Preparing The Heart

The End of the World?

2011-05-20T11:56:00.000-04:00

So I understand from the news that tomorrow, Saturday May 21, 2011, beginning about 6 PM the end of the world is scheduled to happen. I am amazed at how much media attention this "prophecy" has garnered. I mean even the preeminent physicist Stephen Hawking reports this week that there is no Heaven. I have no idea if the Hawking declaration has anything to do with the reported end of the world.

OK being a child of the 80's I must digress here.

Now back to reality. There is a great deal of interest in the end of the world, whether it will be tomorrow or some other day in the distant or not to distant future. I have listened to and read a large amount of commentary on the prediction for this coming weekend. I have seen everything from the theologian response to the Facebook/Twitter "status update" response. There are people who are worried, scared, throwing a party and others who are genuinely saddened that the hype has generated a great deal of negative press and is degrading a foundational Christian doctrine.

I just want to offer a few bullet points of thought.

1. As a Christian who really believes the Bible, I know there will be a day of final judgement. Matthew 25:31-32

2. No one knows the day or the hour of that coming, Jesus did not even know while he walked on the earth. Mark 13:32

3. Christian, there will always be false prophets and false teachers among us. II Peter 2:1-3

4. The judgement and end times "prophecy" is of particular interest to many of these false prophets/teachers. II Thessalonians 2:1-3a

5. The truth is the for many people tomorrow, judgement day will come, just as it will come for many today, and every day next week, next month, next year and everyday until the Lord Jesus Christ does return for His elect. Hebrews 9:27

6. Christians our job is not to defend the Bible or the truth claims in it. Our task to to proclaim that truth, in love, in service and many times in suffering. II Timothy 4:1-5; Ephesians 4:15; John 13:1-20; Matthew 5:11-12

7. We have a Great Commandment (Matthew 22:36-40) to keep and a Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) to fulfill.

8. When the Lord Jesus Christ does come, may He find us being faithful. I Thessalonians 5:4-28

You may find this message I preached some time ago helpful. I ask "Are We LIVING in The Last Days?"

Are we Living in the Last Days? from Marcus Daly on Vimeo.

What the Church in America Needs - D. A. Carson

2011-04-07T13:50:00.000-04:00

There Is No Next Year

2011-04-06T11:54:00.000-04:00

I am a college sports fan. To be specific I follow SEC Football and University of Kentucky basketball. When you are a KY fan, you have to follow the whole SEC in football to have a successful season, though my gridiron Cats have be strong"er" the past few years. So I was disappointed when my Cats lost, even though I am proud of their very good season. But the 2011/2012 Preseason Top 25 is already out and I am glad to see the UK Cats on the very top.

Wonderful thing about basketball, one team gets to celebrate, congrats to UConn, (and the Texas A&M ladies) I'm over my brief bout with basketball bitterness, and everybody else get to say, "Just wait till next year."

The truth of the matter is that's fine for sports, because in the grand scheme of things, who really cares. Our lives and especially our eternal lives are not saved or lost based on what five teenagers do on a basketball court. It is though, very dependent on what we do in our churches day after day, week after week and year after year. For the lives of lost and hurting men and women, there is no "next year."

After spending another weekend with the KAIROS prison ministry team inside the walls of Bertie Correctional Institution, a closed (max) security prison facility in Windsor, NC, I realize again just how fragile this life and our time on it is. Of the six guys at my family table, all of them were under 42 years old and four of them under 25. What they did to land in prison or how long they have to be there is not nearly as important as all of them sharing with us that they had a close affiliation with a church growing up.

What is KAIROS

As a pastor and ministry leader, I have had the "I don't know what is wrong with my kids, I raised them in church their whole lives," conversation untold number of times. I think I may have a clue as to what is wrong. We raise them in church, but we fail to raise them in Christ. There is a huge difference. In this culture, church has become an institution or club that we join out of generational obligation or for the social status that membership in this congregation or that one brings us. That is not the church, the church is a disciple-making, evangelistic, mission-centric extension of the ministry of Jesus Christ, that is why we are called the Body of Christ.

I have to wonder, are we putting off ministry and truly reaching this generation for "next season" or are we willing to get back in the game and work hard to reach everyone we can in the name of Jesus Christ while it is still today. The guys we met this weekend were blessed with another chance, but we met 42 out of 1000 residents, and maybe consistently minister with about 100 at any given time, and this is only one of the 70 or so institutions in NC and of the thousands in the nation.

The point is this, we are living among a people that do not know the Lord, they know the church and don't like it, but they don't know Jesus. The worst thing that will happen is not that they may go to prison, the worst thing is that millions will go to hell, millions in our hometowns across this nations, and billions across the globe.

Church, there is no next season, if people die lost, they die eternally lost. The need, from rural communities to huge cities, from every corner of the nation and world, is for us, the church to take seriously the commission of Jesus Christ and begin now making disciples of all nations, both the nations we travel to and the nations that travel to us.

Kentucky fell one point short of a trip to the championship game. But that’s alright, they have next year. How many people have to fall short in life, have to die without Christ and without a next “season” before we wake up and make the difference, the Lord has called us to make?

The System

2011-03-29T13:56:00.000-04:00

I watched a very eye-opening documentary this morning called Waiting for Superman. The trailer is below.

The main idea of the movie is that our nation has created an education system that does not most benefit the people it is trying to reach, in this case the school age children of our cities, towns and rural communities. Instead, it caters to those who run the system. You should watch it and come to your own conclusion.

My concern here is not that movie or the public education system, my concern is the church. After watching this I was force to ask myself, "Have we in the church created a system that is not reaching those we are called to reach so that we can keep happy those already in charge of that system?"

Here is what I fear it looks like for too many of us. Church is for me and I must fight to ensure I get what I "deserve," even if I am not doing the "job" I am called to do. Do we have our own unwritten form of "tenure" that says that even if a church, or pastor, or leader is ineffective at reaching and teaching the nations or even the community with the gospel of Jesus Christ, we cannot remove them, close that church and seek other ways to "reform" the community of faith.

If a school fails a child, that is tragic. Their lives are too often left to a lottery (see the film) and if they are not picked...well the outcome is the perpetuation of the problem.

If a church fails a community or the nations, it is eternally tragic. We are commanded to "make disciples of all peoples" (Matt. 28:18-20). There is no going back if we fail in this one command. The church must stop being the system, and must start being the church. If we fail, people are not just destined to a life of struggles but are condemned to an eternity in hell.

This documentary maintains that all children can learn regardless of their neighborhood, background, or life experiences. I really believe we, in the Church of Jesus Christ, have the responsibility to take this message to all, because everyone can be reached with the gospel.

Just some thoughts, I will continue to study and really see if there might be this connection. The fact that something is wrong in our nations school systems is obvious. It is just as obvious that something is wrong with the vast majority of our churches. We don't need "Superman." We need to be obedient to Jesus Christ.

God, Are You Serious?

2011-02-10T16:13:00.001-05:00

This past week we began a Sunday school series in the Book of Hosea. You know the prophet that God told to marry a … ah, well, a … a prostitute. It really is a beautiful story of how the sovereign God continues to pursue His people even when we are promiscuous in our relationship with Him. Well, the truth is we prostitute ourselves by seeking to replace God as Lord and put ourselves in His place. This is spiritual adultery. But that is not the focus of what I want to communicate in these next several blogs.

The reality is that God often calls us to do what we would never imagine doing. This happens several times in the Bible and I will try to hit some of them over the next few weeks. However, let me focus on Hosea for a minute or two. Can you imagine what had to go through Hosea’s mind when God told him to marry “HER!!!???” No doubt, she was well known throughout the town, especially that side of town. Gomer (and lets lay aside our cultural connection to Gomer Pyle) was not the girl that momma would have wanted her son to bring home … no way, not in this lifetime.

But the truth is that God had a great plan for Hosea, Gomer and His people. Several times throughout the Bible God says, “I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (I Chronicles 17:22; Jeremiah 32:38; Ezekiel 11:20; II Corinthians 6:16; Hebrews 8:10; Revelation 21:3) Yet the second, yes the second, child Hosea and Gomer have God tells them to name him “Not My People.”

God called Hosea to do something so out of the ordinary that everyone would take notice. And God did not call him to do it once, but twice. After Gomer fell back into promiscuity and was bound in slavery, God told Hosea to go and buy her back and make her is wife AGAIN.

No doubt, in the middle of the circumstances that Hosea found himself in, he had questions. I can’t help but think that he looked up and said, “God, are You serious?” The truth is though, that whatever his questions might have been there is no hint in the Book of Hosea that he wavered in his obedience to God’s call and command.

Today we live in a world where following God is going to seem absolutely ridiculous. And no doubt, we will find ourselves scratching our heads saying, “God, are you serious?” The answer is yes, God is serious, He is eternally serious. God sought to redeem Israel through the message of Hosea’s life and God is seeking to redeem a people for Himself through our lives – II Corinthians 5:16-6:1. What God is calling you to may seem absurd, believe me I am experiencing it right now in the direction God is leading me and my family, but when you are certain of God’s direction and it matches His revealed Word and is confirmed by those you are praying with, then yes, God is serious, very serious, life and death serious, eternal life and eternal death serious.

I doubt God has called you to marry a “Gomer,” but He has called you to reach a community, your family, your co-workers, your neighbors. And He is likely calling you to take the Gospel message to them in a way that has never been done before. God called no prophet before or since to do what Hosea had to do, but he continues to call His people every day to reach a people for His glory and His kingdom. I know it sounds crazy, but Christians, God wants you, and you and I have to be obedient, even when we are asking, “God, are you serious?”

Time to Obey

2010-12-28T12:47:00.000-05:00

I have posted two times this year. I guess I could make a lot of excuses, but the simple fact is that I have not been obedient to what God has called me, and I am not just talking about posting on this blog. To say that a great deal has changed is an understatement, much of which I will not share, but God has brought me to a place where I must simply obey Him and let Him take care of the details. Status Quo is no longer an option.

Among the many changes that have occurred especially in the past few months is my leaving a place of ministry and security. The details of the past are not important or at least not nearly as important as the hope of the future. God brought my family to a community in far Eastern North Carolina with a hope to pursue ministry and see people come to know the Lord Jesus Christ and to have their lives transformed by Him. I really believe in all my heart that God began to show me about 8 months ago that He wanted to do a work in this community and that for some reason I was to be involved in it. Like always I questioned it, "Why me?" "Isn't there somebody else?" and so forth. However God allowed me to be put in a position where I would either have to stand on my convictions based on His Word as true and authoritative or compromise. Now I am in a similar position. If I really believe that He is There and He is not Silent (Read Francis Schaeffer) then I am compelled to obey His word and submit to His Lordship.

I still do not know what all of that means, but I am sure that it means that there are still hundreds of people in this county that need to hear the message of salvation in Christ Jesus, and for whatever reason God has called me to be a part of taking that message to as many of them as possible. I am not worthy, but neither am I worthy of His call to ministry, nor His call to salvation, nor even the breath I just inhaled while typing this.

I had an interesting Christmas this weekend. I spent Christmas day reading, reading a book about giving, giving everything because that is what Christ has called us to do. The Sunday after Christmas I was scheduled to preach but we got a freak snow storm and everything was cancelled. So I read another book, another book about giving everything for the cause of taking the Gospel to lost men and women, boys and girls because God is worth it. He is worth giving up everything here to know Him for all eternity. I would urge caution if you desire to read these two books, I walked away from them with one settled reality in my life, It is time to obey.

I still don't know what "obeying" God will look like. But I know the first steps are being taken as I have invited several folks to my home (which I am currently borrowing) to begin to dig into the Word of God with the intent on being obedient to reach this community, everyone in this community with the gospel regardless of race, nationality, ethnicity, education level, job situation, orientation, past, present or future circumstances or any other barriers that we depraved, wicked people like to build between ourselves. And as we reach them seeing their lives, and my life transformed more and more toward the image of Christ.

It is time to obey and while I don’t know what I am doing, I know what I am not doing anymore, and that is settling for giving God what is left over.

Here are the two books.

Radical

Crazy Love

My prayer is simply this, God do your will. Period.

Ministering in the Prison

2010-03-25T15:05:00.003-04:00

A few weekends ago I was given the great opportunity to serve with a group of about 60 men and women in one of the most difficult places to serve the Lord, inside the walls of a closed security prison. The ministry team was and is made up of men and women from many different denominations and Christian traditions. We are able to lay aside our differences and focus on the things that we all agree on and that is that Jesus loves people and He gave His life to save sinners, of which I am the chief. (I Timothy 1:15) This is the second time I have had this opportunity to spend the entire weekend inside the walls ministering to men that are incarcerated. It is amazing to see how the love and grace of God penetrates the steel and concrete of the prison, but it is even more amazing to see how He penetrates the steel and concrete hard hearts of people, mine included.

I could certainly tell you of many stories about the weekend, but first that would take a great deal of time and secondly I will not divulge any details to preserve the confidentiality of the men we served while in the institution. There are many similarities between serving in a prison and serving outside on the streets. There are the same questions about truth, about the exclusivity of salvation in Jesus Christ alone. There are many men that are confused or have believed lies about the nature and person of God. Many men very easily mix their religions together as to meet their perceived needs and many times to just survive.

Every false teaching there is, is present inside the prison. Many times it is difficult to refute false teachings in a way that is both direct and necessary and still attempt to maintain a relationship so that the truth of the gospel can be proclaimed. I have learned a great deal about how effective it is to just simply stick with the foundational truths of the faith, and let others see the falsity in their beliefs when confronted with the truth. When asked about a certain belief, I have learned first hand that it is very effective to state the truth, and allow the Word of God to refute the falsehoods rather than try to dismantle other arguments.

I have learned another very important lesson. God's people are everywhere. I have made some good friends inside the walls of the prison. These men have made mistakes, some of them very serious mistakes, crimes of every nature, but the power of repentance and seeking the forgiveness of the Lord makes a visible difference in lives. Many of the men we encounter, not only during the weekends, but also on a weekly bases are very well versed in the Bible. They are challenging to talk with, and very knowledgeable of the Word. I wish I were at their level of Bible understanding.

These special men have also taught me what it means to depend on the Holy Spirit. When you are incarcerated there is nothing or no one else. You can either join a gang or die. But those that have placed their faith and trust in Christ have a special joy and peace about them. They are often times serving as missionaries to fellow inmates, and the gospel is being heard because these Christian men are sharing their faith and living under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

There is one last point that I want to share about what I have learned from being a part of these men's lives. There seem to be two recurring themes from many of their lives. The first one is that most, and I mean almost everyone of them, share that their fathers were never part of their lives. I cannot tell you how many times I have had a man on the inside tell me that they never heard their father tell them that they loved them, cared for them, and too many time they never even knew Him. Now I am not blaming the decisions that these men made on an absent father, but I can not help but believe that if a father, or some man acting as a father figure could have intervened and invested in their lives early on, that something might not have been different. So many of these men do not know how to accept the love of Christ because they have never had anyone love them in their lives. My encouragement is this: MEN, take time to tell your kids, and in this case your sons that they are loved, that you love them, and then take care to invest in their lives. Secondly, there is some young boy in your church, community, on your kids baseball team or somewhere close to you that needs you to show an interest in him. Take him fishing, take him to get ice cream, talk to him and share the love of Jesus Christ with him. We never know what God will do with our meager efforts.

The second blaring truth that I learned from these men in prison is that nearly all of them had been hurt or abandoned by a church or a pastor. As a matter of fact many of the inmates were very surprised that I, a pastor would even come into a prison and talk to incarcerated men. They have been written off by the religious leaders in their lives and told that now they were worthless and useless. Again, I am not discounting the seriousness of their crimes, but we are all made in the image of God and God has called us to reach every man, woman, and child regardless of their pasts. Just imagine what our Bible would look like if God did not use murders like Moses, David and Paul or rapists like David and Judah, or thieves like Jacob or a liar like Abraham. I really don't think I need to go on. God loves these men, and He is calling us to love them too.

I am learning everyday about the nature of ministry. I am learning some of this from the great seminary that I am honored to study at. I am learning some of this from the amazing church God has gifted me with to pastor. I am also learning a great deal about ministry, and love, and grace, and mercy, and hope, and Holy Spirit led lives, and so much more inside the walls of a prison.

Blessings and Pray for the Incarcerated

Help for Haiti

2010-01-14T11:21:00.003-05:00

If you would like to donate in the Haiti Relief effort here is a secure site through the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board.

NAMB Disaster Relief Fund

Or The American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund

Here is a link to text a donation to the relief effort as well.

Above all we need to pray for the people of Haiti and for those providing aid and assistance.

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering

2009-11-18T17:49:00.002-05:00

Be Imitators of God

2009-10-21T16:58:00.002-04:00

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl

2009-10-14T11:35:00.004-04:00

I blog review for Thomas Nelson and received this book free in exchange for post my reviews.

I used to love going to the carnival. I liked all the rides, but especially the ones that spun you, flung you around and of course the roller coasters that when really fast. In N.D. Wilson's book Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl you go on such a ride but never leave the ground.

Wilson takes a different look at the world around us from every perspective, almost at the same time. He dares to think both theologically and philosophically at many aspect of life that sometimes we don't know how to connect. He looks creation, providence and evil in not only what did happen, but what might have happened to what could have happened but didn't.

This is certainly a good one to have on your shelf as a reminder that the sin-tainted world we live in is not simple or straight, but the God who is Creator is there and hears. I don't know that one will see this book quoted in alot of academic papers but you will likely use its insights in teaching and preaching.

Praying for Revival

2009-10-12T14:04:00.002-04:00

It is October and it seems there are always two things that take place in this month every year. One is the fall classic, the World Series. I'll let the guys at ESPN take up that mantel and run with it since I am not sure who is even in the playoffs still, which is kind of unusual since I generally follow sports.

Anyway, the second staple for the month of October is that we in the Baptist tradition seem to always "schedule" revival for this month. Well, we are good Baptists where I have the privilege of serving now. Ours is "scheduled" for Oct. 21-25 and you better know that Sunday October 25 is homecoming and we are gonna eat.

I have only become pastor at Merry Hill within the last year, so in our prayers and decisions to invite a speaker I had several members suggest that I preach the services. I really did not like this idea at first, but I prayed and thought and sought council from some in our church and decided to lead the services.

This has proven to be a difficult series of messages to prepare. We have been studying thought the book of Ephesians for the past few months in our Sunday morning services and really focusing on the foundations of the church. In that vain of thinking I desire to lead my folks to a deeper understanding what is required of a follower, a disciple of Christ. The struggle has been that through my study and preparation I have learned that I have a great deal more to understand about the life of a fully committed (as if there is any other kind) disciple of Jesus Christ.

I read through the Gospel of Mark and landed on Mark 8:34. When I got here I knew this is where I needed to build my messages to Marcus Daly and Merry Hill Baptist Church for our services. "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him take up his cross and follow Me." That is the essence of discipleship and the essence of being a Christian.

If nothing changes I am planning for five message centered around this theme: Merry Hill-The Cross Bearing Church.

My prayers are many.

1. That God would indeed send revival--on His schedule and (as I have heard many times) that He would truly start it in me.
2. That God would begin now working in the lives of the members of MHBC to bring to their hearts and minds the need for renewal and revival.
3. That we would go beyond the hearing of the messages and the concepts of discipleship, to the actual doing of discipleship and that there would be a noticeable difference in our church and community.
4. That God would draw us all closer to Him in intimacy, dedication and love.
5. That God would draw that lost man or woman, boy or girl, teenager, stranger or church member that does not yet know Him in salvation through Jesus Christ to Himself and save them radically.
6. That God would be the communicator and that I would get out of His way.

My planned messages are:

The Cross-Bearing Disciple from Mark 8:34-38
The Cross-Bearing Prayer from Nehemiah 1
The Cross-Bearing Evangelist from Act 6:8ff.
Cross-Bearing Worship from Phil. 3:1-21
The Cross-Bearing Church from Ephesians 6:10-20

I share now these passages for those who plan to be apart of our services to begin looking and meditating over. The Holy Spirit can far better expound these passage and make the relevant to your lives than I can. And I also share them so that my brothers and sisters in ministry that God has blessed me to know and grow with over the years can be in prayer for me as I study and pray for us as we engage them together from October 21-25.

Thank you in advance for your praying and may God indeed send revival.

The President’s Speech to School Children

2009-09-08T16:15:00.000-04:00

September 8, 2009

I listened this afternoon intently to the President’s address to our nation’s school children. I also followed along with the prepared text that the Whitehouse released yesterday, Monday, September 7.

There were a few encouraging points that I gleaned from this afternoon’s speech.

1. He stayed with his text. Unfortunately I have a great distrust with most in our federal government. I was grateful that the President stayed with what he released the day prior and there were no surprises.
2. There were no direct statements to policy. I disagree with most of what I am hearing coming from Washington DC, from both sides of the aisle, and I am grateful that the President’s speech was to the nation’s school children, and not, as I honestly feared, it was not a side door to interject his policy that many in our nation find lacking.
3. The President did a good job raising the bar for our young people. The standard for our youth in America has been set so low for so long, it is good to see the most prominent voice in our land raise the standard for our youth to work hard, study hard, and focus hard.
4. I was thankful that the President encouraged the nation’s students to set attainable goals and then work to meet them.
5. I am thankful that the President underscored the importance of education in regards to the future of our nation. Indeed today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders.
6. I am grateful that the President acknowledged the difficulties that many kids face today and their need to not give up. Giving up and just quitting is just too simple today, and I am glad for his encouragement to stay in the fight.

There are likewise, a few issues of concern that I have. Now I readily admit that none of my concerns were directly addressed in the President’s speech this afternoon. I also readily confess that I am being critical and may even be reading too much into his words. But in light of his policies and stands on specific issues I can not but help wonder how he can make some of the claims that he did.

1. First I am very surprised that he confessed to being home-schooled. I applaud the efforts of all parents that invest in their children’s education regardless of the education course (public, private, home or other) one chooses to take, but with his support from the very left leaning NEA, I am just surprised.
2. Secondly, as I said above I am grateful that the President emphasized the need for students to take responsibility, however I am concerned if he did not raise the bar too high. “But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities.” Question: Does the full weight of our nation’s education system depend on children? Yes there is a greater need to encourage kids to take responsibility for themselves, but if the schools in our nation are failing is that the kids fault?
3. Along the same lines as the previous, the President said, “What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country.” Here again, does the entire future of our nation depend on the work and effort of our student aged 18 and down, or does not a greater deal of the burden lie with those of us making decisions now. Here is where I will digress, admittedly so. We are spending money faster that we can print it. These very children that the President is talking to are inheriting a massive debt that we will never be able to repay. Furthermore, their parents are losing jobs at record rates and it is becoming more and more difficult to make ends meet now, let alone when they find jobs, assuming they do find jobs. We are still killing a huge number of babies every year to the tune of 1.2 to 1.5 million through the legal act of abortion. Roughly one of every four children conceived in the past 25 years has been aborted. The numbers are higher when you look only at minority children especially African American and Hispanic American populations. The government is currently looking to take over every major industry in our nation. The banks and the auto industry are now government owned, and the medical industry will be next. The government is getting bigger and bigger and the public’s ability to be innovative through small businesses and manufacturing is getting smaller and smaller. I will agree with the President that these young people are our future, but if the policies that are currently in the works continue, the future for our youth will be working to catch up more than to move forward.
4. My next concern is the President’s words about making “our nation more fair and more free.” More fair and more free for whom? We have abolished the sanctity of human life at both ends of the life cycle. The two most dangerous places for a person to be are in the womb or in the hospital. With laws legalizing abortion and physician assisted suicide, it is obvious that there are some lives that will enjoy neither fairness nor freedom. We have and are continuing to destroy the sanctity of marriage. We have redefined family. We have robbed parents of their rights to raise and discipline their children. The flow of ideas is wide open as long as you embrace relativism and pluralism. We are being told that to speak an opinion that is opposed to this administration is to be “Un-American.” I would love a fair and free nation.
5. Next, while I applaud the President’s encouragement to our students not to make excuses for failure to achieve, I find it difficult to hear those words from this man. For the past two plus years, going back to when he was candidate Obama, he has been doing nothing but making excuses and playing the blame game. The reason this nation is where it is today is everybody’s fault but his. Without a doubt there is enough blame to go around, and indeed we all bear responsibility, but I would really like for him and his band of followers to stop pointing fingers at somebody else and start accepting that where we are is everybody’s fault.

I really wish I could support this administration, but with their open disregard for the lives of children, the lives of families, and the enormous debt we are amassing, anything that comes out of Washington I am taking with a grain of salt. I don’t trust them, I don’t believe them, and I don’t believe in them. I am opinionated, I know. I am not saying I know the best direction for getting us out of our economic slum-pit. I am not the best political thinker.

I am grateful that on the surface, I believe that our President encouraged and inspired our nation’s school children, unfortunately our nations issues, especially our nations social and life issues are much more complex, and I can not take the President at his word.

Trusting God by Jerry Bridges

2009-09-07T10:36:00.002-04:00

Being in ministry now for over a decade, walking with many people through their hurts, disappointments and even tragedies, the most oft asked question is "Why?" Most of the time this question does not immediately imply a lack of trust in God. But far too often that is where it leads. How could God allow...? Why did God...?

For a pastor, a friend, a loved one these are often unanswerable questions. Indeed many times it easier to obey God rather than trust Him.

The republishing of Dr. Bridges book Trusting God: Even When Life Hurt is an absolute need read for us all. The reality of life is that we will all face times of great difficulty and hurt. This book is theologically sound and at the same time a comfort to read. It was such for me and I am not currently facing great difficulty.

It sounds so flippant and many times offensive to tell some one facing a tragic situation not to worry, "God is in control." While that is indeed the fact, in the moment it is difficult to see. This is the reason I would highly recommend this text now, perhaps you have not faced great adversity, or perhaps you have sometime in your past. Either way this book will give you the truths of God's character in His love, His wisdom, His sovereignty, His rule, and His trustworthiness.

I have only blog reviewed for a short time now, but of the books I have read and reviewed, this one has made the most immediate impact on my ministry.

God is Sovereign, and we can trust Him, even when life hurts. Thank you Dr. Bridges for such a powerful reminder from the Word of God, and thank you Navpress for re-releasing it.

Stop the Abortion Mandate

2009-08-19T07:49:00.000-04:00

The Next Generation

2009-08-18T09:36:00.003-04:00

Sarah, my oldest daughter becomes a college student today. Now just to be honest that is special in many different ways. First, I am proud of her, she is finishing her senior year of High School and taking a college class at the same time. I secondly am proud that she has chosen very early in her life to submit herself to the Lordship and calling of Christ. She has always said she would be a missionary and as she now plans for her third foreign mission trip, she begins the academic preparation that she will need. Finally, she gets to go to school with me. I am proud of her for that, I should have been finished many years ago, but that is another story. I think that is quite an accomplishment for a 16 year old.

I thank God daily for all of my kids, he blessed my wife and me with three. I anticipate seeing the two younger children as God leads and directs in their lives over the coming years. They are already so active and dedicated to the work of the Lord. I am blessed and I take it for granted; I know.

But this reality that is beginning to set in and a blog post I read this morning from Dr. Russell Moore at Southern Seminary has really began my thinking about that generation that is coming up.

I tremble when I read from the Word of God that in Judges 2:10 that "when all of the generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD, nor the works which He had done."

What is troubling is how many times the Lord directed the Hebrew people as they traveled and then entered the Promised Land to make sure that their children DID know the Lord and His works.

Deuteronomy 6:7 is of course the classic text commanding the people of God to teach the children diligently the ways of God. But this is by no means the only text from the OT Law and history. At least two more times in Deuteronomy as Moses is giving the Law to a new generation he specifically mentions teaching the children who God is and what God has done. (Deut. 4:9-10; 11:19) Furthermore, Moses prays in Psalm 90:16 that God would "let Your (God's) work appear to Your servants, and Your glory to their children"

Moses was about ensuring that the generations to come knew God and knew His work. Joshua must have gotten the message, at least early in his leadership of the Children of Israel. When they had passed through the swollen waters of Jordan, Joshua commanded that the every tribe take a stone from the middle of the dry river bed and build a memorial. The reason for the memorial was so that "when your children ask in time to come saying, "What do these stones mean to you?" Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord..." (Joshua 4:1-9)

But somewhere between building a "memorial to the children of Israel forever" and the death of Joshua and his generation, "a generation arose [that] did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done."

I was excited to see the incoming class at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and the College as Southeastern this semester. There is a large number of young men and women beginning a pursuit of theological education and many if not most of them will be in ministry is some capacity in the very near future if they are not already there. I praise the Lord for this and pray that there are similar reasons to praise God at our other SBC seminaries and indeed at all evangelical, Bible teaching colleges and seminaries.

This being said I still fear for our young people.

There are many exciting things happening in youth groups and children's ministry across our nation and probably world. But are we short changing our young people by not teaching them who God is and what He has done? Though I am pastoring now, I have spent many years in youth and children's ministry. It is difficult to find curriculum that teaching young people more that just the moral stories about how to be good and that the Bible is a good story book. I really believe that our young people especially our youth are able to go deep in the Word of God and discern from it God's person and the great work of grace He has worked through Jesus Christ for us.

My desire is not to post a doom and gloom, "our next generation is in the toilet" piece. Me desire is to say there is hope. The prophet Joel speaks of a day when our sons and daughters will prophesy and our old men will dream dreams and our young men will see visions. (Joel 2:28) Jesus quotes Psalm 8:2 that out of the mouths of babes the Lord will be praised.(Matt. 21:16) Paul admonishes his young pastor protégé Timothy that even as a young man be an example in "word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity." (I Tim. 4:12)

No, the future is not dim, it is very, very bright. We do not have to live in a world were the next generation does not know the Lord. We very much can live in a world were our next generation is leading the charge against the gates of hell, and by the power of Christ, they are winning.

I read once of John Dewey, probably the most significant force in the philosophy of education this nation has ever seen. The comment, and I do not remember the source or I would gladly cite it, said that He was atheist. That is a common know fact. But the author's question was something akin to "I wonder what he would have turned out to be if a Sunday School teacher or someone had invested in his life as a child to share with him the love and knowlede of Christ?"

We do not know how many lives we influence when we influence the life of one child. We can never know the road they will travel or could have traveled. Church, Christian leaders, pastors, youth and children ministers, and parents, especially parents let me encourage all of us to "Go make disciples." ...Of all nations, YES, but also of all generations.

blessings
II Cor. 13:14

The dangers of finding God in The Shack

2009-08-09T15:59:00.002-04:00

The Shack, by William P. Young, 2007 by Windblown Media: Los Angeles, CA.

I have heard a great deal about a book that came out in 2007 called The Shack. I understand that it has brought some comfort to many who have suffered great tragedy in their lives. And while I do not want to take away from some level of comfort or consoling that may come from a work, I feel a need to respond to this book for a number of reasons. These reasons stem from being a pastor, a parent, a student of the Word of God, and as someone who ministers to families that sometimes suffer great and tragic loss.

Being a pastor and teacher I want to offer a simple review of this book and critique the areas where it falls short, and sometime gravely short.

While I am not a literary critic and to be completely honest I do not read a great deal of fiction as a personal habit, I did not really enjoy this book. I am willing to confess my presuppositions that I often have a negative outlook on “Christian Fiction” because it so often offers a highly subjective look at the tenets of the Christian faith. These subjective and fictional experiences very often do not measure up to the Word of God, and unfortunately do not match the real Christian experience that many of us live day by day.

Secondly I readily confess that I read with a thought to the Scriptures and perhaps my presupposition is one of stricter judgment on the dialogue, story line and character development that what would normally be allowable in a fiction story. However, when three of your main characters in a story are God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, I think it behooves the Christian thinker to ensure that the story accurately reflects the biblical text.

Disclaimers aside, I did not find this a book that I could get involved in, I was not sold on the story. The story line is simple enough to follow and certainly the pain and suffering of the central figure Mac is very real. Unfortunately, the story did not seem to have a focused direction nor an adequate conclusion to the conflict of the story. Many, many people suffer the loss of a loved one in some tragic manner, whether is be as this story tells or through another horrific turn of events like an accident. Simply knowing the location of the body, while that does offer comfort and closer, it does not make the great pain disappear.

Secondly, the character development was indeed fanciful and elegant, but from a biblical perspective it was also heretical. I know that I use a very strong word but the nature of the triune God and each person of the Trinity is a far from the biblical truth as one can get.

First the way each person of the Trinity relates to humanity is skewed. Neither God the Father nor God the Spirit ever in the biblical text appear in an incarnate, that is in human flesh, form to humanity.

The direct interaction with each person of the Trinity is particularly disturbing. When Isaiah saw God high and lifted up in the throne room of Heaven, Isaiah 6:1-8) he fell to his face in shame and repentance. When John saw Jesus in Revelation 1:17, he fell as dead. When men were filled with the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts the spoke new languages, they raised the dead and healed the sick, they spoke with great power and boldness, they laid their lives down for their faith and they died a martyr’s death.

In The Shack when Mac meets God the Father he gets his cheeks squeezed and a bear hug like your aunts used to do at the annual family reunion and it greeted with, “Here you are, and so grown up.” God, a large black woman named Papa then assures Mac that everything will work out on his “terms and time.” (83)

In The Shack when Mac meets God the Spirit she floats in like an apparition to collect his tears, which is what she “values enough to collect.” (84)

When Mac meets God the Son he appears as though he has just stepped out of a farming movie and is leaning up against the door, a pleasant man to look at but “not particularly handsome.”

Mac’s response to meeting the Trinity in a shack in the woods, “Are there any more of you?”

No worship, no reverence, no repentance, no awe, no humility.

My first major critique of the book is that there is no, none, not a single act of worship to the Creator God. Mac spends time and talks to them like we would an old friend. While it is important to understand that we can have a close relationship with God through the Son in the power of the Spirit, God is not our bud, He is not our homeboy, or pal. He is God, and He deserves our undivided worship. We do not sit at a table and eat biscuits with God like we would our grandpa. We worship His at His throne. There is no reverence of the deity and greatness of God.

Secondly the book is explicitly unchristian. On page 182, words attributed to Jesus are as follows: “Those who love me come from every system that exists. They were Buddhists or Mormons, Baptist or Muslims, Democrats, Republicans and many who don’t vote or are not part of any Sunday morning or religious institutions. I have followers who were murderers and many who were self-righteous. Some are bankers and bookies, American and Iraqis, Jews and Palestinians. I have no desire to make them Christian, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa, into my brothers and sisters, into my Beloved.”

To this proclamation of Jesus, Mac asks, “Does that mean that all roads will lead to you?”

“Not at all,” smiled Jesus…”most roads don’t lead anywhere. What it does mean is that I will travel any road to find you.”

While I whole-hearted agree with the maxim that a religious system, political affiliation, a job or a past is what get one into a relationship with Christ, I emphatically disagree that Christ does not seek to make us Christians.
I do not know a passage in the Bible where Jesus says, “I want to make you Christians,” there are many, many passages that teach the exclusivity of Christ as the only, the only means of salvation.

And yes Jesus did and does come to us where we are, but what is not present in Jesus’ above dialogue is any need to repent, any need to place our faith and trust in Christ. There is no call to discipleship and conformity to Christ.

There is however biblical texts that point to us as Christians and as Christians followers of Christ. Acts 11:26 is only a starting point. “And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” Yes, Jesus does desire to make us Christians.

Furthermore all roads do lead somewhere. There is one way or road that leads to eternal life, and all other roads lead to eternal death. (Matthew 7:13-14)

This is getting very long, but there is one other critique I feel that must be offered. That is how we deal with the problem of evil. In other words why do bad things happen to good people or innocent people like children?

That seemed to be the major theme throughout The Shack, yet there was never a biblical answer given. While it is impossible to give an answer to any specific event, Why was Missy abducted and murdered, there are some general understanding for why there is evil present.

First, and this is nowhere mentioned in the novel, man is sinful. We are sinners my choice and by nature. We do evil deeds. And most of the time the victims of our evil are not at fault. They did nothing specific to warrant a death sentence. There is evil in the world because we are not yet redeemed to a world separated from sin. That world is the eternal presence of God.

Secondly, in reality we are not as innocent as we may think. No there may not be a specific sin that we committed that causes us tragedy, but because we are sinners we are still under death. Death is the result of our willful rebellion against God. I would never assume that a child dies to punish her nor her parents, but the Bible is still very clear, the wages of sin is death. Every time those deaths are difficult to handle, and sometimes they are extremely tragic.

Thirdly, the solution to evil is not some cosmic unity with God. It is placing our faith and trust in the sovereignty and goodness of God. It is trusting God always, even when we do not understand, even when it hurts and hurts a lot. I do not intend to sound superficial in the face of great pain, but the reality is we are dying and our only hope is found in the Biblical Christ.

I cannot give The Shack a positive review. I really wish there were something positive I could close with but it lacks so much in being biblically accurate in describing God, The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It lacks in describing how God relates to humanity through the Trinity. It fails to offer a biblical plan of salvation to lost humanity. And finally it offers no real solution to the problem it addresses.

It is a travesty that this book is being sold in Christian bookstores or in the Christian section of other bookstores. It is unchristian, it is unbiblical and it has the potential to be very dangerous.

Here is a valuable resource for your continued study in regard to The Shack.

Dr. Michael Youssef

Dr. Michael Youssef detailed

Stop the Abortion Mandate

2009-07-25T10:15:00.004-04:00

This past Thursday night, July 23, my wife and I were part of the more than 36,000 that listened to a very important webcast discussing the unholy union of abortion and the currently proposed health care plan in congress right now. I want to post here the link to the webcast and encourage all of us as citizens of this nation, to contact those representing us and demand that abortion be specifically excluded from any mandated program. Further we demand that Planned Parenthood be immediately defunded, (unfortunately the amendment offered by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) to do just that failed in the house). Listen to this webcast and follow through. The reason that abortion is still thriving in this nation is that too many of us that are repulsed by this practice are sitting with our hand tucked under our butts and our mouths shut. Call, write, email and this August visit your representatives and let them know abortion must be aborted. I have listed these before but just to make it easier here are the addresses for your representatives.

The President of the United States

The United States Senate

The United States House of Representatives

Click Here now listen to the Weblog from Stop the Abortion Mandate.

The Crescent Through the Eyes of the Cross: Insights from an Arab Christian by Dr. Nabeel T. Jabbour

2009-07-16T08:52:00.005-04:00

The Crescent Through the Eyes of the Cross: Insights from an Arab Christian by Dr. Nabeel T. Jabbour, published by Navpress, 2008. 259 pages

What is the relationship between the Islamic world and the Christian world? Or maybe a better question is what is the relationship between the East and the West? Or maybe the best question is what is the expectation of the evangelist to the evangelized?

Having no background in the Muslim religion and in Arab culture this is a very helpful and insightful book. The key question the Dr. Jabbour answers for me is really not how do we evangelize the Muslim, but rather how do we help people become effective witnesses for Christ in the world that He has put them in. In essence this is a book as much about discipleship as evangelism. Certainly we must share the confrontational message of salvation through Christ alone by grace alone through faith alone. Further we need to emphasize the absolute authority and sufficiency of the Bible, as the source of transformation for our lives.

The “but” comes in though when we set our eyes on the desired target. It is true that many times we disciple, if we disciple at all, with a desired outcome of making a “good Christian” according to our western and highly questionable standards. This book help me to understand that my goals in evangelism and discipleship is not to make a new Christian look like me, the average American: middle-aged, overweight, more month than money, white guy with a nice Christian name, Mark, and my wife, three children, dog, home, and car, “but” seek to make them look like Christ.

The goal is to lead our lives and those around us to transformation towards the person of Christ. And if that means that we stay in our home country, Arab, Muslim or inner-city America we are conforming into the image of Christ to function in His body where He has called us. Romans 8:29; I Cor. 12:12-14.

This book will challenge you and your conventional wisdom toward evangelism, especially in your relationships and evangelism with your Muslim neighbor, but also in all of your relationships with lost friends and family. You will take new stock in your message and the receiver of your message, and I have sent for the addendum for the challenge to the messenger, me.

Blessings
II Cor. 13:14

2009 Southern Baptist Convention

2009-06-27T17:34:00.005-04:00

Kathleen and I, along with two of our kids had the great pleasure of attending the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Session in Louisville KY this year. We even got caught in a picture of the crowd.

Here is the link to the story about the this year's happenings.

I will be blogging some of my thoughts on this years meeting and where I pray we are heading with the future of our denomination.

blessings
II Cor. 13:14

Southern Baptist Convention and the Great Commission

2009-06-18T09:50:00.007-04:00

This is certainly a busy week in Merry Hill. VBS is this weekend, Friday through Sunday, and as always I am very excited about the ministry and evangelism opportunities VBS offers. We get to meet new children and new families, and so often we find ways to minister to one another throughout the week. We have so many dedicated adult leaders that have worked so hard decorating, preparing and organizing this weekend of ministry and I am thankful to the Lord for every one of them.

This weekend however is only the beginning of a long week of ministry activities. Early Monday morning we are traveling to Louisville, KY for the Southern Baptist Convention. It is very much a homecoming for me. My family is in Kentucky, we are going to rekindle some relationships with folks we have had the great pleasure of ministering with in the past and I am sure we will get to see many old friends from college.

There is another very important reason for being a part of this year's SBC Convention though. There has been great enthusiasm in anticipation of this year's convention and much of it has surrounded the Great Commission Resurgence, now approaching 3800 signatures.

The fact that something needs to be done is obvious. Baptisms are declining throughout the nation. We are turning ever more secular, and what is most disturbing it that I am not talking about the world, but the church. We are trying so hard to "get people in" I fear that too many times we lock Christ out.

I don't know the solutions to the issues facing the churches in our convention. As a pastor nearing 40 (very near 40) I don't think leaving the convention is the answer. I remember reading or perhaps hearing Dr. Patterson saying one time that he never left the convention during the Conservative Resurgence because the SBC was worth the fight and the effort to return her to a biblically driven denomination. I think that is the case today.

I have read and can hardily "amen" all ten axioms of the GCR. However I have not signed the document. I have not signed it because I disagree with it; I have not signed it because I fear that it does not fully represent The Great Commission.

The GCR is dead on track with what it is seeking to call our churches to. We must recognize the Lordship of Christ, the centrality of the Gospel, Love for God and ALL people; we must be biblically sound, strive for doctrinal unity, be distinctively Baptist; we must be intentional about global missions, church planting and church strengthening, be about Biblical preaching, celebrating the diversity in our convention. Our convention must be effective and efficient at all levels from the national to the state to the association to the local church. And with the emphases from secular culture to destroy the family unit we must be all the more vocal and activly working towards restoring and strengthening the family.

So what is my problem? Except for the fourteenth word in the preamble and a passing reference to "teach and model" in commitment number 6, the language of The Great Commission is absent. The first three words of the Great Commission are "Go Make Disciples." We have for years emphasised the need to go make converts, but we have seldom emphasized the need to make disciples. And while the GCR talks around the issue of discipleship throughout, it avoids the use of the biblical terminology of making disciples.

One of the greatest frustrations in the local church is that we have converts whose basic spiritual maturity level is only slightly higher from when they were saved 10 or 20 or 30 or 40 or 50 or 60 years ago. We are seeing today some great revivals in our students and youth. Thank God, over and over again Thank God. But the sad reality is that kids are still walking out of our churches every May and June, graduating from high school and they are not grounded in their faith. I don't know what the numbers are this week but it has generally been as has high as 80% or more students abandon their faith in college.

Why? I think it is because we have not focused on the hard work of discipleship. Discipleship goes beyond sharing the gospel, beyond baptizing believers, beyond the pulpit ministry, beyond Sunday School, and beyond missionaries and church planting.

I think we will see the Convention and indeed evangelical Christianity strengthened when we go beyond just trying to win the lost and move toward converting the won into disciples and the disciples into disciple-makers.

I pray for our churches today. I pray for our convention today. I pray that as we prepare to meet next week with passions and motivations high as we expect to see a great work of God move throughout our convention churches and indeed worldwide, that we will focus on The Great Commission.

"Go Make Disciples of all nations, teaching them to obeserve all things that I have commanded you and baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and low I am with you always, even to the very end of the age."

Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century by Hank Hanegraaff

2009-06-13T08:26:00.003-04:00

Hanegraaff, Hank. Christianity In Crisis: 21st Century. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009) 427 pages.

Truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

Such is the statement in Hanegraaff’s in new book, Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century. There are many attacks on the Christian faith in the world today. In the US we face assaults from atheist groups, attacks the ACLU, moral attacks from gay rights and pro-abortion groups, and a growing demand to re-define truth. As dangerous as these attacks to the Faith are the most dangerous may be from those masquerading as True Christians. Such is the subject of this book. Some works are apologetic in nature, defending the faith, but this book is polemic in that it exposes the lies of 21st Century false teachers.

Hanegraaff, with shocking detail, chronicles the unbiblical form of Christianity professed by the Word-Faith movement in America today. These are the teachers that most refer to as the Name-It-Claim or the Prosperity Preachers. The false doctrine of health and wealth is bad enough, but Hanegraaff details how their heresy runs much deeper to the point of removing the Sovereign God from His throne, deifying Satan, and elevating man to be God’s puppet master. With claims of trips to heaven, resurrections of the dead, direct revelation from God and the ability to speak into existence a new reality these teachers are leading millions astray.

You will read the very well noted and researched text with sometime jaw-dropping surprise as Christianity in Crisis details the outlandish claims from the likes of Meyers, Osteen, the Copelands, Hinn, Hagee, Dollar, Hagin, Parsley, Avanzini, and a whole host of “Cast of Characters.” This is a need read for anyone trying to make sense of the Word-Faith movement, anyone trying to counsel someone involved in these cultic and heretical teachings, or for pastors and teachers who know they have church members exposing themselves to these dangerous (spiritually and physically) ideas.

This Must be Condemned

2009-05-31T19:56:00.004-04:00

Abortion Doctor Gunned Down at Kansas Church, Suspect in Custody
I am 100 percent pro-life but today's tragedy must be condemned at all levels. The end of the murderous act of abortion is NOT murder. I pray that all Christian leaders will make it well known that this is absolute not the solution and strongly condemn this kind of action.

Memorial Day Prayer List

2009-05-21T08:56:00.004-04:00

Inviting all to pray of our service Men and Women at home and abroad, as well as those veterans who are now home and the families of those that will never come home. Below are our Joint Chiefs of all five branches of the US Military.

Define Love

2009-05-14T09:03:00.007-04:00

There are several necessities when trying to communicate. First someone is the sender of the message. Second, someone is the receiver of the message. And third, there is the message its self. However, we have all experienced conversations where only the speaker knew what he or she was talking about. When I talk to my doctor, I have often said, "Now tell me what that means." One would think that everyone speaking the same language, English for our purposes, would understand the simple definitions of the words we use every day. But definitions are not always simple. Take the word "run" for example. What does it mean? According to Dictionary.com it has 179, yes 179 different definitions. That's like 60 different definitions per letter.

If "run" is so complex, just think about a word like "love." In our world love can mean anything from our liking a good hamburger to the emotions we feel for our spouse or children. We love our pets, our football teams, our home town, our neighbors, ice-cream, and Jesus. But is all love equal? I think not. John defines love for us from a biblical perspective, and I would submit the true perspective, in I John 3:16-18. John tells us three things about love in these verses: Love is sacrificial; Love is compassionate; Love is truth.

First, love is sacrificial. "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us." (I John 3:16) According to the Bible, in God's sovereign plan for humanity, love equals death. Specifically this is the death of Jesus Christ, the Word become flesh, for the sins of the world. Allow me to offer just a few passages in support of my thesis. Isaiah 53:1-12; John 13:1; John 15:13; Romans 5:8; II Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13; Heb. 2:9; 9:13-14,27-28; I Peter 3:18; Rev. 5:6;13:8. We the fallen, depraved, wretched, sin-filled, lust-driven, selfish, hate-saturated enemies of God cannot know love apart from God demonstrating it to us. He did this by coming as a Man, the Man Jesus Christ and dying. Over and above everything else, love is Jesus on a cross for you and for me.

Second, love is compassionate. I John 3:16-17. Thankfully the love of God did not stay on that cross. After three days in a tomb, Love rose again and was offered to the world. We, the Children of God, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit are being made into the image of Christ, and being conformed to His love. As we do this the Bible says that we "ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." Christ showed us love by giving His everything, likewise we do too. What does this mean for you and me, surely God does not what us to really, physically die for someone? No, I don't think so. God never calls us to die for another, that has been accomplished by Christ. He does however call us all to live to the utmost for Him and others and sometimes this may cost us alot, even our lives. Some Scripture to think about: Matt. 16:24, 19:21; Mark 10:28; Rom. 15:1; I Cor. 10:24; 13:4-6; Phil 3:8; James 2:14-17. There are many ways this works out practically, but the main point here is that as Jesus loved and gave Himself for the Church (Eph. 5:25) so we love and give.

Finally love is truth. I John 3:18 In today's culture love is often equated with the new form of toleration. Toleration today says that everybody is right and true and that everyone else should accept all truth claims as valid and acceptable. For the Christian this is simply not possible. We hold, by definition to the exclusivity of Jesus Christ as the only means to eternal life, to true love, and to God. (John 14:6) For the Christian toleration and love means that we understand the perspective of others, we live along side of those with differing worldviews and beliefs, and we dialogue with dignity and respect with others. But we do not embrace beliefs contrary to Scripture as true. Furthermore, for the Christian we have a Christ-mandated command to be salt and light in a dark world and to share the Gospel with everyone. The loving thing is always sharing Christ. We cannot force someone to embrace our beliefs, we cannot hate someone because they reject Christ, but we still live and share the Gospel.(Romans 12:17-21) This is the truest form of love.

Love is often difficult, especially in a world that hates Jesus (John 15:18) but this does not negate His command. Those commands will be the topic of my next post.

Blessings
II Cor. 13:14

What's Love Got To Do With It?

2009-05-13T09:29:00.005-04:00

It is already quite well know that I am a child of the 80's and here is the star of the decade and her legs (everyone's thinking it, may as well say it) singing about "love" that "second hand emotion." Here is a link to the lyrics, in case you need them. Now I know the message of the song is live on lust rather than make a commitment to love, but the question is very real for the Christian today. Just what DOES love have to do with it? John answers that question for us in the next several verses of I John.

Today we will look at I John 3:10-15 and see three very important answers to the question of what love has to do with it. The simple answer is everything, for John tells us very plainly that without love (as God defines love (I John 3:16-23)) we are not His children.

First importance is that love distinguishes between children of God and the children of the devil. I John 3:10 is very straight forward. Something tells me that the philosophy of political correctness was not in John's theology during the first century, because he does not mince words. Either you are a child of God or you are a child of the devil. Sounds like there are only two roads that we can travel on, sort of like what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. (Matt. 7:13-14) With this being the case, how do we know which road we are on becomes the most vital question of eternity.

John answers that in the same verse. "Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother." Two "tests" if you will for each of us to take concerning our relationship with God. John will use tests again in chapter four to help us determine the teachings of men that claim to be from Christ yet some are anti-Christ. There is a simple equation found here:

NO LOVE = KNOW DEVIL; KNOW LOVE = KNOW GOD
NO RIGHTEOUSNESS = KNOW DEVIL; KNOW RIGHTEOUSNESS = KNOW GOD

The second important element we see here is the example from history. John says this message of love has been shared from the beginning, (I John 3:11) but it is not the beginning that we usually think of. When we think of the beginning in the New Testament we usually think of the life, ministry, death, burial, resurrection of Christ and the founding of the church. But John goes all the way back to the first beginning, the first brotherly relationship recorded in Scripture, Cain and Abel.

Cain is shown as an example of the unrighteous, unloving brother (I John 3:12) and therefore a child of the devil. How do we know this? Because John says, "his works were evil." There was no righteousness in Cain and as a result God rejected him and his offering (Gen. 4:5) Abel on the other hand is seen as the example of righteousness and therefore the child of God. (Heb. 11:4) In Cain we find hatred that leads to murder, and in Abel we find love that leads to sacrifice. This important element will come up again very quickly in this letter. (I John 3:16)

The third and final element I want to highlight in this post is the reaction of Christian love from a lost world. (I John 3:13-14) This distinction is still marked out today, centuries, indeed millenniums later. The world and those of the world, described here as "children of the devil" hate the love of Christ and they hate the lovers of Christ. We find this hard to grasp and understand.

It is plain to any Christian, any true Christian that everyone should want to know Christ. But, we fail to recognize the devastation that sin has on our lives and the lives of others. (I Cor. 2:14) We will talk more about how Christ's love is defined in the next post, but for now we can see that both love for Christ and love for the world cannot reside in the life of a person. We know we have life because we have love, love that is honest; love that care enough to tell the truth; (John 17:3, Acts 4:12; Phil. 2:9-11) and love that will endure the persecution and insults. (Matt. 5:11; 10:22; Rom. 8:17; II Tim. 3:12; I Peter 2:20)

I John 3:15 says that whoever hates is a murderer, and no murderer has a eternal life abiding in him. Hatred is not calling sin, sin. Hatred is withholding the gospel message because you are afraid someone will be offended. The Gospel is offensive, the Bible says so (Matt. 11:6; 13:57; Mark 6:3; I Peter 2:8) The message of Jesus is a reveling message that we would rather hide from. (John 3:19-20) Life is the Gospel and love is sharing the gospel at all costs. We will talk about those costs in the next post.

Blessings
II Cor. 13:14

Following our Service Men and Women

2009-05-07T13:24:00.002-04:00

I read a news story today from Stars and Stripes about military bloggers. It peaked my interest since I am very proud to be a veteran of the USAF (89-93). My family has a long military history as well, my wife is a USAF vet. My father was in the USN in Vietnam, and both my grandfathers are WW II vets. Papaw Buck in Europe and Granddaddy Sam in Asia. I had two great uncles in WW I.

An awful lot is said today about the military and the servicemen and women wearing the uniform of the USA. I just wanted to pass along a few websites where they get to speak for themselves.

milblogging.com links to over 1500 military bloggers originating in 43 countries.

US Air Force Live is the official blog of the USAF.

Army Live is the official blog of the US Army.

Today is National Day of Pray and let me encourage you to not forget these men and women as you go to the Lord today in prayer for our nation, government, churches, and leaders.

Blessings
II Cor. 13:14

Belief = Action

2009-05-07T08:33:00.002-04:00

Sin, sin, sin, is that all we preachers talk about. Well, we talk about it so much because the Bible talks about it so much. There is no doubt that we have rejected from our hearts and minds the severity of sin and what it does to the fellowship we have with God. John addresses that in I John 3:4-9. I want to spend just a minute outlining that passage and see if what we say and what we do really match.

V. 4 Sin = Lawlessness. There is no hesitation in John's words to try to minimize sin to a mistake, an "UT OH", or and oops. Sin is sin and it is rejecting the will and the word of God and in essence rejecting Him.

V. 5 Jesus = NO SIN. Jesus was manifest or made know or lived, died and rose again to take our sin away. (Luke 19:10) John destroys the argument that Jesus might have sinned by simply saying "in Him there is NO sin."

V. 6 Life in Christ = Life rejecting sin. We all sin and will sin (I John 1:8) but for the Christian a lifestyle of continued unconfessed (I John 1:9), unrepentant and open rebellion against the Word of God is an oxymoron. John says here that what we live is a far better indicator of what we believe than what we say. The true and real believer will not, indeed cannot live in a continual state of sinfulness. You cannot be a Christian adulterer, a Christian Wiccan, a Christian homosexual, a Christian ___________. You may and will still be pressed by the temptations of the old lifestyle. You may and probably will fall again back into that sin, but convection will come, you should repent and seek cleansing and restoration from God, who alone will strengthen you to overcome. (II Cor. 10:3-5; 12:9)

V. 7 Righteous Acts = Righteous Ones. We usually say it like this "practice what you preach." John here says that we will practice what we truly believe. If we know personally the Righteous One (I John 2:1) then our lives will reflect that by walking in righteousness, in His righteousness not our own (Matt. 5:20)

V. 8a Evil Acts = Evil One. There is a very real and present enemy among us. The Devil is not a fairy tale, a straw man set up to counter Christ, or a symbol of evil. He is real, he is active and he is strong. Jesus told the Pharisees that their wickedness was a result of them following their father the devil (John 8:44 see also Eph. 2:2) If our life is a life of sin, then God is not our Father and we are lost, in need of salvation.

V. 8b Jesus = Defeated Devil. Again John makes very clear that the work that Jesus did on earth, on the cross, and coming out of the grave has destroyed and defeated the power of Satan in our lives. I am reminded of Paul's words in II Corinthians 15:57 "Thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

V. 9 New birth = New life. John gives us the picture from Jesus about being "born again" in his gospel, chapter 3. He reiterates that point again here by saying that the new man will have a new birth, a new life, a new future because he has a new Father. John is not teaching perfectionism here as some have suggested. But rather that the heart of man has changed and his lifestyle will reflect that change. Sanctification as defined in an earlier post, is the process of God conforming man into the image of Christ. Sin will cause in our lives greater and greater brokenness and we will seek the love and forgiveness of the Father more and stronger. Sin will never be cured on this side of glory, but our dependence on the Forgiver of sin will grow stronger and stronger. We are His children and He is our strength.

John shows us in this passage that our lifestyle does matter. It is a true reflection of the beliefs that we have in our hearts and minds. I pray that we all realize the cancer of sin in our lives and allow God, through the blood of Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit to drive if from us.

Blessings
II Cor. 13:14

testing, testing, testing

2009-04-30T14:00:00.002-04:00

testing testing testing Trying to synch up facebook, blog and twitter. just wanting to see if the others update when i post.

Define Rare

2009-04-29T11:22:00.005-04:00

We have killed 50,000,000 babies in the United States alone since Roe. This does not anywhere near account for the babies that the US has killed worldwide through funding to world wide abortion providers.

If we had killed 50,000,000 owls or 50,000,000 salamanders, or 50,000,000 of one particular segment of humanity (blacks, Jews, whites, elderly, blond hair, women, men, teenagers, you name the trait) this would certainly not be considered a rare occurrence.

According to the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform there are about 42,000,000 abortions worldwide every year. There is no way of knowing how many millions and maybe hundreds of millions of babies have been killed, by what our politicians call "safe, legal, and rare."

Please Watch the following and describe how safe it really is.

CAUTION CAUTION CAUTION

EXTREME GRAPHIC CONTENT

Choice Blues Chapter One and Two

Salvation: From Beginning to Eternity

2009-04-29T10:53:00.004-04:00

Many things in life have three parts, a beginning, a present, and a future or an end. We have birth, life, death. We have books with intros, bodies, and conclusions. Conversations with hello, talking, and good bye. This is the way we formulate our lives. We schedule things because we know when they begin, how long they will take, and when they will end.

In I John we see this outlined in relation to our salvation and relation to God.

I John 2:28 - 3:3

"And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God. Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him. for we shall see Him as He is. and everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure."

Just for the sake of understanding the pronouns, all of the Him's, His's and He's refer to Jesus.

I want to introduce three words to our vocabulary in regard to salvation: Regeneration, Sanctification, and Glorification.

Regeneration is that which God accomplished in us at our conversion.
Sanctification is that which God and we are accomplishing now in our Christian discipleship experience.
Glorification is that which God will accomplish at the Return of Christ for His children.

Lets look at them.

Regeneration -- I John 2:29, 3:1-2a

3:1 gives us a beautiful expression of worship and praise to the God of our salvation. "What manner of love the Father has bestowed (lavished in the NIV) on us." You can almost hear John's breath fail away. WOW, the great and mighty God of everything has poured out His great love (Eph. 2:4) on us so much so that we, who were His enemies can now be called His children. (John 1:11-12) Salvation is a done deal. If the fruit of our lives is displaying true Christ-centered righteousness then we know that we have been "born of Him." (Phil. 1:11) Salvation is something that can never be taken away and we can never loose. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13) in the hand of Christ (John 10:28) which is in the hand of God (John 10:29). Regeneration is the truth that you have been saved.

Sanctification -- I John 2:28 and 3:3

Abide in Him. This is and will continue to be a theme that John brings to our hearts and minds. Living in Christ includes: studying the Word (II Tim. 2:15), prayer (I Thes. 5:17-18), growing in grace (II Peter 1:5-10), and sharing your faith (Matthew 28:18-20). God has predestined from before the foundations of the world that we, His children, should be conformed to the image of Christ, His Son. (Romans 8:29, II Cor. 3:18, Eph. 4:13) Sanctification is a life-long process of conforming our lives to the life of Christ. It takes time, work, and other people. Most importantly it is a cooperative effort of the child of God working with the Spirit of God to change our lives to the image of God that was so corrupted at the Fall. Sanctification is the truth that we are being purified into the purity of Christ everyday of our lives.

Glorification -- I John 2:28 and 3:2

There is a great day coming when we will all step into eternity. The Bible is so clear that this world is passing away and that Christ is returning for His children. At that moment we have been promised that we will be made like Him and we will be with Him for all eternity. (II Cor. 5:1-8) Glorification is the aspect of salvation that we can not even begin to imagine (Isaiah 64:4 and I Cor. 2:9). Glorification is the reward from God, because God first loved us and gave His Son for us. This is eternal life. Know God and Jesus who He has sent. (John 17:3) Glorification is the truth that we will be purified in the presence of Christ our Savior.

Salvation has three time aspects. We have been saved -- regeneration. We are being saved -- sanctification. And we will be saved -- glorification. Abide in this truth, live in it, walk in it, proclaim it, and enjoy it. God is Good even when the attacks come.

Blessings
II Cor. 13:14

Does Truth Have a Home?

2009-04-28T09:56:00.003-04:00

Last week at the trustee meeting of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, seminary President Dr. R. Albert Mohler shared with the trustee that the coming generation of pastors and ministers would face obstacles in three areas. The first area of concern was the rise of secularism in American and while the other two are of importance, the rise of Islam and the needed restructuring of the Southern Baptist Convention the first one is what I want to address. Click here for the comments he made.

The secular movement, really the atheist movement is growing stronger and stronger every year. This is true even in regions of the nation that have a very rich and long religious tradition, like Charleston, South Carolina, home of the first Baptist Church in the South and the conservative Christian college Charleston Southern.

The questions just seem to keep popping up, "What is the Christian to do?" and "How should the church react?"

These questions are answered from I John 2:24-27. We have been looking at I John for some time now and discovering that there are false teachers, indeed anti-christs in our midst. This should not come as a surprise to us, but it does because many in our churches come from a long tradition of Christian values and principles.

The answer to the questions is simply, "Let The Truth abide in you."

Notice what John says in these verses.

I John 2:24 -- Let that which you heard from the beginning abide in you. What did you hear from the beginning? I think that John is referring to what he said in I John 1:1. The Word of Life, which is Jesus Christ. He is what we have heard and in Him is where we must abide, or live. John records Jesus making this same point in his gospel John 15:1-17. Jesus says to abide in Him and remain in His love. The first step in the spiritual war that Christians face in an increasing secular world, a world that is pushing God to the fringes with the hope of removing Him completely, is knowing that we know and live in the truth which is Jesus Christ.

I John 2:25 -- Here is the promise - Eternal Life. Christians we must remember that our call is not to win America. This does not mean that we do not oppose lies, or that we refuse to stand for the most vital issues facing our nation today, which are first the issues of life (abortion, euthanasia, assisted-suicide, destruction of embryos, and biblical medical and bioethics) and secondly the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman. These are the issues but the solution lies in our call not to solve the issues but to solve the problem. Which is an eternal life issue. We must let the truth of the gospel live in us and flow through us. Share your faith. Eternal life weighs in the balance.

I John 2:26 -- John again reminds us that the deceiver is present an his representatives are every active. Christians, we have a target on us. I am beginning to compile on my desk my summer reading and one of those books is The Screwtape Letters, the C.S. Lewis classic about how we are tempted and deception is every lurking. Be warned-deception is ever present.

I John 2:27 -- John again (2:20) mentions the anointing that Christians have through the Holy Spirit of God and through His Son Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is present in our lives to guide and teach us all truth.

But even with His presence in our lives we still must be diligent to maintain our stamina in the face of battle. I think that there are at least three things, I will list them separately but in reality they are one event.

First, fellowship and commune with other believers. We live every day in the lost world and we need the refreshing company and communication with fellow believers. We accomplish this be being regular in our local church. Being a part of a small group that holds us accountable and regularly studies the Bible together.

Second we must stay in the Word. Our only source of absolute truth is the Word of God. Study, Study, Study the Bible. Talk to those that know more about the Bible than you do and lead others that know less about the Bible than you do. Be in the Word both individually and corporately. Stay in the Word.

Third and finally for today is Pray. So often prayer is seen as the least we can do, or a last resort. But understand when you come to the Lord in prayer you are standing before the Supreme God of everything, the One who loved you and me enough to die for you and make you His child. When you bring people or situations before the Lord you are depending totally on the Sovereign One and the Only One who can make a difference. Pray should be a constant in the life of every believer.

The secularist will continue to strengthen; secularism will continue to flourish in our nation and world. Christian, let the truth of God have a home in your life, every day.

Blessings
II Cor. 13:14

The Character of Genuine Saving Faith

2009-04-26T17:55:00.001-04:00

Here are the notes I quoted this morning from Dr. John MacArthur. They can be found on line here. I will be posting the rest of my sermon notes later this week. Blessings.

The Character of Genuine Saving Faith

I. Evidences That Neither Prove Nor Disprove One's Faith

Visible Morality: Matthew 19:16-21; 23:27.
Intellectual Knowledge: Romans 1:21; 2:17ff.
Religious Involvement: Matthew 25:1-10
Active Ministry: Matthew 7:21-24
Conviction of Sin: Acts 24:25
Assurance: Matthew 23
Time of Decision: Luke 8:13, 14

II. The Fruit/Proofs of Authentic/True Christianity:

Love for God: Psalm 42:1ff; 73:25; Luke 10:27; Romans 8:7
Repentance from Sin: Psalm 32:5; Proverbs 28:13; Romans 7:14ff; 2 Corinthians 7:10; 1 John 1:8-10
Genuine Humility: Psalm 51:17; Matthew 5:1-12; James 4:6, 9ff.
Devotion to God's Glory: Psalm 105:3; 115:1; Isaiah 43:7, 48:10ff.; Jeremiah 9:23, 24; 1 Corinthians 10:31
Continual Prayer: Luke 18:1; Ephesians 6:18ff.; Philippians 4:6ff.; 1 Timothy 2:1-4; James 5:16-18
Selfless Love: 1 John 2:9ff, 3:14; 4:7ff.
Separation from the World: 1 Corinthians 2:12; James 4:4ff.; 1 John 2:15-17, 5:5
Spiritual Growth: Luke 8:15; John 15:1-6; Ephesians 4:12-16
Obedient Living: Matthew 7:21; John 15:14ff.; Romans 16:26; 1 Peter 1:2, 22; 1 John 2:3-5

If List I is true of a person and List II is false, there is cause to question the validity of one's profession of faith. Yet if List II is true, then the top list will be also.

III. The Conduct of the Gospel:

Proclaim it: Matthew 4:23
Defend it: Jude 3
Demonstrate it: Philippians 1:27
Share it: Philippians 1:5
Suffer for it: 2 Timothy 1:8
Don't hinder it: 1 Corinthians 9:16
Be not ashamed: Romans 1:16
Preach it: 1 Corinthians 9:16
Be empowered: 1 Thessalonians 1:5
Guard it: Galatians 1:6-8

Adapted from John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, p. 2190.

Axioms for a Great Commission Resurgence

2009-04-18T16:28:00.002-04:00

Axioms for a Great Commission Resurgence by Dr. Daniel L. Akin.

Baptist Press Article with Dr. Akin's 12 Points.

The Truth Line-Up

2009-04-17T09:24:00.005-04:00

We have all seen the police line-ups on the TV cop shows. There is always a witness who can pick out the criminal from among others that look similar to him. I don't know if this is exactly the way it works in the police business but I found this clip revealing.

When John writes to his church about false teachers and false teachings he tells them that they can discern between the truth and the lies. This is evident from I John 2:20-21. John seems to be telling us something akin to what that video shows. We can know the truth because God has told us the truth.

Notice what John says. "You have an anointing from the Holy One." We as true believers have been filled with the Holy Spirit of God and He is busy and active in our lives revealing and teaching us the truth. Furthermore, He is working to expose to us the lies and the liars. John goes on to say we "know all things." I wish I could get my kids to believe the "I, the great and wonderful dad, knows all things." But they are smarter than that. John is not saying that we have exhaustive knowledge of every aspect of reality or even every aspect of the nature of truth. What he is saying is that we have all truth in the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. You see the Holy Spirit does know "all things."

Sometimes though we neglect the need to be students of the Word of God. John does not just assume that his church, his dear "little children" are just going to be able to figure everything out for themselves. No, John says I am writing to you, because you know the truth. John is affirming the truth that he has taught them in the past and that the Holy Spirit is affirming in them even now. We understand that the same Holy Spirit that filled these early believers also filled John as he wrote this inspired, (not inspiring) God breathed letter to the church. (II Timothy 3:16)

Furthermore we understand that the some Holy One that led the early church, led John to write is also active in the lives of believers today to guard us from falsehoods and lead us into all truth. (John 16:13-14)

John makes a very important distinction in the last phrase of verse 21 that could be easily overlooked but is very important for us in our post-modern, post-Christian, post-absolute truth, post-reality, post-whatever culture. That distinction is that there is ONE and ONLY ONE "TRUE TRUTH." There is not mixing of truth with falsehood. Notice the absolute nature of John's words. Know "that no lie is of the truth."

Francis Schaffer -- "It is an important principle to remember, in the contemporary interest in communication and in language study, that the biblical presentation is that though we do not have exhaustive truth, we have from the Bible what I term true truth. In this way we know true truth about God, true truth about man, and something truly about nature. Thus on the basis of the Scriptures, while we do not have exhaustive knowledge, we have true and unified knowledge." Escape From Reason, Ch. 2

To close our thoughts on these six verses we have spent the week looking at I really just want to summarize and encourage.

1. The end is not just near it is here.
2. There are many false teachers, anti-christs in the world today and they are seeking to deceive the precious children of God.
3. They are hard to spot because that look like, sound like and often act like a true believer.
4. There is one very revealing aspect of their message that sets them apart from true Christianity and that is they teach something other than the exclusivity and sufficiency of Christ.
5. We, children of God, have been given the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide us, teach us, and protect us from falsehoods and lies.
6. We must be students of the Word of God. John did not write to fulfill some need in his own ego and God did not preserve these words to be hid under a magazine on the coffee table.
7. Finally, "He who acknowledges the Son has the Father also."

Jesus is the only Door and the only Sheppard that leads us to the Father. (John 10:1-18) There is no other way. May Christ reign supreme in the life of His children.

Blessings
II Cor. 13:14

Seven Differences Between Biblical and Cultural Christianity

2009-04-16T15:05:00.004-04:00

Dr. Hollie Miller Pastor of Sevier Heights Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tn. preaching in chapel at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Sync-re-tism

2009-04-16T09:37:00.005-04:00

I am accused by my family of overusing word that end in "ism." And well here I go again. The big word for the day is "syncretism." Here is a link with several definitions of the word. One of those definitions (just in case you don't follow the above link) is "the union (or attempted fusion) of different systems of thought or belief (especially in religion or philosophy)."

There are a couple of major concerns for the Christian about blending if you will religious beliefs and practices. One of those concerns is for the missionary, especially the missionary in a foreign country. The question here is how to blend certain cultural aspects into proper Christian worship. I would hope that we are not so narrowly minded that we think for a person to be a good Christian they have to do everything exactly like we or I do. There are however some cultural practices that are unbiblical and if a true conversion takes place in someones life, through Bible study and discipleship these should be abandoned. This is true for every nation in the world.

That is not the problem I want to address and in light of I John 2:22-23, I don't think that is what John is speaking of here. In the first century there were teachers in the church and circulating through the churches that were teaching a false doctrine and yet claiming to be orthodox. I use that term knowing that it means adhering to long standing beliefs and at the time of John those beliefs were still being worked through. But none the less these false teachers were saying that what they taught was in line with what Jesus proclaimed and with His true nature.

I fear that this is the case today for many. I don't know if the false teaching is any worse per say, but there are certainly more avenues for false teachers to influence the lives of Christians. I am using one of them now. Anybody (including me) can put their thoughts in front of the whole world. This is highlighted by false teachers that come into our living rooms every day on the television set. Many of these have a great deal of money and can certainly make a good show, but for many of them their teachings are false. Many of these teachers are involved in what has been called the Word-Faith Movement. To name a few of the most prominent: Joyce Myers, Joel Osteen, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Paul Crouch and TBN, Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar, Paula White, and anything with Kenneth Hagin's name attached to it.

The form of "Christianity" they teach demotes God to man's subordinate. Many, many Christians are being deceived by these and other teachers everyday. Their primary deception is like any other false teacher; they deny the supremacy and exclusivity of Christ.

These teachers however are not the only deceivers of the church. Many times Christians will align themselves with a cause, an origination, or just a group that may have "good intentions" but nonetheless are teaching a false doctrine. The Masons may be the best example of this type of deception.

I know many men who are Masons. They are good men and very willing to help, give, serve and support. Neither can anyone dispute their magnificent work in the many Shriner's burn centers across the nation. The 'good' they do however does not negate the fact that the doctrine of the organization denies the exclusivity of "The Christ." I am not going to try to detail their doctrine but here are a couple of links that offer good overviews: LeaderU and 4Truth. My concern here, and I do not intend to sound mean or harsh or unfeeling, nor do I intend to convey that we should not care for people in great physical need, but as Christians our primary goal is to lead others to a relationship with the One true God through His one and only Son (John 17:3), it is not to provide free medical care.

We often offer the excuse to ourselves and to God that this or that "is not that bad." But we fail to realize that anything or anyone that denies the reality of Christ stands opposed to God and that is a very serious thing. We cannot nullify or lessen the reality of our sin and of God's glory. John here calls any denier of Christ a liar and an anti-Christ. These are hard realities. He goes on to say that anyone who denies the Son "does not have the Father either."

The Bible says that Jesus is the only, the only way to the Father and eternal life. (John 14:6, Eph. 2:18; I Tim. 2:5) Furthermore, Jesus has not changed nor passed His role or responsibility on to anyone else. (Heb. 13:8)

We must use great caution and biblical discernment when making decisions about who or what we will align our lives with. Thankfully God has given us His Spirit to indwell us and guide us into all truth. I will talk more about this tomorrow when we look at verses 20 and 21. But for now, know that syncretism is a very dangerous thing. We cannot mix worldviews together with Christianity. There is no such critter as New Age Christianity, or pagan Christianity, or Yoga for Christians (if the meditations and seeking the inner self is desired). We must be very wise. (James 1:5) I will expound on what difference the Spirit makes in the life of the true believer tomorrow.

Blessings
II Cor. 13:14

Is American a "Christian Nation?"

2009-04-16T09:19:00.004-04:00

These are my notes from our Bible study time last night.

Is America a “Christian Nation?”
Merry Hill Baptist Church
April 15, 2009

This past week we celebrated Easter. There were and still are some major news sources printing articles about the state of the nation’s faith, there are some every Easter.

Newsweek --The End of Christian America

Washington Post -- Faith Groups Increasingly Lose Gay Rights Fights

In the Post article several recent judicial rulings were named specific to the fight for or against the legalization of same-gender marriage.

-- A Christian photographer was forced by the New Mexico Civil Rights Commission to pay $6,637 in attorney's costs after she refused to photograph a gay couple's commitment ceremony.
-- A psychologist in Georgia was fired after she declined for religious reasons to counsel a lesbian about her relationship.
-- Christian fertility doctors in California who refused to artificially inseminate a lesbian patient were barred by the state Supreme Court from invoking their religious beliefs in refusing treatment.
-- A Christian student group was not recognized at a University of California law school because it denies membership to anyone practicing sex outside of traditional marriage.

Last weekend we all heard these words “One of the great strengths of the United States, is … we have a very large Christian population — we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values.” ~ President Obama

We have had court cases concerning prayer in schools and at school sponsored events.
We have had court cases concerning religious displays on public property.
We have had court cases concerning the display of the 10 Commandments.

What does the constitution say?

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States)

We certainly do not have the time or resources to evaluate all of the historical data involved in such a search, but there are a few important elements to consider.

The first element is the biblical directive.
The second element is the historical directive.

We will investigate only the first element, and seek to answer this question, “Does the Bible call Christians to establish a “Christian Nation.”

This first distinction is the difference between a state the recognizes Christianity as “THE OFFICIAL” religion or a nation were its people are predominantly Christian.

I do not believe that the Bible calls for the Church to “convert” the government.

I do believe that the Bible calls the Church to convert or at least share the message with people in every nation.

Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24: 46-48; John 20:19-22; Acts 1:8

Realities that Christians must accept:

The world hates us without a specific cause – John 15:18-25

We will suffer if we seek Christ – II Timothy 3:12

We will have to endure hard days – Hebrews 10:32-39

We are pilgrims on this earth, only passing through – Hebrews 13:14; I Peter 2:11-12

We are part of an eternal Kingdom with Christ at it Head – Daniel 7:13-14

In this nation, at least right now, we are guaranteed the right to worship freely and express our faith. But there is no guarantee that we will have that right in the future. If or when that time comes, we still have a directive to obey God in all things. (Acts 5:29)

If, in obeying God we have to pay the penalty of civil government then so be it. (Acts 4:3; 5:26-27; 6:12; 7:58; 8:3; 12:1-4; 13:50; 14:19; 16:19-24; 17:6-9; 18:12; 21:27—the end of the book)

My encouragement is this:

1. Grow in your walk with the Lord
2. Seek to share your faith
3. Pray for the salvation of your family and friends
4. Pray for your governmental leaders (I Timothy 2:1-2)
5. God changes lives one heart at a time.

Identity Theft

2009-04-15T10:22:00.004-04:00

I haven't seen any of these commercials in a while but do you remember the Citi-Bank identity theft protection ones, I think they are so funny especially these two old ladies on their motorcycles.

Identity theft is certainly no laughing matter and this is especially true in the realm of Christianity. As we revisit the verses we looked at yesterday (I John 2:18-22) I want to zero in on verses 19, 22 and the first part of 23. One of the dangers about false teachers is that they are so hard to identify. No sometimes this is not the case. If someone comes and invites you the the cat sacrifice service, that is a pretty good indicator that they do not follow orthodox Christian theology. However, in the fallen nature of humanity, we sometimes will even follow this guy.

Generally though this false teacher will look, act, talk and even express similar moral convictions as Joe Church Member. I think that is what verse 19 is telling us. "They went out from us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us." Do you remember this picture?

Sometimes this is what it is like. John though here and later in this letter gives us some important marks to look for to help identify these "anti-Christs." The first one is here in verse 22. "Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?" The key word here is actually "the." This direct article is present in the Greek text and it is evident in the English text as well. Basically John is saying that if anyone denies that Jesus is the one and only Messiah, Christ sent from God the Father he is a liar.

There are two sure markers for identifying cult groups today. These are groups that claim true Christian faith and allegiance to God, but they have done at least two things that show they reject the true God. The first thing is they either re- translate the Bible to reflect their own skewed doctrine (The New World Translation) or they write a new source of "Christian" authority (The Book of Mormon).

The second thing that cult groups do is redefine the nature of Christ. For instance our friends with the Jehovah Witnesses claim that Jesus is not deity but rather an incarnation of Michael the Archangel. There are many, many groups of "believers" that fall into one of these categories. Let me recommend you visit The Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry and navigate to the Religious Movements tab.

Okay, so now we ask, "What does all this have to do with me?" I believe a great deal. First we must accept the reality that there are false teachers and false believers among us. Secondly, we must realize that we cannot change all their minds and hearts. Next, we must realize that we must try to change their hearts and minds anyway. And finally we must guard ourselves to not fall into their deception.(I John 2:26)

But cult groups are not the only danger that John is speaking of here. I will just introduce this thought here and develop it more in the coming days. As a matter of fact I am working now on a message from Matthew 7:15-23 concerning this very thing, false believers and false teachers in our pews.

Throughout the Old Testament, God repeatedly rebuked, chastised, punished, killed, judged, and even sent into exile His chosen people. Never did Israel abandon the worship of God, the problem was always that God's people tried to combine the worship of the one true God with all the false god's of the land. This is the danger we face today.

People in our nation will readily claim a belief in God, they will even claim that Jesus is His Son and that He died and rose again. But they refuse to acknowledge the uniqueness of Jesus. Perhaps you may say or hear said that Jesus is one of many, or that Jesus can't be the "only way." The big word for this is Syncretism, the blending of beliefs. To some extent this is were we live today. We hear things like I am spiritual but not religious. I am a Christian Wiccan, or a Christian Buddhist. These combining can be as simple as a Christian that reads her horoscope to a Christian who claims membership in organizations like the Masons.

The primary problem is a rejection of the supremacy of Christ. I will talk more tomorrow on Syncretism and how it is often demonstrated in the church today.

Blessings
II Cor. 13:14

Who are the False Teachers?

2009-04-14T08:33:00.003-04:00

Nearly every book in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments warn against false teachers. As we have looked at I John we find that one of his major concerns for writing this letter is to warn his church against false teachers. We are likely going to stay on this passage for the next few days because there is really a lot here that we in the church need to study.

I John 2:18-23

Little children, it is the last hour; and you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

Wow, that's a lot. Today I just want to simply outline the passage, key in on several vital thoughts here and then over the next days flesh out this teaching for us today who live in a world were false teachers are on television, the Internet, knocking at our doors, in our schools and places of business, and in our houses of government at all levels from local, to state and federal.

1. "Little Children" John here is not speaking to the maturity level of his readers. This is a term of endearment. John is simply expressing his intimate love for this church as his own precious little children. He is also establishing himself as an authority figure and leader in their hearts. John is a old man by the time he writes this and he is the last of the original Apostles. He loves them enough to warn them in the authority that he has been given directly from Jesus.

2. "It is the last hour." So many times we think of the end times as something that is still in the future. John tells us that the end of times is now. I don't want to do a full eschatology study here but I believe that the Bible clearly teaches that the end of time began, when Jesus was born. It was sealed when Jesus died on the cross. And finally realized when He ascended back to the Father. The end is not out there in time somewhere, "it is the last hour."

3. In the rest of verses 18 and 19 John makes a very matter of fact statement. We have been and I believe still are waiting for "The Antichrist." That one that Paul speaks of in II Thess. 2:3-10. However, even now from the time John wrote around AD 90 to today AD 2009 there have been and are many antichrists. I believe there are about four categories that we see today, and I will speak more of these in days to come, but for now we see: 1) those who deny the existence of God, 2) cult groups that teach falsely about the nature of God, 3) false religions that claim another god or gods, and finally 4) teachers who distort the true message of God. With these four designations of course there are some who jumble them all together or just create their own reality.

4. Verse 20 and 21 assures the Believer, that we can recognize and stand firm in the onslaught of false teachers and teachings. We are anointed and filled with the indwelling Holy Spirit, and He will lead us into all truth. (John 16:13)

5. Finally verse 22 and 23 help us to be able to identify a false teacher. The simple criteria is that if one denies that Jesus is both the Son of God and the Son of Man, he is an antichrist, or one who stands opposed to God. We can not have the Father and deny the Son, nor can we deny the Son and know the Father.

There is still much more in the passage, and we will look more together later.

Blessings
II Cor. 13:14

Holiness

2009-04-13T19:06:00.002-04:00

I was reminded today of the importance of perspective, and especially perspective on our Christian walk. So often we want to compartmentalize our lives to say, "This is my church life; This is my work life; This is my family life; (and) This is my party life. Perspective comes into play when the believer, the Kingdom Resident that we have been talking about throughout our sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount, realizes that all of his or her life is his or her Christian life.

I wonder if that is what John had in mind when he wrote I John 2:15-17.

Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

I am not going to an in depth study on the word holy, but a nice and simple definition of the word would be "to be separate." In Christian terminology it would be that we need to be different and noticeably so from the rest of the world. We do not walk around with our noses in the air filled with pride, Jesus condemns this repeatedly (Matt. 6:2).

No instead we should be noticed for what we seek to commit to. John calls worldly, or that which is ungodly, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These three categories have been linked to different temptations in the Bible. From Adam and Eve's first temptation to the temptations of Christ in during the 40 days in the wilderness. They have also be made into category heads for different types of temptations that we face today. All of this may be well and good, but for our purposes now I think it is simple enough to say that we face temptation at every turn.

These temptations may take the form of some kind physical desire. Perhaps a teenager wondering how far is to far, or a husband on a business trip out of town may be the actual temptation. Maybe our temptation is the desire to have what we see. We used to call it "Keeping up with the Jones'." Or perhaps we are willing to sacrifice our families or other relationships to be part of a particular social group or organization even if what they represent is questionable at best or even anti-biblical.

When our perspective on our Christian life is to strive for holiness in all things then these temptations seem to be less "tempting" if you will. My question is no longer what can I get away with, but rather what will bring God the most glory. (thanks to Dr. Mark Liederbach for that wording.)

It is amazing how John draws a strong dichotomy between the things of the world and the things of God. There are three to note.

1. If you love the world you DO NOT love the Father.
2. The things of the world ARE NOT of the Father.
3. The will of the world is temporal but the will of the Father is eternal.

The last phase of verse 17 (but he who does the will of God abides forever)reminds me of Jesus world in Matthew 7:21.

True Christian faith is more than just lip service it is striving to do the will of the Father every second of every minute of every day, pressing on towards holiness.

He's Alive

2009-04-11T19:04:00.001-04:00

Good Friday

2009-04-10T13:39:00.002-04:00

Is Christianity Losing??

2009-04-10T12:16:00.004-04:00

I have read two major articles this week about the state of Christianity in America. The first was from Newsweek called, "The End of Christian America." And the second is from the Washington Post called "Faith Groups Increasingly Lose Gay Rights Fights."

Both of these feature articles express concern or at least the reality of the fact that Christianity is losing its influence in American culture. What is interesting for me, it that earlier this week, before either of these articles were published, or at least read by me, I had a very similar conversation with one of our church families.

The question he asked me was something akin to, "Do you believe the church is as strong today as it used to be?" My answer was No and Yes.

First no the church is not as influential as it was even 20 years ago, when I was in high-school. I remember well no ball practices or games on Sundays or even Wednesday nights. I even remember the principle at my elementary school praying and leading the school in the Pledge of Allegiance every morning. It is very easy to see that many things the Christian community would normally stand in opposition of are now becoming part of our daily life. I don't just speak of gay rights issues and abortion, but just what is on television today, twenty years ago would have garnered great opposition. What Daisy Duke wore twenty years ago would be like a feed sack compared to what ladies wear, or don't wear, today. So no, the church has lost some of its power in society and it is loosing its influence in the "culture war" to use a word that is often used today.

But I also have to answer "Yes" to the question of is the Church as strong now as it has ever been. I must answer yes because Jesus told His disciples in Acts 1 that they, and by proxy we the Church would receive power when the Holy Spirit fills us. The "Church," and I use a capital "C" to denote the universal Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the invisible Church as some have referred to it, is as powerful today as it was the day Peter stood and preached at Pentecost. We, the true believers, the followers and disciples of Jesus Christ have an eternal power that can not be thwarted by any court decision or legislative body.

My fear for many in the Church and in our churches is that we have missed our understanding of the battle we are to wage. We are not, nor have we ever fought a culture war; it is, always has been and always will be a spiritual war. Please hear me say that we need and indeed must stand up and make our voice heard on the social woes our nation and world is facing. These are not limited to abortion and homosexual issues, but also include our rising teen pregnancy rates, our concern for the world we live in, peace in war torn nations and nations who are led by tyrants. We need to be heard on issues like our economy, education, health care, and immigration. But that is not where our war lines are drawn.

We are not fighting for lives in a courtroom or in a house of congress or even a White House. We are fighting for the lives, the eternal lives of individual men and women, boys and girls in every corner of this nation and indeed all over the world. I have said it many times before and I will likely say it many more times, if I could end abortion or gay "marriages" today with the stroke of a pen, I would. But, rather than end the practice of lost people acting like lost people, I would much rather see a Church engaging the 1.5 million women who will have abortions this year with the Gospel of Christ. I would much rather a Church engage the 3-4% of our nations population that professes homosexuality with the Message of Hope in Jesus, praying that they would then profess Christ. I would much rather see churches praying for schools rather than complaining that teachers can't pray in school.

Jesus tells us the world hates us and will hate us from now on. (John 15:18-25) Dear friends, we must understand that the courts are going to continue to rule against us. The legislative bodies are going to continue passing and upholding laws that stand contrary to Biblical revelation. I certainly am not a prophet, but I see a day in the not to distant future where we will not be able to share our faith freely in the public forum. One thing though that I don't see Jesus standing up for though is the personal "rights" of Christians. Jesus was unjustly condemned to death; Paul was unjustly imprisoned and beaten many times; Peter was imprisoned; John the Baptist and James were beheaded; and dear friend I fear that we will soon face similar persecution.

Our focus however should not be on our "rights" but rather on the "Righteous One." We will lose the culture war, sin will not be defeated in this lifetime. And while that does not mean we stop fighting the ills of society, it does mean that we seek to win the war, not the battles. Again the war is spiritual and the eternal lives of millions, indeed billions of people are hanging in the balance. What difference does it really make if I convince a gay man to go straight if I have not shared with him the plan of salvation. Being gay does not send people to hell, being lost and without Christ does.

We have much work to do as Christians in America and in the 21st century world. I pray that we can show people, individuals in our neighborhoods and work places the love of Christ. We cannot change peoples minds until God changes their hearts. The grand and glorious part of this story is that we win. We win because Christ won. This week we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. A resurrection from the dead and a hope for all humanity. That is the message we must be about sharing. Church, let's go win the war.

Blessings
II Cor. 13:14

Generations

2009-03-27T13:24:00.002-04:00

We have a picture on our wall of the day we brought my son home from the hospital. In the picture is Paul, my son, Me, my father and my grandfather. Four generations together. I am so happy we took that picture because only a couple of years later my grandfather passed away and that is the only picture we have of all four of us. There is a Daly generational treasure that we have all shared, and that is fishing. I remember when I was about 8 or 9 years old fishing with my dad and my granddaddy. Every trip we ever took was centered around fishing. Now my son is older and he fishes, as much as we can with me and my dad, his Papa. I pray for the day when I am the granddaddy and fishing with my son and his son. Traditions don't have to die when granddad does, if they are important they will continue for generation after generation.

I John 2:12-14 speaks to three generations: little children, young men and fathers.

I write to you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake.
I write to you, fathers,
because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you have overcome the wicked one.
I write to you, little children,
because you have known the Father.
I have written to you, fathers,
because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men,
because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you,
and you have overcome the wicked one.

John is spending his whole letter setting up an argument against false teachers that infiltrated the church. The false teaching is likely some form of Gnosticism which claims that either Jesus Christ did not come in the flesh (most likely in this case), or He was all flesh and not divine. John in these few verses is making an appeal to the church to remember their testimony in the Lord. They have heard and believed the truth of the gospel in Christ and have lived in that truth for years. He appeals to three generations of Christians that are in the church.

The first generation is the young children. This is not young children in the physical sense of toddlers or elementary aged kids, but to the young Christians who have come to faith in Christ. Notice he says two specific things to them. First "their sins are forgiven." They know they have experienced true forgiveness and that it was from God the Father through His Son Jesus Christ. The second reminder John gives them is that they "have known the Father" (13). When we couple these two together we see that even the youngest of believers can rest assured of one things. They have experienced true and real forgiveness, both in the proclamation of forgiveness by God and that that experience is grounded in something much deeper than their experience, the name of the Father. They know the Heavenly Father and He has cleansed them.

The second generation spoken to by John is the young men. They are likely the up and coming young church leaders. These are the men who are sharing their faith, ministering to the lost and the hurting; they are the ones today that may be young pastors and teachers working in the lives of a group of young people. They are volunteering their time to minister at prisons, crisis pregnancy centers, homeless rescue missions. In Baptist circles we see them as our Baptist Men's ministry and our Women's Missionary Union, they are our Sunday School teachers and deacons. They "young men" are the workforce of the church and the kingdom of God. Notice what John reminds them of: first "you have overcome the wicked one," next that they are "strong," next "the word of God abides in them," and then another reminder that they are the victors. John just wants us to remember that it is only in the power of the Lord and His word that we live, we strive, we minister and we win. I think that John is saying in essence, "Young ministers you remember what the Lord has and is doing in your life right now, where does your strength come from, it comes from the Lord and His word."

The last generation that John addresses is the Fathers. The "old" men (in NT times these would be men over 30)if you will, those who are matured in their faith, those who are now the teachers of the young men, those who are set and established in their doctrine. John only reminds the fathers of one thing, "you have know Him who is from the beginning." Remember the years of faithfulness in the Lord, the faithfulness that He has shown you and the faithfulness you have shown Him. Return to the true and faithful doctrine that you have studied, struggled with, learned and taught. Jesus is God in the Flesh and you have know this from the beginning.

In actuality there are four generations listed in this passage. The little children, the young men, the fathers and the FATHER. You see like my granddaddy taught me how to fish, my father is teaching my son, and I long for the days when I will teach my grandchild. So God the Father has taught the fathers, who in turn have taught the young men, who are now teaching the little children. For the message of the gospel to continue on we all need to be looking at the next generation, to whom we will become the fathers and the teachers.

Blessings
II Cor. 13:14

From the Beginning

2009-03-24T10:45:00.003-04:00

What is your earliest childhood memory? I know mine. I remember when we were living in a trailer, actually a trailer park. What I remember most is the big trucks and all the construction that was going on behind our house. When I talk to my mother about it I find that I was about 3 years old, we had just moved to a new town, where my dad was a state police officer and they were building or expanding the airport in our town. What I really remember was playing with my GI Joe action figures in the dirt behind the house.

John in these next few verses begins a theme that he follows throughout the letter. That theme is taking us back to the beginning. In verse 7, he uses a phrase that is repeated 9 times through the book, "from the beginning." (1:1, 2:7, 2:13, 2:14, 2:24, 3:8, 3:11) I really think this is vital because as John is refuting the false teaching his church is facing He says, "Lets go back to the beginning and see what Christ really said."

I John 2:7-11

Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

From the beginning the commands of Christ have been to love God and love your neighbor. From the beginning those who love God, display that in brotherly love. We have already seen "that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all." (1:5) Therefore if we are to walk in the commandment from the beginning and in the light of God, we love our brother.

But verse number 8 seems to contradict verse number 7, "a new commandment I write to you," immediately after John says, "I write no new commandment to you." What is going on here?

I believe this new commandment is the one that Jesus gave, "from the beginning," the one John recorded in His gospel. In John 13:34, Jesus says to His disciples, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another." The commandment is not new, there is just a very new, and a very high standard for that love. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves, but we are to love our brother (those in the household of God) as Christ loved us.

What does this love look like? Well John is going to continue to expound on that through the rest of the letter, but for us right now, I think there are about 3 things we can glean. First, love for the brethren is self-sacrificial. Jesus Christ gave up everything to demonstrate His love for us. Secondly, it is self-giving. It is love without strings attached, we love because God loves us, not because of what we can get in return from our brother. And finally, this love is in the light. John contrasts light and darkness several times in these verses. Love that is in the light is love that is in Christ. Love that is open and public; love that is real and genuine; love that is personal and giving. Love as an act of worship to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

From the beginning God has loved us, God has demonstrated that love to us in Jesus Christ. When we walk in the light, our attitude towards our brothers and sisters in Christ will be one of love.

Blessings
II Cor. 13:14

Knowing Christ 101 Test

2009-03-22T17:24:00.006-04:00

Is there really anybody that likes tests. I have the great honor of being a student at one of great SBC Seminaries, I love the reading, even the writing assignments, I learn so much from them and the lectures as well as the challenging conversation from professors and fellow students. But I hate tests. Especially true/false tests. We homeschool our children and their testings usually have on them what is called modified true/false. The jest is that if the statement is true, mark it so. But if the statement is false, not only do they have to mark is false, but they have to change the statement to make it correct. They don't like them and I feel their pain.

John introduces us to a test in this passage of Scripture. It is kind of like a modified true/false. The simple one question test is "Do you know Christ?" But the answer is a little more complex than just T or F.

I John 2:3-6

"Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk just as He walked."

This is actually the first of a series of tests that John is going to lay out for the believers and the church. We will address them when we get their, most an in chapter 4. This is a personal test. It is very closely related to the same test that Jesus offered for the mark of true believers. (John 14:15) One would think that a simple yes I love you Lord would be enough. That is not the test though that Jesus is proctoring. His is a test of action and of worship.

Jesus, nor John is not teaching some form works salvation, but rather indicating that because we are saved, because we are children of God we will seek to obey our Savior.

A couple of quick remarks:
1. John uses again the harsh word liar (1:6, 10). This would certainly seem to indicate there were some in the congregation that were saying one thing and living a lie. If we could just stop believing the lies we tell ourselves, I believe we would be far closer to the Lord than most are today.
2. What commands is Jesus talking about. Well ultimately the whole scope of Scripture. Everything. I think is would suffice to us right now to just focus on two. Loving God and loving other. (Matthew 22:36-40) This in itself will set our focus aright, and lead us towards obedience in Christ.
3. There is a long term aspect. While the salvation experience is a one time, and eternally secure action on the part of God towards lost humanity, the act of obedience is a lifelong endeavour. Notice verse 5, "whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him." This indicates a lifelong commitment of sanctification leading to completion which is the image of Christ. (Romans 8:28-29)This is a life of obedience ending in a place called Heaven.
4. Walk the Talk. How simple can John get, "He who says he abides in Him, ought himself also walk just as He walked. Simply said, put up or shut up. There may be areas of your life that you can get away with being a lying phony. Your walk with Christ is not one of them.

I hope you pass the test. If not check out this presentation and blessings to you.

II Cor. 13:14

Our Child Advocate

2009-03-21T08:20:00.002-04:00

Sometimes ministry is heart wrenching business. This is especially true when working closely with children and youth. There are times when the only place we can call for help is the local sheriff's office, social services, or some child advocacy center. To hear some of the stories about the conditions that kids live in, makes it very difficult to not swell up both emotionally and in anger.

The sad reality is that we all live in a condition that is far worse, in an eternal understanding, than any condition an abusive parent or drug addiction can cause. That condition is sin, and that sin separates us eternally from the Heavenly Father. John addresses this need in the next couple of verses.

I John 2:1-2
"My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world."

Five Quick Thoughts

1. "My Little Children" What a precious term of endearment. "My little children," shows that John the pastor/author loves and cherishes his readers with an intimacy that is hard to grasp. John writes this letter because a destructive heresy has infected the church and some in the church have embraced this false teaching. But even still they are his little children and he loves them like a parent.
2 "that you may not sin, and if anyone sins" This is difficult to understand at first glance especially in light of I John 1:8. We have all sinned, and will continue to sin. John here is addressing specifically those who have fallen prey to the false teaching that he is about to describe and refute. So what he is saying in essence is "I write to you so that you know the truth and will cling to Jesus, but even if you believe the lie that is floating around all is not lost because..."
3. "we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous." An advocate is one who stands in the gap for another, the one who pleads the case on behalf of the injured or the helpless. We are the helpless and the only, the only way that Jesus can approach the Father as our Advocate is in His righteous. How was His righteous demonstrated?
4. "He Himself is the propitiation for our sins." Our sin has left us guilty before a just and holy God. God cannot and will not allow our sin into His presence. The word "propitiation" indicates that Christ absorbed the wrath of God on our behalf. The wrath that should be displayed on unrighteous man (Ephesians 2:1-3) Jesus accepted. He paid for our sins with His blood (I Peter 1:18-19) and therefore He stands between us and the Father as our Advocate.
5. "and not only for ours only but also for the whole world." The blood that Jesus shed is sufficient for the washing away of the sins of every man and woman, boy and girl that has ever or will ever walk on the face of the globe. Not every one will receive Christ's Advocacy because man will reject it for the broad road (Matthew 7:13-14). But those who are called (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14) by the name of Christ will, and will live eternally with Jesus in a very real and very eternal home called Heaven.

We have a need, that need is the forgiveness of sin, and we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous the Son of God and the Son of Man.

Blessings
II Cor. 13:14

A Taste of Reality

2009-03-20T09:55:00.003-04:00

Reality shows are huge. One night this week there was a major Reality Show Duel between "Dancing with the Stars" (or as I call it "Wiggling with the Wackos) and "American Idol" (like Americans need another one). I think Idol won, but I really don't know, I have seen Dancing some and I don't think I have ever watched a full show of Idol since its been on TV. I guess my disdain for these shows is that they like the others:"Survivor," "Bachelor/Bachelorette," "Amazing Race" and so on are really about anything but Reality.

The Apostle John however gives us a very serious dose of reality when he pinned the next few words in his first letter.

I John 1:8-10

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

Wow, that is heavy. I have always thought I was pretty good, I mean after all I haven't killed anybody or anything like that. I mean surely I am not too bad. Well according to John we are and we are great at deceiving ourselves.

I remember watching the Left Behind movie and there is a scene in there where the actors are sharing with a man. They ask him if he has every told a lie, the answer for him and all of us is "Yes." They ask him if he has ever taken anything that was not his, the answer for him and all of us is "Yes."

Wow, two questions and we are thieving liars. Now according to verse 10, if we say we have no sin, not only are we lying, but we make God out to be a liar. Does anybody really want to do that???

As real as our sins are and our sin nature is, all is not lost. Sometimes we think that receiving forgiveness and cleansing from the Lord needs to be some major undertaking. We need to "GET MY LIFE STRAIGHTENED OUT" or "CLEAN MY ACT UP" and then I can come to Christ. John says the only way we can come to Christ is in our filth and let Him do the cleaning. Remember verse 7 from yesterday, "and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sins."

Come on now, let's get really real: We are sinners, but Christ is the Forgiver. More tomorrow.

Blessings
II Cor. 13:14

This is the Message

2009-03-19T16:49:00.002-04:00

I love being a child of the 80's. I remember when this song,"Message in a Bottle" hit the airwaves, we were all singing it. Click here if you want to follow the lyrics.

The jest of the song is a lonely man on a lonely island and finds that there are "Hundred billion castaways, looking for a home."

As I look at the text of the next few verses of I John, it would seem that he is speaking to all of us that feel we are all alone castaway on a lost island.

I John 1:5-7
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."

In this age of fast and faster it seems we can all be very alone in a very large crowd. John shows us in the few words that that does not have to be the case. There are just about three things I want to point out.

1. The world is dark and lonely. It is easy to wonder if anybody else is out there when we get so wrapped up in the world that we loose sight of reality.
2. True companionship (fellowship) is centered in a relationship with God. You see in God there is no darkness and with Him we walk in the light.
3. That fellowship and light is only accessible to us through the blood of Jesus Christ. The longer we walk in darkness the harder it is for us to see our need for cleansing. But Jesus Christ came as God in the flesh to lead us out of darkness and into true fellowship with the one and only true God.

We can throw all the messages in bottles we want. We can Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, blog, text, chat so on and so on. I can promise you based on the truth found in the Word of God, that feeling of loneliness and hopelessness will never be satisfied until you call on Jesus.

Blessings
II Cor. 13:14

Eye Witnesses

2009-03-18T10:27:00.002-04:00

I have been slack over the past few months in keeping this site updated. I guess I can use the excuse of moving from one state to another, making major transitions in our ministry and re-entering seminary. Whatever the reason or excuses I pray that now that we have settled some I can get back to using this blog as the teaching opportunity I pray that it would be.

With that said, I am going to try an offer some thoughts on the first epistle from the apostle John. This is a very important letter for our world today because John is so poignant about exposing false doctrine and false teachers infecting the church. We are quit aware that there are many false doctrines and teaching in our world today and I pray that we can see how to combat and overcome them with the truth.

Today I want to briefly look and the first four verses of I John.

I John 1:1-4

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of Life--the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us--that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your (our) joy may be full.

There is nothing more condemning in a trial than an eyewitness. In some respect we can view this letter from the Apostle Whom Jesus Loved as his testimony at the trial of Jesus. The recipients of this letter were being taught that Jesus was something other that the Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man. John opens this letter on the jury stand by answering the question, "Mr. John A. Postle, :() How well did you know the person in question, this one Jesus of Nazareth?"

John's answer is "very well sir, I saw Him daily, I heard Him teach, I touched His body, and I saw and heard Him proclaim His relationship with God the Father. I would say I knew Jesus better than anyone alive today."

This letter was likely written 60 or so years after the events of the resurrection and Ascension. John's testimony is important for us to consider because of the claims he makes in these opening verses. We have a word from an eyewitness of the accounts of Jesus Christ and his testimony is vital. First Jesus was really here on this earth, He walked, talked, sat, slept, ate, traveled, taught, and worked. Jesus is not an apparition, He was and is a very real person.

The other vital thing that John mentions, that he will develop in great detail is that the life Jesus manifest was not only a temporal earthly dwelling but eternal life in the Father. And that by and through Jesus Christ we, we all from the first to the twenty-first century can have true "fellowship with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ." This is eternal life, Knowing God. Experiencing Christ and His fellowship with the Father is the sole source of joy in the world.

John sure packs alot in a very few words to open this letter. He does the same throughout the short work, but his teaching is so very vital to our world today. I look forward to digging in a little over the next several weeks. I pray that today you have experienced God through His Word and in prayer.

Blessings
II Corinthians 13:14

Freedom of Religion

2009-03-10T08:26:00.002-04:00

This story was on the Today Show this morning March 10, 2009.

Our right to life has been aborted, our right to a free market economy has bailed out and now our freedom to worship is about to be sacrificed.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Florida Clinic Botched Abortion, Threw Out Live Baby

2009-02-05T16:03:00.002-05:00

This Story is copied directly from FOXNews. The Highlighted areas are from Me.

Lawsuit: Florida Clinic Botched Abortion, Threw Out Live Baby

Thursday , February 05, 2009

Eighteen and pregnant, Sycloria Williams went to an abortion clinic outside Miami and paid $1,200 for Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique to terminate her 23-week pregnancy.
Three days later, she sat in a reclining chair, medicated to dilate her cervix and otherwise get her ready for the procedure.

Only Renelique didn't arrive in time. According to Williams and the Florida Department of Health, she went into labor and delivered a live baby girl.
What Williams and the Health Department say happened next has shocked people on both sides of the abortion debate: One of the clinic's owners, who has no medical license, cut the infant's umbilical cord. Williams says the woman placed the baby in a plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.

Police recovered the decomposing remains in a cardboard box a week later after getting anonymous tips.

"I don't care what your politics are, what your morals are, this should not be happening in our community," said Tom Pennekamp, a Miami attorney representing Williams in her lawsuit against Renelique and the clinic owners.

The state Board of Medicine is to hear Renelique's case in Tampa on Friday and determine whether to strip his license. The state attorney's homicide division is investigating, though no charges have been filed. Terry Chavez, a spokeswoman with the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office, said this week that prosecutors were nearing a decision.
Renelique's attorney, Joseph Harrison, called the allegations at best "misguided and incomplete" in an e-mail to The Associated Press. He didn't provide details.

The case has riled the anti-abortion community, which contends the clinic's actions constitute murder.
"The baby was just treated as a piece of garbage," said Tom Brejcha, president of The Thomas More Society, a law firm that is also representing Williams. "People all over the country are just aghast."

Even those who support abortion rights are concerned about the allegations.
"It really disturbed me," said Joanne Sterner, president of the Broward County chapter of the National Organization for Women, after reviewing the administrative complaint against Renelique. "I know that there are clinics out there like this. And I hope that we can keep (women) from going to these types of clinics."

According to state records, Renelique received his medical training at the State University of Haiti. In 1991, he completed a four-year residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Interfaith Medical Center in New York.

New York records show that Renelique has made at least five medical malpractice payments in the past decade, the circumstances of which were not detailed in the filings.
Several attempts to reach Renelique were unsuccessful. Some of his office numbers were disconnected, no home number could be found and he did not return messages left with his attorney.

Williams struggled with the decision to have an abortion, Pennekamp said. She declined an interview request made through him.

She concluded she didn't have the resources or maturity to raise a child, he said, and went to the Miramar Women's Center on July 17, 2006. Sonograms indicated she was 23 weeks pregnant, according to the Department of Health. She met Renelique at a second clinic two days later.
Renelique gave Williams laminaria, a drug that dilates the cervix, and prescribed three other medications, according to the administrative complaint filed by the Health Department. She was told to go to yet another clinic, A Gyn Diagnostic Center in Hialeah, where the procedure would be performed the next day, on July 20, 2006.

Williams arrived in the morning and was given more medication.
The Department of Health account continues as follows: Just before noon she began to feel ill. The clinic contacted Renelique. Two hours later, he still hadn't shown up. Williams went into labor and delivered the baby.

"She came face to face with a human being," Pennekamp said. "And that changed everything."

The complaint says one of the clinic owners, Belkis Gonzalez came in and cut the umbilical cord with scissors, then placed the baby in a plastic bag, and the bag in a trash can.
Williams' lawsuit offers a cruder account: She says Gonzalez knocked the baby off the recliner chair where she had given birth, onto the floor. The baby's umbilical cord was not clamped, allowing her to bleed out. Gonzalez scooped the baby, placenta and afterbirth into a red plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.

No working telephone number could be found for Gonzalez, and an attorney who has represented the clinic in the past did not return a message.

At 23 weeks, an otherwise healthy fetus would have a slim but legitimate chance of survival. Quadruplets born at 23 weeks last year at The Nebraska Medical Center survived.
An autopsy determined Williams' baby — she named her Shanice — had filled her lungs with air, meaning she had been born alive, according to the Department of Health. The cause of death was listed as extreme prematurity.

The Department of Health believes Renelique committed malpractice by failing to ensure that licensed personnel would be present when Williams was there, among other missteps.
The department wants the Board of Medicine, a separate agency, to permanently revoke Renelique's license, among other penalties. His license is currently restricted, permitting him to only perform abortions when another licensed physician is present and can review his medical records.

Should prosecutors file murder charges, they'd have to prove the baby was born alive, said Robert Batey, a professor of criminal law at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport. The defense might contend that the child would have died anyway, but most courts would not allow that argument, he said.
"Hastening the death of an individual who is terminally ill is still considered causing the death of that individual," Batey said. "And I think a court would rule similarly in this type of case."

The Add that Got Rejected

2009-01-31T14:50:00.001-05:00

Abortion and the Economy

2009-01-29T12:43:00.003-05:00

You may have seen this already, but here is yet another reason for us all to get involved today in our nations discussion on the economy and other social ills. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi told ABC News that one way to improve the economy is to reduce the number of people drawing from it. Here is an excerpt from her interview with George Stephanopoulos. By the way, and this is me drawing on the assumptions of Pelosi's voting record "family planning" means abortion.

Here is the link to the complete interview and transcript. ABC News.

What Can We Do?

2009-01-28T09:12:00.005-05:00

With the inauguration of a new administration in the White House and in many states across the nation the discussion of issues facing our nation has reached a high. You cannot turn on the television or radio, read the Internet news (which is where I get most of my news) without hearing about abortion or homosexuality, gay marriage, Gitmo, the economy and some many other issues. Our new President has outlined his agenda on his White House Agenda Page and just to be honest it should concern most people and especially Christians. I would suggest reading them all, but pay close attention to the Civil Rights (Hate Crimes, LGBT), Women (Reproductive Rights), Additional Issues (Faith).

Under Mr. Obama's discussion on faith he speaks of "the need for a deeper, more substantive discussion about the role of faith in American life." This is what I propose we take the President up on. How do we do this is the question? Here are a few thoughts.

1. While ending social and moral ills in our nation is of vital and absolute importance, we Christians have a greater and more eternal mandate. We are not seeking to change the nation by a vote, but rather by Christ. Our primary goal in life is to seek to glorify God and in so doing we will be making disciples of all peoples. Our goal does not need to be reaching 435 congressmen, 100 senators, and 1 president to change their minds, but rather it needs to be reaching the 1.5 million mothers who abort their children every year, the ever growing LGBT community, the lost men and women in America are the goal. If I could end abortion right now I would, but that would not change the need to evangelize this nation.
2. Pray, Pray, Pray and when we are done Pray some more. Church leaders, lead your congregations in prayer for the lost, the unborn, and those in need of Christ's healing. Pray.
3. Get the info out. We in our church are beginning a series of discussions and Bible studies on the issues facing our nation. I pray that we can see how talking and learning about these issues will lead to opportunities for our folks to be witnesses of Christ in their culture and share the gospel.
4. From the words of the president's official contact page, "President Obama is committed to creating the most open and accessible administration in American history." So contact him and them. Here are the websites: Whitehouse, US Senate, US House of Representatives. Also don't forget to contact you state government representatives as well. I would like to offer a couple of thoughts about contacting an official. First be polite, and if you can't, don't mention the name of Christ after a hate filled letter. Second, show respect and then respectfully disagree. Next, get to the point and don't beat around the bush. Say what you think and why you think it in a concise straightforward manner. Finally, let our representatives know that they have a group of people who are praying for them and seeking the best for them and our nation.

Christians we have sat too long and allowed our voices to be silenced. We need to speak up as Americans and as believers. The words of Christ are "Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light, and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops." Matthew 11:27-33

The Value of Life is already going down

2009-01-23T08:31:00.003-05:00

This Just In From the Wall Street Journal

First Embryonic Stem-Cell Trial Gets Approval From the FDA

Obama Intends to Lift Family-Planning 'Gag Rule'

Lots of Changes

2008-12-05T16:20:00.002-05:00

We have been in a state of transition for the past couple of months. The last Sunday of Sept. I resigned as the Associate Pastor at FBC Walton in Northern KY. My plans were to return to Wake Forest, NC to the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and finish my Masters degree and prayerfully begin a doctoral degree. Well all of that came about plus more than I could have expected. In the course of the next last two months we have be introduced to a very loving congregation in eastern North Carolina and they have called my to be their pastor. My first Sunday in their pulpit will be this coming Sunday, Dec. 7. The long and short of it is that we have moved twice in the past five weeks and are finally beginning to settle into our new home. God has blessed our family with so much over the past in allowing us to be a part of a church family in KY and now in NC. I will still be able to finish my formal education work and look forward to coming along side of this church as we follow the will of God in our community. I hope to be back online more regularly soon, we are working now to get our Internet connected at our new home. Keep my family in your prayers and blessings.

Marcus

Freedom of Choice Act

2008-10-03T08:33:00.002-04:00

This article is copied and pasted from LifeSiteNews.com

Federal "Freedom of Choice Act" would Make "Null and Void" all Abortion Restrictions in the US: Kansas City Bishop Warns
By Hilary White
KANSAS CITY, Missouri, October 2, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City, Mo. has issued a pastoral warning to his flock that the proposed Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) would "immediately make null and void every current restriction on abortion in all jurisdictions." The federal legislation, introduced in April 2007, would, the bishop warns, "unleash - on a national level - a complete and unrestricted access to abortion."
A leading US pro-abortion organisation agrees with the bishop's assessment. The National Organization of Women (NOW) said that FOCA "would sweep away hundreds of anti-abortion laws, policies." Planned Parenthood also agreed, saying, "The legislation (FOCA) would invalidate existing and future laws that interfere with or discriminate against the exercise of the [abortion] rights protected. It also would provide an individual aggrieved by a violation of the act a private right of civil action in order to obtain appropriate relief."
When Senator Barack Obama addressed a Planned Parenthood event on July 17, 2007, he said, "The first thing I will do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act."
Bishop Finn, while not mentioning Senator Obama's name, wrote, "When a candidate ... promises to promote - or to 'sign immediately upon taking office' - the Freedom of Choice Act, Catholics and all people of good will have cause to question the sincerity of the candidate's determination to reduce abortions." Bishop Finn noted that the abortion rate has been falling amongst teens, suggesting that this is due to "these already existing limits" that "have caused a decrease of more than 100,000 abortions each year."
FOCA would eliminate conscience protection for physicians, he said, and would require states to fund abortions.
The bill reads, "A government may not (1) deny or interfere with a woman's right to choose - (A) to bear a child; (B) to terminate a pregnancy prior to viability; or (C) to terminate a pregnancy after viability where termination is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman; or (2) discriminate against the exercise of the rights set forth in paragraph (1) in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information.
"This act applies to every Federal, State, and local statute, ordinance, regulation, administrative order, decision, penalty, practice, or other action enacted, adopted, or implemented before or after the date of enactment of this act."
FOCA at a stroke would reverse many of the gains won by the pro-life movement in the US in the last twenty years. It would overturn state abortion reporting requirements in all 50 states; forty-four states' laws concerning parental involvement; forty states' laws on restricting later-term abortions; forty-six states' conscience protection laws for individual health care providers; twenty-seven states' conscience protection laws for institutions; thirty-eight states' bans on partial-birth abortions; thirty-three states' laws on requiring counselling before an abortion; and sixteen states' laws concerning ultrasounds before an abortion.
Bishop Finn said that while it may be permissible to vote for a candidate "in spite of" his support for abortion, "it seems we are morally obliged to establish a proportionate reason sufficient to justify the destruction of 45 million human persons through abortion."
If a candidate, however, "pledges - through an instrument such as FOCA - to eliminate all existing limitations against abortion, it is that much more doubtful whether voting for him or her can ever be morally justified under any circumstance," Bishop Finn concluded.

Racism and Abortion

2008-09-24T08:11:00.003-04:00

A study was released this week touting the decline of abortions in America over the last 30 years. Many news sources and political commentators have picked up on this story to try to explain these significant reductions. The one fact that I wish to comment on that was spelled out on the first page of the report was the huge disproportion of abortions that black and Hispanic women are getting versus that of whites. Without a doubt the two most heinous, horrendous, and awful evils this nation has ever and still is experiencing are racism and abortion. These two atrocities now have been wed to one another so that now the abortion rate for black babies is five times that of whites and Hispanic babies are aborted at three times the rate of whites. The reason for this disparity is simple, targeting. Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers have targeted communities that are lower income and these are communities that are predominately black. According to the The National Black Pro-Life Union "ABORTION IS THE NUMBER ONE KILLER OF AFRICAN AMERICANS!!!" Abortion is murder and racism is foolish hatred, and when these two come together we in America have nothing more than some sort of ethnic or racial cleansing. This is evident from the report statistic, "Of the racial and ethnic groups, non-Hispanic white women had the lowest abortion rate in 2004, 11 per 1,000. Black women had the highest abortion rate (50). The abortion rate among Hispanic women in 2004 (28) fell between those of non-Hispanic white women and black women." This must be addressed in our churches and we in position of Christian leadership must work to end these two atrocities. How so, let me give you a couple of suggestions.
1) Make every day sanctity of Human Life Sunday, God does. (Lamentations 3:22-23)
2) Address the horrors of racism in your church, if we think racism is gone from our pews we are only fooling ourselves.
3) Make your people aware of these enormous problems and their union.
4) Invite my friends from Choose Life Ministries to your church.
5) Make no excuses or exceptions, all abortions are murder and must be stopped and all racism is contrary to the Word of God and must be stopped.
6) Educate yourself. Find out what our children are being taught about sex-education. A good place to start is with the most frightening website I believe I have ever seen, Teenwire.com.
7) Understand the numbers are skewed. The reports that are now being released do not include the now publicly praised yet absolutely repulsive Emergency Contraceptives. These are the morning-after pills that are now available over-the-counter. There is no way to ever know how many babies are being lost through these chemical home-abortion kits.
8) Finally, lets use our pulpits to proclaim again the Word of God.

Its Kinda Windy Out Here

2008-09-17T13:50:00.005-04:00

We here in the Cincinnati--Northern Kentucky area had an experience that may have never occurred in the past. We had a hurricane, well sorta. This past Sunday the remnants of Hurricane Ike made their way through the Ohio River Valley and literally blew up a storm. We had gusts over 80 MPH and sustained winds at better than 50 MPH. Below are some pics from our yard including the small tree we lost.

Now, I know that we did not suffer and are not suffering nearly like our friends in Texas and Louisiana and I don't mean to draw any comparison. There were however over a million people that lost power and even as of today, Wednesday, at noon there were still over 300,000 people in the dark.

My concern here is not to show how bad we have it, many have it much worse, but rather to talk a minute about our need for preparedness. Needless to say, no one was prepared for Sunday afternoon's wind storm. I have never experienced anything like it out side of being in a hurricane in North Carolina and a typhoon in the Philippians. Our power companies need to be applauded, they are working has hard as they can but the sheer volume of work is unimaginable. We had just gotten home from church, threw a couple of pizzas in the oven and sat down to watch the Bengals lose. We never got the pizza and the TV went off for the next three days. One of our older members commented that in the "old days" we lived like this all the time. As we continued to talk I made a comment to him that in the old days we were prepared to live without power and running water, today we are not. Call us spoiled or whatever, today electricity, running water, computers, phones and so on are necessities. Yes, we can live without them but we need to make some major changes and quickly when they are gone.

I think sometime our walk with the Lord is similar. We put things on cruise control, go to church, give our money, check off our devotion, blah, blah, blah. Then, like in a sudden wind storm, everything gets blown away. We have all heard a preacher say you are in one of three places in your life. You are either heading for a major storm, in a major storm or coming out of a major storm. Our faith in God is and needs to be much stronger than our faith in Duke Energy. When the winds blew, the lights when out. But when the winds blew with Jesus in the boat, He commanded them and they obeyed. (Mark 4:39) I will try to make sure we have, bread, water and peanut butter in the house, just in case the power goes back out, and lets all make sure we are prepared, by faith in Jesus for the wind storms of life.

Blessings
II Cor. 13:14

Drive-Thru Church

2008-09-10T07:56:00.000-04:00

Restating the need for Abstinence Education

2008-09-03T15:01:00.004-04:00

With the Republican VP nominee Gov. Sarah Palin's revelation that her 17 year old, unwed daughter is five months pregnant, the public inferno is again burning over the questions and issues surrounding teen pregnancy. The questions are now surrounding the issues of her becoming the VP with a pregnant daughter and really the seemingly hypocritical conservative stance (which may be somewhat true, the hypocritical part) that it does not change anything that this child is expecting a child and how we have decried teen pregnancy for so long. Now all of the sudden it is okay, because we conservatives especially the Christian Conservatives like Gov. Palin. Well enough about Palin, the issue at hand is not politics, Palin, or even teen pregnancy, but rather teen sexuality and the sexual education of our youth.

Let me reiterate a point that the folks who know me have already heard time and time again. The ONLY proper sex education for our students, children and youth is that sex (this includes romantic kissing, touching, petting, hugging, holding, so on, so on and so on, as well as the obvious) is only to occur within the monogamous marriage relationship between one, male husband and his one, female wife.

There is not, nor should there ever be a condescending, judgmental or hate-filled response to a teen-aged couple that has made the mistake of having sex outside of marriage. The mistake is not the pregnancy but the sin of fornication and sexual activity outside God's perfect purpose for sex. We must teach in our churches and youth groups the goal of purity. Yes, this means we will have to talk about "s-e-x" even parents get upset and say, "We shouldn't talk about THAT in church??!!??" Yes, we most certainly should. Should we talk about condoms, pills, shots, and other forms of "safe sex" (I hate that phrase)? No! No! No! We do not teach people how to sin and avoid the visible consequences; like were the best place to hide after we rob a bank, or how to kill your brother and make it look like suicide. We teach them the biblical standard, we try to live the biblical standard, and then, when they and we stumble, fall, and sin, we seek forgiveness and restoration AND (big "and" here) how to live with the consequences of our decisions and press on for the work and the will of the Lord and the Glory of God.

We will make mistakes, teenagers will make mistakes, but we can not create an environment where mistakes go unaccounted for and the only time we get upset is when she gets pregnant or he catches an STD. Sexual activity has a wide range of effects on the persons involved that range from physical to mental to emotional to spiritual. Life is precious, all of life from the moment of conception is precious and we must honor God with our lives and teenagers this means you too. The very first temptation in the garden was that God was keeping something great from Adam and Eve. (Genesis 3:4-5) Abstinence-Only education is not trying to keep something from our kids, it is helping them understand that there is a purpose that God created sex and it can only truly be enjoyed the way He planned for it to be enjoyed, with your opposite gender spouse.

Pray for the Presidency

2008-08-29T14:52:00.005-04:00

I really don't want to get very political but I am very pleased with and really surprised by Sen. McCain choice as his running mate for the White House this fall. Sometimes you can know that you will like a candidate by who opposes them. This is the immediate response to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. NARAL, NOW, and CNN all have press releases condemning Sen. McCain's choice in Palin. Now I know this is not good logic, but if they hate her so much, I am probably in more agreement with her as the VP candidate as any of the other folks reportedly on the short list. There is one other note of interest, I am glad to see that we in America have finally, broken down so many barriers that we have kept strong for years. I don't know which is more surprising, a black presidential candidate or a Republican woman VP candidate.

Whoever is finally (seems like we started this process when Bill Clinton was still president) elected president and VP, we certainly all need to be in much prayer for them. The government is not going to fix all of the nations social ills, but they can certainly begin to pass laws that prohibit preforming abortions, make the family more secure in prohibiting the recognition of same-gender "marriages," we could all enjoy an evening of television if the FCC would make prime-time more family and kid friendly. There is much that needs to be done, but brothers and sisters, the Scripture does not call us to be satisfied with our person in the White House, but rather to be about the Father's business first in our house and then to the world. Pray for our nation, homes, the state of KY (our new governor is still trying to establish casinos) and our families. Also never forget to lift those in uniform serving our country to the Lord.
II Cor. 13:14

Like College isn't Drunk Enough

2008-08-25T13:39:00.003-04:00

I am sure we have all seen on the news lately what the wisdom of the worlds most renown college presidents have dreamed up. Lower the drinking age, this will prevent binge drinking. I have seen also the rebuttal comments from MADD and other groups saying that lowering the drinking age will cause more traffic fatalities, cause grades to go even lower and so on and so on. There is really one one reason that the college presidents want to lower the drinking age and it has, obviously, nothing to do with the students health, but rather their wealth. The American College campus is the ideal place for student clubs and package stores, the only problem is right now they would only legally be able to serve about a quarter of the student body, those upper-class men over 21. Lowering the legal age means now the freshmen can buy on campus as well. I don't believe we need to get into all the vices of alcoholic consumption and we all are aware of the college dorm parties and spring break. The abuse of alcohol is literally spilling into our high schools already and as a youth pastor I am weekly, answering questions about alcohol use and abuse. Here is a link to the list of College and University Presidents who have signed onto this initiative, if one of the schools is in your area, let me encourage to right not only that president but also the board of trustees and even your local media outlets. Alcohol is dangerous enough in the bellies of "mature" people, we sure don't need it ruining the minds of America's brightest youth as well.

You Can Handle the Truth

2008-08-22T07:33:00.003-04:00

Since 1992 when A Few Good Men first hit the big screen, Col. Jessep's 5 word line has become one of the most quoted movie lines of all time. You remember the courtroom scene. . .

Unfortunately, this line seems to have been woven into the fabric of ministry and discipleship. I have the great honor of working with teenagers every week, sometimes every day of the week and if there is one thing I have learned from them is that they "CAN" handle the truth. I have been doing a great deal of reading on the subject of truth and some one in a book or message referenced Zechariah 8:16 in referring to the necessity of being truth proclaimers. The Bible here says, "Speak each man the truth to his neighbor." Lets go ahead and assume the word "neighbor" can be used as universal as when Jesus used the word when talking with a lawyer about a certain good Samaritan. (Luke 10:25-37)

Just by way of helping us understand a little about the nature of truth, Doug Groothuis, in chapter 3 of his book Truth Decay gives us eight "Distinctives of the Biblical View of Truth."
1. Truth is revealed by God.
2. Objective truth exists and is knowable.
3. Christian truth is absolute in nature.
4. Truth is Universal.
5. The truth of God is eternally engaging and momentous, not trendy or superficial.
6. Truth is exclusive, specific and antithetical.
7. Truth, Christianly understood, is systematic and unified.
8. Christian truth is an end, not a means to any other end.

Speak the truth, every man to his neighbor.

Praying for Evangelism Opportunities

2008-08-20T08:57:00.003-04:00

I just came across this video and thought about how we sometimes pray for opportunities to minister and evangelize. The Bible tells us to be ready all the time, 2 Timothy 4:2 and 1 Peter 3:14-15 even in the face of trials and trouble. This sweet dear saint certainly exemplifies being ready. I just wonder, "What if it were me in that car that day..."

Cafeteria Style Religion

2008-08-11T14:54:00.004-04:00

I read this very interesting article today about a retreat center in New York that offers spiritual refreshment in whatever flavor you believe. It never ceases to amaze me what we come up with in the American Religious Culture. I saw another story on ABC News yesterday (Sunday) morning called WWJB: What Would Jesus Buy? I really believe these two stories are showing us a picture of how trivialized Christianity is becoming in our nation. Now most folks probably would think "what is the bid deal?" And I am certainly not opposed to open dialogue between people with various beliefs, religions, and worldviews. Neither am I opposed to Christian t-shirts and ball-caps. A "bobble-head Jesus" however is in direct contradiction to the second commandment and way to far. So what is the big deal? There is a very important element in most religious faiths and especially in Christianity and that is the element of proselytizing or as we in Christianity call it, evangelizing. Both of these stories show how this element of our faith is being dumbed down. In the first story the overarching theme is that basically all religions are on the same level and we should be able to just get along. Well there is no such thing as a Sufi-Christian as one woman has declared herself to be. I have heard this before, I talked with a lady for a very long time who was trying to convince me she was a Wiccan-Christian. A couple of years ago I did a series in our church about cults, world religions and worldviews and through my studies I found a large number of people, expecially teens and young adults are trying to mix the "best" ingredients of each belief and build there own faith. I went to PowerPoint clip art and created this little guy to illustrate. Unfortunately there are many real people trying to do this very thing.

Our new fashion style evangelism is not helping matters very much either. We are commanded in Scripture to be witnesses for Jesus Christ where ever we go. Now there is nothing "wrong" with wearing a Christian T-Shirt, but if we don't know the verses that it has on the back, or if our lifestyle is anything but Christian while we are wearing the shirt, we are hindering rather than advancing the message of Christ. We also seem to develop a mentality that if I just wear a shirt, then I won't have to speak about my faith. If someone asks, just tell them where we go to church. We are not fulfilling our mandate to reach the lost by wearing a shirt, but rather by opening our mouth and living our faith. Pray for each other and encourage each other in our faith. Either we are right about Christianity and everyone else is wrong, or they are right and we are wrong. It can not be both ways. I believe the Bible is the Word of God and it is the absolute truth and therefore, we need to be about spreading the love of Christ and the message of His salvation to a lost world, regardless of what they have tried to mix for themselves in the religious pot.

Our role in Society

2008-08-07T13:21:00.003-04:00

We finished our survey of the BFM 2000 last night. We did a very quick study only taking six sessions to look at the whole document. One of the section of the BFM we looked at was article 15, "The Christian and the Social Order." In the middle of an election year social issues are at the front of many Christian's minds as we determine which candidate to vote for and hopefully elect as our next president. As is the case the presidential election is not the only one going on as several states have Congressional seats available and even more state issues are on the ballot across the nation. Our BFM rightly says that we need to "oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death." We have done a pretty good job of being heard on most of these issues especially homosexuality and need to speak much more loudly on other especially abortion. My message to our congregation last night and what I am still concerned with is that we are trying to change the lifestyles of lost people without sharing with the the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. I heard again this week, Dr. Bill Henard, President of the KY Baptist Convention and 1st VP of the Southern Baptist Convention preaching at my annual alumni conference at Clear Creek Baptist Bible College say that "lost people act the way they do because they are lost." We have lost a great deal of creditability to share the gospel with most people because in speaking out against issues, we have alienated the people, people Christ died for, who are caught up in them. The New Testament does not say people are going to hell because they are gay, have had or preformed an abortion, committed adultery or any other specific vice. People go to hell because "men love darkness rather than light." (John 3:19) My prayer is that we as evangelical Christians find a way to lead people to Christ instead of focusing on changing their lifestyle. If a gay man is converted from homosexuality to heterosexuality but is not converted to Christ, his condemnation is still the same. My last statement on this topic to our church was this and I hope we understand where I am coming from, " Remember, our goal in the Christian life is not to rid the world of abortions, homosexuality, corruption, and poverty. Our goal is to spread the message of salvation to a lost and dying world, and allow the Holy Spirit to affect the changes in our culture, one life at a time."

Ministry at its best

2008-08-01T19:22:00.004-04:00

About four or five times a year, we have the awesome privilege of partnering with a great ministry in inner-city Covington, KY, just across the river from Cincinnati, OH. Fairhaven Rescue Mission has been actively reaching men and women with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ for over 25 years. This past Wednesday, I and 11 other students and adults went to the mission and participated in the backbone of their ministry. It is the one thing they do every night of the year. We fed about 117 men and then led about 40 or 50 of them in worship during their nightly chapel service. I met Dave and Sandra, the directors, shortly after we moved to Northern Kentucky. We were looking for a place for our students to have opportunity for some hands-on ministry experience. The first time I met the lovely couple the love of Jesus Christ and for the men they serve just flowed from everything in them. Their motto is to attempt to empower the men they meet every night to live a Christlike life. Most of the men they serve are homeless and addicted to either drugs, alcohol or both. They have lost much of their livelihood and were it not for Fairhaven and the fantastic staff there, they would have lost their dignity and their hope. As soon as I met these two folks and toured their 100+ year old building sandwiched between several bars on both sides, I knew this was the place for us to minister. I am proud of our First Baptist family as our relationship has grown from just our students taking part, to several of our adult Sunday School classes providing funds and we are now working to get a second group of people to help serve at the Mission on a monthly bases.
What I think I am most pleased with is that through our experiences with Dave, Sandra and the Fairhaven staff and even the residents we have learned that ministry opportunities are everywhere. I love the look on my student's faces when they serve someone and he says, "thank you young man." There is a gleam in their eyes that is reaffirming them that God, the God of the universe can and will use them, if we will only take the opportunities He affords us. Let me encourage all, find some place outside the walls of your church, a people that you will likely not have in your church or who will ever tithe to your budget, and love them, feed them, and tell them about Jesus.
One last thought. I wish their singing could be heard around the world. 40 or 50 men, who have had a tough time and should be down in their spirits raising their voices loud and proud to the One who gives them hope. Jesus deserves this worship and rarely do we give it to Him like the men at Fairhaven do. It is a very awesome and humbling experience. To God be the Glory.

Overcoming Temptation to Sexual Sin

2008-07-29T16:07:00.003-04:00

There seems to a never ending battle for people, especially men, in the area of sexual temptation. the Internet has billions of porn sites. More and more often we are hearing of sexual crimes being committed. In my local area of Cincinnati, Ohio and Northern KY, just in the last couple of days reports have come out of a man fondling a teen, an 18 year old man having sex with a 13 year old girl, and another man raping the corpse of a young murder victim at the morgue. Being involved in church ministry we hear of all sorts of people that are involved to some degree of sexual sin. Many times these people are men within the church. Men we need each others help and support. If you know of a man that is struggling with sexual temptation, the most common is likely Internet porn, he needs help. We can offer him support and prayer, but the only cure is going to come from the word of God. I remember reading an article really a Bible study from Dr. John Piper on fighting sexual sin. I am going to both link to his website and copy and past the article he wrote here. To read the article on Dr. Piper's site click Strategies for Fighting Sexual Sin. To read the article here, just scroll down.

Strategies for Fighting Sexual Sin Northwestern College Chapel
By John Piper April 17, 1995

1. Recognize that sexuality is a good gift from God.
Genesis 2:24-25
For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Proverbs 5:18-20
Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of your youth. As a loving hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love. For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress, And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?
1 Corinthians 7:3-5
Let the husband fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self-control. (Cf. 1 Tim. 4:3)
2. Recognize that Biblical prohibitions are intended to protect something precious not deny something pleasant.
Exodus 20:14
You shall not commit adultery.
1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.
1 Corinthians 7:2
But because of immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
Thessalonians 4:3
For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;
Deuteronomy 10:12-13
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord's commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?
3. Believe God is for you.
Psalm 84:11
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
Romans 8:32
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
Mark 10:29-30
Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake, but that he shall receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.
4. Ponder the eternal danger of lust.
Matthew 5:27-29
I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
Remember the story of the man who cut off his leg to save his life.
5. Think often that God has given you even now many good things.
Genesis 39:7-9
And it came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, "Lie with me." But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil, and sin against God?"
6. Preach to yourself that there is more joy in God's presence than in sin. Transpose desire.
Psalm 4:7
Thou hast put gladness in my heart, More than when their grain and new wine abound.
Psalm 16:11
Thou wilt make known to me the path of life; In Thy presence is fulness of joy; In Thy right hand there are pleasures forever.
Psalm 73:25-26
Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Peter 2:2
Like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
7. Realize that lust disables and weakens our capacity for higher spiritual joys with God.
Peter 2:11 (war on soul)
Abstain from fleshly lusts that wage war against your soul.
Mark 4:19
The desire for other things enters in and chokes the word and it becomes unfruitful.
8. Don't ask, What's wrong with it? Ask: Does it maximize my experience of the power of Christ, my enjoyment of his fellowship, my perception of his beauty, my reflection of his glory?
Philippians 3:12
Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
9. Cultivate a passionate devotion to the honor of God's name.
2 Samuel 12:10, 14
"Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. . . . However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die."
10. Develop a worldview that views absolutely everything in relation to God.
1 Corinthians 10:31
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
11. (For singles) Recognize that sexual relations are not essential to full personhood and happiness.
Jesus was single and chaste and fully human.
Isaiah 56:3-5
Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, "The Lord will surely separate me from His people." Neither let the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree." 4 For thus says the Lord, "To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, 5 To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.
12. (For the married) Recognize that God designed marriage to be a living parable of his commitment to the church.
Ephesians 5:21-32
Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body.
13. Be vigilant over your eyes. Avoid unnecessary stimulation.
Job 31:1
I Have made a covenant with my eyes; How then could I gaze at a virgin?
Romans 13:14
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
2 Timothy 2:22
Now flee from youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
14. Look on the opposite sex as eternal persons. Realize that lust inevitably depersonalizes and despiritualizes people.
John 5:28-29
Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
Matthew 25:46
And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
2 Corinthians 5:16
From now on we recognize no man according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.
15. Think often that Christ suffered agony for your purity. Fight image with image. Christ crying in agony.
Titus 2:14
Christ gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
1 Peter 1:18; 2:24
You were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, [but with the precious blood of Christ]. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
1 Corinthians 5:15
He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
Hebrews 10:29
How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?
16. Beware of assuming past successes guarantee future purity.
1 Corinthians 10:12
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
Galatians 2:13 (Contrasted with Acts 11:24 (Barnabas)
Barnabas was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and faith. (Acts 11:24)
And the rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. (Gal. 2:13)
17. Beware of feeling above accountability.
3 John 9 (Diotrephes not submissive)
I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say.
18. Do not be excessively alone.
19. Get in a group where you exhort one another every day against the deceitfulness of sin.
Hebrews 3:12-13
Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
20. Memorize many scriptures.
1 John 2:14
I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
Psalm 1:2
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
Psalm 119:11
Thy word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against Thee.
21. Stockpile your thoughts with good things.
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.
22. Read the great literature of devotion, biography, etc.
When I read the stories of how much others have suffered and fought and struggled and achieved measures of joy and holiness and fruitfulness in fellowship with God it makes me want to give my all to this quest and settle for nothing less than all that a saved sinner can be for the glory of Christ.
23. Never assume that you are above suffering or that you deserve relief through sin. The pitfall of powerful self-pity.
Acts 14:22
[Paul went to his churches] strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God."
Luke 9:58
And Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
2 Timothy 2:3
Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 4:16-17
At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me, in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the lion's mouth.
24. Get busy with some task.
25. Pray at all times in the Spirit for God's deliverance.
Matthew 6:13
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Luke 22:40
And when He arrived at the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."
Psalm 119:18
Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Thy law.
26. Be encouraged; God is patient
Exodus 34:6-7
Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations. "
Nehemiah 9:17
And they refused to listen, And did not remember Thy wondrous deeds which Thou hadst performed among them; So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But Thou art a God of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness; And Thou didst not forsake them.

© Desiring God
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Church Membership: Who Cares?

2008-07-23T11:44:00.003-04:00

Where is everybody at? This is a common question heard on Sunday mornings, especially during the summer months when, "we usually run low because of vacations." I really think this is a cop-out. I have been involved in athletics all of my life and now my kids are involved to some degree as well, and there is never a question to the level of commitment required there. I wonder why there is here? I know there are a number of people writing and talking about this subject in the SBC World these days. There is even a new phrase that has been coined, "Regenerate Church Membership." Our convention even passed a resolution to that effect at this past June's session. I wonder why this is the case? Let me offer three thoughts.
First, we have changed the gospel. Scripturally speaking, the Gospel is the message of Jesus Christ and His atoning work for the lost in the world. The first thing the gospel teaches us is that we are all lost and in need of a savior. We have changed the scope of the gospel from the lost world, to only those who lives mirror ours. The rest of the lost are just interfering with our beliefs and rights. Our targets have become the homosexual community, the abortionists and the Democratic party. We also want somebody to lead the Muslims to Christ, but our concern there is more for our perceived personal safety than their eternal security. All of "these people" are not the target or enemy of America or Christianity. While I am not condoning sin, lost people will act like lost people. I heard again this morning that there are some kids in our community that we just can't minister to because they are un-churched and don't know how to behave. Well, these are exactly the people we need to reach. But, because we have perverted the gospel so horribly, we only want people like us in the church. The lack of commitment to church membership is first of all found in the reality that we have forgotten what "being saved" is all about.
Secondly, we have a skewed understanding of spiritual warfare. Again, our perceived targets are people and people groups. Scripture is crystal clear that our enemy is not flesh and blood, but rather powers, principalities and rulers of the darkness. We need to vote, but we change the world around us by prayer. We need to let our voice be heard as long as it can be, but even after Christians are silenced we still have plenty of work to do. We have singled out groups that have differing worldviews and made them our enemies. God has told us to love everyone, especially our enemies and seek to win them to the Lord. We do our best battle as true Christians in our Bibles and in our prayer closets. We must maintain the exclusivity of Christ and His gospel, but part of that gospel is loving the lost and introducing them to Jesus.
The preceding issues are present as a direct result of the third reason we see such a lack of Christian commitment in church every Sunday morning. We have no clue what Discipleship is. Jesus made it very clear that discipleship would cost us everything, potentially even our physical lives. He calls us to leave everything: mother, father, family, home, career, lifestyle, even our selves. I really don't know if we understand the concept of taking up our cross and following Him. We talk about a regenerate church membership today as if there can be some other kind. What is resident versus non-resident, active versus inactive etc., etc., etc. The church on Main St. has become a club with privileges instead of a sacred place of worship and commitment. Discipleship is gone.
This can change. It will not change with a new worship style, a new pastor, a new small group system. It will change with real repentance, truly biblical preaching and teaching, and refocusing our lives on the Lord Jesus Christ and off of our own self-indulgences. It is not about entertainment, but about worship. Wow, if only we would open The Book back up.

OK! You gotta be kidding?

2008-07-15T15:02:00.004-04:00

Is this really OK!?

Just in case you are wondering, this is the little, 16 year-old sister of famed or infamous pop-icon Britney Spears. Please somebody tell me how she knows this is "best feeling in the world." I know kids make mistakes, I work with kids, live with kids, and talk to kids everyday they all make mistakes and some of them even get pregnant. I know first hand that we keep loving them, nurturing them and teaching them, and we never condemn. God does not throw us away because we got pregnant at 15. But we do not praise them for premarital sex and put it on the magazine cover of OK! I applaud the fact that she continued the pregnancy and did not abort the child. But if everyone is going to crucify Billy Ray Cyrus for allowing those pictures of his 15 year old daughter to be published, which they should have never been taken, why is there not huge public outcry over this?

Walt Mueller blogged this post a few days ago and He is right on target. Read what he has to say and then do what he says to do, I am tomorrow night. Even if you do not work with the youth in your church take it home and talk about it your kids.

We are beginning a new study

2008-07-15T10:19:00.003-04:00

Beginning next Sunday we, here at FBC Walton are beginning a study on the Baptist Faith and Message. To some this is an exciting opportunity to dive into some of the truths we as Baptist hold dear and to others it seems like a useless waste of time.
Why are we so afraid of the study of Doctrine? I think there are a couple of reasons that answer that question, rather I think there are couple of excuses we make up to answer it. First there is the old adage that "Doctrine Divides." Well, I would rather think that doctrine unifies and separates. Here is what I mean. The unifying factor of studying doctrine is that we have a better understanding what the Bible teaches about certain aspects of life and reality. When we better understand those truths we can unify around the truth of God. The two words that usually proceed a disagreement are, "I Think." Now, please understand, one of the problems of Christians today is not that we have quit thinking, but that we have quit thinking Biblicaly. Paul says to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. I understand this to be talking about our transforming our live to the image of Christ and as Paul says later to let the same mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus. Doctrine, rightly understood, transforms our minds to thinking Biblicaly. Therefore, doctrine is a unifying agent. Doctrine also separates. To say everyone in America and the world do not think and believe the same would be a huge understatement. So while doctrine unifies believers, it also separates us from the thinking of the world. Again, Paul says to the Romans, "do not be conformed to the world." We are called to be separate from the world, not isolationists or "holier than thou," but rather to embrace and live by the truths of God's Word.
The second reason folks have not wanting to study the doctrines and beliefs of the church are simply that when we come face to face with the Word of God, we have to make a change. The more we study God's truths in the Scripture, the more we find our lives need changing. We don't like to change and we are going to resist it as much as we can. Doctrine teaches us that God is God and we are not. He has the market cornered on truth and we do not. He provides our path to salvation and we can not. And, that this is His church and not ours.
Wayne Grudem gives us two reasons that we should study theology or doctrine in the opening pages of his Systematic Theology. First he says, we are commanded to by the Great Commission. "Go, make disciples ... teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." We are commanded to teach the truths of Scripture and that necessitates a study of doctrine. Secondly, he says it benefits our lives. This is accomplished in three ways according to Grudem: first, we overcome wrong ideas, next it helps us make better decisions, and thirdly, it helps us grow as Christians. I think he is right especially about how it helps us grow as Christians. Many of us feel inadequate to even share our faith with a lost friend, and all the studying, learning and growing we can do will help us grow from being milk nursed Christians to meat eating and meat giving Christians.
Click here to find the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 as this will be our guide through this survey of Baptist Doctrine. Hope to see you here.

X-Fuge

2008-07-09T11:11:00.002-04:00

I am, this week, with a great bunch of students at X-Fuge youth camp in Ridgcrest, NC. We are having a fantastic week being led in worship by Todd Agnew and camp pastor Dr. Ergun Caner. The music is great the worship is real and the messages are hard-hitting, like Dr. Caner can be anything else. The best part of the week is not the messages and singing, it is seeing these students grow. The questions they are asking are the questions of mature and maturing Christians. They are not the questions that we usually expect from teenagers. I appreciate that these students have a love for the Word of God and are seeking to know Him and His word more intimately. Pray for us the rest of this week and God Bless.

Here are the Pics from the week so far. X-Fuge 2008

The Reds Game

2008-07-05T11:20:00.003-04:00

It's the bottom of the 11th. Two men on base, two outs and Patterson is up with Ken Griffy Jr. on deck. The Reds are down by one run. Patterson swings, he hits, it is a loooong fly ball into deeeep left field. Its caught on the warning track, Reds lose 6-5.
My son loves baseball. Tuesday night of last week, a couple in our church gave us tickets to the Cincinnati Reds baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. We got there early, we wanted to see batting practice. When we got to the stadium two hours before game time, the Reds were already hitting. My son and I ran as fast as "I" could to the right field bleachers because Jr. and Dunn were hitting. Several home run balls landed all around us but we never caught one. The Reds were done, and it was the Pirates turn to bat. We were still standing in the right field bleachers, when I told Paul to get ready, "this one was come right to him." And guess what, IT DID, surprised dad as much as it did him. The ball hit his glove and fell to the ground and he went after it. After a couple of seconds and some other boys trying to get the ball, Paul came up with it. Now it is sitting on the mantle at home with the date and score of the game on it.
No the Reds didn't win, but we had great seats, thanks Bob and Sandy, Paul has an official Major League Baseball, and we were together. It was just one of those nights were everything was good. The pressures of life and ministry were forgotten for a while, and I saw my son laughing and smiling. He would stand and yell, every time the scoreboard said, "make some noise!!!"
Family time is often hard to carve out in 21st century homelife. But it is absolutely necessary. We get so busy investing our lives in others that we forget those that are closest to us. A simple reminder to self and other, as summer comes to an end, take some time and get to know again your spouse, your kids, and yourself. Gas prices are keeping most of us home these days, so don't neglect the opportunity to stay home one night, fix a nice supper and laugh with the kids. The Apostle Paul writes to the Colossians, "Husbands love your wives, ... Fathers do not discourage your children." Remember, in the lives of our family, love is still spelled T.I.M.E.

Independence Day

2008-07-04T09:21:00.002-04:00

July 4, 1776 was not the day our nation was born. It is the day that our nation declared her independence from England and her King. Our nation did not begin the birthing process until September of 1786, yes ten years later, with the convening of the Philadelphia Convention. The delegates from all 13 states met and decided that rather than work to improve the Articles of Confederation, they would work to draft a Constitution for a new form of government in this new nation. On Sept. 17, 1787 the draft of the US Constitution was complete and was sent to the various states for their ratification. On March 4, 1789, the government under the Constitution began operations and the United States of America began to breathe as a new born nation.
We know that much blood was shed by young men and women for this nation to receive her freedom and independence. We also know that our freedom has been attacked numerous time since 1789 and that millions of other men and women shed their blood to keep us free. Likewise, there are men and women on the battlefield today, continuing that fight for our liberty and the liberty of our allies around the world. I am honored to be counted among this nations veterans, but I know that so many more have given so much more to our country than I ever will.
One of the greatest days of my adult life was in October of 2004. My family, my wife and kids as well as my mother, sister and niece went to the National WWII Memorial in Washington, DC with my grandfather, a WWII Vet. As we walked around the memorial I was amazed at his ability to remember so many details of his time in France and Germany. He was able to recall when he arrived in France, in March of 1944, three months before D-Day. He remembered when he froze his feet at the Battle of Hurtgen Forest. When we went to Union Station for lunch there was a large display of WW II photos taken by the Associated Press. We saw the ship, Queen Elizabeth and he remembered the days, the actual dates he was on the ship coming home in 1945. We walked on around we saw a picture that many of us are familiar. It is of US troops marching through France. I read this caption from beside the picture "U.S. soldiers of Pennsylvania's 28th Infantry Division march along the Champs Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe in the background, on Aug. 29, 1944, four days after the liberation of Paris, France." Papaw said, "That is my unit." Somewhere in that picture is my grandfather.
I am amazed at how vividly Papaw remembered the events he experienced, even after 60 years. I pray that we do not forget all of the sacrifice that has been made for our liberty, freedom, and rights. Our nation is beginning to slip away from the ideals of fighting for liberty, to just expecting it to be handed to us. Our children and youth have no idea of the sacrifices made in the generations before us. Folks lets get our history back, lets get our faith back, and lets begin to remember again what it took for us to have freedom. Happy Independence Day.

Church Growth Advice from PETA

2008-07-01T09:19:00.005-04:00

Yes, PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is now in the church growth-advice-giving business. In a letter published on their website, PETA President Bruce Friedrich, has written the new SBC President Dr. Johnny Hunt to inform him that if we would only preach a message of vegetarianism, we could see "a boost [in] flagging attendance in SBC congregations and reignite passion for the Southern Baptist faith among young people." And just what would be the cause of this reignited passion, "By embracing vegetarianism and advocating it to other Southern Baptists, you will demonstrate the Church's strong moral leadership on the most pressing issues of our day and make the Southern Baptist Church even more relevant in the public's eyes" (emphasis added by me.) If I am not mistaken, most of the time when we hear from PETA and their volunteers, which are mostly young and maybe very young, "PETA was voted "the #1 overall nonprofit organization that 13- to 24-year-olds in North America would volunteer for,"" they are standing naked on the sidewalk outside of a meat processing plant or a fur coat store.
Now I don't mean to sound sarcastic, but I probably will, I'll bet if we could just get PETA to protest outside of our churches, attendance would probably increase as well, after all nudity is very relevant in our youth culture today. I would hope that the industries that deal with the slaughter of animals for human consumption would do so in a manner that is safe and as "ethical" as possible, I remember the cows that were on TV last year, but lets face it the end result is still going to be death. I am not opposed to a vegetarian diet. I too, have read of the health benefits it can provide. But, there is a very real statistic that we all have to understand. Regardless of how we live this life, either as meat eaters or not, we are still going to face the same end, death is experienced by 10 out of 10 people.
I recently read or heard from someone, I would give credit to the source but I can not remember who it was, just know this thought is not originally mine, the more relevant we try to become to the world, the less relevant we become to the church. I heard Dr. John MacArthur preach that he hopes his congregation does not become more and more like the world but rather more and more like heaven. He was not saying we need to exclude anyone from entering the building, but rather that the church's relevance lies not in making social or political changes, but making changes to our lives in the power of the Holy Spirit, as we are conformed to the image of Christ.
Our message to this world in not, "don't eat meat, don't be gay, clean up the environment," but it is seek the Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart, mind and soul and He will forgive, and welcome. When we make Christ our Cornerstone, the fruit of that life will be evident. We need to be involved in the world around us, but our vote as important as it is, will not make an eternal difference in someones life. Meat or no meat, we all will meet Jesus. We need to meet the needs of global hunger, the environment, protect lives of our children, care for the creation that God has entrusted us, and all of these other social issues, but most importantly, we need to share Jesus. He is and always will be the most relevant person in the world.
Thanks PETA for your advice, but the Scriptures teach us how to grow a church and a people for the glory of God. Evangelism, Discipleship, Worship, Prayer, Missions, Fellowship, and Conforming to the Image of Christ are the biblical mandates. I pray we stay grounded in the Scripture for our personal and corporate growth and we will let you all worry about staying grounded in the beef.

Wipeout

2008-06-30T14:10:00.004-04:00

We watched the new television show last night called "Wipeout." I am sure that you have seen it advertised. It is the one where all the people jump on the four, great big, orange balls and end up falling into the water in what seems to be a very painful manner. The show was funny enough in that there is something morbid in all of us that makes falling down, slamming heads on posts, bouncing off walls, and being impaled by swinging arms amusing. The two guys who announce the show are also just funny enough smart-alacks to make the show lol funny. The jest of the show is sheer determination of the contestants to make it to the finish line the fastest. To say that they are met with major obstacles is an understatement at the very least. When they "wipeout," they just have to start over again and hope that their time is good enough to eventually win the prize, which I think is 50 grand.
I remember reading, a couple of times now, the great Baptist reformer, John Bunyan's allegory, Pilgrim's Progress. Certainly a television show meant for entertainment has nothing do with the Christian walk, but if you remember Christian's journey through the different lands that he, and we all face, there were plenty of obstacles. He was tempted with doubt, shortcuts, compromise, worldliness and many others. Christian's focus on the "Celestrial City," and his determination to get back up after he had stumbled are what eventually got him home. I think sometimes our Christian walk is much the same and the TV show. While there is nothing amusing about falling or stumbling in our faith there is a resilience that we need to finish the course. We will face opposition, we will stumble, we may even be impaled, but Christ demands endurance and then provides us with the power, through the Holy Spirit to endure. Jesus says numerous time in the Revelation that, "he who overcomes," shall receive the reward. My prayer is that at the end of the race, we are not looking for the 50 Grand or the fastest time, but that we can say with Paul, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing." II Timothy 4:7-8.

New Bible

2008-06-28T12:45:00.004-04:00

I got a new Bible this week. I have several Bibles in my library. I feel sort of guilty sometimes because I read stories of villages and communities in different countries where one Bible is shared by a whole church or even the whole town. Random thought, we would probably appreciate our Bibles much more if we were limited to one per church, huh. Anyway, I received as a gift, thanks Lisa, a copy of the ESV, English Standard Version, of the Scriptures. I know this is a fairly new translation, but reading through it, it seems to be very good. In it preface it calls itself an "essentially literal" translation. This basically means that the translators made ever effort to stay as true as possible to the actual Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic texts.
One of the advantages of getting a new translation is comparing it to the versions we currently have. I spent several hours over the last couple of days comparing my new ESV to my trusted KJV, NKJV and NASB. And even though I am no Greek scholar, I even pulled out my Greek/English interlinear and did some comparison. A couple of things emerged out of this time of study. First, so far I think I am going to like this new translation. I have read some real scholars speak highly of it. The second and really most important thing that this study has done is rekindle a desire to get deeper into the Word of God. I have been so busy, likely excuse, doing ministry, preparing for VBS, Camps and just weekly activities that my study, real study time has suffered. It is so easy to forsake the most important activities for the most important activities at the present time. While all of the "things"I have been involved in were necessary and good, neglecting time in the Word is never an acceptable sacrifice.
Word of encouragement: Stop, take a break, and sit down with a Bible in hand. It is never to late and you are never to busy to get in the Word. You may even want to get a new translation you are not familiar with and start comparing, let me suggest the ESV.

"American Christianity"

2008-06-27T09:13:00.004-04:00

A recent report came out proclaiming the "tolerance" of American Christianity. The report, which is linked below, says that a full 70% of Christians in America claim that there must be more than one way to heaven. I read this morning an editorial on this report and it to is disheartening to Christians. Right Guilty of "Grand Theft Jesus" praises the open mindedness of American Christian and ridicules the committed Christians who are willing to stand for their beliefs in a public forum. The comments are exactly what we should expect from some one who is so antagonistic of the Christian faith. The author, Robert S. McElvaine has a book titled, Grand Theft Jesus: The Hijacking of Religion in America I have not read it yet but I have now have it on the way.
The fact that Christianity has lost its exclusivity in American is discouraging enough but I have a greater issue with referring to Christianity in America as "American Christianity." There is no such thing as "American Christianity." There is no such thing as "Canadian Christianity," "European Christianity," "Asian Christianity," or "Arab Christianity." There is only Biblical Christianity. The Bible makes it very, very clear that Jesus is the Only Way to the Father and to eternal life in a paradise called Heaven.
I know we live in a culture that rejects absolute truth and where we have reinvented the rules for communication whereby we can make anything that someone else has written, mean anything "we" want it to mean. The fact remains that when God led the men of old, by His Holy Spirit to write the Scriptures, He said what He means and He means what He says. Biblical Christianity is the only form of Christianity there is, regardless of where you live. So 100% of the people on the earth could say there are multiple "ways to heaven," and we would all be wrong.
These attacks on our faith are only going to continue, they will grow more frequent and more severe. We must endure. "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us," the Apostle Paul, Romans 8:18.

Vacation Bible School

2008-06-26T15:48:00.004-04:00

Tonight is the final night of Outrigger Island, VBS here at First Baptist Walton. We have had a great week of fun and excitement, food and games, and music and mission studies. The Lord has even blessed us to see three young ladies surrender their lives to Him as Savior and Lord. The theme for this years VBS really hits to the heart of the matter in our world today.
I have posted news articles about Christian persecution going on around the world, about a lack of commitment to the message of Salvation, even by "Christians" in America, and the attack of family values, especially parental authority. Our motto this year is "Know the Truth, Speak the Truth, Live the Truth." I really believe we may need to have another week of VBS, this time for adults to try and get the same message across to us, as we have with our children.
Biblicaly speaking to "Know the Truth" is to have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. We may know the "Sunday School" answers, but it is past time for us to really "Know the Truth." Likewise, to "Speak the Truth" goes beyond just what we say. Does our conduct really point to the Truth of Christ in our lives? Finally "Live the Truth" should encompass every part of our being. We often try to apply the Bible to our lives like we apply paint to a wall. The wall has not been changed, just dressed up some. Seek integration not application. The difference is that when we integrate the Truth into our lives, everything changes right down to our DNA.
It is time to quite debating what the truth is, we know Him from the Scriptures. Lets join our kids and really: "Know the Truth, Speak the Truth, Live the Truth."

Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegiance

2008-06-25T11:53:00.001-04:00

New to Blogging

2008-06-25T10:32:00.004-04:00

I am working to start a new option for ministry in the blogging world. This is sort of my first effort at this. I do have a myspace page (http://www.myspace.com/marcusfbcw) with some info on it, but I hope to publish shorter (sometimes) and more frequent posts here. I will have links to ministry websites and other bloggers, who are much more wise than I, and I know that we all can learn from them. I want your comments, even those that disagree, just keep them respectable and clean otherwise I will not post them and will block you.
My hope is to address issues of Christian discipleship and how a Biblical Worldview should effect our walk in this world. I will also try to comment on revelent news stories and happenings in our world. I know there are many others doing the same things so hopefully, I can add something constructive to the communications. Pray for me as we launch this new ministry.