Sharing in the Sins of Our Children

Excerpt from my notes taken this past Sunday at RCC:

Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw. And if the man said to him, Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish, he would say, No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force. Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt. – 1 Sam. 2:12-17

And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, Samuel! Samuel! And Samuel said, Speak, for your servant hears. Then the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. – 1 Sam. 3:10-13

QUESTIONS:

Are you sharing in the sins of your children?

Are you refusing to hold them accountable?

Are your children blaspheming God and you are not restraining them?

Are you supporting a God-dishonoring lifestyle by not doing anything about it?

What is your response to your children’s apathy?

A Stranger They Simply Will Not Follow

We have been studying John 10 for the past month in Sunday School. After going through much of the chapter we came back to verse 5 this past Sunday and talked about the ramifications of what Jesus says regarding His sheep and who they will and will not follow. Here is the verse in context with verses 1-4:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

This statement by Christ has some serious implications, and is one that I think is either glossed over or completely ignored by many in the church today who are more interested in saying, “Peace, peace”…when there is no peace, than they are in the true unity that comes from sound doctrine, solid teaching, and discernment. Doctrine divides…but it also unites. And that is one of the things I believe Jesus is addressing in this passage. He is most certainly talking about salvation. But beyond that, I think He is also talking about how His sheep will react to false teachers. And that is what I want to focus on in this post. Let’s briefly look at some of what Jesus says here.

For the sake of time and space, we know from reading further in this chapter that Jesus is talking about Himself when he uses the analogy of a shepherd, and we also know that He is talking about those who come to be saved (the elect) as the sheep. At the end of verse 4, Jesus says that the sheep will follow Him because they know His voice. So, we have the sheep following the voice of the shepherd. And what are we to make of what the shepherd is speaking that the sheep recognize? I would put forth that it is truth. The shepherd proclaims truth, and the sheep not only know the shepherd’s voice, but they understand what the shepherd is saying to be absolute truth.

As a side note to the point of this post, it is fascinating to me how – with respect to salvation – only the sheep hear the shepherd’s voice (while still dead), and live. Picture Lazarus being called forth from the tomb. ““Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” – John 5:25

Now to verse 5. Jesus continues by saying that a stranger the sheep simply will not follow. Why? Why won’t the sheep follow a stranger? And furthermore, what makes these people strangers? What differentiates their voice from the voice of the shepherd? What is it about the stranger’s voice that causes the sheep not to follow? I would suggest that the sheep do not follow the voice of a stranger simply because what the stranger is saying is not truth…it is instead, false doctrine. The true sheep know the voice of the shepherd, and therefore know the voice of truth. When they hear the voice of a stranger, it is strange to them because what they are hearing is contrary to what they know to be true, and therefore they will not follow a stranger, because his voice is unfamiliar to them. Jesus says, “they do not know the voice of strangers.”, and He says that is why they won’t follow.

The last thing I want to address is perhaps the most serious and most overlooked part of verse 5. In the middle of the verse, Jesus states that, not only will the sheep not follow the voice of a stranger, but that they will flee from him. This has serious implications for today’s professing Christian who continues to attend a church where he knows the truth is not being proclaimed and the God of Scripture is not being worshiped, and yet is content to remain, don’t you think? What are we to make of someone who knows the truth, yet for some reason (or excuse) has no problem staying under the teaching and preaching of a church that he knows in his heart is denying that very truth? According to Jesus, is it possible for a true child of God – one of Jesus’ sheep – to be a part of a group of professing believers that is not proclaiming the truth of Scripture, that is not teaching the whole counsel of God, and that is, for all practical purposes, a church in name only? Will the shepherd’s sheep stay in such a condition…or will they flee?

If they don’t flee from false teaching, what does that potentially say about who they really are? If they see nothing wrong with where they are or what their church is engaged in, does that indicate anything in light of what Jesus says in John 10:5? I know these are hard and probably offensive questions, possibly even to some of you reading this. But, my reply would be, don’t get upset with me…instead, examine yourself in light of what Jesus Himself has told us concerning what reaction His sheep will have to those who should be regarded as strangers.

To him who knows the right thing to do, and doesn’t do it…to him it is sin. That is a tough statement from James. But I think it is one that applies to what we are talking about here. How can a true child of God – who knows the voice of truth…the voice of the true Shepherd – sit idly by in an environment where that very Shepherd is denigrated and demasculated? Will a sheep of the Shepherd be willing to exist and put up with teaching that he/she knows to be in direct contradiction to the truth…or will that sheep see no alternative but to flee from the voice of that stranger?

In closing, remember that this statement by Jesus concerning the reactions by His sheep to flee from the voice of strangers is not a command or an imperative…it is a simple statement of fact. It is just what the sheep do.

Any thoughts?

The Memorial Day With Real Significance

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. – 1 Cor. 11:23-26

King and a Kingdom – Derek Webb (PLAY)

Who’s your brother, who’s your sister
You just walked passed him
I think you missed her
As we’re all migrating to the place where our father lives
‘Cause we married in to a family of immigrants

(chorus)
My first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man
My first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
It’s to a King & a kingdom

There are two great lies that I’’ve heard:
“The day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die”
And that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican
And if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him

(chorus)
My first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man
My first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
It’s to a King & a kingdom

(bridge)
But nothing unifies like a common enemy
And we’’ve got one, sure as hell
But he may be living in your house
He may be raising up your kids
He may be sleeping with your wife
Oh no, he may not look like you think

Like a Freight Train

Well, the illness my family had hit me Friday around 6:30 p.m., and I do believe that I had it worse than anyone else under this roof. Don’t worry, I will spare you the details (just scroll down to my wire-rus post and view my infamous pumpkin pic to get a visual). I usually am completely down for a couple of days whenever a stomach bug hits me, but this time the worst seems to already be over. Praise the Lord!

Please pray that I would be able to fulfill my business obligations this weekend, starting today. As I said before…I have no one to call in sick to, so I am asking for strength from the Lord to get through this weekend.

Thank you for your prayers.

Who Said It?

I don’t think anything has been done in the name of Christ and under the banner of Christianity that has proven more destructive to human personality and, hence, counterproductive to the evangelism enterprise than the often crude, uncouth, and unchristian strategy of attempting to make people aware of their lost and sinful condition.

Any ideas? Please, no Google searches. If you do a search, don’t post a comment with the answer. That’s called cheating!

I Think It’s a Wire-Rus

When Pam and I first started dating in ‘92, I was working for a small PC manufacturer which sold retail custom desktop PC’s- HiQ Computers. I still remember my first day there. I was handed a price list of all the possible components/peripherals available for a HiQ computer, given a desk with a phone, and told to answer that phone whenever it rang to provide quotes to people for whatever configuration of computer they were looking for. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, but I was a fast learner…and I had good people skills.

I will also never forget my boss, Ernest. Ernest and I took all the orders for the custom PC’s that we made. He and I both had desks in the main showroom of our little computer shop. Now, you need to understand something. Ernest (along with the other two individuals who worked there, Ernest’s wife and his cousin/brother, Lee) was from Malaysia, and his English pronunciation was not the best in the world. I would always get a kick listening to him give his name to people over the phone. I would hear him say, “My nam is Uh-nest…UH-NEST!” And then he would usually spell it for them, “E-Aughdduh-Ennee-S-T.”

We also fielded service calls, which I would forward to Lee who was Superman when it came to assembling or troubleshooting a HiQ PC. Ernest, on the other hand, would often attempt to handle tech support calls as they came in on his line. And it was always entertaining to listen as he tried to diagnose whatever problem was being presented to him on the other end of the phone because, inevitably, it would always come down to a single culprit in his mind. I can’t tell you how many times I heard him tell someone who was having trouble with their HiQ computer, “I think you have a wire-rus….uh…a wire-rus, yes.”

All of that to say this: I think my family has a wire-rus. We have been fighting a stomach bug for many days now. It all started when Pam and I went on an afternoon date last Thursday to see Spider-Man 3 (very good, by the way), and then to dinner with Pastor Butch and his wife, Amy. Pam’s mom watched our kids, but then our little niece, Bella, was brought by the house whose mom had been sick (she was brought over to keep her away from her sick mom so that she wouldn’t sick as well…so much for that working!) Well, then Rachel fell ill very early in the morning hours on Saturday (two of her friends have also been sick, so that may be the source as well), Pam’s mom and dad got hit with it also on Saturday, Joshua followed on Sunday, and Caleb and Nik soon were complaining of nausea and upset stomachs Monday and Tuesday. If that wasn’t enough, my primary care-giver – my incredible wife and helpmate and home schooling teacher to my sickly children – is now dealing with symptoms of her own as of Tuesday evening.

I am asking you to pray for me (and for them), but primarily for me right now because, while Pam is the primary care-giver, I am the only bread-winner of this family. And having our own business, I am also the chief cook and bottle washer of Yard Party Events and can ill-afford (no pun intended) to get sick right now. It’s kinda hard to call in sick when there is no one to call in sick to ! I am fully convinced that God is in control, and am perfectly content (or almost there, anyway) to accept my being ill if that be His will. Having said that, I would prefer not to for the sake of my customers and also for the sake of being able to get my job done (it gets very stressful and physically demanding come the weekend), and driving around all day with nausea is, well, let’s just say that I don’t handle that ailment very well (I’ve been known to make some incredible deals with God during stomach bugs). I have had some rough bouts with stomach viruses in the past, and those are usually the rare occasions that I begin to beg for my Maker to just call me on home.

So, if you can remember to, please ask God that I stay well (or at least get this thing over and done with before Friday gets here) and that my family recovers quickly (some are already starting to. And actually, it has been rather mild cases so far, though Rachel would probably argue with me over the definition of mild). But, more than that, please pray that God’s will be done, and not mine or anyone else’s. I am bracing for this thing hitting me next, but I really have no desire to catch this wire-rus!

Thank you in advance for any prayers. Whether I stay well or get sick, God is good all the time…all the time, God is good.

Arminian De-Programming 101

When a person who believes that Jesus died for the sins of everyone and thereby opened a door and made salvation possible for anyone who will accept it hears someone talking about Christ’s work on the cross being particular in its scope and intended efficacy to a select group only – also known as Limited Atonement or Particular Redemption, an integral part of what is known as the Doctrines of Grace – they will invariably run to 1 John 2:2 (those who know why they believe what they do, anyway). Many verses in Scripture can be ripped from their context and isolated from the rest of the Bible to appear supportive of any given theological position. 1 John 2:2 is not one of those verses, however. Let’s look at it.

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. – ESV

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. – NIV

and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. – NASB

What is interesting is that this verse, like so many others such as John 3:16, actually cannot be taken by itself and have any real meaning. Who is the ‘He‘ being referred to? Who does ‘our‘ reference? These can only be assumed when taking this verse alone. But, that is another topic for another post. I may not be able to show from this one verse what is meant by our, and whole world, but I can easily demonstrate one very important thing that this verse does not teach, and I can do it because of one word used within the statement – propitiation.

One way to begin understanding what is meant by any given verse or passage in Scripture is through the process of elimination, which is done “by subsequently removing options that may be deemed impossible, illogical, or can be easily ruled out due to some sort of explicit understanding relative to the entire set of options, the pool of remaining possibilities grows smaller.” Simply by understanding this one word – propitiation – I can eliminate what is perhaps the most popular interpretation of this verse within evangelicalism. Once I get a grasp on what it really means to propitiate – or to make a propitiation – it is really quite easy to see what this verse cannot mean. And, frankly, what it cannot mean is exactly what most professing Christians think it does mean.

So, what does this word mean? The word found in 1 John 2:2 that is translated propitiation is the Greek word hilasmos, and means ‘an appeasing, propitiating’. Wow! That really cleared it up, didn’t it? Of course not. Now we have to find out what is meant by the word propitiation in English. The definition of this word in English is ‘to win the good will of; appease’. Okay…we are getting a little closer now. To this point, the definition ‘appease’ doesn’t really help, but I can begin to understand what it means to win the good will of something (for one thing, it presupposes that one must first be on the bad side of something, or someone, in order to win their good will).

My next step is to look up the word appease and see what it means. According to Webster, to appease is to ‘pacify, quiet, or satisfy, especially by giving in to the demands of’. Now we’re getting somewhere! I am starting to get a picture in my mind of what this propitiating act is all about. For one thing…it is clearly an action. It is something done, which results in winning the good will of, and pacifying, quieting, and satisfying the demands of some one or some thing. In our context, I think we can assume we are talking about God the Father who’s good will is won, and who is pacified, quieted and satisfied. If you disagree, please let me know why.

If we make one other leap without exegesis (for the sake of time) and assume the ‘He’ in 1 John 2:2 is referring to Jesus Christ, then we can clearly see that this verse is referring to Jesus…doing something which wins God the Father’s good will, and which also pacifies Him, quiets Him, and satisfies His demands on something or someone. Remember, to have all of these good things coming about from this propitiation means that there were – prior to the propitiation – bad things. Further reading of this verse shows the context of what is the cause of Jesus’ act of propitiating – sin. Because of sin, the Father must be appeased. Because of sin, the Son must satisfy some demand of the Father. And propitiation is the act by Christ which appeases the Father, and satisfies and pacifies Him. It quiets the Father, and fulfills His demands.

Without drawing this out any longer than it needs to be, let me get right to the point. Regarding salvation, the Father demands payment for sin (and as Bud Fox’s boss says in Wall Street, “Somebody’s got to pay!”). How true. Somebody’s got to pay. That’s the Father’s demand. And He demands it in blood. This is where propitiation comes in. Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, made an appeasing of sin. He fulfilled the demands of the Father. And whoever He did this for, there no longer exists any wrath or anger from God on that individual. The payment has been satisfied. But, the question is, “For whom did He do this?” Well, now knowing from the study of the word propitiation, I can start to answer that question by saying, “I at least know for sure what the scope of the propitiation wasn’t!” I can, without a doubt, say that Jesus was not the propitiation for the sins of every single human being, for then – according to what we have just studied – God’s wrath and anger against every single human who ever lived or will live has been quenched/satisfied. And that, my friends, is universalism.

So, now we have a starting point for understanding this verse that is so often misread and misinterpreted, and we can begin to – as I hope we all would want to do – interpret this passage truthfully and without pre-conceived notions and emotional influence. Whatever ‘whole world’ means in this verse, it cannot mean every single human being. To interpret it that way is do severe damage to the rest of God’s word. And as much as you may want to hold to a particular theology about man’s role in salvation and God providing a way for that salvation, I’m sure you want to be consistent and biblical in your interpretations…as I do.

Confusing Evangelism with the Fruit of Evangelism

I am slowly but surely making my way through Mark Dever’s book, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. In his foray into Mark V – A Biblical Understanding of Evangelism – Dever provides some great quotes and statements that I wanted to share.

“Christian evangelism by its very nature involves no coercion, only proclamation and love. We are to present the Gospel freely to all; we cannot manipulate anyone to truly accept it. Truly biblical evangelism is never an imposition.” – Dever, p.133

“Evangelism must not be confused with the fruit of evangelism.” – Dever, p.134

“To ‘evangelize’…does not mean to win converts…but simply to announce the good news, irrespective of the results.” – Stott, The Biblical Basis of Evangelism

“To evangelize is to spread the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and that as the reigning Lord he now offers the forgiveness of sins and the liberating gift of the Spirit to all who repent and believe.” – Stott

“Evangelism is not a making of proselytes; it is not persuading people to make a decision; it is not proving that God exists, or making a good case for the truth of Christianity…To evangelize is to declare on the authority of God what he has done to save sinners, to warn men of their lost condition, to direct them to repent, and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” – John Cheeseman, et.al., The Grace of God in the Gospel [emphasis mine]

“We don’t fail in our evangelism if we faithfully present the Gospel and yet the person is not converted; we fail only if we don’t faithfully present the Gospel at all.” – Dever, p.137

“When you understand that evangelism isn’t converting people, but that it is telling them the wonderful truth about God, the great news about Jesus Christ, then obedience to the call to evangelize can become certain and joyful. Understanding this increases evangelism, as it moves away from being a guilt-driven burden to being a joyful privilege.” – Dever, p.137 [emphasis mine]

Finally, Dever makes the following statement toward the end of this chapter on biblical evangelism:

“Instead of using all my powers to convict and change the sinner, while God stands back as a gentleman quietly waiting for the spiritual corpse, His declared spiritual enemy, to invite Him into his heart, I’m going to preach the Gospel like a gentleman, trying to persuade but knowing that I can’t convert, and then stand back while God uses all of His powers to convict and convert and change the sinner. Then we’ll see clearly just who can really call the dead to life.” – Dever, p.141 [emphasis mine]

What is your view of what evangelism is? Is it seeing results, or is it simply being faithful to proclaim the true, un-watered-down gospel, and then letting God do with it what He wills? Remember, His word will NOT return to Him void. That’s doesn’t mean it will always result in someone being born again, but it does  mean that it will accomplish in the person hearing the gospel message what God intended for it to accomplish.

For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. – 2 Cor. 2:15-16

Movin’ On Out

Is there ever a valid reason for a church to relocate from one community to another? Can anyone think of any just cause for a body of believers to collectively pull up stakes, so to speak, venture twenty or thirty miles out, and reestablish its footing on new soil, in a totally new area? Does anyone reading this site know of any such occurrence in their area? I am trying real hard to come up with even one decent explanation for such a move, but cannot at the present think of anything.

A local church in my area has this declaration posted on the main page of its website:

Welcome to _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Baptist Church, The Church That Makes a Difference. We are excited about the opportunities the Lord has given us to “make a difference” in our growing community. We welcome all to visit any of our services as listed below.

Make a difference? Apparently, this particular body of professing Christians couldn’t make a difference in their own community, so about four years ago, they relocated to an area near the vicinity of my community. Keep in mind that this church is currently celebrating its 60th anniversary which means that, for fifty-six some odd years, it was corporately meeting in a completely different locale approximately thirty miles away from its present location. Most people in and around the new church site probably aren’t even aware of the church’s history, and many of its members who have joined since its move likewise probably have no idea of where this church used to call home. The only reason I know is because my elementary school just happened to be situated right next door to this church, and the school and church shared the same name (i.e., Walnut Grove Elementary School & Walnut Grove Baptist Church).

What I think is even more ironic is that, in honor of their 60th anniversary as a church, they will be having a special homecoming celebration service on May 20th, including a special dinner following the morning service. Homecoming? Really? How about homefleeing, or home-abandoning ? Those sound like better titles to describe what this church did in leaving its community of over fifty years.

Now, I admit that there may very well be some valid reasons for an entire church leaving one community for another…but right now I just can’t think of any. Please, help me out if you know of just one good reason. I am also willing to admit that this particular church may have had a truly valid reason in leaving its home of over fifty years behind, and I will be glad to retract my remarks if shown what that legitimate reason is.

While I can’t think of any valid reasons for the uprooting and moving of a church like this, I can certainly think of invalid ones…and one main one in particular. I can continue to write more and more words into this post, all the while dancing around the main issue and central point of what I am trying to get at…but I won’t. I’m going to go ahead and say what I believe the main reason for a move like this would be…

RACE.

And if this is in fact the real, underlying reason for such a move (though one may never in a million years be able to prove it), then I say it is a clear denial of a belief in one true gospel for all people. It is an action that defies the truth of Scripture which teaches that there is one flock, with one shepherd, who is Jesus Christ. A move like this says, “There is a distinction among people. The ground is not level at the foot of the cross. Certain people are not worthy of our fellowship, of our witness, of our time.”

Now, before you get all high-and-mighty and up in arms against this particular church, and email me or post comments condemning their actions, I have some other thoughts on this that I think need addressing. Let me now turn my questions to you, personally, dear professing brother and sister in the risen Savior. Are you movin’ on out, as well? Is your community changing? Are you considering a minor relocation to improve your surroundings? Have you already made a move because of changes within the makeup of your community? What excuses have you given to justify such a move? Bigger house? Better schools? Safer neighborhood?

Be honest with yourself, here. Be honest with God. Before you condemn the actions of a whole church like the one in my example…do you need to repent of your own racism?

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.

A Mother’s Day Praise

My daughter, Rachel, wrote this poem for her mom, my wife, for Mother’s Day.

A Mother’s Day Praise

A mother to love me,
A mother to love,
It’s one of the greatest gifts from above.
For this is not just a poem for you,
It’s a poem of praise.
The praise is that God gave me a mother,
A mother to love and to be thankful for.
So I hope this Mother’s Day is a special one,
And that when you read this poem,
That you will remember what God has done,
To you, and to me.

XOXO I Love You!

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Love,
Rachel