A scripture came into my head last night at work. Not sure why. It was Psalm 127 ESV "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. Behold children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate".
A note at the bottom let me to Psalm 1 ESV, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. IN all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but arr like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish".
I felt like I should share these as a blog post today so here they are.
I do not know the purpose of God leading me to them and laying it on my heart to share them. I do know that in this time when there is so much in the world to distract us from Jesus and the Word which are intended to be life to us, we would do well to meditate on these scriptures as a reminder of who our source is and where our strength comes from. It is so easy to forget about God and try to do things our own way. Taking control especially when the going gets rough, when that is the time that we should be running towards him the most and giving him full control if he did not have it to begin with.
I will leave you with this last scripture that the Lord led me to as well this morning which is in the same vain.
Proverbs 3:1-8 ESV, "My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones".
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Whats in a Lyric? Part 2 ("Religious" music)
So the first part of this post was geared toward lyrics in secular music. The question was, How much do we really consider the message in the lyrics of a song in relation to whether it pleases God or negatively/positively affects our Christian witness. The next issue is "religious" music. When listening to or singing along with contemporary christian music or praise and worship music are we really thinking about the message in the lyrics?
The first concern should be, is it biblical. Now we can nitpick this a a lot and ruin a song, however it is very easy to enjoy songs who's content is based on bad, possibly unbiblical doctrine or bad theology. Admittedly, I don't have a lot of examples because I have not researched for specific lyrics. However, I have read and heard many concerns expressed in regards to this idea and recall thinking it about lyrics in the past. I will say this. I think that the concern can be over or under analyzed. I certainly think it is a thought process worth allowing to hang out under the surface. If nothing else it will cause us to really think about what we are singing and if the content is biblically sound it will enhance our worship experience. This leads me to the second concern.
Do we really think about what we are singing. As a worship leader I can tell you of times when the lyrics of a song combined with the move of the spirit have totally taken my worship experience to another level. However, I can also speak of times when my worship experience has been dry and unmoving when some of the same lyrics were being sung. The same is true of solo experiences when singing special music. The extent with which we engage our brains toward our worship affects our experience. We must bring a sacrifice of praise. That usually means intentionally engaging in worship even when you don't feel like it. I have sung some songs several times and all of a sudden one day the real meaning of the words hit me and I had a WOW moment because the meaning of the song came alive. So I would encourage you, whether it's a hymn that is loaded with doctrine or a simple praise or worship song that repeats the same idea over and over that you come to it each time with an intentional, positive attitude, considering what you are singing and who you are singing to or about. Jesus is worthy of our best effort each and every time. That is going to look different each time you worship depending on what is going on in your life but you and God know if you are giving it your all in that moment.
It struck me the other day as I was listening to a teaching about Paul and a reference was made to his stoning in Acts 14. Then they referenced 2Corinthians 4:8-9. The ESV translation of this vs is "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed, always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies".
Sound familiar? Those are lyrics from the song Trading my Sorrows. When you think about those lyrics in relation to Paul's stoning it seems silly that we are jumping up and down singing "yes lord". Don't get me wrong, I understand the idea of rejoicing in the sustaining power of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to carry us through every trial and tribulation. But lets face it. How many of us have had to go through what Paul went through. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-29 Paul describes the sufferings that he had endured to that point. Most of us think we are suffering if someone takes our parking place, or we have a hard busy stretch on the job. Maybe even if we go through a difficult illness. The lyrics that Trading my Sorrows use reference suffering for the cause of Christ that a very small percentage of American Christianity knows anything about. Other countries however, where you may die for your faith or see family members die for their faith the very same day that they except Jesus, now those people know about modern day suffering for the cause of Christ.
I think if we studied and considered more deeply the context in which scripture was written and on which some scriptural lyrics are based we would more greatly appreciate the Savior we are praising. This process would bring a much deeper meaning to our praise and our worship. See, it's not enough to not indulge in or meditate on worldly things, behaviors, or thought processes as mentioned in the previous part of this post on secular music. No, we must pursue Christ. We must pursue all things Christlike and develop a hunger for them in our hearts, minds, and how we live our lives. We need to always be thinking of whether our day to day worship is pleasing to God. Whether it be the songs that we sing, the songs that we listen to, or the things that we do or don't do. If we are truly going to have Christ centered lives then everything that influences our lives and that our lives influence must center on Christ.
I close with these two scriptural thoughts. Philipians 1:27 says to "let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ". Romans 12 which I quoted at the end of the first part of this post states the idea that we are to present ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is our spiritual act of worship. These thoughts encompass the essence of the expectation for purity and holiness that God desires for our lives. Anything less is unacceptable to him. So strive to rise to the challenge of meeting that expectation. Cry out to Him for the grace and strength to succeed in this effort. Not because you have to, but because you want to please your Heavenly Father and honor his Son for the sacrifice He paid so that you could have eternal life in Christ Jesus.
Glory Be To God!
Josh
I close with these two scriptural thoughts. Philipians 1:27 says to "let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ". Romans 12 which I quoted at the end of the first part of this post states the idea that we are to present ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is our spiritual act of worship. These thoughts encompass the essence of the expectation for purity and holiness that God desires for our lives. Anything less is unacceptable to him. So strive to rise to the challenge of meeting that expectation. Cry out to Him for the grace and strength to succeed in this effort. Not because you have to, but because you want to please your Heavenly Father and honor his Son for the sacrifice He paid so that you could have eternal life in Christ Jesus.
Glory Be To God!
Josh
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Whats in a Lyric? Part 1 (Secular Music)
As I am developing the posts for the Gospel series referenced in the previous blog, I have come under conviction that I should share a concern that I have had for some time. Sharing it now is fueled by a couple of experiences as of late on the topic, the first of which I will share here. I have referenced it before but this will be a little more pointed. Here goes.
Lyrics. Do we really put much thought behind what we are singing. or listening to. I wonder. Recently, I have learned of a song that I have never heard before but is apparently very amusing and popular among country listeners, sinners and Christians alike.. It is called Red Solo Cup. I hear it spoken of with much affinity. I have heard enough of the lyrics quoted to get an idea what the song is about. As a matter of a fact, just now, I looked it up to make sure I quoted correctly the artist Toby Keith as it's originator. I must admit I giggled. My flesh enjoyed it's humor and ridiculous tongue in cheek approach. So before I go any further let me clarify that I understand the temptation, even for Christians, to be amused and even feel drawn to the hoky feel and catchy hook of the song. Especially if you are a musician or vocalist.
However, as much as my flesh is tempted to enjoy and giggle at this silly song and video that wasn't even intended to be a hit. My spirit, is grieved and my heart is heavy. This song, and especially the video, glorifies everything carnal, sinful, and ungodly. This song is a perfect example of how Satan functions in deceptive fashion to grab the hearts of the world and the Christian alike and numb them in regards to the sensitivity and intolerance that God has for the sinful nature. Even if you haven't seen the video, as a Christian, the knowledge that we have of the worlds idea of a party should throw up red flags when it comes to a song like this, simply from the lyrics.
Is this song alone. Absolutely not! Most secular music today, no matter the genre, is geared toward subtly glorifying things ungodly. Oh the writer or artist may not have that at the forefront of their mind when writing or performing these songs but the message is still glorifying of sin. This is the devil's desire. Some songs do it blatantly through hardcore gangsta rap or hard rock. Others do it through country or alternative music. Even love songs often allude to nighttime or bedtime activities of those in love with no allusions about whether the characters involved are married or not. Is this to picky of a view point? Some might say, you are reading into it Josh! Maybe. However, in a world where sexual immorality is acceptable and prevalent I think we as Christians should be just that nitpicky about what we listen to, expose others to, or even put out ourselves if you happen to be an artist. Some might call this legalistic, I call it biblical. After all, the bible does say to avoid even the appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22). Phillipians 4:8 lists all the things that God would have us meditate on. Wild parties and drunkeness, violence and sexual immorality are not a part of this list No, they are rather sins of the flesh(Galatians 5:19-21). Obviously these are convictions that the Holy Spirit has to bring however, once light is shed on potential sin and disobedience in that area, we are responsible to seek God and ask him to confirm it in our spirits, if it is biblically accurate, and to help us remove that from our lives.
There are two primary issues of concern here. 1) Are there things in our lives that are displeasing to God?(Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4:17-32) 2) Are there things in our lives that could be a stumbling block to weaker believers or to unbelievers?(Romans 14:13) True that it is God who saves, however He will hold us accountable for our influence in the lives of those around us. Either by what we do through sinful disobedience or what we don't do through righteous obedience.
Obviously there are many more scriptures to support the validity of these concerns. My desire is never to suggest a legalistic approach to living out your faith. Rather to create a thought process for biblical obedience that is pleasing to God and useful for building up the Body of Christ. I want to be careful to clarify that I am not advocating any change in our lives as a work unto salvation. We are saved by grace alone. However, in the process of sanctification aka. transformation as an evidence of the salvation that God has already provided, we should always be examining our lives for anything that would reflect poorly on Christ in us. We cannot be the city on a hill shining the truth of the Gospel for all the world to see if we are tolerating or excusing sin in our lives, no matter how small.. We must guard our hearts and the hearts of those within our realm of influence from worldly, ungodly things at all times.
Therefore I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy. to present yourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, for this is your spiritual act of worship. Be no longer conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:1-2).
Love in Christ,
Josh
Lyrics. Do we really put much thought behind what we are singing. or listening to. I wonder. Recently, I have learned of a song that I have never heard before but is apparently very amusing and popular among country listeners, sinners and Christians alike.. It is called Red Solo Cup. I hear it spoken of with much affinity. I have heard enough of the lyrics quoted to get an idea what the song is about. As a matter of a fact, just now, I looked it up to make sure I quoted correctly the artist Toby Keith as it's originator. I must admit I giggled. My flesh enjoyed it's humor and ridiculous tongue in cheek approach. So before I go any further let me clarify that I understand the temptation, even for Christians, to be amused and even feel drawn to the hoky feel and catchy hook of the song. Especially if you are a musician or vocalist.
However, as much as my flesh is tempted to enjoy and giggle at this silly song and video that wasn't even intended to be a hit. My spirit, is grieved and my heart is heavy. This song, and especially the video, glorifies everything carnal, sinful, and ungodly. This song is a perfect example of how Satan functions in deceptive fashion to grab the hearts of the world and the Christian alike and numb them in regards to the sensitivity and intolerance that God has for the sinful nature. Even if you haven't seen the video, as a Christian, the knowledge that we have of the worlds idea of a party should throw up red flags when it comes to a song like this, simply from the lyrics.
Is this song alone. Absolutely not! Most secular music today, no matter the genre, is geared toward subtly glorifying things ungodly. Oh the writer or artist may not have that at the forefront of their mind when writing or performing these songs but the message is still glorifying of sin. This is the devil's desire. Some songs do it blatantly through hardcore gangsta rap or hard rock. Others do it through country or alternative music. Even love songs often allude to nighttime or bedtime activities of those in love with no allusions about whether the characters involved are married or not. Is this to picky of a view point? Some might say, you are reading into it Josh! Maybe. However, in a world where sexual immorality is acceptable and prevalent I think we as Christians should be just that nitpicky about what we listen to, expose others to, or even put out ourselves if you happen to be an artist. Some might call this legalistic, I call it biblical. After all, the bible does say to avoid even the appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22). Phillipians 4:8 lists all the things that God would have us meditate on. Wild parties and drunkeness, violence and sexual immorality are not a part of this list No, they are rather sins of the flesh(Galatians 5:19-21). Obviously these are convictions that the Holy Spirit has to bring however, once light is shed on potential sin and disobedience in that area, we are responsible to seek God and ask him to confirm it in our spirits, if it is biblically accurate, and to help us remove that from our lives.
There are two primary issues of concern here. 1) Are there things in our lives that are displeasing to God?(Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4:17-32) 2) Are there things in our lives that could be a stumbling block to weaker believers or to unbelievers?(Romans 14:13) True that it is God who saves, however He will hold us accountable for our influence in the lives of those around us. Either by what we do through sinful disobedience or what we don't do through righteous obedience.
Obviously there are many more scriptures to support the validity of these concerns. My desire is never to suggest a legalistic approach to living out your faith. Rather to create a thought process for biblical obedience that is pleasing to God and useful for building up the Body of Christ. I want to be careful to clarify that I am not advocating any change in our lives as a work unto salvation. We are saved by grace alone. However, in the process of sanctification aka. transformation as an evidence of the salvation that God has already provided, we should always be examining our lives for anything that would reflect poorly on Christ in us. We cannot be the city on a hill shining the truth of the Gospel for all the world to see if we are tolerating or excusing sin in our lives, no matter how small.. We must guard our hearts and the hearts of those within our realm of influence from worldly, ungodly things at all times.
Therefore I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy. to present yourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, for this is your spiritual act of worship. Be no longer conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:1-2).
Love in Christ,
Josh
Saturday, August 4, 2012
The Gospel..A false expectation, An Ineffective presentation
I apologize in advance for the length of this post, however I believe this is a matter that should not be cheapened by issues of brevity. It is loaded with heavy thoughts on a serious and eternal issue. I pray you will see it through to the end and ask God what encouragement or challenge he may have for you in this post.
Here we go.
In this age, when the culture is already corrupting us, unfortunately the Gospel Message has been watered down into a consumeristic, soft serve message designed not to create any fear or any offense. After all, the Gospel is "GOOD NEWS"! Right? Of course. But, what is Good News without some Bad News? It's just news. People do not realize they need to be rescued, unless they are informed they are in trouble. They will not understand that they need a Savior, unless they are informed there is something to be saved from. They will not understand that Salvation, without repentance and Lordship, not as the cause of salvation but as evidence of salvation, is not Salvation at all. They will not understand that they cannot accomplish this on their own. They need the grace of God provided by the Holy Spirit to come into their lives, save them, and empower them to continue the growth process.(Phillipians 2:12-13) They need to understand that Salvation, from the moment they are born again until the moment they are made perfect in heaven, is only possible by God's grace. That they are incapable of walking out that faith, unless God places that gift of faith inside of them. They need to understand that there is no goodness in them capable of accomplishing this(Romans 3:9-18) That without the price that Jesus paid on the Cross, all our righteousness is as filthy rags(Isaiah 64:4-9) We are all evil sinners deserving of God's wrath. We deserve his wrath because God hates sin. He is perfect and cannot tolerate sin. So he must separate himself. That is why God sent Jesus to drink that cup of wrath and take on the penalty of our sins on the cross.
Today's evangelistic message tends to be, Jesus loves you. He died for you. He wants to come into your heart. All of this is true Now pray this prayer and get baptized and you will go to Heaven. All of this is partially accurate. But, it is an incomplete message. There is no mention of repentance, of dying to oneself. The focus is much more on Eternal Life than Eternal Death. So many want to talk about God's love, goodness, mercy, and blessings. That's great for those who are already soundly saved to understand. There is however, a whole other side of the story. There is God's wrath, jealousy, justice, and judgement. That is much more pertinent to the need of the lost. Oh, we can't talk about that. Why? We might offend or drive someone away? They are all attributes of God and His most Holy love encompasses them all. Many of the great presenters of the Gospel in years past (Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, George Whitfield, D.L Moody, Martin Luther, John Wesley, Matthew Henry, A.W. Tozer and many others of their day) believed in preaching the whole truth. They would not steer away from the use of the Law of the Ten Commandments and the mention of Hell. No. They would begin with it in hopes of planting seeds of conviction among their listeners. In fact, they believed the law of the Lord was essential to conversion of the soul(Psalms 19:7). The law makes us aware of our need for Christ(Romans 3:19-20). In John 6:44 Jesus said, "No one can come to me unless the Father that sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day". It is not our responsibility to decide whether anyone chooses to follow Christ. Our responsibility is to share the whole truth with the world because the knowledge of the truth will set them free. (Matthew 28:16-20; John 8:32) So we do not have to avoid truth for fear of offense.
If the lost do not understand the fullness of God then they are committing to an incomplete idea of who God is and what the complete idea of His love is. It will be difficult for converts to fully appreciate God's love and grace if they do not also understand God's wrath toward sinful man. Think of it this way. It is difficult to fully appreciate and understand the glory of the cure for a disease unless we first realize that we have a disease and it is TERMINAL. The gravity of that disease must be explained and THEN a person understands just how badly they need and want the cure. Many ministers, myself included, are concerned that this incomplete presentation of the Gospel is leading to more false converts than anyone wants to admit.
Today's contemporary Gospel message tends to be, "accept Jesus into your life and He'll give you love, joy, peace, fulfillment, and lasting happiness". It rarely makes mention of the persecution verbally, emotionally, and physically that is promised in the Bible. Sometimes, unto physical death. When Jesus called others to follow him, It wasn't warm and fuzzy. In three different Gospels (Luke 9:23; Mark 8:34; Matthew 16:24) Jesus says, "if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. DENY himself? Take up his CROSS? Doesn't sound much like the seeker sensitive, positive thinking, prosperity based message that is often preached today does it? Jesus said, "Foxes have holes and birds have the air, but the Son of Man has no where to lay his head. (Luke 9:58; Matthew 8:20) This was in response to someone expressing interest in following him. Not exactly a positive invitation. I am not saying that God will not bless us. God says He will supply for our every need according to his riches his and glory(Philippians 4:19) whether that requires natural or supernatural provision. And yes the Bible speaks of prosperity and increase. However, none of these were major talking points for convincing anyone to follow him. He never said, "I have a wonderful plan for your life" He never told them how to get their "best life now". Paul said, "you were dead in your sins"(Eph 2:1, Col 2:13) and Jesus said "no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again".(John 3:3) He said, "no man comes to the Father except the spirit draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day".(John 6:44) The focus of the Gospel needs to be taken off of the creation and placed back on the Creator. The focus needs to be taken off of the gifts and placed back on the Giver. Being blessed and provided for should be a result of our salvation and obedience, NEVER the motivation for desiring salvation or being obedient.. If someone trusts in Jesus based on the idea of having a "blessed" life then when they experience trials, tribulations, and persecution they will likely not withstand them.
Many Christians, in regards to evangelism, want to think that the Gospel is so simple and easy. They paint a pretty picture of the goodness of God, say confess and believe and "pray this prayer with me" and eternal life is yours. Now I am not saying that is not part of it however, in Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus says, "Enter through the narrow gate, For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many will enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and few will find it". Clearly there is more to it than believing and praying a prayer. There must be a transformation. The bible says we are a new creation in Christ. Old things pass away. Thus, We cannot remain the same after a genuine salvation experience.
Scripture also makes it clear that practicing religion is not be enough to guarantee you eternity. 2 Timothy 3 makes references to godlessness in the last days. He lists all kinds of sinful behavior and then in vs. 4-5 he says "they are lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of Godliness, but denying it's power. In vs. 7 he makes reference to people who are "always learning, but never able to acknowledge the truth".
In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out many demons and in your name perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you, away from me you evil doers". In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus talks about the separation of the sheep and goats based on how they treat "the least of these". He says the goats who did not take care of "the least of these" will go away to eternal punishment. Matthew 7:24-27 shows Jesus refering to those having a solid foundation as the ones who put God's word into practice. Those who do not, will not have a solid foundation and will not stand in the end.
So if the Gospel is so simple, then why does it seem like so many will miss the mark. Why does it seem like our salvation is tied to works? What about the Love? What about the grace and mercy? What about the cross? I'm glad you asked.
The bible makes it clear that if we are truly born again that it is by grace through faith so that no man may boast(Ephesians 2:8-9). Then the works, that are the faith based evidence of our salvation, will be evident in our lives. Not that we work in our own power to attain or keep salvation, but that the same grace through the cross that saved us, will also work in us, enabling growth, enabling escape from the grip of sin and the things of this world, and enabling us to obey every command that God has given us in His Word. Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose". (Philippians 2:12-13)
It is our responsibility as ministers of the Word, who are responsible to make disciples (that is ALL Christians) as well as every pastor, that we encourage people to check their hearts, words, actions, and motives daily. Sometimes it seems we are so concerned about encouraging the body of Christ and not causing them to doubt their faith that we avoid the entire truth of what it means to follow Jesus and how it represents the reality of our salvation. In 2 Corinthians 13:5-6 the apostle Paul says this, "examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you---unless, of course, you fail the test"?
So, if it is God who saves you, and God who keeps you according to scripture(2 Timothy 1:12, Hebrew 12:2) then it stands to reason that if you fail the test, you were never saved to begin with.(1 John 2:19) There is still hope. My prayer is that if anyone has concerns about their salvation that they come desperately before the throne of Grace and cry out to God that he would save them. 1 John 2:3-6 says, "We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, " I know him, but does not do what he commands is a liar and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, , God's love is trully made complete in him. This is how we now we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did". If we find this to be true then we have nothing to fear.
The Gospel in it's entirety should be the driving force behind everything that we do and say. It should not only be lived out, but spoken into the hearts of listeners in our path every opportunity we get. That is the greatest act of love that we can show. If we truly believe that billions of people around the world are going to die an eternal death without Jesus and we do not love our fellow man enough to show and tell them the truth of the Gospel and their desperate need for Jesus then we are not walking in the completeness of God's love and Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 that if we have not Love, then everything else is worthless. In fact, there is a possibility, according to 1 John 2:3-6, that God will have some serious questions for us, IF he even knows us.
I will be writing a few more posts clarifying and fleshing out some of the ideas in this post. Think of this as a preamble to the next several posts dealing with salvation and evangelism.
I write plainly and seriously because this is serious business. People are going to HELL and the church is not doing much about it. My love for the Church and for the lost grows daily. My concern for the potential lost souls IN the church buildings grows daily. My hunger is to not only to see myself grow in obedience to the Word and knowledge of the Word, but to see the Church grow in an obedience to the Word and knowledge of the Word that will empower them to biblical evangelism and discipleship. There is NO greater cause on this earth than glorifying God through the spread of the Gospel.
I continually pray that these posts though direct at times, will be able to be received in a loving way. My desire is not to chastise but to jumpstart. It is always out of love first for Jesus, then for the people, that I ever post on any topic. May every post be covered by God's grace and every heart be prepared to receive whatever God would have them receive as they read these posts.
Love in Christ,
Josh
Here we go.
In this age, when the culture is already corrupting us, unfortunately the Gospel Message has been watered down into a consumeristic, soft serve message designed not to create any fear or any offense. After all, the Gospel is "GOOD NEWS"! Right? Of course. But, what is Good News without some Bad News? It's just news. People do not realize they need to be rescued, unless they are informed they are in trouble. They will not understand that they need a Savior, unless they are informed there is something to be saved from. They will not understand that Salvation, without repentance and Lordship, not as the cause of salvation but as evidence of salvation, is not Salvation at all. They will not understand that they cannot accomplish this on their own. They need the grace of God provided by the Holy Spirit to come into their lives, save them, and empower them to continue the growth process.(Phillipians 2:12-13) They need to understand that Salvation, from the moment they are born again until the moment they are made perfect in heaven, is only possible by God's grace. That they are incapable of walking out that faith, unless God places that gift of faith inside of them. They need to understand that there is no goodness in them capable of accomplishing this(Romans 3:9-18) That without the price that Jesus paid on the Cross, all our righteousness is as filthy rags(Isaiah 64:4-9) We are all evil sinners deserving of God's wrath. We deserve his wrath because God hates sin. He is perfect and cannot tolerate sin. So he must separate himself. That is why God sent Jesus to drink that cup of wrath and take on the penalty of our sins on the cross.
Today's evangelistic message tends to be, Jesus loves you. He died for you. He wants to come into your heart. All of this is true Now pray this prayer and get baptized and you will go to Heaven. All of this is partially accurate. But, it is an incomplete message. There is no mention of repentance, of dying to oneself. The focus is much more on Eternal Life than Eternal Death. So many want to talk about God's love, goodness, mercy, and blessings. That's great for those who are already soundly saved to understand. There is however, a whole other side of the story. There is God's wrath, jealousy, justice, and judgement. That is much more pertinent to the need of the lost. Oh, we can't talk about that. Why? We might offend or drive someone away? They are all attributes of God and His most Holy love encompasses them all. Many of the great presenters of the Gospel in years past (Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, George Whitfield, D.L Moody, Martin Luther, John Wesley, Matthew Henry, A.W. Tozer and many others of their day) believed in preaching the whole truth. They would not steer away from the use of the Law of the Ten Commandments and the mention of Hell. No. They would begin with it in hopes of planting seeds of conviction among their listeners. In fact, they believed the law of the Lord was essential to conversion of the soul(Psalms 19:7). The law makes us aware of our need for Christ(Romans 3:19-20). In John 6:44 Jesus said, "No one can come to me unless the Father that sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day". It is not our responsibility to decide whether anyone chooses to follow Christ. Our responsibility is to share the whole truth with the world because the knowledge of the truth will set them free. (Matthew 28:16-20; John 8:32) So we do not have to avoid truth for fear of offense.
If the lost do not understand the fullness of God then they are committing to an incomplete idea of who God is and what the complete idea of His love is. It will be difficult for converts to fully appreciate God's love and grace if they do not also understand God's wrath toward sinful man. Think of it this way. It is difficult to fully appreciate and understand the glory of the cure for a disease unless we first realize that we have a disease and it is TERMINAL. The gravity of that disease must be explained and THEN a person understands just how badly they need and want the cure. Many ministers, myself included, are concerned that this incomplete presentation of the Gospel is leading to more false converts than anyone wants to admit.
Today's contemporary Gospel message tends to be, "accept Jesus into your life and He'll give you love, joy, peace, fulfillment, and lasting happiness". It rarely makes mention of the persecution verbally, emotionally, and physically that is promised in the Bible. Sometimes, unto physical death. When Jesus called others to follow him, It wasn't warm and fuzzy. In three different Gospels (Luke 9:23; Mark 8:34; Matthew 16:24) Jesus says, "if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. DENY himself? Take up his CROSS? Doesn't sound much like the seeker sensitive, positive thinking, prosperity based message that is often preached today does it? Jesus said, "Foxes have holes and birds have the air, but the Son of Man has no where to lay his head. (Luke 9:58; Matthew 8:20) This was in response to someone expressing interest in following him. Not exactly a positive invitation. I am not saying that God will not bless us. God says He will supply for our every need according to his riches his and glory(Philippians 4:19) whether that requires natural or supernatural provision. And yes the Bible speaks of prosperity and increase. However, none of these were major talking points for convincing anyone to follow him. He never said, "I have a wonderful plan for your life" He never told them how to get their "best life now". Paul said, "you were dead in your sins"(Eph 2:1, Col 2:13) and Jesus said "no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again".(John 3:3) He said, "no man comes to the Father except the spirit draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day".(John 6:44) The focus of the Gospel needs to be taken off of the creation and placed back on the Creator. The focus needs to be taken off of the gifts and placed back on the Giver. Being blessed and provided for should be a result of our salvation and obedience, NEVER the motivation for desiring salvation or being obedient.. If someone trusts in Jesus based on the idea of having a "blessed" life then when they experience trials, tribulations, and persecution they will likely not withstand them.
Many Christians, in regards to evangelism, want to think that the Gospel is so simple and easy. They paint a pretty picture of the goodness of God, say confess and believe and "pray this prayer with me" and eternal life is yours. Now I am not saying that is not part of it however, in Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus says, "Enter through the narrow gate, For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many will enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and few will find it". Clearly there is more to it than believing and praying a prayer. There must be a transformation. The bible says we are a new creation in Christ. Old things pass away. Thus, We cannot remain the same after a genuine salvation experience.
Scripture also makes it clear that practicing religion is not be enough to guarantee you eternity. 2 Timothy 3 makes references to godlessness in the last days. He lists all kinds of sinful behavior and then in vs. 4-5 he says "they are lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of Godliness, but denying it's power. In vs. 7 he makes reference to people who are "always learning, but never able to acknowledge the truth".
In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out many demons and in your name perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you, away from me you evil doers". In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus talks about the separation of the sheep and goats based on how they treat "the least of these". He says the goats who did not take care of "the least of these" will go away to eternal punishment. Matthew 7:24-27 shows Jesus refering to those having a solid foundation as the ones who put God's word into practice. Those who do not, will not have a solid foundation and will not stand in the end.
So if the Gospel is so simple, then why does it seem like so many will miss the mark. Why does it seem like our salvation is tied to works? What about the Love? What about the grace and mercy? What about the cross? I'm glad you asked.
The bible makes it clear that if we are truly born again that it is by grace through faith so that no man may boast(Ephesians 2:8-9). Then the works, that are the faith based evidence of our salvation, will be evident in our lives. Not that we work in our own power to attain or keep salvation, but that the same grace through the cross that saved us, will also work in us, enabling growth, enabling escape from the grip of sin and the things of this world, and enabling us to obey every command that God has given us in His Word. Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose". (Philippians 2:12-13)
It is our responsibility as ministers of the Word, who are responsible to make disciples (that is ALL Christians) as well as every pastor, that we encourage people to check their hearts, words, actions, and motives daily. Sometimes it seems we are so concerned about encouraging the body of Christ and not causing them to doubt their faith that we avoid the entire truth of what it means to follow Jesus and how it represents the reality of our salvation. In 2 Corinthians 13:5-6 the apostle Paul says this, "examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you---unless, of course, you fail the test"?
So, if it is God who saves you, and God who keeps you according to scripture(2 Timothy 1:12, Hebrew 12:2) then it stands to reason that if you fail the test, you were never saved to begin with.(1 John 2:19) There is still hope. My prayer is that if anyone has concerns about their salvation that they come desperately before the throne of Grace and cry out to God that he would save them. 1 John 2:3-6 says, "We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, " I know him, but does not do what he commands is a liar and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, , God's love is trully made complete in him. This is how we now we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did". If we find this to be true then we have nothing to fear.
The Gospel in it's entirety should be the driving force behind everything that we do and say. It should not only be lived out, but spoken into the hearts of listeners in our path every opportunity we get. That is the greatest act of love that we can show. If we truly believe that billions of people around the world are going to die an eternal death without Jesus and we do not love our fellow man enough to show and tell them the truth of the Gospel and their desperate need for Jesus then we are not walking in the completeness of God's love and Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 that if we have not Love, then everything else is worthless. In fact, there is a possibility, according to 1 John 2:3-6, that God will have some serious questions for us, IF he even knows us.
I will be writing a few more posts clarifying and fleshing out some of the ideas in this post. Think of this as a preamble to the next several posts dealing with salvation and evangelism.
I write plainly and seriously because this is serious business. People are going to HELL and the church is not doing much about it. My love for the Church and for the lost grows daily. My concern for the potential lost souls IN the church buildings grows daily. My hunger is to not only to see myself grow in obedience to the Word and knowledge of the Word, but to see the Church grow in an obedience to the Word and knowledge of the Word that will empower them to biblical evangelism and discipleship. There is NO greater cause on this earth than glorifying God through the spread of the Gospel.
I continually pray that these posts though direct at times, will be able to be received in a loving way. My desire is not to chastise but to jumpstart. It is always out of love first for Jesus, then for the people, that I ever post on any topic. May every post be covered by God's grace and every heart be prepared to receive whatever God would have them receive as they read these posts.
Love in Christ,
Josh
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Love each other. What does that mean?
What does it mean to love each other? The bible says, "love your neighbor as yourself" and" love your enemies". But what does it really mean. Most of us don't really live that out. We tolerate most people at best. We maybe call ourselves "loving our neighbor" if we like them, get along well, or if they are being nice to us or "loving" toward us. What about people who are just downright ugly? What about that neighbor that you really wish would just move? Forget about enemies. They can all burn.....right? I have heard many a person say that about enemies like Hitler, Osama bin laden, or maybe even gangsta types. How about that enemy that shows themselves in the person of your neighbor, or boss, or even a family member? Mom, Dad, sibling, children, spouse, inlaws. Do we really love anyone the way that God commands us to love everyone? Are we even able to....without God's help?
We have all heard of love bible verses quoted somewhere. There are plenty of people who use
1 Corinthians 13 as a part of their wedding ceremony but you look at their marriage and they look more like enemies than allies. Let's look at 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. To summarize, Love is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not self seeking, is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth, always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. If you are "religious" or even trying to actually live a Christian life, you have heard this scripture. But we have to ask ourselves the question, do we live it? I for one have failed miserably at it. I can tell you that it is only in the last six months that this scripture is something that I have honestly given any serious thought.
In that six months I have done pretty well outside of the home at beginning to treat others better and to be less selfish. In fact, aren't we generally more well behaved for the world than we are for our own families? I think the phrase is, we hurt the ones we love the most. Isn't that a sad truth. We forget that, especially if we are Christians, that our family deserves our very best effort. That they should be as much, if not more, a recipient of ministry and our example of Jesus, as the world is. Yet usually we rest in and abuse their love and forgiveness rather than trying to show our appreciation for it by giving them our greatest effort at showing Christlike love.
I have always done relatively well at being loving and forgiving towards friends and coworkers, yet the closer people are to my heart the harder I have found it to show them love and forgiveness. In ministry that has proven to be true at times but, in the last six months I have found much more success in that area. As a husband, I have failed miserably. Oh, I called myself being loving by much of today's standards of marriage and intra-marital treatment. I mean, I wasn't physically abusing her, or being unfaithful. But, God did bless me with a temper. I believe he did it so that he could show me one day that he is stronger than my temper.
For a long time I believed that I was a pretty good husband. The problems I did have were way more my wife's fault than mine. Or so I thought. I mean, when I lost my temper it was because I believed I had been done wrong by her. Even if I was calmly disrespectful, I called myself being passionate about what I was talking about. Then I came face to face with the details of 1 Corinthians 13. I realized that, often I was getting angry because I was "keeping a record of wrong" subconsciously. I realized that I was becoming less patient very often and in turn, less kind. I realized that in my own self-seeking I was becoming easily angered, thus loosing the ability to protect my wife's heart and keep her trust, thus killing my witness toward her. My apologies baby girl. I realized that in order to be effective at leading my family I had to die to myself and allow the Holy Spirit to hold me accountable for my failure at loving selflessly. I then needed to lovingly pray about concerns that I have in regards to my wife. Realizing, of course, that the answer to the prayer may be a change in me.
If we have a concern or complaint about someone else, no matter the relationship, the only power that we have to effect change, if the problem is in fact them and not us, is to pray and watch God work. He can resolve any issue whether he has to move on you or the other person to do it. Ultimately, the only person God holds responsible is us individually. Even though as husbands we are the spiritual leaders of our households, we cannot be effective if we are not maturing in Christ and pursuing a selfless love towards our families. The bible says that we are to love our wives as Christ loved the church. That is a heavily sacrificial picture if you really think about it.
In regards to anyone else, including our children, I believe that the fruits of the spirit are the ultimate goals that we should be striving for when interacting with them. The bible says that if we are in unity with the Spirit that we will exhibit these nine fruits of the Spirit : love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control(Galatians 5:22-23). If we are exhibiting these, we will always show God's love towards others. We will not be rough, rude, or hurtful to our spouses, children, strangers or enemies. We will not have outbursts of uncontrolled or even controlled anger. Proverbs 15:1 says,"a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger". Oh, if only I had paid attention when I was younger and learned scripture back then. I might have saved myself so much trouble. Praise God that he is faithfully teaching me now.
Proverbs 15:3 says, "the eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good". I don't know about you but if God is watching everything we do I want Him to find me being loving and obedient, faithfully striving to keep his commands.
Lastly, two more scriptures regarding our response to others and I will end. Proverbs 15:18 says: "A hot tempered person stirs up conflict, but a patient person calms a quarrel". I can attest to this personally. I have stirred up conflict because of my temper and I have calmed my children with patience and been calmed with patience by my wife. James 1:19 says, "Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry".
I can certainly not say that I have been successful in representing these truths consistently. However, I know God is faithful to finish what he starts and so I anticipate constant improvement in the area of loving everyone with whom I come in contact to a greater degree. I long to represent the qualities and characteristics of Christ and his sacrificial love to everyone that my life impacts. My sweet wife, children, other family, friends, coworkers, even enemies deserve it because Jesus died for them all and I represent that sacrifice. As do many of them.
I hope that you will reflect on these ideas and evaluate whether you are truly loving others according to biblical standards. If not I pray that you will ask God to show you any area that needs improvement and that you will surrender unto His unfailing love. If you do not know Jesus, then I pray that this post has planted a seed of the love and character of God in your heart that will bloom into a moment when Jesus draws your heart unto him. Then you will understand a love like none other this world has to offer.
Love in Christ,
Josh
We have all heard of love bible verses quoted somewhere. There are plenty of people who use
1 Corinthians 13 as a part of their wedding ceremony but you look at their marriage and they look more like enemies than allies. Let's look at 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. To summarize, Love is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not self seeking, is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth, always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. If you are "religious" or even trying to actually live a Christian life, you have heard this scripture. But we have to ask ourselves the question, do we live it? I for one have failed miserably at it. I can tell you that it is only in the last six months that this scripture is something that I have honestly given any serious thought.
In that six months I have done pretty well outside of the home at beginning to treat others better and to be less selfish. In fact, aren't we generally more well behaved for the world than we are for our own families? I think the phrase is, we hurt the ones we love the most. Isn't that a sad truth. We forget that, especially if we are Christians, that our family deserves our very best effort. That they should be as much, if not more, a recipient of ministry and our example of Jesus, as the world is. Yet usually we rest in and abuse their love and forgiveness rather than trying to show our appreciation for it by giving them our greatest effort at showing Christlike love.
I have always done relatively well at being loving and forgiving towards friends and coworkers, yet the closer people are to my heart the harder I have found it to show them love and forgiveness. In ministry that has proven to be true at times but, in the last six months I have found much more success in that area. As a husband, I have failed miserably. Oh, I called myself being loving by much of today's standards of marriage and intra-marital treatment. I mean, I wasn't physically abusing her, or being unfaithful. But, God did bless me with a temper. I believe he did it so that he could show me one day that he is stronger than my temper.
For a long time I believed that I was a pretty good husband. The problems I did have were way more my wife's fault than mine. Or so I thought. I mean, when I lost my temper it was because I believed I had been done wrong by her. Even if I was calmly disrespectful, I called myself being passionate about what I was talking about. Then I came face to face with the details of 1 Corinthians 13. I realized that, often I was getting angry because I was "keeping a record of wrong" subconsciously. I realized that I was becoming less patient very often and in turn, less kind. I realized that in my own self-seeking I was becoming easily angered, thus loosing the ability to protect my wife's heart and keep her trust, thus killing my witness toward her. My apologies baby girl. I realized that in order to be effective at leading my family I had to die to myself and allow the Holy Spirit to hold me accountable for my failure at loving selflessly. I then needed to lovingly pray about concerns that I have in regards to my wife. Realizing, of course, that the answer to the prayer may be a change in me.
If we have a concern or complaint about someone else, no matter the relationship, the only power that we have to effect change, if the problem is in fact them and not us, is to pray and watch God work. He can resolve any issue whether he has to move on you or the other person to do it. Ultimately, the only person God holds responsible is us individually. Even though as husbands we are the spiritual leaders of our households, we cannot be effective if we are not maturing in Christ and pursuing a selfless love towards our families. The bible says that we are to love our wives as Christ loved the church. That is a heavily sacrificial picture if you really think about it.
In regards to anyone else, including our children, I believe that the fruits of the spirit are the ultimate goals that we should be striving for when interacting with them. The bible says that if we are in unity with the Spirit that we will exhibit these nine fruits of the Spirit : love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control(Galatians 5:22-23). If we are exhibiting these, we will always show God's love towards others. We will not be rough, rude, or hurtful to our spouses, children, strangers or enemies. We will not have outbursts of uncontrolled or even controlled anger. Proverbs 15:1 says,"a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger". Oh, if only I had paid attention when I was younger and learned scripture back then. I might have saved myself so much trouble. Praise God that he is faithfully teaching me now.
Proverbs 15:3 says, "the eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good". I don't know about you but if God is watching everything we do I want Him to find me being loving and obedient, faithfully striving to keep his commands.
Lastly, two more scriptures regarding our response to others and I will end. Proverbs 15:18 says: "A hot tempered person stirs up conflict, but a patient person calms a quarrel". I can attest to this personally. I have stirred up conflict because of my temper and I have calmed my children with patience and been calmed with patience by my wife. James 1:19 says, "Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry".
I can certainly not say that I have been successful in representing these truths consistently. However, I know God is faithful to finish what he starts and so I anticipate constant improvement in the area of loving everyone with whom I come in contact to a greater degree. I long to represent the qualities and characteristics of Christ and his sacrificial love to everyone that my life impacts. My sweet wife, children, other family, friends, coworkers, even enemies deserve it because Jesus died for them all and I represent that sacrifice. As do many of them.
I hope that you will reflect on these ideas and evaluate whether you are truly loving others according to biblical standards. If not I pray that you will ask God to show you any area that needs improvement and that you will surrender unto His unfailing love. If you do not know Jesus, then I pray that this post has planted a seed of the love and character of God in your heart that will bloom into a moment when Jesus draws your heart unto him. Then you will understand a love like none other this world has to offer.
Love in Christ,
Josh
Sunday, July 15, 2012
The thrill of obedience
I would like to take a few minutes and praise God from whom all blessings flow. I have been blessed in the last 6-12 months to have had such a breakthrough in my spiritual walk that I must testify about it. This poor man cried, the Lord heard him, and saved him out of his troubles. (Psalm 34:6). I have cried out to God and sought for him in certain areas of my life and I have found him (Jeremiah 29-13). There is no greater thrill as a Christian than knowing that God has called you to obedience and you have answered with a resounding YES! By no stretch of the imagination have I mastered every battle, however I have seen the grace of God evident in my life helping me to make great strides in the areas of being a husband, in actually putting God first in much more of my life , and in actually sharing my faith with others and striving to build them up in theirs. Admittedly, I feel a call to ministry on my life. However, if you have been reading my posts then you know that I believe the Bible teaches we should all be doing this as Christians. Certainly some are called to a specific ministry calling, but the Great Commission was for everyone(Matthew 28:16-20)
Until a year or so ago I was failing miserably in this. Oh I would have the occasional conversation. Perhaps I would even instigate it. But it was haphazard, not intentional. The driving force in my life was not a desire to win the lost and glorify God within every aspect of my life. I would talk about wanting that but my life was not reflecting it. No, when I was home, my life revolved around my family, television, and food.
I love my family. I have a beautiful wife, and two little boys, all of whom I adore. However, through a number of arguments, about numerous issues, I discovered that I was not loving them in a Godly fashion. See I fully believe in spiritual headship and submission of the wife to the husband as it relates to Christ and the Church. Not in the abusive way in which many men use it. However, I was so busy defending my rights or trying to effect change by force, that I did not realize that I had totally missed what my wife needed from me. This year God placed 1st Corinthians 13 style love on my heart as the way in which he wanted me to try to treat people. I was already a relatively loving and patient person in general, or so I thought. The truth was that I paled in comparison when I looked at God's idea of how we are to love each other. So I cried out. I asked God to help me lay myself aside and to love my wife the way Jesus loved the Church. That was the beginning of a lot of change in me and it amazed me how much easier we began to get a long. It surprised me how quickly, in some areas, she has desired to grow as a result of my choosing to let go of the responsibility for her change. You see in any relationship the only person whom you should be actively trying to change is YOU. And that, only by the grace of God. So cry out to him, because he listens and he cares.
Food is a challenge in which I have not yet seen major breakthrough yet so please continue to pray for me as I cry out to God for the grace and strength to begin to effect change in that area of my life. What I can say is that my addiction to television and movies worsened my eating issues because I would stay up late and watch movies or television shows and eat while I did it.
My parents, siblings, and I have been TV and movie junkies for as long as I can remember. I guess we just couldn't see the damage it was doing to our spiritual selves in regards to the junk we were allowing in to our spirits and the time that we wasted when we could have been growing in our study of the Word or out sharing it with others. Gratefully, God made me aware of the need for this to change and yet I still struggled for a while. I would be driving home from church or work and my first thought often would be to turn on the TV and see what was on, catch up on what I had missed that had been recorded, or to watch the latest movie that had come out. Even at work, if there was downtime and I could catch something on a TV, I would. Praise be to God that in the last 6 months he has taken away that hunger and replaced it with a hunger for God's Word. I now listen to at least one sermon a day by podcast from some ministers whom God is using to feed me. In my thirty minute commute to work I catch half on the way to work and half on the way home from work. What really amazes me is that I, as a musician, have of late been giving more ear time to preaching than music. A MAJOR shift, of this you can be sure.
I want to be clear that, these changes have not come lightly. They have been with great desperation and crying out to God at times. You see, the first thing you need in order to see change is a desire to change. If there is any element in your life that is not wholly surrendered to God through the scriptures and you know biblically that you should change but you feel know desire to then you must cry out. Beg God to help you to hunger and thirst after righteousness(Matthew 5:6).
I wanted to share my faith but I never would have imagined a blog. One day God dropped the idea in my spirit in such a way as to command obedience. The rest is history. I don't know what God has planned for me. What I do know is that I am no longer satisfied to disobey. I must strive to step out in obedience, even though it is scary. Even though I do not know the end result. And, even though I have, and I know I will again, meet resistance to the idea of moving, step by step, further into ministry. This blog, though I have no idea how many people are actually reading it, has been a huge blessing to me. I know it is my primary outlet, given by God for this season, for honing my thoughts and skills in developing expression of thought on biblical topics. Whatever kind of ministry God leads me to I know that I am forced to delve into scripture deeper all the time in order to scripturally substantiate my thoughts. It is awesome. I praise God that some who do follow it have encouraged me that I am sound in message and delivery, that it is a blessing to them, and to keep it up.
Outside of this blog, I have asked God to help me step out of my comfort zone in obedience at work. I work in a hospital Emergency Department. As you can imagine, I am exposed to every possible scenario of people group and life struggle. Without going into heavy detail, let me just say that in the last 6 weeks God has given me many opportunities to pray with people that needed prayer. I have looked up scriptures that pertained to their situation and created quick documents for them to keep to encourage them along the way. He has used me to minister to people with psychological and behavioral issues that no one there knew how to handle except to drug them up. Some of these have happened in view of staff by no choice of my own and God gets the glory. I am continually looking for opportunities to do this as I cannot express the excitement that comes from being the conduit by which God shows himself to others. I hope to have some bibles handy soon that I can provide to patients as the spirit leads. In addition to this, I have seen favor as I have been able to use downtime to sit with my bible open and study or work on things. This has created opportunities for conversation about Jesus and inspires thought on the part of those that observe this sometimes silent witness.
We are supposed to be peculiar people. People are supposed to notice something different about us. I am so grateful that God has seen fit by his grace and not by any merit of my own to bless me with this growth and these opportunities. I so look forward to what he is continuing to do and I pray that this will inspire others to look at their lives and take one of two paths. Either they will recognize their need for Jesus and cry out for his saving grace in their lives or they are already believers and will develop a hunger for growth and change, by his grace, that will serve as an example of God's goodness to others whom their lives affect.
Philippians 2:12-13 says, "work out your salvation with fear and trembling, For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose". I pray this becomes a reality in your life.
Blessings,
Josh
Until a year or so ago I was failing miserably in this. Oh I would have the occasional conversation. Perhaps I would even instigate it. But it was haphazard, not intentional. The driving force in my life was not a desire to win the lost and glorify God within every aspect of my life. I would talk about wanting that but my life was not reflecting it. No, when I was home, my life revolved around my family, television, and food.
I love my family. I have a beautiful wife, and two little boys, all of whom I adore. However, through a number of arguments, about numerous issues, I discovered that I was not loving them in a Godly fashion. See I fully believe in spiritual headship and submission of the wife to the husband as it relates to Christ and the Church. Not in the abusive way in which many men use it. However, I was so busy defending my rights or trying to effect change by force, that I did not realize that I had totally missed what my wife needed from me. This year God placed 1st Corinthians 13 style love on my heart as the way in which he wanted me to try to treat people. I was already a relatively loving and patient person in general, or so I thought. The truth was that I paled in comparison when I looked at God's idea of how we are to love each other. So I cried out. I asked God to help me lay myself aside and to love my wife the way Jesus loved the Church. That was the beginning of a lot of change in me and it amazed me how much easier we began to get a long. It surprised me how quickly, in some areas, she has desired to grow as a result of my choosing to let go of the responsibility for her change. You see in any relationship the only person whom you should be actively trying to change is YOU. And that, only by the grace of God. So cry out to him, because he listens and he cares.
Food is a challenge in which I have not yet seen major breakthrough yet so please continue to pray for me as I cry out to God for the grace and strength to begin to effect change in that area of my life. What I can say is that my addiction to television and movies worsened my eating issues because I would stay up late and watch movies or television shows and eat while I did it.
My parents, siblings, and I have been TV and movie junkies for as long as I can remember. I guess we just couldn't see the damage it was doing to our spiritual selves in regards to the junk we were allowing in to our spirits and the time that we wasted when we could have been growing in our study of the Word or out sharing it with others. Gratefully, God made me aware of the need for this to change and yet I still struggled for a while. I would be driving home from church or work and my first thought often would be to turn on the TV and see what was on, catch up on what I had missed that had been recorded, or to watch the latest movie that had come out. Even at work, if there was downtime and I could catch something on a TV, I would. Praise be to God that in the last 6 months he has taken away that hunger and replaced it with a hunger for God's Word. I now listen to at least one sermon a day by podcast from some ministers whom God is using to feed me. In my thirty minute commute to work I catch half on the way to work and half on the way home from work. What really amazes me is that I, as a musician, have of late been giving more ear time to preaching than music. A MAJOR shift, of this you can be sure.
I want to be clear that, these changes have not come lightly. They have been with great desperation and crying out to God at times. You see, the first thing you need in order to see change is a desire to change. If there is any element in your life that is not wholly surrendered to God through the scriptures and you know biblically that you should change but you feel know desire to then you must cry out. Beg God to help you to hunger and thirst after righteousness(Matthew 5:6).
I wanted to share my faith but I never would have imagined a blog. One day God dropped the idea in my spirit in such a way as to command obedience. The rest is history. I don't know what God has planned for me. What I do know is that I am no longer satisfied to disobey. I must strive to step out in obedience, even though it is scary. Even though I do not know the end result. And, even though I have, and I know I will again, meet resistance to the idea of moving, step by step, further into ministry. This blog, though I have no idea how many people are actually reading it, has been a huge blessing to me. I know it is my primary outlet, given by God for this season, for honing my thoughts and skills in developing expression of thought on biblical topics. Whatever kind of ministry God leads me to I know that I am forced to delve into scripture deeper all the time in order to scripturally substantiate my thoughts. It is awesome. I praise God that some who do follow it have encouraged me that I am sound in message and delivery, that it is a blessing to them, and to keep it up.
Outside of this blog, I have asked God to help me step out of my comfort zone in obedience at work. I work in a hospital Emergency Department. As you can imagine, I am exposed to every possible scenario of people group and life struggle. Without going into heavy detail, let me just say that in the last 6 weeks God has given me many opportunities to pray with people that needed prayer. I have looked up scriptures that pertained to their situation and created quick documents for them to keep to encourage them along the way. He has used me to minister to people with psychological and behavioral issues that no one there knew how to handle except to drug them up. Some of these have happened in view of staff by no choice of my own and God gets the glory. I am continually looking for opportunities to do this as I cannot express the excitement that comes from being the conduit by which God shows himself to others. I hope to have some bibles handy soon that I can provide to patients as the spirit leads. In addition to this, I have seen favor as I have been able to use downtime to sit with my bible open and study or work on things. This has created opportunities for conversation about Jesus and inspires thought on the part of those that observe this sometimes silent witness.
We are supposed to be peculiar people. People are supposed to notice something different about us. I am so grateful that God has seen fit by his grace and not by any merit of my own to bless me with this growth and these opportunities. I so look forward to what he is continuing to do and I pray that this will inspire others to look at their lives and take one of two paths. Either they will recognize their need for Jesus and cry out for his saving grace in their lives or they are already believers and will develop a hunger for growth and change, by his grace, that will serve as an example of God's goodness to others whom their lives affect.
Philippians 2:12-13 says, "work out your salvation with fear and trembling, For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose". I pray this becomes a reality in your life.
Blessings,
Josh
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
back to back blogs on same email apology
To everyone who receives this blog by email, I want to apologize for the latest post email and also say again, Thank you. I am going on vacation 7/15-7/22 and do not anticipate posting anything. I had extra time at work Sunday night so I completed 2 posts and will probably complete at least one more before vacation. What I did not realize is that in completing both posts on same night is that they would go out in the same email. In fact, the only way I discovered it is by scrolling down on the email. So the Harry Potter related post actually showed first because it was the second one I completed. I hope it wasn't overwhelming receiving both. I am not ashamed of either but I do acknowledge that they have been heavy in topic and nature.
I really do love people, lost or saved. I want to see everyone come to the knowledge of Jesus and to understand what the full application of it should be. I took a while to get some of that and my heart is 2 fold. 1. that God is glorified by the lives of those who are supposed to be Christians. That people would not misrepresent Jesus or experience unnecessary trials because of disobedience. That they would always be examining themselves daily as they grow in their Christian walk. 2. That any lost or worse yet, those who don't realize they are lost because they have a form of religion would find revelation in the scriptures and truths presented here and would become aware of their need for Christ and aware of the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
So basically, my heart is to disciple believers and evangelize the lost. Isn't that what God wants all to do. That's the Great Commission. I pray that even though I present a touch message in a lot of my posts, that the Holy Spirit will have prepared the hearts of the people that needed to hear that message. If you didn't need it for yourself, perhaps it will be useful in your ministering the truth to someone else. As long as God is glorified in my obedience, I am happy.
I will be working on a series of posts over vacation getting into the depth of the Gospel as it applies to Salvation, Sanctification, Glorification, and Assurance of Salvation. I am not a seminary student or grad however, I have grown up as a pastors son and am becoming a student of the Bible and am pursing a working knowledge of the Bible with a fervor. I am learning from a number of different solid Evangelistic and Discipleship driven ministries. This series will be heavily influenced by a sermon series delivered by a pastor named Dr. David Platt. He pastors a megachurch in Birmingham, AL named Brook Hills. He wrote the book Radical which is shaking the spiritual apathy of anyone who reads it. He is solid as a Theologian/Teacher, and in Evangelizing and Discipling. It has opened my eyes to some things and giving me a working knowledge of how to present what I already believed about the Gospel. I hope it will be a blessing to you, wherever you are in your walk with Christ. I hope to begin that shortly after vacation.
I would like to say that the fact that I am giving credit for information in some of my posts to other ministries is in no way intended to insult or undercut the value of my own pastor. I don't believe anyone should be influenced by any one person. Besides, the Bible is the ultimate authority. We are just stewards of delivering it. Thanks for your support.
I strive to love you all as Christ loved the Church, placing the value of the truth of the Gospel above the value of my own life or reputation and I pray that God will have his way in your life.
In Jesus name,
Josh
Monday, July 9, 2012
The Gospel in Harry Potter and other books? Why not the Bible?
Over the years, as the Harry Potter series has picked up momentum, there has been increasing interest in Christian circles to find biblical meaning in the series, i.e. The Gospel according to Harry Potter. I will not only be discussing Harry Potter here, so stay with me. (added after finishing the post).
This concerns me for a number of reasons, not one of the least of these being the fact that we are looking for anything Godly in a book whose driving force is witchcraft. Galatians 5:19-21 lists the acts of the sinful nature, all of which will keep you from the kingdom of God, and witchcraft and idolatry are among them. Also, I am concerned about promoting books written by an author who by her own admission is "drawn to religion" yet her actual beliefs are ambiguous at best based on several interviews involving questions about her beliefs. Certainly, she has Protestant background and thought the book is not a true allegory there are Christianesque themes. She is also quoted as having always thought of Dumbledoor as gay. I don't remember if that was ever alluded to in the movies. It doesn't come to mind. And I can't speak for the books, however that she would even go there leaves a concern for just how liberal her "religious" views are.
Now, before I go any further, let me just say that I understand the fascination with Harry Potter. I have grown up enjoying movies and TV and I can get sucked in to a storyline as easily as anyone else. I have not read the books. I have seen all the movies, some of them more than once. I am not sure that will continue based on my current convictions however. I have even seen the movie about J.K. Rowling's life and the creation of Harry Potter. It is very endearing, as are the books. I have many family members who love the books and the movies. In a debate they will argue for the Harry Potter books vs. against them. If the truth be told, my fleshly, movie loving man would love to be able to justify the existence of these books. I would love to be able to have peace about finding inklings of the Gospel in Harry Potter and using them to justify the books. Unfortunately, I do not believe the Bible supports that idea. I believe that Satan is using the fantasy and interspersing of biblical ideas such as sacrificial love, redemptive love, and good vs. evil to draw us in. There are many respectable authors and journalist trying to do justice to both sides. I have not read the book "What's a Christian to do with Harry Potter" by Connie Neal from Focus on the Family, but from what I can tell of lengthy reviews of her book, it is the closest thing out there regarding addressing legitimate spiritual concerns while still finding virtue in the books.
There is already so much out there trashing the Harry Potter books and focusing on the negative vs. positive aspects of it that I am going to try to take a different direction. That direction is:
Why, in a world that is already so anti-Christian are Christians so apt to go crazy over Harry Potter, Aragon, or any of the other multitudinous series of books that have come out in the last 10 yrs. What about stories like Twilight. Vampire story lines have become increasingly popular over the last 10-15 years. Talk about your ungodly subject matter. Even Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia have a seen a resurgence with the making of the movies.
Here is the thing. The BIBLE is the only God-ordained, God-Breathed book with a message and author powerful enough to break strongholds, heal disease, and save souls from eternal damnation and yet, you don't see nearly the hype over it. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation(Romans 1:16). You don't see parents encouraging children to find interest in the Bible and read it over and over again. That's not to say that it doesn't happen but, it doesn't appear to be a prevailing, awe inspiring, news worthy event. Why is that?
I suppose that is an unfair statement. It gets attention. But it is usually in the form of how we can make it more appealing to this generation. How it will make you prosperous and help you find your best life now, or whether or not Genesis is a legitimate story and basis for Creation.
Here is a fact that is undeniable. If we are giving more time to and getting more excited for ourselves or our children regarding secular entertainment than we are about the Bible and it's influence on our lives then we have seriously misprioritized what is important. We are in danger of idolizing these other sources of entertainment by giving them a higher priority than God's Word.
Just how often is the Bible read?
Wiki answers says this:
Surprisingly, the people that claim to be the most devout Christians and go to church often have spent the least amount of time reading the bible that is supposed to be their guiding text. Most it seems go to church and "hear the Word" from their minister or pastor, trusting that this person is being truthful, honest, and meticulous about sharing what is written in the Bible and ONLY what is written in the Bible. Modern churches seem to focus more on prosperity and making people feel good then they do Scripture. Therefore, the modern Christian must take it upon him or herself to read the bible. There are bibles printed for every reading level and in every language, so there is no excuse not to have read it for yourself. Trusting the wrong person to teach you Scripture could place you in the position to be victimized and preyed upon by a charlatan.
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_often_do_Christians_read_the_Bible#ixzz20715XTT3
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_often_do_Christians_read_the_Bible#ixzz20715XTT3
A Gallup poll says this:
According to a recent Gallup poll, about six in ten Americans (59%) say they read the Bible at least on occasion, with the most likely readers being women, nonwhites, older people, Republicans, and political conservatives. Readership of the Bible has declined from the 1980s overall, from 73% to 59% today. And the percentage of frequent readers, that is, those who read the Bible at least once a week, has decreased slightly over the last decade, from 40% in 1990 to 37% today. About one American in seven reports an involvement that goes beyond reading the Bible. Fourteen percent currently belong to a Bible study group. In terms of frequency of readership, 16% of Americans say that they read the Bible every day, 21% say they read it weekly, 12% say they read the Bible monthly, 10% say less than monthly and 41% say that they rarely or never read the Bible
If I were a betting man, I would bet you that the percentages are sadly better for secular material. I could be wrong. Even if I am, these stats are pretty sad. If we made as big a deal out of the bible as we do the Harry Potter books, or Vampire books/tv shows, everybody would be reading the Bible. I have a hard time rationalizing anyone spending tons of time on trying to find the "good" in Harry Potter or any other secular book, defending it's good name in the name of unity between views, when the Bible is so under utilized and under prioritized. People are out there trying to use Harry Potter to relate the Gospel to people. WHY?! God does not need Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings or any other fictional book Allegorical or otherwise to supplement the true story of the Bible. If we are using them for that purpose then we are undercutting the power of God's Word.
Why are we trying to use man written secular books or any other secular material to try to relate to children or anyone else in our culture? Maybe if we raised our children on the Bible instead of all these other books they would not leave home at 18 and abandon their faith for some period of time if not permanently because they had no real faith in God's Word.
Do we really think that God did not know what the 20th and 21st centuries would hold when he wrote the Bible. Do we really think the Bible needs help from other resources to accomplish the goal for which God put it forth. That the All powerful, All knowing God of the universe is sitting up in heaven saying, "boy I sure am glad those other authors squeezed some semblance of my Gospel into their fictional story books. I don't think the world would have gotten it otherwise".
NO! Don't be ridiculous! God's word is sufficient(2 Timothy 3:16-17). It will accomplish anything that God needs it to accomplish in our lives(Isaiah 55:11). However, if we do not have a working knowledge of God's Word and instead we are pouring our time into secular, fantastical books that have no eternal purpose then we are wasting our lives and we will lack power and knowledge to accomplish the work of the Gospel.
Two thousand years ago, the God-inspired writers of the Bible were steering people away from all things secular and back to the Word of God. They were reminding them that they were created for one purpose and that is to glorify and worship Almighty God with their lives. This may seem like a critical rant to some but, if the apostles thought it important then to sometimes strongly draw attention back to God from the things of this world then I think it's safe to say that it is important today as well.
I did not even intend to go this direction but I believe this is what God wants said. We need to stop prioritizing the things of this world over the things of God. One day God is all you will have, for better or for worse. I hope that becomes a reality for how you live your lives now. That is the will of God. To conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel(Philippians1:27) To consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him,not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ---the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.(Philippians 3:8) I hope people have read this and that it causes them to think about what is really important. God is definitely doing that with me. Blessings.
Conformity...biblical or non-biblical
Let me start by saying, as always, that while I am firm in the stances I take based on scripture and often direct in the seriousness of the issues, I strive to love God and people in my presentation. Love does not always mean being light in subject matter or delivery. The bible says speak the truth in love that in all things we will grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.(Ephesians 4:15) Verse 12-13 are in the context of the different spiritual offices. These verses say that the purpose of the different spiritual offices is to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
This is the purpose of this blog. To share the truth in love, with a strong biblical foundation, that all may grow and mature in Christ. If what I say makes people uncomfortable or angry sometimes, that's ok. Sometimes, growing pains hurt. The other purpose is to draw any unsaved person who may read this blog unto the knowledge of their need for Jesus and hope that the seed planted will grow unto salvation.
Let me remind everyone reading this that I am always looking in the mirror. Everything that I post is something that I have grown in or am still growing in myself. I was not, nor will I ever be perfect. However, I have hungered after God, chasing the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus, and he has placed a fire in my belly for his Word. He has also placed this desire to share the revelations of His truths, that he has placed in me, with others. Therefore, this blog is not my own. It is God's and he has made me a steward of it. I will always strive to be faithful in being truthful yet constructive in all that I present here.
With that said, as I continue working on posts regarding the depth of the Gospel and it's function and application in life, I am wrestling with a concern right now, so I thought I would post on it. Conformity. Two definitions I found for the word conform are: 1. to comply with rules, standards, or laws, 2. to behave according to socially acceptable conventions or standards. Websters dictionary defines it as : to be similar or identical; to be in agreement or harmony. The 1st definition and Websters definition are God's idea of conformity. The 2nd definition is the worlds idea of conformity.
It concerns me greatly that many professing Christians today are prone to formulating their "Christian" views based on what they want. They choose to believe in a God that fit's THEIR idea of "Love". It fits THEIR idea of "Justice". They formulate a God that fit's their beliefs instead of formulating their beliefs to fit God. Unfortunately, this means that they have placed their faith in a lie made up in their heads vs. placing their faith in the truth of the God of the bible, who chooses them, and by his grace places a revelation of himself in their hearts. The former are quite likely false converts.
Similarly, even true, yet immature converts, rationalize (self-deceive) themselves into thinking that ungodly things are ok to have in their lives. To the point that if someone challenges these things, that person is called "holier than thou", "religious" or "legalistic". I understand that more often than not, when someone is angry with a Godly idea, they often displace that anger on the person delivering the challenge. Yet still, sometimes it surprises me. I guess because sometimes it comes from people whom consider themselves to be solid Christians. Who may have even appeared to be mature until confronted with the truth. The truth of the matter is that if someone is truly secure in their faith, they will not need to feel defensive. In fact, they may even pray about it, asking God to help them change. Those that lash out, do it out of a lack of confidence in what they believe and why the believe it. Maybe it even causes them to question their salvation. That could be a legitimate concern.
I am not composing this post because of recent personal experience, though I have experienced the "shoot the messenger" mentality before in regards to theological challenges. I am mostly writing this because I am tired of people who profess Christ while continually justifying, supporting and still engaging in things that are clearly sinful and not pleasing to God. Of course, I want to be very careful because I absolutely believe that it is God's grace that enables change but, that work begins the moment we are born again. We are to desire transformation and growth and be crying out for God's grace to help us in this from the moment we are justified (saved). Therefore, if someone is defending their right to continue pursuing sinful things or they are still living a sinful lifestyle, they are in direct contradiction to the very nature of God that is in us if we are truly born again. Now, obviously I do not know for sure if someone is born again. Only the Holy Spirit knows that for sure. However, we can look at the spiritual fruit of obedience and the attitude toward obedience and know that we may need to challenge someone to examine themselves to see if they are in the faith.
(2 Corinthians 13:5-6).
Romans 12:1-2 says,"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing, and perfect will".
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world...think about this one. What is the pattern of this world? 2 Timothy 3:1-5 Paul says, "there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--having a form of godliness but denying it's power. Have nothing to do with them".
Sound familiar. Sounds like the world today doesn't it? We are not to be like the world or to love worldly things!
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That is the only way you will know God's will. How do we renew our minds? We must study to show ourselves approved(2 Timothy 2:15). Psalm 119 is all about dependence on God and obedience to God that we may be blameless and not sin against God. Psalm 119:11 specifically says, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you". THAT, is how we are able to not conform to this world and how we are able to know his good, pleasing, and perfect will. God told Joshua in the book of Joshua 1:7-8, "be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
As I have said before, and will probably say again, we must study God's word until it is on the inside of us, transforming us. Then the Holy Spirit can bring it to our minds when we need it for strength, or as a reminder of what is acceptable or unacceptable in God's sight. We also cannot share the Gospel or make disciples effectively if we do not first have a solid foundation in God's word ourselves.
How often do we do this? For a long time, when I would get home from work, my first inclination, even as I drove home, would be to watch TV. I had an addiction to it. I would stay up to late, eating all the wrong things while watching all the wrong things. Even in this disobedience however, I desired to change. I desired to be more Christlike. I would cry out to God to help me grow and make me new, and deliver me from this. I would beg him to give me a hunger for his word, meanwhile the TV was an idol in my life. It had a greater priority for me than God's word. But, THANKS BE TO GOD, that he heard my cry and by His grace, he gave me a new heart for his Word and a distaste for television. That is not to say that I do not stumble in this area but, it is no longer a primary force in my life. Now I stay up too late sometimes, reading the Word or listing to sermons by podcast and learning from the teaching of others. It is so much more about God now. :-) There have been other areas in life where I have seen success, but initially, I did not take action. I was made aware of the potential lack of obedience, but would say, "I don't feel that God is convicting me about that at this time". Even though scripture made it plain that I was in disobedience. Gratefully, God corrected me in this.
I believe that God makes us aware of a need for change. He does this either by his Word or by someone sharing a biblical principle with us. Once he shows us that there is a potential area of improvement in our Christian walk, we are then responsible to begin striving to bring correction in that area by crying out to God to give us the grace needed to have success. If scripture supports a need for change, and we are made aware of it, then to say that we don't feel any conviction about it is not acceptable. Once we are aware of it, IF we care about what God cares about, we should feel conviction about it. Once we are aware of it, we are responsible to take action in faith, by grace, to begin changing that behavior.
A few glaring examples of disobedience in today's culture are sexual immorality, verbal sins, and our sources of entertainment. These are all things that I have been guilty of at some point in my life. I want to address each of these briefly in hopes that you will examine your life to see if you are in disobedience.
SEXUAL IMMORALITY. Matthew 5:28 says, "anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery in his heart". I believe he targeted man because he understood that men are, by their nature, more influenced by what they see. It is certainly true of both sexes though. 1 Corinthians 6:18 says, "flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body". 1 Corinthians 6:9-20 is loaded with examples of wickedness, to include the sexual sin of homosexuality, and exhortation that we are not to take part in these things. I hope you will go back and read all of those verses. Romans 1:26-28 is another solid reference to homosexual sin. Galatians 5:19-21 lists acts of the sinful nature, to include sexual immorality. It goes on to say that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
VERBAL SINS. Profanity is one of those verbal sins that tends to be excused. One that people often don't prioritize as something to correct. Ephesians 4:29-31 says,"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Ephesians 5:3-5 says, "but among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person---such a man is an idolater---has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
I typed out much of this because I want us to see just how seriously God takes these things. Things that we tend not to give enough weight to, God lumps in with other sins that we tend to take more seriously. He says that if these things are still part of your lifestyle, and you see no need to change it, or are making no effort to change it that you have no inheritance in God's kingdom. That seems like a really good reason to evaluate your relationship with God and see if you are in the faith.
ENTERTAINMENT. There are previous posts regarding this and I hope you will revisit them. I will touch on it again because this is major area of conformity and compromise today. If we consider ourselves to be in the faith. If we truly believe that we are children of the Most High God. We should evaluate EVERYTHING that comes into our spirits/hearts by audio or visual means. Suffice it to say that I believe most entertainment today is froth with unholy material that does nothing but glorify and make commonplace that which displeases God and separates us from God. If any entertainment is allowed into our lives it should only be that which is glorifying to God and draws our attention to God's ways and thoughts. Some may label this idea religious or legalistic but I call it scriptural and biblically supported. Philippians 4:8-9 says, "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think on these things". Galatians 5:17 states that the sinful nature and the Spirit of God are in conflict with each other because the are contrary to each other. Again, Galatians 5:19-21 lists the acts of the sinful nature, "Sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. Those who live like this WILL NOT inherit the kingdom of God.
Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings (idolatry and witchcraft), Pirates of the Carribean (most of the other acts of the sinful nature), or even most romantic or comedy storylines. Even action flicks surrounding Marvel comics. All glorify the sinful nature. Music in the form of oldies, rock, R&B, Hip Hop, Country or any other style. If it glorifies Love, Romance, or Sex, in any form outside of the way in which God designed them to be thought of it is sinful. Revenge, drugs, violence, and fornication are all sinful acts that today's music, TV and movies, books, and video games glorify.
We want to see these things as harmless. But Satan uses all of these ideas to mask and make more appealing, acts and ideas that are ungodly. Oh we don't want to see it because we don't like change. We want to argue that as long as it does not cause us to stumble into these acts then we are ok. If these forms of entertainment cause us to dwell on ungodly, sinful acts, even if it is only for the period of time that we are engaging in the entertainment, it is still contrary to what scripture says we are to dwell on. As I have said before, why would we argue for the right to enjoy entertainment of any form, lyric, or storyline that supports the sinful nature if that nature will keep people from the kingdom and steal Glory from the one who died for you. These things are contrary to the Spirit. They do not bring glory to God and bringing glory to God is the purpose for which we were created (Isaiah 43:7) If you are offended or put off, ask yourself, Who's interest are you serving? God's or yours?
Is this post a little lengthy? Perhaps. But I dare not risk a thorough representation of the truth on this matter in the name of brevity. Especially when souls are on the line. Are these ideas considered radical by societies standards, even Christian society? Absolutely! Are these ideas supported by scripture and is this message needed today? YES! These are not new ideas. They have been in scripture from the beginning and many bold, obedient pastors today are teaching the message, in one form or another. I am just another voice proclaiming the truth. That message is, you are conformed in one direction or the other. Either to Jesus, or to the world. One leads to the kingdom of God and the other away from the kingdom of God. You cannot desire and strive to live in both directions and be certain of your eternal destination. Which one are you? 2 Corinthians 13:5-6 says, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you---unless, of course, you fail the test. Think about it.
Love in Christ,
Josh
This is the purpose of this blog. To share the truth in love, with a strong biblical foundation, that all may grow and mature in Christ. If what I say makes people uncomfortable or angry sometimes, that's ok. Sometimes, growing pains hurt. The other purpose is to draw any unsaved person who may read this blog unto the knowledge of their need for Jesus and hope that the seed planted will grow unto salvation.
Let me remind everyone reading this that I am always looking in the mirror. Everything that I post is something that I have grown in or am still growing in myself. I was not, nor will I ever be perfect. However, I have hungered after God, chasing the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus, and he has placed a fire in my belly for his Word. He has also placed this desire to share the revelations of His truths, that he has placed in me, with others. Therefore, this blog is not my own. It is God's and he has made me a steward of it. I will always strive to be faithful in being truthful yet constructive in all that I present here.
With that said, as I continue working on posts regarding the depth of the Gospel and it's function and application in life, I am wrestling with a concern right now, so I thought I would post on it. Conformity. Two definitions I found for the word conform are: 1. to comply with rules, standards, or laws, 2. to behave according to socially acceptable conventions or standards. Websters dictionary defines it as : to be similar or identical; to be in agreement or harmony. The 1st definition and Websters definition are God's idea of conformity. The 2nd definition is the worlds idea of conformity.
It concerns me greatly that many professing Christians today are prone to formulating their "Christian" views based on what they want. They choose to believe in a God that fit's THEIR idea of "Love". It fits THEIR idea of "Justice". They formulate a God that fit's their beliefs instead of formulating their beliefs to fit God. Unfortunately, this means that they have placed their faith in a lie made up in their heads vs. placing their faith in the truth of the God of the bible, who chooses them, and by his grace places a revelation of himself in their hearts. The former are quite likely false converts.
Similarly, even true, yet immature converts, rationalize (self-deceive) themselves into thinking that ungodly things are ok to have in their lives. To the point that if someone challenges these things, that person is called "holier than thou", "religious" or "legalistic". I understand that more often than not, when someone is angry with a Godly idea, they often displace that anger on the person delivering the challenge. Yet still, sometimes it surprises me. I guess because sometimes it comes from people whom consider themselves to be solid Christians. Who may have even appeared to be mature until confronted with the truth. The truth of the matter is that if someone is truly secure in their faith, they will not need to feel defensive. In fact, they may even pray about it, asking God to help them change. Those that lash out, do it out of a lack of confidence in what they believe and why the believe it. Maybe it even causes them to question their salvation. That could be a legitimate concern.
I am not composing this post because of recent personal experience, though I have experienced the "shoot the messenger" mentality before in regards to theological challenges. I am mostly writing this because I am tired of people who profess Christ while continually justifying, supporting and still engaging in things that are clearly sinful and not pleasing to God. Of course, I want to be very careful because I absolutely believe that it is God's grace that enables change but, that work begins the moment we are born again. We are to desire transformation and growth and be crying out for God's grace to help us in this from the moment we are justified (saved). Therefore, if someone is defending their right to continue pursuing sinful things or they are still living a sinful lifestyle, they are in direct contradiction to the very nature of God that is in us if we are truly born again. Now, obviously I do not know for sure if someone is born again. Only the Holy Spirit knows that for sure. However, we can look at the spiritual fruit of obedience and the attitude toward obedience and know that we may need to challenge someone to examine themselves to see if they are in the faith.
(2 Corinthians 13:5-6).
Romans 12:1-2 says,"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing, and perfect will".
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world...think about this one. What is the pattern of this world? 2 Timothy 3:1-5 Paul says, "there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--having a form of godliness but denying it's power. Have nothing to do with them".
Sound familiar. Sounds like the world today doesn't it? We are not to be like the world or to love worldly things!
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That is the only way you will know God's will. How do we renew our minds? We must study to show ourselves approved(2 Timothy 2:15). Psalm 119 is all about dependence on God and obedience to God that we may be blameless and not sin against God. Psalm 119:11 specifically says, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you". THAT, is how we are able to not conform to this world and how we are able to know his good, pleasing, and perfect will. God told Joshua in the book of Joshua 1:7-8, "be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
As I have said before, and will probably say again, we must study God's word until it is on the inside of us, transforming us. Then the Holy Spirit can bring it to our minds when we need it for strength, or as a reminder of what is acceptable or unacceptable in God's sight. We also cannot share the Gospel or make disciples effectively if we do not first have a solid foundation in God's word ourselves.
How often do we do this? For a long time, when I would get home from work, my first inclination, even as I drove home, would be to watch TV. I had an addiction to it. I would stay up to late, eating all the wrong things while watching all the wrong things. Even in this disobedience however, I desired to change. I desired to be more Christlike. I would cry out to God to help me grow and make me new, and deliver me from this. I would beg him to give me a hunger for his word, meanwhile the TV was an idol in my life. It had a greater priority for me than God's word. But, THANKS BE TO GOD, that he heard my cry and by His grace, he gave me a new heart for his Word and a distaste for television. That is not to say that I do not stumble in this area but, it is no longer a primary force in my life. Now I stay up too late sometimes, reading the Word or listing to sermons by podcast and learning from the teaching of others. It is so much more about God now. :-) There have been other areas in life where I have seen success, but initially, I did not take action. I was made aware of the potential lack of obedience, but would say, "I don't feel that God is convicting me about that at this time". Even though scripture made it plain that I was in disobedience. Gratefully, God corrected me in this.
I believe that God makes us aware of a need for change. He does this either by his Word or by someone sharing a biblical principle with us. Once he shows us that there is a potential area of improvement in our Christian walk, we are then responsible to begin striving to bring correction in that area by crying out to God to give us the grace needed to have success. If scripture supports a need for change, and we are made aware of it, then to say that we don't feel any conviction about it is not acceptable. Once we are aware of it, IF we care about what God cares about, we should feel conviction about it. Once we are aware of it, we are responsible to take action in faith, by grace, to begin changing that behavior.
A few glaring examples of disobedience in today's culture are sexual immorality, verbal sins, and our sources of entertainment. These are all things that I have been guilty of at some point in my life. I want to address each of these briefly in hopes that you will examine your life to see if you are in disobedience.
SEXUAL IMMORALITY. Matthew 5:28 says, "anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery in his heart". I believe he targeted man because he understood that men are, by their nature, more influenced by what they see. It is certainly true of both sexes though. 1 Corinthians 6:18 says, "flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body". 1 Corinthians 6:9-20 is loaded with examples of wickedness, to include the sexual sin of homosexuality, and exhortation that we are not to take part in these things. I hope you will go back and read all of those verses. Romans 1:26-28 is another solid reference to homosexual sin. Galatians 5:19-21 lists acts of the sinful nature, to include sexual immorality. It goes on to say that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
VERBAL SINS. Profanity is one of those verbal sins that tends to be excused. One that people often don't prioritize as something to correct. Ephesians 4:29-31 says,"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Ephesians 5:3-5 says, "but among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person---such a man is an idolater---has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
I typed out much of this because I want us to see just how seriously God takes these things. Things that we tend not to give enough weight to, God lumps in with other sins that we tend to take more seriously. He says that if these things are still part of your lifestyle, and you see no need to change it, or are making no effort to change it that you have no inheritance in God's kingdom. That seems like a really good reason to evaluate your relationship with God and see if you are in the faith.
ENTERTAINMENT. There are previous posts regarding this and I hope you will revisit them. I will touch on it again because this is major area of conformity and compromise today. If we consider ourselves to be in the faith. If we truly believe that we are children of the Most High God. We should evaluate EVERYTHING that comes into our spirits/hearts by audio or visual means. Suffice it to say that I believe most entertainment today is froth with unholy material that does nothing but glorify and make commonplace that which displeases God and separates us from God. If any entertainment is allowed into our lives it should only be that which is glorifying to God and draws our attention to God's ways and thoughts. Some may label this idea religious or legalistic but I call it scriptural and biblically supported. Philippians 4:8-9 says, "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think on these things". Galatians 5:17 states that the sinful nature and the Spirit of God are in conflict with each other because the are contrary to each other. Again, Galatians 5:19-21 lists the acts of the sinful nature, "Sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. Those who live like this WILL NOT inherit the kingdom of God.
Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings (idolatry and witchcraft), Pirates of the Carribean (most of the other acts of the sinful nature), or even most romantic or comedy storylines. Even action flicks surrounding Marvel comics. All glorify the sinful nature. Music in the form of oldies, rock, R&B, Hip Hop, Country or any other style. If it glorifies Love, Romance, or Sex, in any form outside of the way in which God designed them to be thought of it is sinful. Revenge, drugs, violence, and fornication are all sinful acts that today's music, TV and movies, books, and video games glorify.
We want to see these things as harmless. But Satan uses all of these ideas to mask and make more appealing, acts and ideas that are ungodly. Oh we don't want to see it because we don't like change. We want to argue that as long as it does not cause us to stumble into these acts then we are ok. If these forms of entertainment cause us to dwell on ungodly, sinful acts, even if it is only for the period of time that we are engaging in the entertainment, it is still contrary to what scripture says we are to dwell on. As I have said before, why would we argue for the right to enjoy entertainment of any form, lyric, or storyline that supports the sinful nature if that nature will keep people from the kingdom and steal Glory from the one who died for you. These things are contrary to the Spirit. They do not bring glory to God and bringing glory to God is the purpose for which we were created (Isaiah 43:7) If you are offended or put off, ask yourself, Who's interest are you serving? God's or yours?
Is this post a little lengthy? Perhaps. But I dare not risk a thorough representation of the truth on this matter in the name of brevity. Especially when souls are on the line. Are these ideas considered radical by societies standards, even Christian society? Absolutely! Are these ideas supported by scripture and is this message needed today? YES! These are not new ideas. They have been in scripture from the beginning and many bold, obedient pastors today are teaching the message, in one form or another. I am just another voice proclaiming the truth. That message is, you are conformed in one direction or the other. Either to Jesus, or to the world. One leads to the kingdom of God and the other away from the kingdom of God. You cannot desire and strive to live in both directions and be certain of your eternal destination. Which one are you? 2 Corinthians 13:5-6 says, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you---unless, of course, you fail the test. Think about it.
Love in Christ,
Josh
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
understanding scripture in context
It's unfortunate often times that we quote scripture without understanding the context in which it was written. I've done it, pastors have done it. Anyone can be guilty of it if they are not careful. That is why we must always pray and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the meaning of the scriptures to us everytime we read them. Sometimes the context of a scripture is on a grand scale i.e. a whole chapter or period of time, however sometimes it is simply understanding it in relationship to the verses surrounding it. Granted contextual interpretation has it's places of debate considering cultural influence etc., for better or for worse. But, there are many places that are pretty plain.I would like to give some examples of this.
There is a scripture that is often quoted from Jeremiah in an effort to encourage others. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future".
This is quoted most often as a means of encouragement and supporting the idea that God wants us blessed.
I agree, however, the next scripture is pivotal in the fulfillment of that promise.
Jeremiah 29:12-13 states, "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart".
All of this is in the context of God delivering Israel from exile in Babylon. The blessing in 29:11 was in relation to Israel praying to God and seeking God with all their hearts, as stated in 29:13.
There is a scripture that is often quoted from Jeremiah in an effort to encourage others. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future".
This is quoted most often as a means of encouragement and supporting the idea that God wants us blessed.
I agree, however, the next scripture is pivotal in the fulfillment of that promise.
Jeremiah 29:12-13 states, "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart".
All of this is in the context of God delivering Israel from exile in Babylon. The blessing in 29:11 was in relation to Israel praying to God and seeking God with all their hearts, as stated in 29:13.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Reflection
Since I first started my 1st post of this blog on April 19th 2012, I have been blessed beyond measure as my knowledge and familiarity with scripture and it's specific location in the Bible have grown. I have completed seven posts and my passion for God and my desire to obey him continue to grow. I truly believe that if not a single soul read this blog that it has still been a huge blessing to me and I have been in God's will in writing it.
Gratefully, people have read it. As I have invited people to it whether by personal, face to face invite or through facebook, many have been gracious enough to give some time to checking it out. For that I would like say THANK YOU! I hope you have read it with a heart to receive whatever God had for you in it and I hope that you have received it with the heart of conviction, love, compassion, and honesty that I intended it.
Admittedly, I believe God has chosen what I believe to be some difficult and potentially offensive topics for me to write on thus far. I say God because IF I was looking for popularity or return customers, the personal topics and the honest, scriptural, straight forward approach that I have felt led to take would not have been my first choice. But, I am not interested in being popular or even in having return customers if it means I must compromise any of the truth of the Word of God. Someone might wonder why I have not written specifically with a straightforward Gospel presentation in mind. It is simply because that has not been God's leading...yet. It is coming soon though. Gratefully, to this point, there have been nuggets of the Gospel intermingled all through the discussions of the topics thus far. Sometimes with an invitation style thought process at the end. This also has been God.
When I started, I had no idea what I was going to end up with. What it has turned into thus far is a opportunity to preach mini-sermons through the written word in a blog. To present the truth of the Bible, the truth of the Gospel, and the heart of God as accurately as possible. I have addressed issues of sin, issues of the heart, and how they affect our daily walk with Jesus. Much of it has been written almost as if directed at the Church rather than the lost. Why is that?
That is because God has given me a burden that, the lost are not only in the world but in the Church buildings. I say it this way because no true member of the "Church" which is to say "the body of Christ" can truly be a member unless they have been a true convert. I, along with many sound, bible teaching, pastors out there believe that there are too many people inside and outside of the four walls of a church that have no idea what it means to be a Christian. I and they would like to see that change. However, on the flip side, for that to change then the apathy of the true members of the Church has got to change. To many, are taking to long in getting down to the business of living out the Gospel and sharing the Gospel. If you lived in a third world country where you were not free to practice whatever religion you wanted too, you would not even call yourself a Christian unless you were willing to die and leave this earth for it immediately. That is the kind of "radical" commitment that Jesus is looking for. No longer can so-called believers continue to profess Christ with their mouths but not live it with their lives. Many, would argue that if that is your practice you had better question your Salvation.
"Sigh".....I confess that I am not that far removed from the very thing that I now preach about. I was one of those who was lacking in many ways when it came to obedience. One author calls it "Christian Atheism". The idea of believing in God yet living as if he does not exist. If there is a difference between "Christian Atheism" and an altogether "false conversion" then it is a very fine line. I confess that even now, as I am growing in the Lord that I am still too quick to judge sometimes. I confess that only recently have I really begun to understand what it means to truly love as Christ loved. That has primarily been in my personal life. What I am longing for is to love everyone as Christ loved. To see people through the lense of the person of the Holy Spirit and to have a compassion for the lost that consumes me in such a way as to swallow any fear, or lack of interest, or tendency to judge to quickly and causes me to pray tirelessly, and share the Gospel consistently, and obey God faithfully in every area of my life.
Soon I will give my testimony as thoroughly as I am able in order that no one would read my posts and reject the Truth in the Word of God presented by me because they think that I am Holier than thou, or because they think that I don't understand where they are, or because they knew me in my earlier years (even through college) and think me a hypocrite now because of what I was then. God is certainly powerful enough to keep me out of the way. However, the bible says that believers will overcome Satan by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony and that they will not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.(Revelation 12:11) So my testimony will go forth in due time.
So again, I say Thank You to everyone who has subscribed to recieve the blog by email or is reading this for the 1st time. As always, I pray that you will consider everything that I say in my posts, whether you agree or disagree, as an opportunity to scruitinize it against God's Word and allow the Holy Spirit to guide into all truth. (John 16:13) Ask the Holy Spirit what His purpose is for drawing you to this blog. I want nothing more from this blog except Jesus Christ and Him crucified to be exalted both in Heaven and on Earth.
I pray for many challenges, many blessings, and much growth for each of you
in Jeus name. AMEN!
Josh
So again, I say Thank You to everyone who has subscribed to recieve the blog by email or is reading this for the 1st time. As always, I pray that you will consider everything that I say in my posts, whether you agree or disagree, as an opportunity to scruitinize it against God's Word and allow the Holy Spirit to guide into all truth. (John 16:13) Ask the Holy Spirit what His purpose is for drawing you to this blog. I want nothing more from this blog except Jesus Christ and Him crucified to be exalted both in Heaven and on Earth.
I pray for many challenges, many blessings, and much growth for each of you
in Jeus name. AMEN!
Josh
Sunday, June 10, 2012
The Validity of the Bible and our Responsibility to share it
The Validity of the Bible and our Responsibility to share it
2 Timothy 3:16-17 states, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work".
As I have made an effort to share the Gospel. As I have shared what the Bible says regarding sin in the life of believers and sinful lifestyles among believers and unbelievers alike. I have tried to do it in love and from the position of what God's stance in his Word is on how we should live our lives and represent Jesus. In this I have faced opposition from professing believers and non-believers alike.
I can handle opposition from unbelievers. In fact, I expect it. They do not have the spirit of God on the inside of them to bring revelation about God's Word. Therefore, I don't expect them to understand or accept the Bible as an authority on any subject. That does not mean however, that I will not share the Word with unbelievers and give the Holy Spirit a chance to water that seed and make it grow.
On the other hand, professing Christians, are without excuse. IF they are in fact children of God with the Holy Spirit on the inside then not only should they believe the Bible is the authority on what God expects, but they should be thrilled about sharing it with others. They should also be thrilled that a brother or sister in the Lord cares enough about them to correct them if they are out of God's biblical will. So when people who are supposed to be Christians defend ungodly actions or principles and make the argument that it is not loving to share the truth with unbelievers or to share the truth in the correction of believers, I must take issue with that. This argument does a disservice to unbelievers who need to hear the truth and to believers who need correction. Not to mention, the blatant disobedience to God's Word that it suggests. If this sounds like it describes you, I would suggest some evaluation of the validity of your relationship with Jesus.
The bible is God-breathed, infallible and the authority on our eternal life that begins now, if we are a believer. If we do not believe that as Christians then we had better question our salvation because nothing in the bible can be depended on as fact.
As far as our right to share God's Word with others, it is not only our right as Christians to do this, it is our responsibility. Let's start with the Great Commission, Matthew 28:18-20 says, "Jesus came to the disciples and said, "all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age". That is a command from Jesus himself. In Romans 10:13-15 Paul asks these questions, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? How can they believe in one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent"? Romans 10:17 states, "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ. Matthew 18:15-17 tells us how to handle church discipline in regards to a brother in the Lord walking in deliberate sin.
So my questions to anyone challenging whether or not we are to share the word with everyone are these:
How do people believe in what they have not heard?
How do we train new believers to be disciples and make disciples without the word?
How do we hold each other accountable to do what is right in the eyes of God without the Word?
The answer is we cannot!
Now to address the question, Are we showing the Love of Jesus by challenging sin in the world and in the church? This concern has been expressed many times. The idea that we might push people away by challenging sin or sinful lifestyle's. The idea that we are not being loving in suggesting that those who do not accept God's salvation through Christ Jesus and making Him Lord of their Lives are going to end up in Hell, apart from God and suffering for eternity has been expressed many times. Let me just say, that Hell IS a biblical reality. It is not a figment of our imagination. It is not a state of mind. It is a real place that many people will end up in. Anyone who says or believes differently is misinformed and needs to study further on the subject. Neither Jesus Nor myself want to see people go to Hell. God so loved the world that He sent Jesus to die for our sins so that we could spend eternity with Him in Heaven.(John 3:16) Unfortunately, everyone will not choose that path. In fact, Matthew 7:13 states that "wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few will find it. Jesus goes on a few verses later to state that even some of those serving in the church and doing very religious things and thinking that is what Christianity is all about will find themselves unknown by Jesus and spending eternity apart from Him.(Matthew 7:22)
Let me ask you, When did Jesus not speak the truth regarding sin out of a concern for offending someone? When did any of the disciples or the apostle Paul not speak truth or challenge sin because they were afraid of pushing someone away from the faith. The answer is NEVER. Jesus, more than once, after healing someone or delivering the woman at the well from the judgement of her accusers said, "Go and sin no more". He was very clear all through the Gospel's of the sacrifice required of his followers.(Luke 9:23)(Mark 8:34-38) He was also very clear about what kind of fruit would be evidence of a true follower. This fruit would be what was used to separate the sheep from the goats.(Matthew 25:31-46) The apostle Paul's letters were designed for challenging sin and encouraging a faith filled, obedient, loving, righteous, lifestyle. No where did you ever here these guys say, "We know that you are struggling with sin. How can we make you feel better about yourself in this sinful lifestyle". No! They commanded that we pursue change. That, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we leave our sinful nature behind. That we forget what is behind and press on toward the high calling that we have in Christ Jesus. (Philipians 3:13-14) Nowhere does Jesus or anyone else ever apologize for the Gospel.
Ask yourself this, If you were in a building and it was on fire, but for some reason you didn't realize it. Wouldn't you want someone to come tell you it was on fire? And once they did, wouldn't you want them to help you find your way out? Would you really argue for your right to stay and get burned up because the furniture was nice, you had beer in the fridge, a pretty girl by your side and the big game was about to come on your flat screen TV? I hope you wouldn't argue with the person standing in front of you who is trying to convince you that all of that stuff you have in front of you is going to be a pile of ash in a very short period of time. That it is going to be worthless and you are not going to be able to enjoy it anymore even though you will want to. This is the picture of reality you need to understand when you think of eternity.
I pray that the Holy Spirit will make every reader of this post keenly aware that their house is in fact on fire and that if they don't let him pull them out, they are going to get burned for all eternity. I pray that they will be able to realize also that Salvation is not fire insurance. If you truly accept Jesus's salvation that he lovingly bought for you by his blood on the cross, he will change your life. You will be a new creation. The old things will pass away and all things will become new.(2 Corinthians 5:17) Your heart will long to obey God. Your mind will long to think on the things of God. And you will be able to live with the knowledge and the excitement that you get to spend eternity in the presence of God. He will not only be your Savior but he will be your Lord. Not only will you not challenge others on sharing the Word. You will realize that you are not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because you will know that it is the power of God unto Salvation.(Romans 1:16) And believe it or not, YOU will not be able to help yourself but to TELL SOMEONE ELSE ABOUT IT!
Love in Christ,
Josh
2 Timothy 3:16-17 states, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work".
As I have made an effort to share the Gospel. As I have shared what the Bible says regarding sin in the life of believers and sinful lifestyles among believers and unbelievers alike. I have tried to do it in love and from the position of what God's stance in his Word is on how we should live our lives and represent Jesus. In this I have faced opposition from professing believers and non-believers alike.
I can handle opposition from unbelievers. In fact, I expect it. They do not have the spirit of God on the inside of them to bring revelation about God's Word. Therefore, I don't expect them to understand or accept the Bible as an authority on any subject. That does not mean however, that I will not share the Word with unbelievers and give the Holy Spirit a chance to water that seed and make it grow.
On the other hand, professing Christians, are without excuse. IF they are in fact children of God with the Holy Spirit on the inside then not only should they believe the Bible is the authority on what God expects, but they should be thrilled about sharing it with others. They should also be thrilled that a brother or sister in the Lord cares enough about them to correct them if they are out of God's biblical will. So when people who are supposed to be Christians defend ungodly actions or principles and make the argument that it is not loving to share the truth with unbelievers or to share the truth in the correction of believers, I must take issue with that. This argument does a disservice to unbelievers who need to hear the truth and to believers who need correction. Not to mention, the blatant disobedience to God's Word that it suggests. If this sounds like it describes you, I would suggest some evaluation of the validity of your relationship with Jesus.
The bible is God-breathed, infallible and the authority on our eternal life that begins now, if we are a believer. If we do not believe that as Christians then we had better question our salvation because nothing in the bible can be depended on as fact.
As far as our right to share God's Word with others, it is not only our right as Christians to do this, it is our responsibility. Let's start with the Great Commission, Matthew 28:18-20 says, "Jesus came to the disciples and said, "all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age". That is a command from Jesus himself. In Romans 10:13-15 Paul asks these questions, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? How can they believe in one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent"? Romans 10:17 states, "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ. Matthew 18:15-17 tells us how to handle church discipline in regards to a brother in the Lord walking in deliberate sin.
So my questions to anyone challenging whether or not we are to share the word with everyone are these:
How do people believe in what they have not heard?
How do we train new believers to be disciples and make disciples without the word?
How do we hold each other accountable to do what is right in the eyes of God without the Word?
The answer is we cannot!
Now to address the question, Are we showing the Love of Jesus by challenging sin in the world and in the church? This concern has been expressed many times. The idea that we might push people away by challenging sin or sinful lifestyle's. The idea that we are not being loving in suggesting that those who do not accept God's salvation through Christ Jesus and making Him Lord of their Lives are going to end up in Hell, apart from God and suffering for eternity has been expressed many times. Let me just say, that Hell IS a biblical reality. It is not a figment of our imagination. It is not a state of mind. It is a real place that many people will end up in. Anyone who says or believes differently is misinformed and needs to study further on the subject. Neither Jesus Nor myself want to see people go to Hell. God so loved the world that He sent Jesus to die for our sins so that we could spend eternity with Him in Heaven.(John 3:16) Unfortunately, everyone will not choose that path. In fact, Matthew 7:13 states that "wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few will find it. Jesus goes on a few verses later to state that even some of those serving in the church and doing very religious things and thinking that is what Christianity is all about will find themselves unknown by Jesus and spending eternity apart from Him.(Matthew 7:22)
Let me ask you, When did Jesus not speak the truth regarding sin out of a concern for offending someone? When did any of the disciples or the apostle Paul not speak truth or challenge sin because they were afraid of pushing someone away from the faith. The answer is NEVER. Jesus, more than once, after healing someone or delivering the woman at the well from the judgement of her accusers said, "Go and sin no more". He was very clear all through the Gospel's of the sacrifice required of his followers.(Luke 9:23)(Mark 8:34-38) He was also very clear about what kind of fruit would be evidence of a true follower. This fruit would be what was used to separate the sheep from the goats.(Matthew 25:31-46) The apostle Paul's letters were designed for challenging sin and encouraging a faith filled, obedient, loving, righteous, lifestyle. No where did you ever here these guys say, "We know that you are struggling with sin. How can we make you feel better about yourself in this sinful lifestyle". No! They commanded that we pursue change. That, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we leave our sinful nature behind. That we forget what is behind and press on toward the high calling that we have in Christ Jesus. (Philipians 3:13-14) Nowhere does Jesus or anyone else ever apologize for the Gospel.
Ask yourself this, If you were in a building and it was on fire, but for some reason you didn't realize it. Wouldn't you want someone to come tell you it was on fire? And once they did, wouldn't you want them to help you find your way out? Would you really argue for your right to stay and get burned up because the furniture was nice, you had beer in the fridge, a pretty girl by your side and the big game was about to come on your flat screen TV? I hope you wouldn't argue with the person standing in front of you who is trying to convince you that all of that stuff you have in front of you is going to be a pile of ash in a very short period of time. That it is going to be worthless and you are not going to be able to enjoy it anymore even though you will want to. This is the picture of reality you need to understand when you think of eternity.
I pray that the Holy Spirit will make every reader of this post keenly aware that their house is in fact on fire and that if they don't let him pull them out, they are going to get burned for all eternity. I pray that they will be able to realize also that Salvation is not fire insurance. If you truly accept Jesus's salvation that he lovingly bought for you by his blood on the cross, he will change your life. You will be a new creation. The old things will pass away and all things will become new.(2 Corinthians 5:17) Your heart will long to obey God. Your mind will long to think on the things of God. And you will be able to live with the knowledge and the excitement that you get to spend eternity in the presence of God. He will not only be your Savior but he will be your Lord. Not only will you not challenge others on sharing the Word. You will realize that you are not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because you will know that it is the power of God unto Salvation.(Romans 1:16) And believe it or not, YOU will not be able to help yourself but to TELL SOMEONE ELSE ABOUT IT!
Love in Christ,
Josh
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