. Or, as Romans 11:36 puts it, “For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.”

Time to Settle a Basic Issue

2007-11-01T10:57:00.000-06:00

Many Christians, maybe most of us, struggle with a form of doubt. This kind of doubt is not so much an academic skepticism as it is a sort of veiled rebellion, a subtle self-assertion that hides an unsubmitted heart and a willful spirit.

In my own life, I wrestled with this kind of doubt in my early days as a Christian. I would never have said I actually doubted God’s Word. However, I searched for loopholes in It that would allow me to maintain my willful ways. Then, God forced me to face a basic issue about life.

The issue was ownership.

Let me explain.

As a pastor’s son, I had grown up with a clear knowledge of the Gospel from an early age. Before I was ten, I trusted Christ and committed my life to Him – at least, insofar as I knew what that meant at that age. For eight years thereafter, I increasingly viewed my relationship with Him more or less as a way to get God to guarantee the kind of life I wanted for myself. I wanted God to make me what I wanted to be.

During these eight years, God was arranging a confrontation between Him and me. In one crystallized moment in October, 1971 (can it really be thirty-six years ago this month?), God forced me to realize that most of my dreams were nothing more than the expression of my selfish desire to be in charge of my own life.

In other words, He made me understand that I am not my own. God, as Creator, has the right of absolute ownership of everything that exists. Moreover, as Redeemer, He has purchased me back from my own rebellion against Him. Thus, His ownership of me is two-fold: He owns me because He created me, and He owns me because He redeemed me.

In a moment of time, God made this truth exceptionally, life-changingly clear. Nothing else mattered until this was settled: He made me; He saved me; and He owns me. Everything I am and everything I have; my past, present and future; my talents and abilities; my assets and liabilities: they all belong to Him. What I had previously considered mine was really all His.

Settling that issue didn’t solve every problem or answer every doubt. But it did clarify a lot of other issues. All of a sudden, the daily details of my life mattered, because my life was, in point of fact, not my life at all. Everything became important because it was an expression of His ownership.

Have you settled the issue of who owns you? A great joy comes when you realize that you are owned by God, and your sense of ownership passes out of your feeble hands into His almighty grip. After all, it’s much more blessed to live in God’s house than your own; to drive God’s car than yours; and to follow God’s plans than those you make.

PREVENT A WASTED LIFE

2007-10-18T11:10:00.000-06:00

Last week in this space I wrote that I am appalled by “the amount of money spent in America to persuade people my age to start wasting the rest of their lives.” My premise was that retirement was never meant by God to be the dissipation of the last couple of decades of our lives focused chiefly on the pursuit of our own pleasures.

As the retirement gurus tell you, how well you retire is generally determined by how well you prepare for retirement. Of course, what most of them mean by that expression is that the amount of money you have to spend in your post-working years is based on how wisely you earn and invest money during your working career. The assumption behind this is that how well you live depends on how much you have.

Jesus looked at life rather differently. He said, “Be alert and watch out for greed. Life does not consist of what you possess, even if you have an abundance” (Luke 12:15). Jesus then told a parable about a rich man, who foolishly supposed that his worldly wealth would guarantee a happy retirement, only to discover that God was bringing him up for judgment on the basis of whether he used his riches for himself or for the Kingdom of God (Luke 12:16 - 20).

Jesus clearly wants us to focus on the “why” of life, rather than the “how much:” for what purpose are we alive? If we are living for ourselves, then we will think of retirement just like we think of the rest of life: a time to maximize our resources for the service of our own wants and the fulfillment of our own desires.

Holy Scripture presents a radical and eternal alternative to such self-absorbed existence. One verse sums it up: “Let the thief engage in thievery no more. Instead, let him labor earnestly, doing something good with his hands, so that he may have something to give away to those in need” (Ephesians 4:27).

Did you notice the point? God’s Word tells His people not only to work hard instead of stealing, but tells us also why we ought to work hard: so that we may have plenty to give away. In other words, don’t steal to get, and don’t work to get. Work to give.

With this more biblical understanding of life, let’s take a tip from the retirement gurus. However, let’s apply it to the fact that we were, each of us, created to display the glory of God. The conclusion is this: how well we display the glory of God in our retirement days depends on how well we prepare to display His glory every day.

Are you preparing to display the glory of God by the way you live? Any other purpose for living leads only to a wasted life. By all means, let us work to prevent such a waste.

Living For His Glory Until the End

2007-10-10T20:47:00.000-06:00

As a pastor, I occasionally get to talk with people who are nearing the end of their lives. These folks need to discuss certain things, to review the truth of the gospel, and remember that though God is holy and they are sinful, Jesus’ perfect life and death are sufficient to save all who trust in Him. They also need to take stock of their lives and have someone with whom to process their joys and regrets.

In all my discussions with folks as they approach the end of their lives, I’ve never heard anyone say, “I wish I had spent less time with my family and more time at work.” Never. Not once. Not anybody. Indeed, most people – men especially – generally wish they had spent less time at work and more time with their families; less time pursuing their personal hobbies and more time pursuing a deeper relationship with their kids; more time in worship and prayer, and less time in front of the TV; less time doing nothing at all and more time doing something for God.

We who are not yet nearing the end of our lives would do well to learn from the regrets of those who are, so that we don’t suffer the same pangs during our last days. God’s Word records one of the prayers of Moses, who asked God, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). In other words, “Lord, remind us of our impending mortality, so that we may adjust our daily lives accordingly. Teach us to live with the end of our lives in view.”

I am currently in my mid-fifties. Something that appalls me is the amount of money spent in America to persuade people my age to start wasting the rest of their lives. They call it “retirement,” and the mantra of the retirement gurus is this: “You’ve earned it, so now enjoy it. Consume ten, fifteen, twenty years in play, lying around doing pretty much nothing. Never mind that the world around you is going to hell. Forget the fact that these days you so avidly devote to leisure are a time of your life God calls you to redeem in the service of the gospel. Go ahead: fish, putter, play bridge, and collect sea shells.”

How sad to think of such self-absorbed recreation as the final chapter in a life that shall soon end with you standing before Jesus, as He holds out His nail-scarred hand and asks, “How did all that pointless self-indulgence put My glory on display?”

In an effort to live contrary to the culture, I have begun to plan a retirement aimed at diminishing the regret I might otherwise experience at the close of my days. I do not want to shuffle off this globe wistfully wishing I had done things differently!

I believe that, deep in your heart, you want to use your life well! Spend it, then, until the end, upon what eternally matters, for the glory of God!

Because Kids Matter to Jesus

2007-10-03T14:39:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday morning at the church I am blessed to pastor, our Children’s Minister Mona Bowey presented to the congregation some fascinating statistics about children and young people in the United States. She had gleaned most of this information from a book by George Barna called, “Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions.” Let me share with you a little of what Mona shared with us.

Only about one in three adolescents believe that the Holy Bible is accurate in all that it teaches. By contrast, about seven out of ten pre-teens think that Satan is not real, but merely symbolic.

Among children age 8 to 12, 80% think the way to get to heaven is by being good enough. Seven out of ten in this age group believe that the same thing happens to all people when they die, no matter what they believe.

Most preteens say that they would like to have an adult role model, but only 44% of them say they have one.

Children ages 8 to 13 average 48 hours per week of “mass media intake,” which means watching TV, listening to music, watching movies or engaging in on-line entertainment. Yes, that’s right: 48 hours per week!

Only one out of ten Christian families with children ever spend time praying or reading the Bible together outside of Sunday worship.

One additional bit of information from the book may explain some of the above statistics. According to Barna, “Only three out of ten born again parents included the salvation of their child(ren) in the list of critical parental emphases.” Translation: most parents who claim to be born again don’t believe it is their responsibility to lead their children to Jesus. Astonishing!

So let me get personal and ask you parents and grandparents a couple of questions. First, do you trust Christ exclusively for your salvation and seek to follow Him in your daily life? Second, if you answered yes to the first question, are you striving to lead your children or grandchildren to trust Christ exclusively for their salvation and seek to follow Him in their daily lives?

According to the U. S. Census Bureau, just over one in four residents in the Sterling community (where I am a pastor) is age 18 or under. That’s about twice the number of area residents age 65 and over. Do the ministries and budgets of the churches in our community reflect this reality? If not, why not?

Jesus wanted the children to come to Him. He knew the facts that statistics bear out today: the older people get, the less likely they are to turn their lives over to Him and submit to His Lordship. Therefore, kids matter to Jesus; and because kids matter to Jesus, they must matter to us.

But that can’t just be a slogan, a catch-phrase. The Lord is looking for application and action, not just words and rhetoric. The truth is that if kids really matter to us, we’ll do everything we can to lead them to Jesus.

Forgiveness and Hope

2007-09-27T11:39:00.000-06:00

There is a debilitating condition that is more widespread than some might think. It is a condition that can lead to alcoholism or drug use. It can result in child abuse and spouse abuse. It may lead to either obesity or anorexia and the chronic health problems that accompany them. It can ruin marriages, destroy homes and make the workplace a living nightmare. If left unchecked over the long term, it can even lead to suicide.

This devastating condition is hopelessness; and it is far too rampant in our community for us to neglect it.

Now, don’t get me wrong. There is no more hopelessness here than in other communities. However, hopelessness is increasingly common throughout our entire culture, and we are not exempt from it here.

The point, however, is what can be done about it.

To grasp that, it’s important to understand how hopelessness arises. People who are hopeless generally have become convinced that their future contains no possibility for improving their situations or solving their problems.

When people feel that way, they may resort to angry and desperate measures. The end result is further unhappiness, and an ever-tightening spiral of hopeless despair.

The irony of the whole dilemma is that the cure for hopelessness is exceedingly simple and universally available. That cure is forgiveness.

Let me explain.

Hopelessness is a primary by-product of unforgiveness. This is because unforgiveness binds us to bad things (i.e. sins) in the past, and keeps us trapped by the pains and wounds those sins caused. Thus, unforgiveness makes us turn from the possibilities God offers for the future by keeping us preoccupied with past wounds and present problems.

Or, to put it another way, when you fail to forgive those who have wounded you, you give their sin power to keep drawing you back into the past and closing the door on God’s plans for your future. You end up dragging the past around with you everywhere you go, and it cripples your ability to pursue the promises of God with hope and expectation.

Forgiveness, by contrast, is God’s supernatural way of delivering us from these past sins. The word “forgive” in the New Testament is a translation of two different terms in the original language: one means “to release” and the other, “to send away.” Thus, when someone who believes that Jesus died to forgive sins takes a step of faith to forgive others, it simple means releasing that person’s sins to Jesus, allowing them to be sent away from one’s own heart and placed on the cross of Jesus.

The blessed result is this: when you are convinced that Jesus’ death was full payment for other people’s sins and you let go of their sins against you, you find that those sins have let go of you. Untrapped by the past, you are now free to enter a future determined by God’s promises rather than by someone’s sins.

And that, my friends, will give you hope.

YOU ARE PARDONED!

2007-09-06T10:25:00.000-06:00

Imagine a pair of whimsical scenarios. In the first, you find in your mailbox a letter bearing the Colorado state seal and the Governor’s return address. Tempted to pitch it with the rest of the junk mail, your curiosity gets the best of you, so you open it and read these words: “By the power vested in me by the State of Colorado, I, Governor Bill Ritter, do hereby exonerate and absolve you from your crimes against the state, which crimes rightly resulted in your just and proper punishment, and from which you are now permanently released.”

What a surprise! You’ve never been tried for “crimes against the state,” never been convicted, never even been arrested. The letter must be a huge mistake, or else somebody has pulled a colossal practical joke on you. You decide to show the letter to some friends, knowing they’ll get a big laugh out of it. “You,” somebody will say, “pardoned?! Shoot, I didn’t even know you were condemned.”

The second scenario is different. An inmate awaiting execution on Colorado’s death row receives a letter bearing the same seal and return address, containing the same message: “By the power vested in me by the State of Colorado, I, Governor Bill Ritter, do hereby exonerate and absolve you from your crimes against the state, which crimes rightly resulted in your just and proper punishment, and from which you are now permanently released.”

While this man’s surprise is as great as yours, his response is quite different. He jumps and shouts. His wildest dreams have been realized. His life is saved, his future is restored, and his freedom is granted; and all because he received an unearned pardon. Had he done anything to deserve it, or even to merit any notice from the Governor? Of course not. It’s a gift, plain and simple.

The first scenario shows how people react to the Gospel when they don’t know that their sins have placed them under the righteous wrath of a holy God: “God is willing to forgive me? So what. I don’t need forgiveness. I’m really not all that bad.” But when folks realize how desperately in danger of eternal condemnation they are, then the offer of an unconditional pardon from the Judge of the universe is good news indeed. It is something no sane person would refuse.

That’s why any presentation of the Good News must also include the bad news: pardon makes sense only to those who acknowledge their condemnation. As C. H. Spurgeon put it, “Sin deserved God's wrath; that wrath has spent itself on Christ.” The pardon is not without cause, nor is it an impulse of heaven’s whimsy. Forgiveness is offered to you because God, in His mercy, depleted His wrath on His only-begotten Son.

Christians then, may say, with all the redeemed, “Forgiven? Really? But, I deserved to be in hell forever! Oh, thank You, God! Thank You for pardoning me!”

Can you say that?

JESUS SAID, "GO!"

2007-08-31T07:44:00.000-06:00

Jesus said, “Go!”

The church usually just says, “Come!”

Let me explain.

Time and again, Jesus instructed the infant church about sharing the Gospel with the lost world.* While the details of His instruction varied a little bit from situation to situation, it is clear that Jesus expected His people to go into the world around them, and penetrate the culture with the Gospel. We are instructed not only to invite people outside the family (Matthew 22:9), but to eagerly search for them (Luke 15:4), and even to compel them (Luke 14:23) to come be with us!

In contrast to Jesus’ clear expectation, the church typically simply hopes that people will come to us, if we provide good programs and try to meet their needs. Several studies indicate that only a small percentage of active church members ever invite anyone to church. Dr. Thom Rainer’s book, Surprising Insights from the Unchurched, states that only one in five active churchgoers invites anyone to church in the course of a year. Even more sadly, only one in fifty church members has ever invited an unchurched person to church! One in fifty. Ever. No wonder the American church is not growing! Ironically, other studies show that most unchurched people would attend church, if they were invited by a friend they knew and trusted.

Do you invite your unchurched friends to church? Do you invite anybody? Ever?

But, let us note that Jesus clearly expects His followers to do far more than simply extend to the lost a personal invitation to come join us in worship and study. He commands Christians to actually share the Gospel with the lost.

Doing that will require three foundational changes in the way we look at the world we live in. First, we must see the people around us the way Jesus saw the people around Him: lost souls in peril of hell, and in need of a Savior. Second, we must see ourselves as Jesus saw us: agents of the Gospel, sent by Him to tell the truth about Who He is. Third, we must see Jesus as He truly is: the Lord of our lives, Who both expects us to obey Him and empowers us to do so.

Two pertinent questions arise from these considerations. First, how can we expect God to draw the unchurched to our churches, while we consistently operate in longstanding and blatant disregard to His clear commands to go to the lost, invite them, and tell them the Gospel? Second, how might God move among us and through us if we actually became more obedient in these crucial areas of ministry?

I, for one, have become increasingly burdened that the church in America – and the churches in Sterling, Colorado, including the one I pastor – must soon discover more effective ways to go, invite and tell. I’m not sure what that looks like, but I’m praying God will make it clear. Would you join me in asking Him to do so? If Jesus said, “Go!” we’ve got to find ways to do what He said.

*If you are interested in checking out some of the passages in which Jesus issued these instructions, here is a sample:
Matthew 10:5-16
Matthew 18:12-14
Matthew 22:8-9
Matthew 28:18-20
Luke 10:1-11
Luke 14:16-23
Luke 15:4-7
John 15:14-16
John 20:21
Acts 1:7-8

What Is the Gospel?

2007-08-23T15:40:00.000-06:00

The Apostle Paul wrote that he was “not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God to save everyone who believes it” (Romans 1:16). That, indeed, is good news, very good news. But then, what IS the Gospel?

At the risk of over-simplifying, I propose that you can state the basic framework of the biblical Gospel in three simple sentences of three words each. Here it is.

God is holy. People are sinful. Christ is sufficient.

The first statement is “God is holy.” It’s only appropriate that the Gospel should start with God. After all, everything started with God: “For from Him and through Him and back to Him are all things,” as Romans 11:36 says.

But why start with His holiness? Because in Scripture, every time God discloses Himself to humanity, the first aspect of His self-revelation is His utter holiness. Over and over, God shows Himself as the Holy one. No wonder that Scripture says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10 and Proverbs 9:10). And on those rare occasions when God gives us a glimpse into heaven, we hear the angels sing, “Holy! Holy! Holy is the Lord” (Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8).

So, we start – indeed, we MUST start – with the holiness of God. “God is holy.”

And whenever we remember the truth about God’s absolute holiness, the next thing to cross our consciences is always our sinfulness. So the next part of the Gospel is, “People are sinful.”

Since “God is holy,” and “People are sinful,” that means we are in eternal danger: sinful people can’t be admitted into God’s holy heaven. If God were to let people into heaven with their sin, heaven wouldn’t be holy any more, with the result that it wouldn’t be heavenly either.

So, who can solve this problem? That’s where the person and work of Jesus Christ come in: “Christ is sufficient.”

What Jesus Christ did for you is sufficient to take away your sin and establish you in a right relationship with God, Who is holy. By living a perfect life, Jesus satisfied the righteous requirements of the law. By dying as His Father’s appointed substitute for you, He took upon Himself God’s holy wrath against your sin. Thus, He is sufficient to save you from the due punishment of your sin and grant you admission to heaven forever.

Some innovative forms of the Gospel water it down a lot. Instead of “God is holy,” we get “God is pretty nice.” Rather than “People are sinful” we hear some nonsense like, “People are just incomplete, or sick, or misinformed, or even underappreciated.” In place of “Christ is sufficient,” we are being told, “Jesus is here to help you make the most of your potential.” Sadly, though that incomplete Gospel may make folks feel a little better for a while, it is utterly powerless to save anyone.

Only the biblical Gospel can do that.

God is holy; and people are sinful; but – praise be to Him! – Christ is sufficient! Hallelujah!

GUARD THE GOSPEL

2007-08-10T08:08:00.001-06:00

Thirty-four years ago, in his commentary on Paul’s second letter to Timothy, Dr. John Stott made the following observation about the Anglo-American church: “All around us we see Christians relaxing their grasp on the Gospel, fumbling it, and in danger of letting it drop from their hands altogether.” What Dr. Stott warned about a generation ago, we see coming to pass among us today.

We Americans are steeped in pragmatism. Questions like, “What works?” “What can I do?” and, “How can I solve this?” drive our very understanding of reality. We tend to be doers, fixers and solvers. Add to this the natural bent of us sinners to please ourselves first and foremost, and you have the multi-billion dollar self-help industry.

The church, in its recent effort to be “relevant,” has accommodated its message to the trend of the age. I find that extremely odd. Was the Word of God ever in danger of becoming irrelevant, and we weren’t aware of it? Yet, many among us have concocted a kind of self-help “gospel” by which we can have our problems solved, our hurts healed, and our dysfunctions made more functional. The church is fast becoming a servant to seekers of self-help.

And the Gospel is in danger of being lost.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that the Gospel is in any way contrary to happiness, fulfillment, or wholeness. But what I am saying is that the Gospel is so much more than all that. By focusing more upon its occasional temporal benefits than upon its eternal substance, we have nearly lost the Gospel.

So, what then IS the Gospel? Here’s a hint: the four biblical accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus are themselves called “Gospels.” That tells us that the Gospel, more than anything else, is about Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Son of God. It’s specific, factual, real and objective.

In addition, these factual accounts in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John concentrate mainly upon the death and resurrection of Jesus. Almost half of the verses in these four books deal with Christ’s suffering, crucifixion, burial and victory over death.

In keeping with this focus, the apostle Paul summarizes the Gospel message this way: “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the Gospel I preached to you . . . that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1, 3-4).

There you have it: Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again, just as the Old Testament predicted He would. The Gospel is Jesus doing for us what we could not do for ourselves, even with help.

Indeed, what the Gospel says is the opposite of self-help. The Gospel tells us that we can’t help ourselves, not at all, not even a little bit, because we are spiritually dead. Dead people can’t help themselves. Dead people need someone to take their deadness upon Himself, and give them His death-conquering life.

And that is exactly what Jesus did.

Do you believe it? You should. It’s the Gospel truth. It’s your only hope.

What Jesus Did NOT Come to Do

2007-08-08T16:21:00.000-06:00

The title isn’t the best grammar; but it gets to the point. What I want us to do is consider the question, “Why did Jesus come to earth?” Or to put it another way, “What did Jesus come to do?”

A lot of people have some really bone-headed notions about Jesus’ mission. One of the ways of clarifying what He came to do is to debunk the faulty understandings of His mission. So let’s look at some of the things Jesus did NOT come to do.

First – and in our “meet-my-needs” culture, this point may seem a bit blunt – Jesus did not come to make unhappy people happy. Instead, He came to make unholy people holy.

Jesus came to take away your sin and put His Holy Spirit in you, so that you could walk in obedience to the will of God. Walking in obedience to God may be very costly and difficult; but, in eternity if not in time, it brings great reward. In fact, happiness can sometimes be the by-product of obedience to God. More importantly, however, holiness means being in an intimate relationship with God, and that is far better than happiness, because it lasts forever.

Second, Jesus did not come to make irreverent people religious. He came to make God’s creations into God’s children.

The point of His mission was not to transform the so-called “religious aspect” of people’s lives. Indeed, as you read the Gospels, it’s clear that Jesus didn’t care that much about religion at all. Far from making people religious, He came to put people into a right relationship with God.

Here’s how that works.

By trusting in Jesus’ finished work, you can be born again and thus become a child of God. Prior to trusting in Jesus, you are just a creation of God; made in His image, to be sure, but lifeless in terms of eternity. By trusting in Jesus, you receive God’s eternal life within you, thus making you God’s eternal child.

This brings us to the last thing Jesus did not come to do.

Jesus did not come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people alive. The primary focus of Jesus’ mission on earth was not morality, but rather eternity.

Scripture makes it clear that all human beings are dead in their sins. When Jesus came, He took our sins upon Himself, and suffered the punishment and death God requires of sinners. He then rose again from the grave, “because it was not possible for Him to be held by it” (Acts 2:24), so that He could impart His death-breaking life to you. It doesn’t do you any good to strive for moral goodness if you’re spiritually dead. Jesus can make you morally good; but first, He has to make you spiritually alive.

In summary, Jesus’ mission was to make unholy people holy; to make God’s creations into God’s children; and to make dead people alive.

Is He fulfilling His mission in you?

Distinguishing Marks of a Cult

2007-08-02T10:45:00.000-06:00

Several people in my church have asked me lately about cults. Some of the questions have been about specific and well-known cults, while other questions have been more general.

In addition, I recently had a conversation with another pastor here in Sterling who has had similar questions asked of him. As a result of that conversation, he and I, each of whom writes for one of our two local newspapers, decided to each write a newspaper article about the topic, “What are some distinguishing marks of a cult?”

First, in considering the question, it’s important to be clear about what we mean by the word “cult.” Orthodox Christianity stands upon the exclusive assertion of Jesus Himself: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Indeed, in terms of all that is needed for salvation, “the truth is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:21).

In contradistinction to these claims, by definition a cult is any religious system that asserts its so-called “truth” comes from somewhere other than, or in addition to, Holy Scripture; or from someone other than, or in addition to, Jesus Christ. Well-organized cults typically have their own book or set of books, usually written by the founder. Even though some cults read the Bible or admire it as an inspired book, a key element of a cult is that it has another “scripture” that contains its identifying doctrines.

Another common mark of a cult is the nature of its leadership. Cult leaders allow no questioning of their teaching, claiming absolute adherence at every point of doctrine. They must be viewed by their followers as infallible interpreters of truth. Indeed, they typically do not allow their followers to receive any form of teaching, or even fellowship, from any source outside the cult itself.

By virtue of the unquestioning loyalty cult leaders require, they make uncanny demands upon their followers. They may command them to sell property, change jobs, relocate, or sever relationships with friends and families. In some cases, they may even direct their married followers to divorce or even exchange their spouses. Mind you, these are not voluntary moves the followers make, but requirements imposed by the leaders as a condition of remaining in the group.

Perhaps the two clearest marks of cults are their doctrine of salvation and their teachings about the person of Jesus Christ. Holy Scripture indicates that Jesus claimed to be the eternal Son of God and the only way to salvation. His actions so clearly supported His claims that He could boldly state, “The works I do in My Father’s name bear witness of Me” (John10:25; see also verses 37-38). Orthodox Christianity has always asserted that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, revealed in Holy Scripture alone, for God’s glory alone.

By contrast, even though cults may use biblical vocabulary, talk about Jesus, and even admire Him and His teachings, they always assert that the way of salvation requires something else or something more. The salvation message that cults preach always involves obedience to a human leader, or to a set of duties and obligations. For cults, Jesus is never enough.

It is vital for you, Christian, that you know the truth. There is plenty of deception going around in our world. Don’t be taken in. Know the truth. Know Christ. Know His Word. The best way to avoid the influence of cults is to know the Word and walk in It.

ETERNITY IS A VERY LONG TIME!

2007-07-27T07:44:00.000-06:00

How do you get to heaven? A recent letter to the editor in the *other* Sterling newspaper (not the one for which I write) posed this question, and raised some doubts as to whether the question could be answered with certainty.

Frankly, it’s a question we all should be asking, because eternity is a very long time.

Of course, your eternal destiny doesn’t depend on simply asking the right question, but rather on knowing the right answer. And there are lots of wrong answers.

The most common wrong answer in western society is that people get to heaven by being good, or pretty good, or perhaps even not so bad. The typical rationale of this position is that since heaven is a good place, then good people go there.

There are at least two serious errors in this view. First, heaven is a perfect place, not a good place. Scripture makes it clear that no sin is allowed into heaven (Revelation 21). Second, there are no good people. God’s Word is unequivocally clear on this point. “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10). Jesus said, “No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18). So, the getting-to-heaven-by-being-good notion is obviously out.

Other people believe that everybody eventually goes to heaven, even if they spend time being punished for their sins after they die. Again, this view is contrary to Holy Scripture, which declares, “it is appointed for people to die once – and after this, judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Jesus made it clear that some people go to heaven and some people go to hell, and they all stay in their respective places forever. Plainly, the everybody-goes-to-heaven idea is also wrong.

Jesus’ mission on earth was “to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Therefore, He taught with extreme precision about how you and I can be certain we will spend eternity in heaven. His conversation with Nicodemus, recorded in John 3, encapsulates His teaching on the matter. Here’s the gist of what He said there.

The eternal Son of God was sent to earth by His Father to take our sins upon Himself, and suffer the just punishment of God on our behalf. He gave His life for us – a life that is perfect and eternal – so that by trusting in Him we could have His life in us and live forever in heaven with Him.

Jesus also stated very clearly that He is not merely one way to heaven among many, but that He is the only way. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” He stated. “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

With these words, Jesus conclusively put to rest any and all other notions about the way to heaven. You can’t get there by being good, by being religious or by suffering for a little while for your sins. Only Jesus can get you there.

I remember sharing this once with a man who had recently been told he had only a short time to live. His response amazed me. “I’ve led a pretty good life. I’ll take my chances,” he told me.

Take your chances?! With eternity? That’s a pretty big gamble. And the consequences of taking the wrong chance are immensely tragic, especially in view of the sure thing Jesus offers you. He’ll take your sin if you’ll give it to Him, along with the punishment you deserve. In return, He’ll give you His life and eternity with Him in heaven.

Be sure you know where you’re going. Indeed, you can be sure, if you’re trusting Jesus.

And please remember: eternity is a very long time to be wrong!

Redeemed

2007-07-18T16:13:00.000-06:00

One of the formative memories of my childhood was pasting the “S & H Green Stamps” we got at the grocery store into little green booklets of twenty-four pages, fifty stamps to a page. I can still remember the awful taste! It was a great day when I got to start using a wet sponge to moisten the glue on the back of those things.

After we got enough stamps pasted into enough booklets, we would take them to a place called a “Green Stamp Redemption Center.” I remember being very confused by this term the first time I accompanied my parents to the “Redemption Center.” As a preacher’s kid, I had only heard the word “redemption” used in connection with what Jesus did for us. So, I had to have it explained.

Redemption, as the explanation went, comes from the word redeem, which, at its most basic, simply means to purchase or exchange. Thus, at the redemption center, we were exchanging all of these booklets of stamps for items we would otherwise have to purchase with cash.

Since then, I’ve learned more about this concept. I’ve learned that the word “redeem” itself derives from the little used and somewhat archaic term “deem,” which means to take account of something or to place a value on something.

The word might have been used like this in seventeenth Century England.

Mr. Smythe goes to the village market and sees a hen he wants. To the merchant, Mr. Browne, he says, “I deem that hen to fetch a price of one penny.”

Mr. Browne replies, “I deem her at three pence.”

“One pence and a half,” offers Mr. Smythe.

“Tuppence,” replies Mr. Browne.

“Sold,” says Mr. Smythe, and because both gentlemen repeatedly “re-deemed” the value of the hen, the bird is eventually redeemed, or purchased.

That’s exactly what the word portrays in its Christian meaning. Humanity has deemed itself being worth only the pursuit of pleasure and things. God the Father, Who indeed knows best, deemed us worth the price of His own Son’s death. By paying such a price for us, He literally re-deemed us: He placed His value upon us, not because of anything we had done or could do, but simply because He created us for eternal intimacy with Himself.

That is very good news. I am redeemed, or re-deemed, as it were: re-valued, purchased and held by a new Owner. I paid nothing for myself. Instead, I am the recipient of God’s re-deeming grace, unearned, undeserved, and undeservable.

A great portion of the Christian life involves simply learning how to make daily decisions on the basis of this marvelous truth: God has placed His value upon you and, by some inexplicable miracle of His love, deems it appropriate that His Son should have died for you. In contrast to the value the world and devil consider you to have, God re-deems you.

How do you deem yourself? Do you consider yourself as God does? Are you re-deemed?

A fascinating postscript:
The Sperry and Hutchinson ("S & H") company started offering stamps to retailers way back in 1896, still does something like this. Today it's called "Greenpoints," and is all accomplished online. For details, go to http://www.greenpoints.com/account/act_default.asp

Believe or Know?

2007-07-12T09:03:00.000-06:00

Do you know anyone who doesn’t know God?

Notice I said “know.” Not “believe in.”

According to many recent studies, believing in God is almost universal in America. One study says ninety-five percent believe in God, another says ninety-seven percent. Whatever the numbers, almost everyone believes in God. Indeed, scripture says that even the demons believe in God – and they tremble (James 2:19).

We are, indeed, a believing nation.

But, honestly, so what? What does believing in God mean if it changes nothing about the way people live? Does the word “believe” refer to mere mental consent to a creed or doctrine?

In this sense of the term, God did not create us to “believe in” Him. He is patently not interested in our merely acknowledging that He exists.

What He created us for is to be in a relationship with Him. He wants us to know and love Him like He knows and loves us. The original plan, revealed in Eden’s fair glade, was that we enjoy an intimacy with God comparable only to a healthy marriage – full knowing, deep closeness, and delightful love.

The problem is, we have spoiled the original plan: we ignore Him. Though He fashioned us to be in love with Him, we have fallen in love, instead, with ourselves. Like Narcissus, we gaze with sinful vanity into the pool of our own depraved self-will, and find there not the image and reflection of God, but only our mirrored selves. Enthroned upon our own hearts, and infatuated with the pursuit of our own desires, we have excluded Him from our lives by blatant neglect.

And yet, we say we believe in Him.

This “belief” is a far cry from biblical faith. It’s an impersonal, imaginary thing, a passing nod to some invented notions about God. The fact that such “belief” utterly fails to change lives reveals it for what it truly is: a powerless deception masquerading as faith, a fig-leaf bandage to conceal our shameful conceit.

Jesus’ coming to earth, His death and resurrection, reveal with passionate clarity what God is looking for: a relationship with you. God desires to be so near to you, so intimate with you, that it can be described only as Him living in you.

As you actively turn from your sin-driven self-love – an act the Bible calls “repentance” – your life opens to Him: Jesus enters in, and fills you with Himself. At that point, He not only forgives your sin, but changes you into a brand new person on the inside.

Thus begins a whole new relationship. Paul described this relationship as the defining quest of his life: “I consider everything loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8).

I repeat: knowing Him, not just believing in Him.

So, let’s return to the initial question: “Do you know anyone who doesn’t know God?”

Could that person be you?

Is America Still Under God?

2007-07-05T08:36:00.000-06:00

Are we a nation under God or aren’t we?

Listen to these words that shaped our nation, that prove that the U. S. A. was, indeed, created and designed to be a nation under God!

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” – The Declaration of Independence, 1776

“It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.” – George Washington, 1789

“We have staked the whole future of American civilization . . . on the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, and to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God." – President James Madison, 1813

“It is the duty of nations . . . to recognize the sublime truth . . . that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.” – President Abraham Lincoln, 1863

“It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work . . . that this nation under God shall have a new birth . . .” – President Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address, 1863

The fourth verse of our national anthem, written by Francis Scott Key in 1814, includes the words, “May the heaven-rescued land praise the Power that hath made and preserved us . . . and this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust’.”

Because of this undeniable history, Congress voted in 1954 to add the phrase “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance, “thus reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future.” – President Dwight Eisenhower, June 14, 1954.

The fact that a few people are offended by those two words doesn’t change our history; nor must it be allowed to change our future! “America’s heritage,” as President Eisenhower put it, is undeniably tied to the God of the Bible. America’s future will grow ever more grim if that Godly heritage is stripped away.

Wednesday morning, I began my celebration of Independence Day in a prayer meeting at the church I pastor. We prayed that the church in America would repent of its passivity and once again grow strong to take a leading role in the shaping of American culture. Though we can never return to the past – nor should we ever desire to do so! – God is certainly calling us to turn from the sins of our past and turn to the future He has planned for us.

If America is ever to live up to its founders’ intention to be a nation under God, it will take churches under God. And that means Christians under God, serving Him with earnest love and complete obedience in every detail of their lives.

Is America still under God? I guess the answer depends upon how you live your life.

Christ's Exclusive Claims

2007-06-27T17:08:00.000-06:00

Jesus never seemed to worry about how people would respond to Him. In fact, quite the opposite seemed true. He made all kinds of statements that today would be deemed politically incorrect if not down-right offensive.

It’s ironic: Jesus never sinned, yet many took offense at the things He said and did. And the biggest offense people took had to do with the things He claimed about Himself, Who He was, and what He was on earth to do.

Here’s a partial list of what Jesus said about Himself, along with a few examples of where to find these claims in the Word of God:

The Son of God

Matthew 11:27 – All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

John 10:36 – Do you say of Him Whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?

Mark 14:61b-64a – Again the high priest asked Him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" And Jesus said, "I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." And the high priest tore his garments and said, "What further witnesses do we need? You have heard His blasphemy. What is your decision?"

The Messiah, the Jewish Savior

Matthew 16:15-17 – He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven.

Matthew 26:62-64 – And the high priest stood up and said, "Have You no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against You?" But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to Him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God." Jesus said to him, "It is as you say. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven."

John 4:25-26 – The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming, He who is called Christ. When He comes, He will tell us all things." Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

The One Who Can Forgive Sins

Matthew 20:28 – even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many

Mark 2:9-11 – “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” – He said to the paralytic – “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.”

Luke 7:47-48 – Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven--for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." And He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

John 8: 24 – I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am He you will die in your sins.

The Ruler and Judge of the World

Matthew 28:18-20 – And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

John 5:22-27 – “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes Him Who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.”

The Only Savior of the World

John 3:13-17 – “No one has ascended into heaven except He Who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 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.

John 14:6 – Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Yes, you read that last astonishing claim correctly: Jesus forthrightly claimed to be the only Savior of the world. As recorded in John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” As if that affirmation were not enough, He stated further, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” In other words, Jesus declared Himself to be not just ONE way to heaven, but that He was and is the ONLY way to heaven.

Oddly enough, some are offended by such claims. “How dare this Jesus make such a statement?” some say indignantly. “That’s not what He really meant” others maintain, as they engage in some form of interpretive chicanery in an attempt to circumvent the plain evidence of Holy Scripture.

It’s like this. Humanity is drowning in an eternal sea of our own sinful rebellion, and Jesus has jumped in to save us, calling out as He does so, “Trust Me. I’m your only hope of being saved.” How tragic that so many of the drowning respond to Him, “How dare you claim to be my only hope?!” even as they sink under the everlasting waves of their own perdition.

And so the exclusive claim of Jesus as the only Savior goes often unnoticed or ignored, hidden behind the offense people take at His having made such a claim. The offense is, I believe, a demonic ploy to cover up two more foundational issues: that humanity desperately needs a Savior, and that God’s willingness to save ANY of us is a complete and unearned miracle. The fact is, He wasn’t in any sense required to do even that.

And yet, He did. By virtue of His amazing grace, the Father sent His Son, Who alone has authority to judge the world and forgive sins, as humanity’s unique source of salvation.

Some say it’s offensive to think that He claimed to be the only way to heaven. I say it’s an undeserved wonder of God’s grace that He has offered us any way to heaven at all.

What do you say?

The Truth Shall Set You Free

2007-06-20T14:12:00.000-06:00

When Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32), He wasn’t talking about just any old facts. And He certainly didn’t have some relativistic idea of an evolving kind of “truth” that supposedly changes from time to time and from place to place.

In contrast, today’s post-modern society is characterized by a refusal to acknowledge the concept of “absolute truth.” The irony is that no one has ever proven that there is no such thing as absolute truth: those who hold this view simply assume that it is so.

Please note, however, that denying the existence of absolute truth is a logical contradiction. When people say, “There is no such thing as absolute truth,” they are themselves making an absolute truth claim.

Let’s listen in on a brief conversation between Joe and Mary.

Joe: “There is no such thing as absolute truth.”

Mary: “Are you sure?”

Joe: “Yes I am.”

Mary: “How can you be so sure?”

Joe: “Because it’s true.”

Mary: “So . . . it’s absolutely true that there is no such thing as absolute truth?”

Joe: “Uh, yes, I mean, no - well, maybe.”

I’m sure you get the point. Postmodernists, in their denial of absolute truth, have come perilously close to cultural insanity. They assert with absolute certainty the notion that nothing is absolutely certain, thus sawing off the limb upon which they stand.

Sanity is restored by knowing the truth; or rather The Truth, with two capital T’s.

Among the many things Scripture says about The Truth, three stand out as being critically important to post-modern culture. First, there is the relationship of biblical love and The Truth, described in that great love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. Verse 6 says, “Love . . . rejoices in the truth.” Why? Because if you truly love someone, you don’t want that person to live in error, because living in error causes needless pain.

Second, Scripture tells us where to find The Truth. Ephesians 4:21 says, “The truth is in Jesus.” If you want to discover The Truth, develop a relationship with Jesus. All The Truth you need for life and salvation is found in the person of Jesus Christ.

Finally, Jesus Himself made an immense claim in John 14:6, when He declared, “I am the way, the truth and the life. Nobody comes to the Father except through Me.” By declaring Himself to be identical with The Truth, and by claiming to be the only way to heaven, Jesus forced upon us a crucial decision: is what He said false, or is it true?

If it is false, then He was either a liar or a lunatic. If it was true, then He was, and remains to this day, the Lord of the universe, and the only hope you and the rest of humanity have for eternal life.

We’ll examine more on this subject next Friday, as we consider Christ’s exclusive claims.

What It All Comes Down To

2007-06-09T11:43:00.001-06:00

A group of well-dressed mourners stands around the graveside of a major corporate executive. The funeral service was a testimony to his success and widely-felt influence. The coffin is beautiful, the headstone is imposing, and the crowd is large.

As the pastor finishes the benediction, a mid-level-management type standing at the back of the crowd leans over to whisper to one of his partners. He asks a question that has been in the back of everyone’s mind ever since Mr. Big’s health began to fail a few months before.

“How much do you think he left behind?”

His imagination is weighing the bequests, the will, the millions, and what he would do with that money if any of it were coming his way. He asks his seemingly oblivious friend again, “Hey, man, how much do you think he left behind?”

His partner turns his head to utter a hushed reply, “All of it.“

No doubt. However much he had, he has none of it now: he left it all behind.

Ironic, is it not? Our best efforts to be found successful in this world all come to naught if we consider success something to be found in this world. I’ve done lots of funerals, and I’ve never seen a U-Haul behind a hearse.

Indeed, when it all comes down, what it all comes down to is legacy and character: the legacy you leave behind in this world, and the character you take with you out of it.

Legacy is the heritage of lasting value we impart to those who follow behind us: not the temporary things like stocks and bonds, net-worth and annuities; but rather the non-tangible and eternal things, like faith in Christ, a pattern of Godly living and a commitment to family and church.

Each of us leaves a legacy, though many among us do so by accident. I want to leave a legacy on purpose. I want to be remembered for something worth remembering.

What do you want to be remembered for? When people meet at your memorial service, what do you want them to talk about?

In truth, your legacy is determined by your character. Character is who you are and what you do when nobody is watching. It’s the real you, the inner you, the you that is determined by your core values and what you believe to be true and important.

So let me ask you: how are you on the inside? Who is the real you? What are you like when nobody is watching?

If those questions make you a bit uneasy, join the crowd. We all fall short not only of God’s glory, but of our own aspirations too.

The good news is that God is in the business of continual transformation. I offer you this brief prayer asking Him to change you.

“Lord, I want to leave behind a legacy of Christ-like character. Please keep changing me. Make me more like Jesus today. In His name, Amen.”

Bill Maher Needs Jesus!

2007-05-31T14:34:00.000-06:00

The mainstream media are at it again, bashing Christians with unbridled abandon. The chief perpetrator seems to Bill Maher, whose HBO talk show recently sank to a new low. Maher began a recent program with a mocking diatribe aimed at Rev. Jerry Falwell just three days after his death. Later in the same program, he made a sexually-explicit comparison between the Roman Catholic eucharist and homosexual intercourse!

As offensive as Maher’s comments were, more astonishing is the lack of apology from HBO or any sign of concern from the media or human rights watchdogs among us. Contrast this with what happened to former CBS radio talk show host Don Imus, whose ill-advised reference to the Rutgers University women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed ho’s” stirred a week of public protest followed by his ignominious dismissal.

Should Imus have been fired? I certainly think so, and for his sheer stupidity if not his racist remarks.

But what about Maher? Imus lost his job for a brief, unthinking, off-hand comment on live radio, three words he apologized for and wishes he had never said. Maher made his comments in a rehearsed and scripted show, and stands by them unapologetically.

So where is the outcry? Where are the national media personalities coming to the aid of conservative evangelicals and Roman Catholics, calling for earnest apologies and early dismissals?

There aren’t any. And I don’t expect it to happen.

So, then, what should conservative evangelicals and Roman Catholics do? Certainly it’s appropriate to write letters of protest to Time-Warner, which employs Mr. Maher. I’ve done so myself. But, ultimately, there’s a better thing to do, and it’s modeled for us by the early church.

As recorded in Acts 4, as the infant church unabashedly proclaimed the Gospel, it fell under the ill-will of its culture. There was animosity and overt hostility, until it came to the point that the leaders in Jerusalem issued an edict specifically ordering the church “not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18). In short, preaching and evangelism were forbidden by governmental decree.

How did the church respond? With a petition drive calling for a restoration of their rights? No. They had a prayer meeting, and here’s what they prayed: “Lord, look upon their threats and grant to Your servants to continue to speak Your word with all boldness, while You stretch out Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus” (Acts 4:29-30).

In other words, Lord we don’t care what the culture says and how they oppose us. All we’re asking is that You make us even more bold to speak the truth, and that You continue to do miracles.

Is that how we respond to Maher and his ilk? When the culture or the government opposes us, do we pray and get bolder? Do we increase our efforts to share the Gospel and proclaim the truth? Do we devote more money and time to reaching the lost and serving the truly needy?

Or do we whine and wish for the privileged good old days?

If the church ever regains its godly influence in our culture, it will be because you and I quit complaining about the loss of our rights, shed our entitlement attitudes, and go share the Gospel with a humanity gone mad: even Bill Maher. Because, like everyone else, Bill Maher needs Jesus!

The Wonder of It All

2007-04-25T10:12:00.001-06:00

When her mother came to pick her up after the first day of Vacation Bible School, she took Mommy’s hand and led her into the big meeting room. With wide eyes and a quiet kind of awe in her four-year-old voice, she said “This is where the music is.”

Then she escorted Mommy all around the room, slowly showing her the dozens of balloons (an attempt to look like undersea bubbles), the inflatable shark and sea-turtle, the pictures of whales, the big sea-horse, the big fishing net, and the place where the lady stood and led them in all those fun songs about Jesus.

Over and over she said, “Look, Mommy!” as she pointed at another picture or balloon.

“Look Mommy!”

“Look!”

And, though she wasn’t speaking to me, I too began to look. And to see.

During much of our preparation for Vacation Bible School, during which we tried to transform our sanctuary into a kind of undersea world, I could think of little except how much work our volunteers were putting in. But then, as the first day of our week-long adventure drew to a close, God gave me a glimpse of the whole endeavor through the eyes of a four-year-old. Suddenly, the wonder was there, as it should have been all along.

The wonder is not simply that a group of busy adults would spend more than a hundred hours decorating a church building for a VBS program. That kind of effort commonly takes place, in churches throughout this community, many times over every summer. The wonder is not that these adults and youth put in hours of preparation and prayer, baked thousands of cookies, and put up with unnumbered inconveniences to make their church’s Vacation Bible School programs as successful as possible.

The wonder is not in the effort or the program.

The wonder truly is seen in what lies behind the effort: hearts touched by God, full of His love, and gripped by a passion to share His love with others and let the little children come to Him, no matter how much work it takes.

The wonder is in the outpoured love of God seen in His Son dying on the cross for wide-eyed four-year-olds and weary middle-aged pastors alike.

The wonder is the fact that He loved His rebellious creation so much that He came and lived among the rebels themselves, and even took the just punishment for their rebellion upon Himself.

I remember, when I was just a little child myself, my dad singing the words of a song made famous by one of the singers in Billy Graham’s ministry, George Beverly Shea. “Oh, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all! Just to think that God loves me!”

Indeed. Just think of it. And then, like a little child, come to Jesus again, and thank Him for how much He loves you. It’s a wonder!

Trust and Tragedy

2007-04-18T11:39:00.001-06:00

For Christians, part of living out our trust in Jesus Christ is dealing with things we don’t understand. If ever there was such an event, the horrifying murders at Virginia Tech are a perfect example. In our effort to comprehend this calamity, our brains are about to short-circuit.

Questions penetrate our souls like bullets of doubt and fear. How? Why? Who?

It reminds me of the biblical account of Job. In the course of a single day, he suffered immense personal tragedy, including the loss of his nearly twelve-thousand head of livestock, and the murder or kidnapping of dozens of employees, and the death of his ten children.

His response is both astonishing and informative. Scripture declares that when he learned of the terrible events of that tragic day, “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped” (Job 1:21).

Let’s unpack the amazing actions of this mighty man of faith, and see what we can learn from them.

First, Job tore his robe and shaved his head. In ancient Israel, these two actions were expressions of extreme grief. What this shows us is that Job wasn’t just a stoic. He was truly devastated. His losses were great and they affected him greatly. He was in deep and serious anguish, and he didn’t care who knew it.

But notice what else Job did. Though he was an emotional wreck, he didn’t let this keep him from worshiping God. In his grief, he “fell on the ground and worshiped.”

Why did he do this? For that matter why would we?

One obvious reason Job worshiped in the midst of tragedy was that he was a worshiper. In other words, he understood himself as a person who lived to worship God. Job’s practice and response in all circumstances was to worship God. Worship was not a circumstantially-motivated action for Job. Worship was the core of his being. He worshiped. Period. So it was natural that when catastrophe struck, he worshiped then too.

What about you? Do you think of yourself as a worshiper, someone who lives to worship God? Or do you just worship when things are going well?

Another reason Job worshiped in the midst of disaster is that he saw beyond the situation to the goodness of God. He knew God for Who He truly is, and thus, his worship was motivated by the truth about God, not the circumstances of his life. Because he had spent so much time getting to know God, Job had developed a deep and abiding confidence in His everlasting goodness and grace. No trials of this temporary life could shake this trust.

How much time do you spend getting to know God? How much energy do you devote to the development of a trust relationship with Him? When tragedy strikes, it may be too late for you to develop that relationship. Now, today, while you still have the opportunity, is the time to run to Him and worship. With all your questions, praise Him. In your confusion and grief, bow down to Him. He is there, waiting and worthy for your worship.

God is Ready to Party! Are You?

2007-04-12T10:50:00.000-06:00

Do you remember Jesus’ story of "The Wasteful Son." (Most people say "The Prodigal Son," but when I learned that "prodigal" means "wasteful," I decided to call it that.)

In this great lesson Jesus taught, the younger of two sons claims his inheritance, then goes out and wastes it on the worst of sin. In dire need, he takes a job feeding pigs, and gets so hungry that the hog slop looks appetizing. Finally, he comes to his senses and returns home, admitting in a rehearsed speech that he doesn't deserve to be in the family, but would be glad simply to become one of Dad’s servants.

Dad won't think of it. Instead, he arranges a feast to celebrate the homecoming of his long-lost son.

Meanwhile, there's the older son. While his kid brother is out wasting Dad's money on sin, the older son is busy at home being a respectable family member, faithfully managing the family business and preserving his own inheritance. Then one day, Junior returns, and incredibly, instead of kicking his sorry carcass out, Dad throws a bash for the bum! The senior son wants no part in the party. He’s furious, and won’t even enter the house for the celebration.

The story winds down with Dad going outside to invite the older son to come in and rejoice that Junior has finally come home. Then it ends, rather abruptly. Does the older brother come into the party or not? It leaves us hanging, wondering.

It’s an odd ending, and we usually miss its importance.

We all know that the younger brother represents those who waste their lives straying from God. The Dad in the story clearly represents God. But, who is the older brother?

I believe he represents all of us folks who have served God more or less faithfully down through the years: In other words, the senior son is the church.

This parable clearly teaches us that God will accept anyone who comes to Him in true repentance and humble faith. Therefore, sinners of all sorts are welcome to come home to God, if they just realize they need His pardon. He embraces them, and forgives them with rejoicing.

But the question raised at the end of the parable must be addressed: is the church as willing to welcome repentant sinners as God is?

What if they're unpleasant? What if they don’t dress properly? What if they're impolite, and don't know what to do in the worship service? What if they can't recite the creed, and don't know the Lord's Prayer?

If someone with well-known sins would come to your church this Sunday, how would you feel? Would you be ready to party, like God is?

The fact is, Jesus reveals to us that His Father is a lavishly welcoming God. All may become His children who repent of their sins and trust Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

However, I wonder how the rest of the family feels about it.