The Truth Will Set You Free; But You Have To Know It!

One Christmas Eve at church, a brother and sister were singing the closing song as the candles were lit. The boy loudly finished the first verse of "Silent Night" with the words, "Sleep in heavenly beans." "No, silly," his sister corrected, "not beans! Peas!"

There is a great deal of Christmas misinformation floating around our culture. In a tongue-in-cheek effort to correct some of it, several years ago I came up with a Christmas Quiz, which became a regular feature of Advent at our church. Various editions of the quiz have between 20 and 25 questions, and the first year I gave it, only one person got more than half right. Here are three samples from the quiz, along with the correct answers and the scripture references

1. When the angels came to the shepherds, what were they singing?

A. "Glory to God in the highest"

B. "Peace on earth, good will to men"

C. "White Christmas"

D. "Fear not, I bring you good tidings"

E. "The Hallelujah Chorus"

F. None of the above

answer: F; Luke 2:13 (The key word is "singing." The Bible doesn’t say they “sang.”)

2. When the shepherds finished their visit to Jesus, what did they do?

A. They settled down for a long winter's nap.

B. They met the little drummer boy going to play for Jesus.

C. They asked Herod for further information.

D. They saw three ships come sailing in.

E. They had a praise and worship session.

F. None of the above

answer: E; Luke 2:16-20

3. The wise men brought their gifts to Jesus while He was in a . . .

A. manger.

B. stable.

C. house.

D. Holiday Inn.

E. good mood.

F. none of the above.

answer: C; Matthew 2:11a

It’s important to get it right. The truth will set you free, Jesus said, but only when you actually know the truth. It’s also important to answer the other crucial questions right about Christmas. Questions like this one, which Jesus Himself raised during His ministry: “Who is He, really?”

Buddhists say He was a great teacher.

Muslims say He was a prophet, almost as great as Muhammad, but not quite.

Many in our culture see Him as a religious leader.

They are all wrong.

The truth is that He is the only Son of God. He lived in eternity past with the Father, became a human being through the miracle of the virgin birth, lived perfectly and taught the will of God fully, died as a ransom for your sins and mine, then literally came back to life and rose from the tomb in which He as buried.

Any other understanding of Jesus is incomplete. Jesus asked His first followers this crucial question, “But what about you? Who do you say that I am?”

Today, He continues to ask the same question, and the answer determines eternity for your soul: “But what about you? Who do you say that I am?”

Jesus Himself is waiting for your answer.

THAT CULTURALLY SUBVERSIVE PHRASE

This Sunday marks the start of the pre-Christmas preparation time known in the church as Advent. The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ in His first coming, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in His second coming.

It’s at this time that we properly commence saying things like “Merry Christmas!” But, this year, you better watch out, because that phrase is at the center of controversy as school boards, municipal governments, and even shopping malls become arenas for battle in one of the most active fronts in the culture war.

Yes, Virginia, there is a war on Christmas.

I recently checked the web-site of one well-known national retailer that has instructed its employees to cease greeting customers with “Merry Christmas.” Sure enough, the word “Christmas” is almost completely expunged from the web-site: they’re even selling “Holiday Trees”! However, there are loads of references to Hannukah and Qwaanza! I guess when it comes to religious holidays, everything’s okay but the Christian one.

Why is the culture okay with a secularized, watered-down version of Christmas, but seems increasingly alarmed about the genuine article?

A couple of obvious reasons come to mind.

The first reason goes hand-in-hand with the increasingly-common misinterpretation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights currently making headway in our culture. There are some who think that the Founders dreamed of a nation where each individual would never be offended. I’ve read the Constitution and its amendments, and while they guarantee us many rights, nowhere are we assured the right to never have to hear words that offend us.

The second reason is more far-reaching. The fact is, the true message of Christmas poses a menace to anyone and anything prone to worship itself. Every Herod in every age, reigning with usurped power, loathes the Advent of the real King. What Christmas says is that God has invaded planet earth in His Son, intending to establish His Kingdom in our hearts. This is a real threat to the world’s system of self-enthronement.

The bottom line? Christmas has become politically incorrect precisely because the season is inevitably and irreducibly connected with Jesus Christ: it’s the day for celebrating His birthday, after all! Those who demand the right never to be confronted with Christian truth, can’t stand at this season to hear "Merry Christmas”! How long will it be until "Merry Christmas" is labeled as "hate speech?"

We Christians cannot take this sitting down!

So, please enlist with me for the next few weeks in a not-so-subtle army of cultural subversives, spreading Christmas blessings even to those who expect the tolerance police to show up at any minute. And when people say, “Happy holidays!” let’s reply, “And a merry Christmas to you!” For every “Season’s Greetings!” you hear, say “May God bless you with a merry Christmas too!”

Life and Love in the Body of Christ

Recently, I was reminded of a little ditty that cleverly sums up relationships as they sometimes are in the church:

To live above, with saints we love,

Will certainly be glory;

But here below, with the “saints” we know:

Well, that’s another story!

Indeed, life and love in the Family of God can be challenging. The quirks and failings of fellow Christians, the immaturity of some and the stodginess of others, produce enough inconvenience that a few saints prefer a more unspecified format for their faith, where all relationships are casual, and all commitments short-term.

Yet, it remains true that, if we are going to have revival, it is required of us to grow in love. The Spirit of God speaks clearly through the Apostle John, “If you don’t love your Christian brothers and sisters, whom you can see, you obviously don’t love God, Whom you can’t see” (1 John 4:20).

That’s pretty plain: if your love for God increases, so will your love for each other.

However, before you can grow in love, you have to want to. If you focus only on love’s inconvenience, it will always be a struggle to love. However, if you focus on love’s rewards, it’s easier. The best reward for loving your fellow Christians is this: it’s one more assurance that you are born again. God speaks through the Apostle John again: “Beloved, we must love each other . . . because if you love, it shows that you are born of God and that you know God” (1 John 4:7).

Once you determine that you want to grow in love, you have to learn to see people like Jesus did. When Jesus looked on the crowds who followed Him, His heart was filled compassion. That same motive must inform your view of the Church. How you feel about your fellow Christians must be transformed by how Jesus feels about them. The fact is, you don’t have to approve of what they do, but you do have to be patient with their weaknesses and merciful with their sins.

Finally, it’s just a matter of opening your heart to the flow of God’s love. Fortunately, He doesn’t expect you, out of your own resources, to generate love for others. You simply need to seek His heart and let His Spirit flow, because He has more than enough love to go around. God speaks through Paul to remind us that “God’s love is poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, Whom He has given to us” (Romans 5:5). He is the source of love. You only need to be a vessel.

Don’t try to manufacture love for “the saints you know.” Instead, seek His love for them!

Ask Jesus to show you how He sees the others in the church, especially the ones who tend to bug you. Then ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with God’s love until you overflow.

WOULD THERE BE ENOUGH EVIDENCE?

Are you a Christian? How many people know it?

Years ago I purchased a couple of records (yes, vinyl!) made by a unique - some would say just plain weird - Christian singer named Gary S. Paxton. Never heard of him? Maybe you've heard some of his music. This is the guy who, before he became a Christian, collaborated on such pop "classics" (yeah, right!) as "Alley Oop," "Monster Mash," and "That Honeymoon Feeling."

On his second Christian album, he included a song called "Evidence," in which he asked, "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" He wasn't the first to pose that question. Paxton may have heard it from Billy Graham, who frequently raised a similar question in his early crusade preaching.

Still, the lyric is penetrating to ponder.

Let's imagine you or me going to court on the charge, "This person is a Christian." Of course, to convict, the charge would have to be proven.

Among the so-called evidence that would not be accepted in court would be items like jewelry, clothing and bumper stickers: the genuine mark of a Christian is not a cross around our neck or a fish sign on our car.

The only evidence that would count would be the features and behaviors of your life.

Would your ministry participation in and through your church be such that it could be used as evidence? What if the authorities searched your vehicle or your house: would they find anything incriminating? What would they find if your bank statements were brought before the court? Any evidence of Christianity there?

Suppose the prosecution subpoenaed a record of the TV shows you watch: what would that say about your commitment to Christ? What about the magazine subscriptions, or the websites you visit?

If the people who know you were called to testify under oath, what would they offer up as evidence? After interviewing your boss, co-workers, neighbors and family, would the court convict you of being a Christian, or would they dismiss the case?

Long before Gary Paxton came along, the pre-Christian conqueror Alexander the Great had an encounter one night with a young guard. Unable to sleep, Alexander rose and took a stroll around the camp of his bivouacked army. Approaching one of the guards quietly, he realized the soldier was asleep at his post. Incensed, the great commander asked the young man his name.

Sleepily he replied, "Alexander, sir. The same as yours."

Now even angrier, the general shouted, "Well, that won't do. You're either going to have to change your name or change your behavior. I won't have you carrying my name and acting like this!"

I wonder how often our behavior, as those who carry the name of Christ, must make Him want to say the same thing to us.

So, I ask again: "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?"

YOU HAVE TO READ IT!!

"The Lord helps those who help themselves."

"Know thyself. To know thyself is the deepest knowledge of all."

"To thine own self be true."

How many of the above quotes are from the Bible? Stop for a moment and think before you answer.

In a recent survey of American homes, 91% had at least one Bible. Yet, eight out of ten American adults think the first quote above is from scripture. It's not. You'll find it in "Poor Richard's Almanac;" but it's not in God's Word.

The second quote comes from an ancient Greek document called "The Delphic Oracle," ascribed by legend to Pythagoras; but it's not in the Bible.

The third quote is interesting. New Age guru and sometime actress Shirley MacLaine, in her book "Out On a Limb," claims that Jesus said it. MacLaine must have forgotten her Shakespeare. The Bard penned that line, and you can find it in "Hamlet;" but it's not in the Bible.

Famous pollster George Gallup recently stated that America has "become a nation of biblical illiterates." Gallup and Christian researcher George Barna back up that claim with plenty of survey results. Look at the statistics revealed in some recent polls, and compare with your answers.

Fewer than half of all American adults can name all four Gospels. How many can you name?

Many Christians cannot identify more than two or three of twelve apostles. How about you?

Sixty percent of Americans can't name more than four of the Ten Commandments. Give it a try yourself. How did you do?

Here are some more examples, even more astonishing.

One Barna poll stated that one out of eight American adults thought Noah's wife was Joan of Arc! A survey of high school seniors indicated that over half of them thought Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife. Another poll asked who preached the Sermon on the Mount, and many respondents said Billy Graham did.

We are in big trouble!

It's one thing for the general populace to be ignorant about the bible. The deep tragedy is biblical ignorance in the church. Sadly, survey after survey shows the same thing: Christians know less and less about the Bible.

In a nation where more than nine out of ten homes have at least one Bible in it, why are so few aware of its message? Gallup answers, "Americans revere the Bible - but, by and large, they don't read it." To know the Bible, you have to read it. Sadly, only four out of ten Bible-owners read it as often as once a week, while just 11% read it daily.

The result of such biblical illiteracy is that God's people are open to deception. God's Word warns of tragedy for those who don't know His decrees. "My people are destroyed by their lack of knowledge . . . because they have neglected the Law of God" (Hosea 4:6).

The world around us is full of deception. The only way you can know the truth is to read it.

Do you?

GOSPEL A - B - C's

Recently I conducted some training at our church for the adult workers in our Wednesday evening children’s ministry. The subject was “Gospel A – B – C’s.”
Jesus said that even children can come to Him. The obvious implication is that the message of salvation is a simple one. Anyone can understand it.
Here’s how I explain it to the fourth- and fifth-graders I work with on Wednesday evenings.
It’s as simple as “A – B – C.”
“A” stands for “admit:” admit you need a Savior.
By the time you were nine or ten (maybe a little older), you had come to know something about what God wanted for your life: not everything, maybe not even much, but something. It probably wasn’t very long after that when you chose to do what you wanted to do instead. In other words, you rebelled. You made a choice to live your life for yourself instead of for God. And that’s sin.
Now, some people have a hard time defining sin. But really, sin is easy to understand: it’s a three letter word, and right in the middle is “I.” “S – I – N” basically means trying to remove God from the center of your life and put yourself there. More than just wrong behaviors, sin is a wrong attitude toward God. It’s why you need a Savior.
“B” stands for “believe:” believe that Jesus, God’s Son, died to forgive your sin.
It’s not enough merely to “believe in God:” the Bible says the demons believe in God, and tremble in fear (James 2:19). Believing must be more specific. Believe this: Jesus, God’s Son, died to forgive your sin. As long as “I” is in the middle of S–I–N, you are trapped in S–I–N, so God sent His S–O–N to take the punishment for your S–I–N, and that way you can be forgiven.
“C” stands for “commit:” commit your life to Him.
That word comes from the Bible, and the Bible word “commit” simply means “to make a deposit.” It’s like when you take money to the bank and leave it with them. From then on, the bank decides where the money goes, and how it’s invested; in return, they promise that you get more back than you committed to them.
Committing your life to Jesus is just like that. You give Him yourself and let Him decide how you should live. He promises to give you back way more than you gave Him: you give Him your earthly life, and He gives you eternal life. At the same time, you become a brand new person on the inside, because Jesus Himself comes to live inside you and begins to remodel you from the inside out.
“A” – Admit you need a Savior.
“B” – Believe Jesus died to save you from your sin.
“C” – Commit your life to Him.
Even children understand these “A – B – C’s.”
Do you?

TWO SIDES OF GRACE

<> “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.” Jesus said it. It’s recorded in John 8:11. A group of men had just brought to Him a woman caught in adultery; indeed, “in the very act” (John 8:4). These men reminded Jesus of the law that commanded she be stoned to death. They demanded to know what He thought.

In response, Jesus knelt down and began writing in the dirt, then stood up and said, "The one without sin among you may throw the first stone at her" (John 8:7). Then He knelt down and continued His dust inscriptions. Many have wondered what Jesus was writing: maybe the names of the girlfriends of the married men in the group!

One by one, the men walked away, and Jesus asked the adulteress if any accusers remained. When she replied that they had all left, Jesus uttered the words above: “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.”

Was she, in fact, guilty? Indisputably.

Was her punishment warranted? According to the law, certainly.

She was indeed, by every biblical standard, guilty as charged and deserving of punishment.

Exactly like us.

That’s right: before a holy God, we are just as guilty as she was. In view of human reality and biblical truth, only a fool would dispute that.

The good news is that God’s grace is bigger than our sin. As Paul wrote, “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20).

And notice how Jesus applied grace.

First, He expressed forgiveness: “Neither do I condemn you.”

He had already said the first stone should be thrown by the person without sin; and He was the only one that met the stipulation! If the sinless Son of God, Who alone is eligible to judge sinners, freely offers forgiveness, who do we think we are to demand more of sinners then He does?

But that’s not all! He also expected the woman to change. “Go, and sin no more,” He said, and by so saying, called her behavior what it truly was: sin. And He told her to stop it.

Here’s how Paul explained it to his disciple Titus: “God’s grace has been shown to everyone. It saves us and teaches us to lead sober, righteous and devout lives, as we renounce ungodliness and worldly lusts” (Titus 2:11-12). Grace, far from being a permit to sin, instructs those who have been forgiven to pursue righteous living.

Like a precious coin of priceless value, grace has two sides: the forgiveness side and the change side. You can’t have one without the other. Resistance to personal transformation leaves you unforgiven. Refusal to be forgiven – or to forgive! – renders you untransformable. Or, to put it another way, justification and sanctification are both works of grace. To submit to grace means to open oneself to both works.

Jesus said it somewhat more simply: “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.”

MY JESUS, I LOVE THEE

In the contemporary service at my church, most of the worship music is rather recent in composition. However, we frequently pick up one of the church’s great historic hymns, and rearrange it just a bit for guitar and keyboard. Not long ago, my son David, one of the younger members of the Praise Team, was scheduled to lead worship the following Sunday. The song list he chose included his arrangement of the hymn, “My Jesus, I Love Thee.” If you know it, you’ll agree with me: it’s a great song!

When our secretary was compiling the word sheets for the singers, I decided to remove the third verse of the hymn: it’s the verse about dying. My motive was that since the younger Praise Team members were leading on this particular Sunday, a verse about death seemed a bit out of place, perhaps even morbid. Besides, this song was to be the last in the set, and I didn’t want worship to end on a “downer.”

During rehearsal on Thursday evening, as “My Jesus, I Love Thee” was being sung, the David suddenly stopped the group. “Hey!” he called to me where I was seated at the back of the sanctuary, “What happened to the third verse?”

Patiently, I explained my reasons for editing the song.

“But you’ve taken out the best verse!” he protested.

“Yeah,” said David’s older sister Laura. “If loving Jesus doesn’t work when you’re dying, it sure won’t you while you’re living. I mean, if Jesus doesn’t mean everything, He doesn’t mean anything.”

Corrected by this obvious wisdom, and sufficiently humbled by my children, I willingly reinstated the verse; because, now that I thought about it in light of what I had just been told, it really is the best verse of the song.

Not long after that, I stood at the hospital bedside of a precious 92-year-old Christian, who after decades of trusting Jesus, said confidently to his doctor and his family, “I just want to go home and be with Jesus.” Though we weren’t quite as ready to let go of him as he was to lay hold of heaven, after he said the same thing a half-dozen more times, the family agreed. The machines that had been keeping him artificially alive were gradually turned off. In less than a day he went to sleep in bed, and woke up in the arms of Christ.

In the years I knew him, he was never much of a singer, at least not in public. Still, it’s easy to imagine him singing as His Savior came to take him home, something like the third verse of that song, the best verse, the verse I’ll never edit out again.

Here’s how it goes.

I love Thee in life. I will love Thee in death,

And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;

And say, when the death-dew lies cold on my brow,

“If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now!”

ONE LIFE AT A TIME

I'm taking a class these days about evangelism. In studying for the class I have learned some overwhelming statistics about the number of people in the USA who don't know Jesus Christ.

What I've learned is that even though as many as 90% of Americans claim to believe in God, between 150 and 180 million Americans say they don't have a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. They may believe in God, but they don't know Him.
With a "faith" apparently similar in nature to that of hell's demons, who "also believe, and tremble" (James 2:19), these 150 to 180 million don't follow God, serve Him or worship Him. From what we can tell, their so-called faith hasn't made one bit of difference in their lives, and it won't change their eternal destiny.

I don't know about you, but information like that can be depressing if you ponder it for long in its full statistical enormity. Let's break it down into a more manageable hunk.

The good news about the Good News is that you don't have to share It with everyone. The 150 to 180 million unsaved people are not all your own personal responsibility.

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. Leave the masses to someone else. All God asks most Christians to do is attend to the one someone right there in front of you, that one who doesn't know the Lord.

At the close of his book, "The Unchurched Next Door," Dr. Thom Rainer relates the following true story shared by Emily N. about her acquaintance Celeste.

"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 the 150 to 180 million. She was intent upon that one person she knew who didn't know Christ: her friend 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?"

Good question, Emily.

WHOSE CHURCH?

“I will build My church.” – Jesus, Matthew 16:18

If you are a church member, it’s likely that you refer to the church to which you are committed as “my church,” or perhaps “our church.” It has a nice ring to it, and everybody understands what you typically mean. What you’re really saying is that your life and heart are deeply connected to that particular body of believers. You sense a relationship that goes beyond mere formal affiliation to include a sense of belonging: not that the church belongs to you, but that you belong to the church.

However, human nature, allowed to pursue its innately selfish predisposition, can sometimes twist the words “my church” or “our church” into an ugly, cruel thing.

In the first church I served as pastor, I had a graphic lesson in this.

When the “new” church building was built in 1963, there was substantial conflict involved in the planning and fund-raising. Two influential families began (or continued?) a kind of competition over who would raise more money and purchase more of the church’s facility. One family donated the property, and another agreed to pay for a bell tower. All the while several others steadfastly resisted the move from the “old” church building. In an apparent effort to placate these dissenters, it was agreed to use the old pews and altar furnishings in the new building. Even then, when the move was made to the new building, a few hold-outs resolutely refused to attend, asserting “That place isn’t our church.”

A few years later the family that donated the land was planning their daughter’s wedding, and decided that the old pews and furnishings just wouldn’t do. So, they bought new pews, altar table, pulpit, chancel chairs, the whole kit and kaboodle: $14,000 worth. I know that’s how much they spent, because they told me – several times.

Some folks thought it was a lovely gift. It was obvious to me that it wasn’t a gift at all. It was a leash, which they occasionally yanked to keep the church in line. It was therefore no surprise that a few years later one of the family told me in a private meeting, “Someday you’ll be gone, along with all the people you’ve brought in here, and I’ll go back to running this place like I always have.”

True story. Still makes me shiver, just remembering it.

Whose church was it? Well, it was supposed to be Christ’s church. And for a while it was. During that time attendance tripled and we baptized scores of souls. That growth only made sense, inasmuch as Jesus told us that He would, in fact, build His church. His church, but not ours.

What’s the bottom line? Simply this: if it’s “our church” rather than Christ’s church, it may not really be a church at all. We may call it a charitable club, or a humanitarian organization; but if it’s ours, we mustn’t call it a church. To be a church, it must belong to Jesus.

THANK GOD FOR HIS MERCY!

Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath have revealed some of the best and worst of humanity.

In the blaming and finger-pointing about responses to the disaster, we have seen evidence of two basic questions that dictate the way much of our culture operates. As Russ Kreuter posted a few weeks ago on his blog, question number one is, "How can I get what I deserve?" Number two is the corollary of number one: "Who can I blame when I don't get what I deserve?"

These two questions have come to dominate western society. Our culture asserts that the top priorities for our existence are taking care of ourselves, being certain that all our own needs are met, and securing all our rights.

I've got news for you: our culture is wrong.

The fact is, we exist for the glory of God. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else.

Sometimes that means we're happy. Sometimes it means we're not so happy. But always it means that God is the center of the universe. You and I are not.

In other words, it's not about you and me.

Who is "it" about, then?

It's about God.

Happiness and fulfillment, those blessings we long for, are actually the by-product of being in an intimate relationship with God. If you pursue happiness as its own goal, you'll never find it. If you chase fulfillment apart from God, your efforts will leave you dry and empty, and probably bitter in the end.

That's why all the talk about "what we deserve" is so dangerous.

When you get down to it, what DO we deserve? From God, that is?

Before you answer, remember why God created us. We are made in His image, the bible says in Genesis 1:26-28. That means we are meant to reflect Him to the rest of creation, to each other, and even back to Him. No other beings in the universe bear that glorious imprint of God.

And what have we done with that glorious imprint? We have turned it inward upon ourselves. Rather than being caught up with God's glory, we have become consumed with ourselves. In every situation, though we were created to focus on God, our theme song has turned from "To God Be the Glory!" into "I Did It My Way!"

In view of such self-absorption, what we really deserve is this: a life of misery followed by eternity separated from God. Anything other than that - any joy, any fulfillment, any goodness and light - is evidence of the mercy of God.

By His mercy, God does much more than "let us off the hook" or "look the other way" about our selfish rebellion. His mercy involves true justice; and in His system of justice, mercy is tied to Jesus' death on the cross. It was there that He took upon Himself the rightful punishment our sinful rebellion requires.

In other words, God's mercy means we DON'T get what we deserve!

And that, my brothers and sisters, is good news. Indeed.