Category: Miscellaneous

“Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, ‘Listen now, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie.’ Therefore thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This year you are going to die, because you have counseled rebellion against the LORD.’”
(Jeremiah speaking of the false prophet Hananiah 627-587 B.C.)

““You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (John The Baptist to the Pharisees and Sadducees 25-27 B.C.)

“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your your father.” (Jesus of Nazareth “to the Jews who had believed in him.”  27-29 A.D.)

“But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,  men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some.” ( The Apostle Paul to Timothy concerning false teachers 64-65 A.D.)

“Shh, don’t say anything that might offend someone; we have to be tolerant and maintain unity.” (The church 2011 A.D.)

How do we know if we are truly in Christ? How can we be sure that we have truly come to know Him?

I pray that you will take the time, find a quiet place, still your heart and listen to this sermon by Paul Washer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky8dTyPpiAo 

The following is a pericope found on pages 60 &61 of Bruce J. Nicholls book , Contextualization: A Theology of Gospel and Culture  which I thought was pretty cool; so, I wanted to pass it along:

“The human problem is a problem of alienation. It is a dual problem of alienation from God and from one’s neighbor. The primary difficulty in the communication of the gospel is that mankind, as individuals and as corporate units of society, do not recognize the true nature of this alienation. Some may be obsessed with the problem of their avidya or ignorance of their true union with God so that they, like the sadhu, are oblivious to the social and economical needs of their neighbors and to the injustices of society. Others, however, may be so obsessed with the problems of poverty, unemployment, social injustice and political corruption that they are no longer aware  of the dimension of their alienation from God. This double blindness is found in every religious and secular culture.”

“The biblical doctrine of alienation begins in Genesis 3 where man and woman suppress the knowledge of God, rebel against his lordship and seek to make themselves equal to God. Paul gives carefully worded theological interpretation of this alienation (Rom. 1: 18-32). Sin in its ultimate form is described as idolatry, to which the creature creates deity in his own image or that of the real world and through magical identification placates or controls his gods, only to become a slave of his own creation. The end is subjection to demonic powers, spiritual and eternal death. Western contextualized theologies have not always realized the importance of sin as idolatry, although they have some knowledge of the occult, which is one form of the demonic power of mystical identification. In religions that recognize a supreme God, idolatry may take the form of the manipulation of the sacred words of scripture or of submission to law in order to control God. Whether by a process of mysticism or by rationalism, in every case man is his own savior from alienation. The alienation described in Genesis 3 inevitably leads to the form of alienation described in Genesis 4, people oppressing each other, ending in violence and death. Because the Fall affected every person and all of creation, the social, the economic and political forms of alienation which begins in Genesis 4 reach to the final fragmentation of language and community described in Genesis 11.”

“The prophet is God’s agent to pronounce judgement on all forms of alienation. The prophets of Israel and Judah rebuked both religious idolatry and social injustice. Amos, for example, rebuked Israel’s syncretistic worship (2:4; 4:4-5; 5:21) and the rich, including their wives , for their disproportionate wealth (3:15; 4:1; 6:4) and for their oppression of the poor (2:6; 6:1-7). Thus, true contextualization calls for both spiritual renewal and for social justice.”

“The gospel brings a new and deeper dimension of alienation to those cultures which interpret alienation solely in terms of social shame, as in Buddhist society. To legalistic societies such as Islam, which know little of love and forgiveness, to societies which fear the spirit world and to those which fear the secret police of secular governments, the gospel offers a new perspective on alienation. Twentieth century forms of alienation are only new forms…”

“The prophetic ministry of the gospel calls for a de-culturalization in every [bold print mine] culture of the accretions of true faith. From Moses to John the Baptist, the prophets condemned elements of culture which were contrary to the Word of God. At the same time the prophets ministry fulfills and recreates the truths of every culture. The gospel renews and transforms those elements of culture which are true to God’s general revelation.”

I serve as an associate pastor at an urban church in Charlotte, North Carolina. If you went down to your local Walmart and looked around at all the different kinds of people there, you’d have a real good idea of what our church looks like. Now we also have various “ethnic churches” that meet on our campus as well. Lets see… there’s an Eritrean fellowship, a Burmese fellowship, a Montagnard fellowship( I don’t think I’m missing anyone); and once every few months, we all get together and have one big International Service. Today was one of those days.

To be sure, I can’t understand everything that is being said or sung; but, its easy to recognize the same precious Spirit that lives within every believer. As I look around and see all the different people from so many different places, there is a love in my heart that only one who has been born again can know. As we all come together, crying out to God, praying, and singing songs, there is genuine love and compassion that is tangible and heart felt; and I know I am getting a glimpse of what it will be like when those from every tribe, every kindred,  and every tongue gather at the throne of Almighty God and worship Him shoulder to shoulder, with one voice.

You know, the Apostle John said, “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren.”(I John 3:14)  That’s pretty heavy when you think about it, being able to tell you’re alive in Christ by whether or not you love the people of God. Now we  know that there are other criteria that should also be examined as to how we know if we’re in Christ or not (read I John); but, John assures us that if we are not walking in love we are not in Christ. Wow!! I can be a big time preacher, a gifted worship leader, or a learned theologian; but, if I am not walking in love…

I find it interesting that John was one of the disciples that Jesus referred to as a “son of thunder.” Remember, John was one of the ones who asked the Lord if He wanted them to call fire down from heaven to consume some who would not receive Jesus. (Luke 9:54) Here we have this obviously intense individual who was transformed by Jesus into the “Apostle of Love.” In fact, church tradition says that when John was a very old man, he would often have to be literally carried into the place where the disciples would meet; and all he would tell the believers was, “Love each other little children.” Here was the man who had written the book of Revelation, seen the glorified Christ; and, all he preached towards the end of his life was love.

In Matthew 22: 34 -40 we read:

“But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again.  One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?'”

“Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.'”

So, let me ask you; “How’s your love life?”

Will you carry My cross

and be misunderstood

They might think that you’re crazy

That you’re up to no good

Will you show in your living

the way that I died

Letting death work within you

so that others find life

Will you sing in the shadows

remaining unknown

They’ll question your timing

if you play My song

Will you shout on the rooftops

what I show you in prayer

It’ll cost your reputation

and not many will care

Will you drop what you’re doing

and let go of your dreams

Instead of master be servant

Will you follow Me

( “Will You” © 2011 B. Kyle Fuller)

“So which shall we choose? Experience or truth? The left wing of an airplane, or the right? Study or service? Evangelism or discipleship? The front wheels of a car, or the rear? Subjective knowledge or objective knowledge? Faith or obedience?”

“Damn all false antitheses to hell, for they generate false gods, they perpetuate idols, they twist and distort our souls, they launch the church into violent pendulum swings whose oscillations succeed only in dividing brothers and sisters in Christ.”

“The truth is that Jesus Christ is Lord of all- of the truth and of our experience. The Bible insists that we take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.” (D. A. Carson Becoming Conversant With The Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications)

It’s late and I really should be in bed right now; but, I sit here with my cat staring at me, trying to put into words all that is on my heart. I have such a burden for the body of Christ; but, there are times when I find myself becoming argumentative, trying to prove a point about this or that.  I’m reminded that Paul told Timothy that the servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome.  I struggle with that.

I see those who are ministering within the traditional church trying to hold on to traditions that God is quite obviously shaking to the very core.

I see those who have been hurt and rejected by the traditional church; so, they leave, resolving to “do church” the right way, only they have not allowed the Lord to truly heal them, or reveal to them the desire for power, recognition, and control that lurks within them and they end up becoming the very thing they so adamantly opposed.

I see those who have such a desire to be deep and spiritual that they have rejected the sound teaching that Paul said we must pay close attention to.

I see those who believe that Jesus has called the church to take over the world and right all wrongs.

I see the dispensationalists, amillennialists, post-millennialists, pre-millennialists, preterists, pre-tribbers, mid-tribbers, and post-tribbers.

I could go on and on describing the differences one finds within the body of Christ; but, do you know something we all have in common…? Give up? I’ll tell you: doctrine.

Each camp holds to certain doctrines or teachings. Even the ones who insist you don’t have to worry about doctrine cling to and assert doctrine in the mere act of claiming you don’t need doctrine.

Many within the church today flinch at the word doctrine and because of various reasons (a subject for another time) reject the truth about the importance of doctrine. We have come to view doctrine as a nasty word that stifles the true moving of God’s Spirit when in all actuality doctrine is designed to promote intimacy with Jesus, ensure salvation, and enable one to listen to the very heart of God.

The Greek words διδαχή (didache) and διδασκαλία (didaskalia) are the primary words translated doctrine in our New Testament. It simply means that which is taught, or a teaching concerning something.  Didache or didaskalia is used many times in the New Testament. (Many translators opted to translate these Greek words into our English word “teaching” and that’s perfectly acceptable.) Here are a few scriptures (KJV) that talk about doctrine:

Matt. 7:28 “And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine”

Matt. 22:33 “And when the multitude heard [this], they were astonished at his doctrine.”

Mark 1:22 “And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.”

Mark 1:27 “And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, ‘What thing is this? What new doctrine [is] this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.’”

Rom. 16:17  “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.”

I Cor. 14:26 “Ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.”

I Tim. 4:16 “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.”

I Tim. 6:3  “If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, [even] the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness…”

Titus 2:1 “But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine.”

 Titus 2:7 “In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine [shewing] uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity…”

There are more, but I think the examples cited suffice to show that doctrine is important and not intended to be negative; but, positive, life changing and life giving.

I so desire that we in the body of Christ be able to discern true, sound biblical doctrine; and the way we do it is to come to the Bible humbly asking the Spirit of God to teach us. We need to ask the Lord to remove the presuppositions each one of us bring to the table, and allow Him to teach us the truth. Also, whereas we each do have a personal relationship with Christ, God has set things up so that the life we have in Christ is fully expressed as we live in community with each other. The Holy Spirit will minister to us through our brothers and sisters (Col.3:16), and there is a “checks and balances” system in place. I don’t know everything. I get it wrong sometimes. I need the body of Christ and the body of Christ must adhere to the sound doctrine found in the Bible.

Doctrine was never intended to be some legalistic set of traditions that we have to follow or we’re kicked out of the body of Christ. Instead, doctrine is that which reveals to us the heart of God, creating intimacy with Jesus as His Spirit reveals to us the life we have in Him. The doctrine of godliness is not a goad to be kicked against, but rather that which is to be sought after and embraced.

Remember, true doctrine always glorifies Jesus, promotes intimacy with Him, calls for holiness in life, and reveals the need for Christ to those who are without Him.

Here in America we seem to be under the impression that we are all called to be superstars. Most of us grow up thinking that one day we’ll be rich and famous; you know, an actor, rock&roll star, athlete, etc… Whatever the dream, it has to big and everybody has to know my name. Sadly, this mind-set has crept into our churches and one has to ask, “Are we really serving Jesus or just building up our own little kingdoms?”

Judges 3:31 tells the story(if you can all it that) of Shamgar: “After Ehud, Shamgar son of Anath rescued Israel. He once killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad.” That’s it; one whole verse is all Shamgar gets. Not too impressive is it?

We can learn a lot from Shamgar. Although he is relatively an unknown, he saves Israel from the Philistines, killing 600 of them with what basically amounts to a stick. He had no special powers that we know of, just an ox goad and a willingness to be used by God.  Shamgar is mentioned only one other time in the Bible (Judges 5); and again, no accolades are given.

Are we willing to take what we have in hand and offer it to God for His use? You may think that you don’t have any special gifts or skills. Shamgar had a stick! You may think you’re a nobody; well, let me ask you, “Had you ever heard of Shamgar before today?” Contrary to the mind-set of our culture, you don’t have to be a superstar to be used by God. Just offer yourself and all you have to Him; He’ll take care of the rest.

Are there any Shamgars in the house?