The Text Messages - Christian teaching blog

January 20, 2021January 19, 2021

Wake up, Church! (Pt. 2) Remember Why You Are Here

In (Romans 13:11) the apostle Paul appeals urgently to believers to wake up – to snap out of our stupor; those words were meant to shock his audience who like many of us were preoccupied more with the here and now than with the eternal. If the final salvation of believers was perceived to be nearer them then than when at first they believed, how much closer is it today- and how much further from being prepared for it are we than they were? I don’t mean to say that a believer can be MORE prepared to meet Jesus than to believe in Him rather, what I do mean is that believers have grown slack in the thing that we are to be MOST about today! Did not Jesus Christ Himself give a command to His followers to “occupy,” literally to “do business till (He) comes“? That is not a reference to the retail business but to HIS business! Today, many of us seem much more preoccupied with the world around us than with the kingdom of God today.

What one eternal concern ARE WE to be preoccupied with in these days?

Paul identified it in (v.8 of Romans 13) “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.” There is no caveat here. No – love them only if they agree with you or only if they love you back. Jesus said “love your neighbors” (Matt. 22:39), “love your enemies and those who spitefully use you” (Matt. 5:44) and “do good to those who hate you.” Today, division in our land is thicker than a 50oz T-bone steak; and love seems to be in short supply. In his prophetic warning concerning the last days, Jesus said, (Matthew 24:12) “And because lawlessness (or iniquity) will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” That is more than just a prophetic remark and indicator about the future, I believe its a warning to believers in every age and ESPECIALLY today! If we let our passions and zeal for what we love to get in front of our passion and zeal for God our love will not only grow cold toward our neighbor but by extension it will also grow cold toward God. Tell me that when God’s word clashes with your inclinations and passions that you DON’T shut out His words…

Right now, you may be thinking, “but, I DO love my neighbor!” And I would reply, “how do they know?”

Who have you been Christ to this week? Do they know that you love them from your attitude and words about current events or your angry posts on social media? My friends, the church is majoring on the temporal and frankly minoring or failing in the thing we were actually called to be passionate about – the souls of men! One hymn shouts, “Rescue the perishing!” In the process of doing that, Jude says, “And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.” (Jude 22–23) Jesus said, (Matt. 28:18-20) “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Believer, why are you here? To enjoy the freedom and rights you own as a citizen of the greatest country on earth or to share with others the only hope of freedom from bondage to sin and forgiveness with God through His Son Jesus Christ?! Even Paul said, that it was for the sake of the sinful man or woman that we remain here to reach (1 Cor. 5:9-10); otherwise there would be no reason for us as believers to continue in this life.

Many of us are so CONSUMED with temporal passions and zeal that we have forgotten the need of the souls among whom we live. Understanding that we live in a fallen world which will ALWAYS be HOSTILE towards God and recognizing that perhaps we have allowed passion for what we love to cloud our minds from the reason for our being here, we will go on in the last segment to address the question – what can we do about it?

January 19, 2021January 18, 2021

Wake up, Church! (Pt. 1) Recognize Where You Are

Driving through Hondo Texas you will see a sign declaring the area to be God’s country with a sign saying “This is God’s country, don’t drive through it like hell!” Did the author of the sign mean that just the Hondo area is God’s country? Did he have in mind the larger hill country area? Was he speaking of all Texas…of all America?

Many believers live as if this world is just that – God’s country, and while the Bible does say in (Psalm 24:1) “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof” the world is hostile towards God. We sing a hymn in which we proclaim, “this is my Father’s world” and that all nature is singing His praise. At the same time, we read the words of Paul in (Romans 8:22) stating that “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” The Lord Jesus, while being interviewed by Pilate (John 18:36) hours before He died in our place declared: “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” If this was God’s country would it groan – literally suffer and mourn? If this was God’s country, wouldn’t the Lord have been welcomed rather than rejected by the people of it?

God did not give up His ownership of the world He created. He still nourishes and cares for it and through a general grace still cares for every one of us, Christian or not. For now, this world is a land CREATED by God but occupied by the enemy of God and corrupted by mankind and his sinfulness. Why does it surprise and shock us to hear that the world is hostile to God? Why are we surprised at what we see daily happening in this world when we are told in God’s word to EXPECT it? Hear the words of Paul to young Timothy in (2 Tim. 3:1-5):

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”

We are living in a fallen world occupied by Satan, “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2). Paul called him “the god of this age” (2 Cor. 4:4); and everything God made and called good has been corrupted by him as well as mankind’s sin and willingness to yield to sinful desires. We live in the temporary territory of the enemy of God – it is his territory for now and that isn’t going to change no matter what we as believers do. In fact, this world will remain occupied by the enemy until Jesus returns at the end of the great tribulation to set up His millennial reign (Rev. 20:1-6) and finally as God the Father makes His abode among us (see Rev.21:3), Satan’s occupation of God’s creation then will be FOREVER ended!

Part of our problem today lies in what we love; the apostle John points that out in (1 John 2:15-17):

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

We love our rights. We love our freedom. We love our country. We love to have it our way. We love what we love and our passion and zeal is stirred when these things are threatened. All of these things are temporal (temporary, earthly) – they are not everlasting but we allow our love, passion and zeal for things like our rights, freedoms and affiliations to cloud our minds from eternal things. Is it wrong to love our country? No. But even as the Lord reminded His followers that a disciple is marked by loving family less than he or she loves God (Luke 14:26); likewise, the Christian – the citizen of heaven MUST prioritize God before everything else he or she may love.

To accomplish the will of God for us we need to redirect our zeal…the most important thing cannot be OUR anything – it must be the needs of others and in a territory occupied by the enemy of God and man, the need of the hour is rescue.

Wake Up, Church! (Introduction)

“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” (Romans 13:11–14)

Just when you didn’t think that things could get much worse than they had been for nearly all of 2020, a new level of craziness surfaces only a few days after we welcomed the New Year. To be fair, everything is a matter of perspective. While Covid and the draconian way that leaders of cities, states and even our nation worked to take advantage and manipulate the situation to advance their own agendas we saw opportunities to develop new ways to minister, opportunities to work on relationships with our children and spouses and opportunities to serve those in need among us.

One of the “slogans” that came from the church as we developed a “stay home, stay safe” approach to continuing worship services on-line instead of in person was this one – “the church has left the building.” That statement really bothered me because I deeply believe that the church, that is, the living organism called the ecclesia, the fellowship of the saints and the body of Christ was NEVER meant to be constrained by four walls! In saying that, I am NOT saying that we SHOULD forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Hebrew 10:25) but I AM saying that nowhere in the scriptures are we called to stay within the four walls of our church building and wait for those outside to come to us. Nevertheless, many believers are and have been content for a long time to limit the activities that they associate with church to what happens on the INSIDE of a building. That should not be and I say along with Paul that it is “high time to awake out of [our] sleep!”

To be fair to the context of (Romans 13), (v.11) concludes Paul’s exhortation that believers obey the governing authorities but to me, the the notion that Christians need to “wake-up” is a general statement applicable to every aspect of Christian life. Time is short – the Lord’s return is much closer today that ever has been before and we need to be about His work with more intensity and a greater sense of urgency than ever before as well.

As it happens, these words were laid on my heart the day after the craziness in the capitol took place. Again, and to be fair, craziness seems to be an ongoing problem in our nation and among our leaders but what I saw that day blew me away. Let me first say to you that I am a patriot! I love my country! My mind and my heart have been full of emotion over the last year as I have seen freedom, the flag, our rights as Americans, our shared faith etc., trampled upon. As I, like many of you watching from our living room TV sets saw the riots, fires and looting taking place in many cities around our county in the name of social justice over the previous year in addition to the mayhem in DC last week, my anger stirred and zeal for my nation was driving it. However, a few months back, after expressing some of my own frustrations on such things on social media and noting that bitterness was filling my heart, the Lord began to remind me of a few things that I feel we all need to remember today – one, we live in a fallen world and two, we need to redirect our zeal.

Over the next few days I hope you’ll bear with me as I unpack what the Lord laid on my heart concerning a godly approach to the days in which we live…

December 16, 2020

Stuck in The Impossible?

The month of December is marked by the celebration of Christmas; a time given to celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ into our world as a baby born to a virgin. I could spend time telling you that while Jesus Christ was most definitely born as the Bible declares – to a virgin (Luke 1:26-27) and at a time of God’s choosing (Galatians 4:4-5), He was not born on December the 25^th. I would point out to you the fact that we are in no place in the scriptures instructed to remember His birth but rather His death and promised return (1 Corinthians 11:26). But there is something in the story of His birth that I WOULD like to focus on instead and it is found in the first chapter of Luke’s gospel.

After the angel Gabriel had announced to Mary the plans which God the Father had for her in the accomplishing of His will and Mary questioned the impossibility that she, a woman who had never slept with a man, could conceive a child, the angel made a statement concerning God in (v. 37):

“For with God nothing will be impossible.”” (Luke 1:37)

I want to ask you, does this mean that in that one instance only, nothing would be impossible with God? Today, as we struggle against the effects of a pandemic, and suffer the consequences of addictions we can not seem to free ourselves from – why do we live as if the fact that nothing is impossible for God only applies to the other guy and not to us? Or to another time and not to our own?

I truly feel as if the NIV especially does a disservice to the intent of the words spoken here when it renders (v.37) this way: “For no word from God will ever fail.” Is it true that God keeps His promises? Yes. Is it true that God does what He says He will do? Of course! But this rendering ignores the fact that the things you and I deem to be impossible do not slow God down in the least. With that in mind consider a few other passages which stress the FACT that with God NOTHING will be, or is impossible:

For a couple for whom the term “up in age” would be an understatement God promised a child. Sarah, then in her 90’s, well past her child bearing years laughed at the impossible thought of intimacy with her 100 year old husband let alone becoming pregnant (to relate put yourself in either ones place). “And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”” (Genesis 18:13–14)

“‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.” (Jeremiah 32:17) Jeremiah and all Israel and Judah were about to be taken away captive to another land; for them the possibility of ever seeing home again was hopeless. Yet God instructed Jeremiah to purchase land in Israel (Benjamin Jer. 32:6-8) before they were taken away ultimately indicating what even Jeremiah still had to learn – nothing, including returning the people to their homeland was impossible for Him.

“And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”” (Matthew 19:24–26) The greatest impossibility of all (for men) is to gain eternal life or to please God by any human effort; yet the message continues to be proclaimed and people continue to be saved today because salvation is of God and only possible through faith in His Son.

Each of these verses shows that nothing is EVER impossible with the God who formed the heavens and the earth along with everything that dwells upon it. But beyond the mundane and everyday things, there remain many things which are absolutely impossible for those who attempt anything without God. That is what Jesus later declares in (John 15:5):

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

Paul declared in (Philippians 4:13): “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

We cannot do anything – we cannot overcome addictions and be set free from their curse on our own. Not only that but, though many people try, we cannot be saved on our own or by our works and good deeds. Doing more good than bad will not tip the scales in your favor when God judges men in the last day. We struggle against so many things and cry out “why can’t I stop!” If that describes you today, the answer is simple – stop trying to do in your own power what God wants to do for you (and has already made available to you through His Son Jesus Christ!)!

Put first things first – believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved! (Acts 16:31)

Some of you may be thinking, “wait a minute Pastor, I do believe; I am already saved!” Alright, but are you trusting Him to set you free from your addiction or whatever it may be with which you struggle? If you are a believer today, the Bible declares that God’s Holy Spirit now lives in you (1 Cor. 3:16). He not only confirms the fact that you are a child of God to your spirit (Romans 8:16) but He convicts you of sin (John 16:8) and He enables you to overcome it (Galatians 5:16). The Spirit supplies everything we need to live a life that pleases God. In that effort, we do have a part; we can either fight against Him and risk quenching or grieving Him as we willingly disobey or return to things that we KNOW are harmful to us and our life in Christ; or we can cooperate with Him and day by day have victory over those same things.

But the reason God does the impossible may surprise you – He does it to get glory for Himself. (John 15:7-8):

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

God is glorified when through Him we are victorious; this is what Jesus was pointing at in (Matthew 5:16) when He said to believers:

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

When God does the impossible in us people notice. When we live for Jesus, people notice; especially when they feel the effects of the change.

What is your impossible?

Throughout the scriptures, God did the impossible through the most unlikely people, through David He killed a giant, through a virgin He brought forth His Son, the Savior of the world, and through some fishermen, a zealot and a tax collector He sent a message that 2000 years later is still being heard. What is the impossible in your life that you are praying to Him about? He has not changed and He still hears both His children when they pray and a sinner crying out to be saved. He will hear you….

November 26, 2020

Thankful?

It’s always easier to be thankful when things are going our way; it’s harder when they are not. Nevertheless, to the Christian believer God’s word declares:

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18)

How is this possible? How can a person be full of joy and thankful in every situation and season of their life? At a time when panic, pandemic and pandemonium wreak havoc on our lives, families and nation. At a time when freedoms are endangered and our very way of life is imperiled by leaders using panic, pandemic and pandemonium as an excuse to strip it all away. Add to our collective grief the countless and varied personal struggles that each of us have encountered as we have traversed the year that will go down in infamy and the question echoes louder still – how can a person be both full of joy and gratitude in times like these?

The problem lies in the fact that for many people, thankfulness is strongly conditioned on whether or not they get their way; this is a pagan attitude – not a Christian one. Be that as it may, Christians are also susceptible to being ungrateful when they let sight rather than faith control them and when they make themselves rather than God the priority in their lives. Paul identified the fact in (2 Timothy 3:1–5):

The Christian today who in light of his or her circumstances can not find anything for which to be thankful for needs a reset; they need to, as it were, “turn their eyes upon Jesus and look full in His wonderful face.” As believers and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are not supposed to be anxious or worried about ANYTHING!!! We ARE supposed to call to mind His promises, His gift to us, His love toward us, His presence with us no matter what we go through, His faithfulness, His grace, His mercy and His many kindnesses toward us. We are to consider the fact that “this is the day that the Lord has made” and that because He has given us a place in it, to “rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118: 24) There is joy in calling to mind such things which can eclipse the circumstances one may find themselves in – joy that both produces and is produced by our thankfulness to God. Then we will pray, not just when things fail to go our way but ceaselessly as we walk with Him. That verse in Philippians (4:6) that instructs us not to be anxious also instructs us to be thankful when we approach God in prayer for this very reason – that whether God answers as we hope or not, through Christ He has granted us the privilege of a relationship with Him which allows us to boldly come before Him (Hebrews 4:16), a relationship in which He calls us His children (John 1:12) – even His friend (John 15:14-15). And if God never answered another prayer as we hope He has already granted us more than we deserve or could ever hope for through His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

A true attitude of gratitude begins with a new life and a new focus.

Today, you may be driven by circumstances to be either thankful or unthankful but I invite the one who has never turned, never trusted, never BELIEVED in Jesus Christ to abandon their fear for a future that only faith in Him makes possible. It begins with understanding that your sins have separated you from God; and before you say, “what sins;” consider the word of the Lord which declared that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). The Bible also declares that eternal separation from God is the compensation you can expect for sin (Romans 6:23) but that “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” God has made new life possible through His Son and by faith you may have it. My hope is that, as He draws you to Himself you will not resist but come and take hold of eternal life.

There is no greater cause for thanksgiving in the heart of a man or a woman than that God has saved your soul!

Happy Thanksgiving!

September 1, 2020August 31, 2020

Devotion to Jesus can Thaw Out Ice Cold Hearts

Jesus’ words in Matthew 24 begin with a question from His disciples, “When shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3) With all the things that have happened in the last year, many people think that we are living in those last days which Jesus made mention of in this chapter of Matthew’s gospel. Tucked away in almost the middle of the Lord’s words on the subject is a statement which identifies the biggest issue of our day. I don’t believe that Covid, Antifa, or who will be the next president is the biggest problem facing people and especially Christians today; Jesus identifies it right here in (Matthew 24:12):

“Because lawlessness shall abound, the love of many will grow cold.”

We live in a day of woe. A day made mention of by the prophet Isaiah through whom God said, “Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil...” (Isaiah 5:20). I have heard this verse many times and have seen times when people reversed the polarity between good and evil but in our day it has become commonplace. God’s will, word and way have been turned upside down by men who would throw off all authority be it God’s or mans. Thus, because of hate, because of wickedness in the streets, because of violence, because of evil in all its various forms and because everything has been turned upside down the love of many not only will grow cold but is doing so even now.

Are the words of Christ in (v.12) directed towards the hater, the wicked or the violent? Who’s love was Jesus referring to when He said that it would grow cold? He was referring to the love of the one professing faith in Jesus Christ and there are many people today professing to know Jesus who do not possess a relationship with Him. You see, I believe that the Christian man or woman will bear witness to their faith and that there will be evidence in their life that he or she is in fact a true believer, and of these evidences, love stands out. Jesus associated love for Him with obedience to His commands (John 14:15) and one of those commands is “Love one another. As I have loved you so you love one another.” (John 13:34) Jesus was not talking about sentimental, emotional or erotic love as the kinds of love which would grow cold in the days leading up to His return; He was speaking of something much less common – He was speaking of condition-less love. He was not speaking of the love expressed to someone who loves you or does good to you; He was not talking about the kind of love expressed to people who treat you right – He was talking about the kind of love that just loves. The reality is that we are known not so much by what we say as what we do; Jesus makes that clear in (John 13:35) where He says:

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Is it possible for a Christians love to grow cold? What I can say is that with the increase in lawlessness in all its forms today, a great tension has grown up in me. I am constantly needing to yield to the push back of the Holy Spirit when in my flesh I want to lash out against the evil I see with my eyes. Circumstances beyond our control can, if we let them, turn us from loving like Jesus.

What can we do?

The answer comes in remembering Who is in control and turning our eyes back onto Him. Jesus said in (John 16:33): “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” To keep Christian love from growing cold we need to turn our eyes away from one thing and onto something else. Jesus did not say that the world around us MIGHT give us trouble – He said that it WOULD and in the same breath He said, “but I have overcome the world.” What was He telling us? Was He bragging? No, He was telling every believer to focus on Him in order to overcome the troubles around them. He was telling us how we can have peace in days like these – peace within our hearts rather than around our lives. The only way a Christians love will not grow cold is if the Christian’s heart is constantly focused on Jesus.

We focus on Him when we pray. We focus on Him when we study His word. We focus on Him when we see the needs of others before we see our own needs and when we focus on Him, we trust that because He is in control and we are His, come what may to our world or to us, everything is going to be alright.

Let me circle back to something I said a little while ago; I said that the are many professing Christians who are not possessing Christians. There are may people who sentimentally and emotionally refer to themselves as Christians but who do not know Jesus, worse still, Jesus does not know them either. You cannot love like Jesus if you do not know the love of Jesus towards you. Jesus said that a day is coming when such people (those who base eternity on the wrong things), people who falsely call Him Lord will say, “We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’” To which He will respond, “I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’” (Luke 13:26-27) Did Jesus mean that He was not aware of these people? No. He knows everything and is aware of everyone; when He tells those who falsely call Him their Lord that He does not know them He is saying that He has nothing to do with them and that He has no relationship with them.

The fact is that there is a day coming when all wrongs will be made right and when hate, evil, lawlessness and violence will be done away with, of that day, the Bible says:

“…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9–11)

Are you ready for that day?

God so loved the world that He sent His son (John 3:16) and Jesus so loved His Father and us that He gave His life willingly (John 10:18) – He was killed in our place for our sin, our crimes, our iniquity and our lawless deeds so that we may believe in Him and through Him gain eternal life. Do you believe? In that day which is to come, will you bow from love and loyalty to the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world or will you bow by force?

“Believe on the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

August 14, 2020

Jesus Christ – Our Refuge in Strange and Uncharted Waters

At the start of the year, as Covid-19 began to wrap itself around our lives, realities and futures; choking the life out of life for some of us, I read a book by Oswald Chambers titled, Our Ultimate Refuge. Five months later, as I re- read the book of Job, I am also revisiting the book written in a time not so different than our own. The nightly talks given to the men at the Imperial School of Instruction in the spring of 1917 which later became the source material of the book were given approximately 9 months before another global pandemic – the Spanish Flu, would sweep the globe on the heels of the end of the first world war.

The following is a quote from the publishers forward in the book:

“Chambers presents God as not only our ultimate refuge, but our only refuge. With characteristic insight he discusses our myths of self-sufficiency and eternal optimism, revealing their inadequacy when faced with the destruction of all that human-kind values. Only with that sense of ultimate and utter loss do we come to admit that all we have is God.”

First, let me say that this article is NOT a book report; the reason I am sharing a few snippets with you is that once again mankind (not just Americans) is buffeted by circumstances mostly outside of our control. The current pandemic and the sense that the whole world has jumped upon the crazy train has shaken OUR own sense (or myth) of self-sufficiency and eternal optimism to its very core.

My question to you is, how are YOU handling this situation?

What are you doing in these uncharted waters? How are you responding to something you’ve never experienced before? Human beings only seem to have two gears for putting power into motion in their lives when under stress of any kind – fight or flight; run head first into the fray and do your level best to overcome what is trying to overcome you or, recognize that the fray is too much for you and attempt to flee from it. My usual response to things I don’t understand or feel ill equipped to handle is procrastination but, in this case, delaying how you’ll respond or trying to avoid the issue all together is NOT going to help at all. Fighting won’t help either, when it comes to something we know NOTHING about, and fleeing is equally futile. The problem with both is that fight or flight draws on OUR power, ability and determination to overcome a situation rather than on God.

I understand that most people want their pastor, preacher or spiritual leader to be perfect; some would say that if they are not perfect, they have no right to speak on spiritual matters. First let me be clear, the ONLY perfect spiritual leader was and is Jesus Christ, no pastor that ever served in ANY capacity anywhere has ever been “perfect!” We have flaws. We fail. I will tell you that as these last several month have unfolded, what with Covid19, the ineptitude of both the “experts” and our political leaders as to how to combat the virus and the upside-downness (I know it’s not a word) of a society which is now happy to “call (every) good evil and (every) evil good;” (Isaiah 5:20) I have allowed bitterness to creep up in me. I have allowed anger and despair to overcome (at times) my peace and hope. You see, human beings by nature only look to themselves in times like these and when they do, they fall disastrously short of victory; not so for the son or daughter of God but sometimes we fail. Chambers wrote:

“There are people today who are going through an onslaught of destruction that paralyzes all our platitudes and preaching; the ONLY thing that will bring relief is the consolation of Christ. It is a good thing to feel our own powerlessness in the face of destruction; it makes us KNOW how much we (do or do not) depend on God.”

The spiritual human and carnal Christian may declare, “God is my co-pilot” as if to say that “I got this until I don’t and then Jesus can take the wheel;” but the believer for whom God is their ONLY REFUGE sees God as their pilot, captain and driver – to him or her, He is the Lord seated on the throne of their life. But sometimes, when the storm is especially dreadful, some followers of Christ, like the disciples before them (Mark 4:35-41) may find themselves doing whatever THEY can to stay afloat, only crying out to God in prayer when their best efforts fail, but victory is available to all who believe on and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Speaking of victory, what would victory look like for you in times like these? A rebounded and robust economy? A vaccine to end the Corona virus? An end to the upheaval and violence of anarchists which is ruining our cities, disturbing the peace and weakening our nation? An end to “social injustice?” I’m sorry, but if the economy, the virus, the violence or the “injustice” is all that’s on your mind – YOU are MISSING the big picture.

I’m going to leave this here:

“…it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment…” (Hebrews 9:27)

There is more to the passage from which the above quote is taken, but the point is clear – death will come to each of us one day and in that day, your 401k, your health, your wealth, the unrest of this world and EVERY form of injustice will no longer matter AT ALL! The Apostle Paul wrote, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” (1 Timothy 6:7); we fear death, disruption of peace, health and safety, we fear poverty but there are SO many people who do not “fear Him who has power to cast into hell” (Luke 12:5). Now is the time to address the one elephant in the room which if not addressed now you may never be able to address again – the eternal destination of your soul and what to do about Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God!

Jesus said that life is NOT about what you eat or what you put on (Luke 12:22-23) its about MORE than that, and while the meaning or purpose of life has as many definitions as it does definers, life in my mind has one purpose – it is the time we are given to make the decision of a lifetime: to believe in Jesus Christ and then to live accordingly. My friends, we can get wound up by all that is happening around us or we can see ourselves as God sees us (as sinners) and then call on Him who died in our place, for our sins and receive the gracious gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10).

If you’re reading this and sense the Lord drawing you to trust in Him, consider, “…now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)

Don’t let this time pass you by…

July 26, 2020

Overcoming the Thorns

Recently, a question came up during a Bible study I was participating in related to what we as Christians are to do with regard to all that is happening around us. Of particular concern was our response to our state, local and federal leaders concerning the Corona virus as well as our position concerning the ongoing protests throughout our land.

The first thing that comes to my mind concerning the question is the fact that most, if not all of us are easily overtaken by the cares of this world. You might remember the words of the Lord as He taught the parable of the sower and the seed, when he referred to the seed which had come up (or taken root) among thorns, He said:

“Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” (Mark 4:18–19)

Many things distract the follower of Christ from the course He has for them to follow. Our flesh craves and lusts for more, and more, and more of everything – of wealth, prestige, respect, notoriety, attention, the things other people have and our flesh fears many things as well. The cares of this world can drive us into a panic and in our struggle to make sense of a world that makes no sense: we worry, we lash out, we panic and we disregard the One who saved us. All our discontent, our desires to have more and all our fears end up accomplishing is a lack of productivity regarding the one thing every follower of Christ still walks on earth to accomplish – the making of disciples not of ourselves but of Jesus Christ.

A lot of people are so focused on the signs of the times these days, they see the fulfillment of prophecy in things happening today. They are focused on the first few lines of (Matthew 24) concerning “wars and rumors of wars,” “nations rising against nations,” “famines, pestilences and earthquakes in various (or diverse) places” failing to note that little remark in (v. 8) “All these are the BEGINNING of sorrows.” The fact is that the above has been the state of the world since the days that Christ walked among men; even the persecution of believers and abounding lawlessness of men has been with us since those days. Jesus continued, saying that because of lawlessness, “the love of many will grow cold” – how can that happen? How can Christian love grow cold? I suggest that the cold love Jesus mentions is evidence of people whose hearts of love and compassion have been choked by the cares of this world – people who are out of step with the Lord’s plan.

Christians are a people on mission and the mission is clear – preach the gospel!

“And He (Jesus) said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)

What? You’re not a pastor, minister or missionary – that is NOT a prerequisite for the mission before us! We all are to preach with our words AS WELL AS our lives and every Christ follower is tasked with the same mission: (Matthew 28:19) MAKE DISCIPLES! Note what is said in (Matthew 24:14):

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

Did Jesus mean to say that every person in every place on the planet will have to hear the gospel before He returns? No, He was actually pointing to the 144,000 Jews appointed in (Revelation 7:1-8) to be witnesses, carrying the message of the coming kingdom over which Jesus Christ will be King just before that kingdom would be established. But the verse also serves as reminder to the believer of what he or she ought to be about today – pointing the way to Christ!

The days in which we live have provided opportunity for us to either lash out against or love others. To those on whatever side who believe that ______ (fill in the blank with your choice) lives matter, we have an opportunity to show that, by His death and resurrection Jesus Christ declares that all lives, every life matters.

“By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10)

“For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.” (Romans 6:10)

“Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:12)

Not only that but to those who are in fear of death concerning the virus (trust me, I understand that no one is in a hurry to die) we also have a message of hope. You see the fear of death is seated in a lack of faith:

“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Hebrews 2:14–15)

The bondage mentioned above is a bondage to fear and, in our day and time, the fear of death is couched in the notion that after death there is nothing. But Jesus rose again after He was killed and He yet lives today as both the first-fruit of those who died (see 1 Corinthians 15:20) and proof to the fearful that there is in fact, life after death. Jesus said in (Luke 12:4-5):

“And I say to you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!”

Every one who has ever lived, is living or ever will live until the end of the age is an eternal soul (see Mark 9:47-48 and John 11:25-26) – faith makes the difference. Those who believe in Christ will live on in eternity with Him, those who do not believe, will live to experience the penalty of their own sins for eternity in hell. The message to those in fear of death is plain – there is hope in Jesus Christ for every soul who trusts in Him.

What should we be doing in these days? What we should have been doing all along – reaching out to others in the name of Christ and to lead them to faith in Him by our witness.

July 12, 2020July 12, 2020

Grappling with the Hard Questions (Part 2) A Biblical Answer

Finally, lets address the question of whether God either exists or is good in the light of the fact that evil exists from the standpoint of what God has done to deal with it. The supposition of the skeptic is that God was taken by surprise by the rebellion of the first man and woman in the garden of Eden and is either unwilling or unable to deal with the evil their sinful choice ushered into the world but what does the Bible say?

Was the Lord surprised by the rebellion of Adam and Eve in the garden? No; that in and of itself is an amazing and astounding truth – God knew and still God made man. God KNEW that Adam and Eve would go against His will and disobey the only command He had given them. He KNEW that the “intent of the thoughts” of the hearts of men would be, as Genesis 6:5 says “only evil continuously.” He KNEW that He would have to intervene at great cost to Himself to rescue mankind from the consequences of their rebellion.

First off, God was not surprised by the rebellion of men, the Bible makes it clear that “from the foundation of the world…names were written in the Book of Life” (Revelation 17:8) and that judgment would fall upon those whose names were not written in it (see Revelation 3:5, 20:12-15, 21:27). The Bible also makes clear that God’s answer to the problem of evil was not an after-thought. (John 3:16) declares that God “gave His only begotten Son” (to die for our sins Matthew 1:21, John 1:29) but (Revelation 13:8) indicates that “from the foundation of the world” literally from the dawn of creation, “the Lamb” (God’s only begotten Son) was also “slain.”

It was the sinful choice of Adam and Eve which ushered death and decay (Genesis 3:17, 21, 4:8) into our world. Evil, suffering, physical death (Genesis 3:19) and a spiritual relational separation from our Creator (Genesis 3:22-24, Ephesians 4:18) all have their beginning in the moment of mans first rebellion. Creation itself even now groans under the weighty consequences of the fall (Romans 8:20-22) but God has done great things to overcome the problem of evil.

For one thing, God condemned the instigator of man’s rebellion. Consider (Ezekiel 28:11-19), this passage, addressed to the king of Tyre is clearly speaking to someone besides the king. In fact, with references to the recipient being the “anointed” and “covering cherub” (vs’s 14,16) and to the fact that he was both “in Eden” (v.13) and “perfect in all his ways from the day he was created” (v.15) the recipient is clearly none other than Satan aka Lucifer himself. Consider that Satan was cast down the Bible says in (Ezekiel 28:16-17) and condemned for his evil (Isaiah 14:12-15), and that one day, the deceiver who corrupted Adam and Eve and countless others over all time will be cast first into a pit for a thousand years (Revelation 20:3). After that, Satan will be released for a short time only to lead a final rebellion which God crushes swiftly finally, eternally casting Satan into the lake of fire burning with fire and brimstone forever (Revelation 20:10). Satan was condemned for His prideful rebellion and the evil he helped usher into the world will be condemned with him on that day.

Even more important than the condemnation of Satan is the atonement God made available to every man, woman and child through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The Bible says in (Romans 5:8,10) “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us….For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Jesus Christ has done more than He ought to have done, more than we deserved, to deal with the evil and sinfulness in our lives (1 Peter 3:18; 2 Corinthians 5:21). He dealt with the problem of evil (sin) from His cross, dying to free us from our bondage to evil (sin) and freeing us from guilt to live a life pleasing to God (Hebrews 9:14). He granted every believer an eternal future where evil will no longer exist. After His resurrection and ascension or return to His Father in Heaven, Jesus, through His Spirit continues to deal with the problem of sin and evil in our lives through His Holy Spirit – warning, convicting and giving us power to overcome sin and live a life which brings glory to God.

Honestly, the only answer I can offer – the only answer that the word of God gives to the problem of evil is this: the shed blood of the risen Savior (Revelation 12:11), faith in Jesus Christ (John 16:33) and the new life faith in Him produces (1 John 5:4-5) overcomes it . Not because faith in Jesus eradicated evil in the world around us but because faith in Jesus deals with the evil within us, and will continue to do so, as the Apostle Paul said in (Philippians 1:3-6) “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ…”

Apart from God there is no answer to the problem of evil, but by His grace one day every believer will be free of it forever!

July 8, 2020July 8, 2020

Grappling with the Hard Questions (Part 1) The Argument

How do we approach the question of the existence of God in light of all the evil in the world?

The question as asked by the atheist and the skeptic attacks three biblical attributes of God and stresses that if God is omniscient (that is all-knowing), omnipotent (that is all-powerful) and omnibenevolent (or all-good) and yet does nothing about the evil in the world – He does not exist. But the word of God makes it clear that He IS the all-knowing (omniscient) God. For example, (Psalm 147:5) says, “Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite;” also (1 John 3:20) “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things;” and also (Isa 46:9-10) “Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure… .’” The word of God also declares Him to be all-powerful (omnipotent); consider the following examples: (Isa. 43:13) “Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?”” The Bible makes it clear that “nothing will be impossible for God” (Luke 1:37) because “with God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

Finally, the word of God declares Him to be an all-good or loving (omnibenevolent) God. (John 3:16) is one of the most commonly known supports for this truth: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Three times in (1 John 4 [vs’s 8, 16 and 17]) we hear John say – “God IS love.” Certainly, this is not an exhaustive list of proofs but the scriptures chosen all support the three qualities identified by atheists in their argument against God.

They argue however that because evil exists, a God with such qualities cannot exist. Their argument might best be summed up by the words of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus:

“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”

What is evil? Is evil a thing or a person? No. Evil is a corruption or a perversion of something good. God declares in (Genesis 1:31) that everything He made was very good; that goodness however, was corrupted through the confusion Satan brought to the minds of the first human beings, Adam and Eve (see Genesis 3:1-6) concerning what God had said about their eating of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Based on the account of original sin, what then is evil but a choice against the expressed will of God! Evil was not created by God because evil is not a thing, it is a choice to pervert something good.

Couldn’t God, being both all-knowing and all-powerful just have caused Adam and Eve to do right – to make a God honoring decision? Yes, He could have, but we also need to consider why the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was left in the garden to begin with. Adam was given authority over all that God had created (Genesis 1:28, 2:19) but the tree and the command remained to remind Adam, his wife and his children that they were NOT the ultimate authority. God left them a command and a consequence for rebelling. Satan, casted doubt about God’s goodness into the hearts of the pair and added the temptation to disobey God; and God in His role as Heavenly Father, allowed them the free-will or freedom to choose.

Did God give the command? Yes. Did He make the decision that they should sin? No. He tested them as He is prone to do with us all (see James 1:2-3); He is no more responsible for the choices men make than men are for the choices of their adult sons and daughters. So evil, exists not because God made it but because He allows people to make choices both good and bad. In His permissive will, God allows us to make choices that are even contrary to His Preceptive Will or what He desires for and from us. He wants us to live holy lives (1 Peter 1:16) , to be transformed by His word rather than conformed to this world (Romans 12:2) – He wants us to live lives led by the desires of His Spirit rather than by the desires of our own carnal hearts (Galatians 5:16). But sometimes we act in an unholy manner, sometimes we DO conform to the world around us and sometimes we do walk after the flesh – He allows these things as a part of His permissive will but He does NOT condone them, there are consequences for bad as well as good choices. Just as the parents of children who make bad choices nevertheless exist, neither God’s existence nor His goodness is nullified when those He created choose evil.

What has God done about evil? We will address that question briefly in the final segment of this short study next time….