On any given Sunday, in any church across the US, the Jesus that you hear about may not be the real Jesus. Does that surprise you? It shouldn’t. You see, our culture is awash with all kinds of religions that distort Christ and His Gospel. How can I make such a statement? Partly because I have experienced first had some of the distortions. And while that would not be reason enough to believe me, that is a valid part of the equation.

Another indicator is the evidence that “Christian” radio and television provide. There is a wide spectrum teachers that label themselves as Christian, promoting all manner of doctrine that either stands in contradiction to the historic Christian faith, or is diametrically opposed to Jesus and His teachings, and those of the apostles, as recorded in the Scriptures.

Lastly, on a local level, the church can be a place where the individual believer is presented much style but little substance due to the wholesale shift in practice that has taken place as a result of the church growth movement (CGM). Churches are either trying to stay on the cutting edge and grow their brand, or are hopelessly lost in a legalistic response to the CGM that pushes them to the edge of being irrelevant.

So when you go to be with the church this Sunday, as you walk in the door and make your way to the sanctuary, take note of which Jesus you are being presented with. Is it:

• Jesus the example (WWJD?)
• Jesus, the solution to your financial problems (The Prosperity gospel)
• Jesus will make your life / marriage / career better (Oprah, Dr. Phil, etc…)
• Jesus the New Law Giver (Moses ³)
• Jesus, the life coach (Joel Osteen, Robert Schueller, et al.)

There are others, but you get the idea. Compare what you hear with what the Bible says about Jesus. Listen to see what the speaker tells you your biggest problem is. Will it be your sin problem, or something else? And will Jesus crucified for you be presented as the solution to your sin problem, or will it be something, or someone else?

Most of the evangelical world presents Jesus as the entry point into the Christian life, and then as someone you leave behind at the starting gate. Once your in, the rest is up to you. The idea that the good news (Gospel) is something that you need to hear all throughout your Christian life is a foreign concept to them. You will hear “deeds, not creeds”, or “do more, try harder, be better” instead. There will be lots of talk about how you should live with your spouse/ children / co-workers / boss / neighbor / etc, but probably very little about Christ in you, living in and through you, dying for you.

And if you are brave enough, ask a few polite but pointed questions of your church leaders about the Gospel. Find out what they think it is, and what they think the Christian life is all about. Compare their answers with scripture and see what you find. Just don’t expect any of them to know what you are talking about. See how often Jesus is even mentioned in the sermons you hear, or does He get the day off most of the time? I know he does in my church, and I suspect that He does in most evangelical churches as well.

What is the point? Why even think about doing something like this? I suspect that there are others out there who have grown weary of the way that the church panders to the popular culture, or panders to the “christian sub-culture”. If you are like me, and you would like to see the church change, then the men and women that fill the pews every Sunday need to wake up and begin the process of holding their leaders accountable to the Word of God, and asking them to give their flock what is really needed; the straight, unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ. It needs to be preached unspoiled and often, both to the unbelievers and to those who claim to know Christ.

So that is my little project in my little corner of the world. It’s something I can do for the God who saved me, not to earn favor or score points, but out of love for Him because He first loved me, and saved me with His precious blood.

Peace, in Christ,

Doug

What does it mean to be “in Christ”?

That phrase, “in Christ” or “in Him” is found many times in the New Testament. My favorite verse of all is Colossians 2:10, which reads, “And you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” That idea of completeness should be comforting to us, because is speaks of lacking nothing, not in want, or needing no thing to be added to us.

Even though we may have times of physical need, we know from this verse that our times of spiritual need are behind us when we are in Christ.

Another section of scripture that is equally as comforting is found in the first chapter of Ephesians. Listen to these comforting words:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth–in Him.

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory”

Look at all that is true of you who believe in this one section of God’s Word! If you believe in Jesus, that He died for your sin, trusting in the promises of God, then all of this is true about you right now.

• You are blessed with every spiritual blessing
• You are chosen before the foundation of the world
• You are holy and without blame
• You have been adopted
• You are accepted
• You are redeemed
• You have forgiveness of sins
• You know the mystery of His will
• You have obtained an inheritance
• You are His glory
• You are sealed with the Holy Spirit
• Your inheritance is guaranteed

What does it do to you to read a list like that? Do you, like me, look at that list and say to yourself, “No way. I don’t deserve that…”? Well you’re right. You don’t deserve any of that. In fact, none of us does.

From the greatest to the least among us, none of us deserves to be treated that way. We deserve to be punished for our sin. I have sinned against the Lord in thought, word, and deed. Try as I might, every day ends with me having done the very things I tried not to do, and not doing the things I tried so hard to do right.

And even if I could become better at not sinning, I know that I would still mess up eventually. No matter how successful I was at mortifying the flesh, no matter how many things I didn’t do, or how many good things I accomplished, I would still be left with the problem of my sinful nature. It is still in there.

That is the beautiful thing about the good news. There is someone who can rescue me from this dilemma, and that someone is Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, who became flesh and dwelt among us, who lived a perfect life for me, who died the perfect death in my place, and whom God raised for me so that I could be saved from the penalty of sin, be forgiven, and be declared righteous!

And all of these things listed here are now true about me. They are a reality in God’s eyes, because He has promised in His Word that they are true. God does not lie, He does not go back on His Word, and He does not back away from His promises.

To be “in Christ” means that all of the things that the Bible says are true about a believer in Jesus are a present reality and can be enjoyed in the here and now. “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father’”, Romans 8:15 tells us.

You do not have to live in fear of the fires of hell “nipping at your heels”, as some might suggest, but you can rest in the promises of God that your inheritance is guaranteed, that it is an objective reality that you already possess, and that you are accepted by God because you believe in Jesus the Christ.

How should we then live? In the confidence that we are adopted by our Heavenly Father, as securely as those who were chosen from before the foundation of the world, and as holy and without blame as those who are complete in Him who is the head of all principality and power. We live this life out of our position in Christ, not as some say by trying all the harder to prove it.

And what of sin? When sin accuses we say, ‘Yes, I am a sinner. What of it? My Lord Jesus is a greater Savior. I have been saved by His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.’ (Titus 3:5) For “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

And that is what it means to be “in Christ.”

God’s peace to you!

My thoughts today are centered around sin management, and the idea that victorious Christian living is the norm for the ordinary believer. I wonder how many of us are really making it? I mean, making the Christian life work. Is there such a thing as the victorious Christian life? And just what does it look like? Would I know it if I saw it?

To be honest, I am immediately suspicious of anyone who makes the claim to have conquered sin in their life, yet some people seem to live lives that are relatively sin free. Is it just that we don’t know each other all that well, or are some of us making it while the rest are just, well, faking it?

I don’t know about you, but if I had to add up all the good, and weigh it against all of the bad today, the scales would definitely be tipped in the “bad” direction. Nothing really bad, just garden variety bad. Sin that is manageable. And I get a lot of pressure from the church that I attend to fix the bad. Yet no matter what I try, I seem to end up repeating the same stupid mistakes over and over again. I guess that was a redundant thing to say. Put that in the bad column.

I have to wonder too, if God is keeping track. One thing I know for sure is that if any of this Christianity thing depends upon my performance I am in big trouble. No question about that. Maybe that’s why I tend to gravitate toward those voices that remind me about Christ and the good news. I have long thought that believer in Christ needs to hear the Gospel every day of their lives. How else does one deal with continuing sin? After all, it is still a problem. At least that is what I read in the Bible. Didn’t He die for all of my sins, or was it just the ones I had before I got saved?

Some times I feel like I am stuck In Romans 7. The good that I want to do, that I don’t, and that bad that I don’t want to do, that I do! I can’t be the only one who struggles with this. There must be some other people who don’t get up every morning with butterflies and rainbows and do a little wrestling with the old man during the day. Surely there are people out there who have problems with their church, get mad at the preacher, and get stepped on by the other people and resent it. Right? Even just the stuff of every day life that makes it difficult at times has to leave it’s mark.

I hope I am not alone in this. Few people seem to want to get past a friendly hello and small talk about the weather when I walk in the doors of most churches. I don’t expect them to immediately spill their guts and I certainly wouldn’t spill mine right away. But there must be some people out there who have a difficult time of it, and who are looking for something deeper.

It’s probably the close relationships with other believers that I miss most about not being at our old church. The Friday morning Bible study with the other guys, and the close relationship I had with a good friend that came to an abrupt end. Maybe I did the wrong thing, but it felt an awful lot like he went in a completely different direction than I did when we both left the old church, and I was going to be his experiment in accountability. No thanks to that.

Anyway, thanks for listening. Some days, the Christian life is tough. Sin is there and rears it’s ugly head just when you don’t want it to. Christians are not perfect, even those who look like they are. They just do a good job of not letting anyone see the rust under the paint, so to speak. I will continue to rely on Christ, what He has done for me, His mercy and His grace, and the fact that He saves sinners, just like me.

Peace in Christ,

Doug

Sunday morning is coming, and I am not looking forward to it. I haven’t for some time now, but no one seems to want to listen to the reason why. I try to explain what is going on, but the response I get is less than satisfying. I am usually met with blank stares, or the rolling eyes that tell me they have heard this before and are not interested in hearing about it again.

The reason is really quite simple: a steady diet of Law-Gospel-Law has left me wanting to leave and never come back. Actually, if there was some Gospel in there it might not be half bad. Or should I say one third as bad? It is really Law + Self Improvement + Tips for Christian Living + Law. Ugh. It wearies me just thinking about it.

Simple Christianity is all about focusing our attention on Christ and Him crucified, and letting the “Christian Living” work out from there. Once you know that the sin issue has been dealt with because of what Jesus has done for you, the living it out part should come because of love for Him and love for our neighbor. It’s more of a “should” thing than a “must do” thing. Once it becomes a command, the game is up and you are functioning on your own effort.

Anyway, I am tired of it and I don’t want to be there. It’s tiring to try to be positive with the family at the same time that you are hating the message. It’s not the pastor that I hate, or even the church. It is the the religion of self effort that has infected the church that has me so worked up. So tomorrow I will go again and listen again, and be there for my family. And I will try to explain again why what Christ did for you is infinitely more important than what you can do for Christ, even on your very best day.

Peace, in Him.

If the auto industry built cars like Emergents “do” theology, might we all be driving something like this?

Ancient Future?

I have listened to a series of debates in the last few days, and have noticed that most of these types of discussion really don’t seem to accomplish much. Watching the aftermath of the debate in various posts indicates that both sides are simply reinforced in their position. I wonder how many are moved from their specific theological view?

My belief in the simplicity that is Christ means that I try to keep faith and life in Christ on the simple side. One of the reasons that I don’t self-identify as a committed Calvinist is that I still have problems with a lot of that system, even though there is much that I agree with. I have recently read a book on Calvinism vs. Arminianism, and the exercise left me tense. I found a lot to agree with on both sides, and found things on both side that just left me scratching my head.

Maybe its just my desire for simplicity in all areas of my life that make me want to keep faith in Christ simple. I tend to gravitate toward those types of passages in Scripture, where faith is plain and simple and Christ is most clearly portrayed as being “for me”. By that I mean, the message God speaks that clearly shows what is true about me because of Christ, what He has accomplished on my behalf.

I am not saying that Calvinism is not a worthwhile study, and I have benefited greatly in the past by reading the writings of committed Calvinists. But I am simply not willing to be primarily identified as a “Calvinist”. I don’t make a habit of introducing myself in that manner, but rather simply as a Christian.

Unfortunately though, even that word though needs to be explained today. With all of the ‘ists’ & ‘isms’ out there, saying that your a Christian is usually not enough. The conversation often moves to what church I attend, and when I say it is a small Bible church the box is almost complete in the questioner’s mind. Most just ask because they want to know if I belong to a cult, or am a regular christian like they are. Time usually reveals that I am not like them, because most of the people I work with are denominational Christians who hold their Christianity like they hold their nationality.

I try to speak of Christ and Him crucified, and stick to the simplicity of faith in Christ with those the Lord sends in my direction. I tend to take a rather simplistic view of the Bible, and explain that God has spoken plainly and clearly, and that His Word can be understood even by small children. Most of what I read on-line and in books seems to be overly complicated and lead people away from Christ rather than toward Him.

So I wonder about the value of debates and forums. I have some questions that I need to ask if I can find some Calvinists who will answer on a level that I can understand, but hesitate even asking the questions for fear of being sucked into an argument. I can see the need to defend the faith against false teachers, and against the incursion of liberalism and other destructive heresies that have invaded the church today. I have done my share of arguing in the recent past, and recognize the need to speak the truth when people are actively seeking to undermine the authority of Scripture. But I wonder if anyone is really listening?

Just my musings for the day, as I look for a place to ask my critically important life altering questions to a knowledgeable Calvinist who can answer in less than 10,000 words …

Peace.

Last Wednesday night, our leader in our study on the life of Christ made a great point about the historical / grammatical method of interpretation. It is the method that I have used since my conversion, adding a dose of “plain reading” method for good measure. Cliff, the man whom the Lord used to lead me to Him, was a good teacher in this regard. In addition to drilling into my brain the importance of measuring everything by the Bible, he also lead me to an understanding of how to read it with understanding, what it means to take thing literally, and why we trust the Word in the first place. So I offer some of those things here in the hope that others will let the Bible speak for itself.

Reading for Understanding

I have always been a propontent of recreational reading of scripture, as well as careful study during devotional times. The important thing is just being regular in your reading, praying along with your reading, and paying attention to context. Most of the Bible is not diffcult to understand. God did not speak in such a way to hide His intentions from His children, except in those places where He clearly says the meaning is hidden from someone or maybe in some of the prophesy literature found in the text. In general, if you read a translation in your native language with a prayerful heart, asking God to open the Word to your mind, and pay attention to the context, you will understand.

What ‘Literal’ means

Taking the Bible literally means that we read it according to the style of literature employed in a particular passage. Poetry is read as such. Prophesy is handled differently that history. There is a sense in which we take things as they are written, according to the “plain reading” of the text. All that really means is that we approach the text without persuppositions about what it is supposed to say, as much as humanly possible, and let the normal sense of the words mean what a common understanding of the word would be. “Is” means “is”. “All” usually means “all”. If the plain reading leads to an obvious meaning, then we don’t have to look around for another meaning.

A case in point is Genesis 1, and the word “day”. If you simple read the text, you see day used with evening and morning, and then numbered first, then second, and so on. The plain reading should lead you to understand this as being literal days, in the same way that you understand that today is Wednesday, and it began at midnight and ends at 11:59 PM tonight. There is no reason to conclude from the text that this means anything other than a day as we know it. I know I will get an argument from some on that, but I contend that their lack of understanding on this matter comes from their desire to inject evolutionary thought into the Bible. That is a topic for another day, and I do not mean one million years from now.

I use this as only one example of the plain reading method. The point is, try reading the Word in its plain sense, using the historical/grammatical method, and you will be in good shape. God grants understanding to His people, and wants you to know His Word and grow spiritually by reading it and understanding it. It is not that difficult as some would suggest.

Why I trust God

Lastly, I believe that this method of reading builds trust in the God who chose to reveal Himself in the written word. The Bible was here before I arrived, and unless the Lord tarries, it will be here long after I am gone. I trust the Bible because I trust God. He says it is His Word to His children, He promises that it can be trusted, Jesus is the living Word, and this Word is still alive. My life changed because of this Word God spoke through His chosen men.

No matter what sinful men may say about the Bible, no matter what methods they use or systems they invent to try and discredit the Bible and Christianity, I will still take God at His Word. God’s Word has never let me down in any arena of life, and it never will.

Trust God, take Him at His Word, and see for yourself if he doesn’t change your life.

Peace.

The following message is reprinted from The Wittenberg Trail site, and is from Todd Wilken, former host of Issues, Etc. These are words we all need to hear, as we pray for those who have been afflicted because of their stand for the Gospel.
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Singspiration

Before we left the house this morning, my wife reminded me that the leaders of our church scheduled a time of singing before the main worship activity. This is a time for singing while people are gathering together, and the songs are picked randomly by the group. The pastor usually takes the lead, and after the first song hands are quickly raised, allowing the next person to suggest a song. This process continues for about 15 minutes until the time for the main worship has arrived.

We sing from a hymnal which contains a mix of traditional hymns and gospel songs. Most are familiar, but every now and then I am challenged by the tune. I noticed this morning that the subject of the message was going to be the resurrection, and the choice of songs offered by the group focused mainly on that theme. It is a great time of worship, and everyone gets involved in the fun.

“Singspiration”, as we call it, is just an old-fashioned good time. There is nothing so sweet as fellowship in song with your brothers and sisters. And it is interesting to see what songs are special to other people. We all have our favorites, but part of the fun is just keeping your hand down and submitting to others choices. This is an example of the “one another” aspect of church life that gives every part of the body a chance to minister to someone else, even if its just the simple act of choosing a song.

That last song we sang before the main worship was “Our God Reigns”. I have included some of the lyrics here for your encouragement. My prayer is that the words of this song prove as uplifting to you as they were to me as we sang together this morning.

How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him,
Who brings good news, good news;
Announcing peace, proclaiming news of happiness.
Our God Reigns!  Our God Reigns!

Out from the tomb He came with grace and majesty;
He is alive, He is alive!
God loves us so, see here His hands, His feet, His side;
And yes, we know, He is alive!

Chorus
Our God reigns!   Hallelujah, Our God reigns!
Our God reigns!   Our God reigns!
Our God reigns!   Hallelujah, Our God reigns!
Our God reigns!   Our God reigns!

Peace.

“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” Galatians 1:6-9

Contrary to the opinion of the day, there is only one Gospel. God, writing through Paul to the Galatian church, makes it clear that any other Gospel than the one preached by Paul is not good news at all. God marveled that they were turning away “so soon” from Him.

Turning toward another gospel, away from Christ, is serious business. It can happen not only in liberal churches or emerging churches, but fundamental Bible churches as well. Anytime we, as individuals or a group, turn away from the Gospel we are turning away from God Himself. We are, in essence, rejecting God and rejecting Christ. He has made it clear in His word that there is only one way to God the Father, and that way is only through His Son, Jesus the Christ.

Wouldn’t it be a good idea then to make sure that you knew exactly what this Gospel is? And how then should you react to people who say that the Gospel is something other than what Paul preached? Paul, and the rest of the apostles, preached a message that is perfectly consistent with the message that Jesus preached: repent and obey.

It really isn’t all that complicated. Repentance is turning 180 degrees from your sin and toward God, embracing the free gift of salvation with the empty hands of faith, believing what God has said about you, your sin, its consequences, and the solution for your sin. Obedience is walking in faith, living a life of repentance and reconciliation with God and men, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, consistent with God’s Word. There are many passages that speak of the way to salvation from a “how to” stand point. One that comes to mind quickly is Romans 10:9 & 10:

“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Being saved is the point of the Gospel, and salvation comes in three senses: Have been saved, are being saved, and will be saved. Saved from what? The penalty, power, and ultimately the presence of sin. The Word of God is chocked full of instruction and comforting passages just waiting for you to explore. There is much to say on this subject, and quite frankly, it would take a life time of study to even attempt to cover all that needs to be said. Suffice it to say that anyone who desires to find out what God has really said about Jesus Christ, the Gospel, and being reconciled to Him needs to get their information from the Word of God, not the word of fallen men who claim to speak for the church.

The danger of turning away from God is the loss of the Gospel. It happens as Emergents deconstruct the Bible and unhitch themselves from the Living God, and it happens in fundamentalist churches who establish a system of rules that would make the Pharisees proud. Both are performance based systems at their core, both have abandoned the Gospel of Christ, both have turned away from the Living God to a god of their own making.

Before you follow down the same road, you owe it to yourself to make sure that your Gospel is the same that Jesus and Paul preached, and that it is applicable to all people in all time periods. Not just to young people sitting on couches and meditating, or to those who are able to jump through the hoops or pass your litmus test.

There is only one Gospel, and only one litmus test for the Gospel. Do you believe in the same Jesus who has been revealed to us in the pages of Scripture? Are you trusting in Him alone for your salvation from your sin?

Following the wrong Jesus and believing a false gospel will have eternal consequences.