Truth about Las Vegas Massacre

Dear Reader, after pondering the event of last weekend for a while, I've come to a conclusion.  While many Americans are trying to figure out what an AR-15 is, or what a "bump stock" is, or why someone would commit such atrocities, I offer the only truth that can be had about such an event.  It is similar to the truth I offered in my prayers for mercy after the Sandy Hook Massacre years ago, which I still haven't gotten over.  But I know the "answer" to it, or the "explanation" for it, and indeed the "cause" of such things, even before they might happen.  So here it is:

If this isn't enough for us, then there will never be enough.
Lord, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner!  AMEN

Happy because of Jesus,
Pastor James

God's Word to You: A Summary of the Bible

From inside the cover of Lifeway's The Gospel Project Chronological: 

God's Word to You: A Summary of the Bible

In the beginning, the all-powerful, personal God created the universe. This God created human beings in His image to live joyfully in His presence, in humble submission to His gracious authority. But all of us have rebelled against God and, in consequence, must suffer the punishment of our rebellion: physical death and the wrath of God.

Thankfully, God initiated a rescue plan, which began with His choosing the nation of Israel to display His glory in a fallen world. The Bible describes how God acted mightily on Israel's behalf, rescuing His people from slavery and then giving them His holy law. But God's people - like all of us - failed to rightly reflect the glory of God.

Then, in the fullness of time, in the Person of Jesus Christ, God Himself came to renew the world and restore His people. Jesus perfectly obeyed the law given to Israel. Though innocent, He suffered the consequences of human rebellion by His death on a cross. But three days later, God raised Him from the dead.

Now the church of Jesus Christ has been commissioned by God to take the news of Christ's work to the world. Empowered by God's Spirit, the church calls all people everywhere to repent of sin and to trust in Christ alone for our forgiveness. Repentance and faith restores our relationship with God and results in a life of ongoing transformation.

The Bible promises that Jesus Christ will return to this earth as the conquering King. Only those who live in repentant faith in Christ will escape God's judgment and live joyfully in God's presence for all eternity. God's message is the same to all of us: repent and believe, before it is too late. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved.

Happy b/c of Jesus,

Pastor James

What Is Success In Evangelism?

In an age when true evangelism is considered passe or unsophisticated by its cultured despisers, may we believers never adopt such corrupt thinking.  In a retrograde culture where right is considered wrong, and God is said to be irrelevant, may we believers shine as lights in this present darkness.

     "What is success in evangelism?  Is it when the person you witness to comes to Christ?  Certainly that's what we want to happen.  But if this is success, are we failures whenever we share the gospel and people refuse to believe?  Was Jesus an "evangelistic failure" when people like the rich young ruler turned away from Him and His message?  Obviously not.  Then neither are we when we present Christ and His message and they turn away in unbelief.  We need to learn that sharing the gospel is successful evangelism.  We ought to have an obsession for souls, and tearfully plead with God to see more people converted, but conversions are the fruit that God alone can give. 
     In this regard we are like the postal service.  Success is measured by the careful an accurate delivery of the message, not by the response of the recipient.  Whenever we share the gospel (which includes the summons to repent and believe), we have succeeded.  In the truest sense, all biblical evangelism is successful evangelism, regardless of the results."

-from "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life" by Donald S. Whitney, p.103.

Samson's Challenge

In Judges 15:12 we witness one of the most disgusting circumstances in scripture.  Here the 3000 men of Judah render a predetermined verdict which they had no right to make.  It was a verdict that was a direct frontal assault on the glory of God.

They assumed that at this point in their struggle against God's enemies, the Philistine barbarians, that the issues of peace, safety, and security had centered on one person, Samson.  If Samson can finally be dealt with, then peace can be restored, the status quo can live on.

But no where in the equation is God's will considered.  When we think of the unconditional acts of provision that God has made on behalf of these 3000 men of Judah and all the children of Israel, we wonder why they wouldn't be on God's side.  After all, Samson is on God's side.  (Apparently many modern commentators/pastors don't agree, but assume Samson had "emotional problems." What do you think?)

Indeed, God was placing Samson as a judge over the people of Israel, and yet they believe they are the judges of Samson.  They evaluate his behavior, not the other way around.  They judge Samson's behavior as wrong, when in fact (even a casual reader should observe) the Philistines are wrong.  In dramatic fashion, the 3000 men of Judah bind their hero Samson and hand him over to their enemies and God's enemies, even to the point of doing the Philistine barbarian's dirty work for them.  This is disgusting by any measure.

Which side would you choose if you were there?  Again we ask, why in the world aren't these men on Samson's side?  Because they are directly disobedient to God.  They have the appearance of religion but deny it's power.  In spite of being the children of Israel, they are terrified of God's power, but they are willing to bow under the power of God's enemies.  Which would you choose?

When people want what they think is a nice enough life, and are afraid of stirring anything up, yet they believe that God's will would stir things up, which course of action do you think people will choose?

In my observation, this is why people very, very often equate their own lifestyle with the will of God.  They imagine that their particular lifestyle is the life of Christ.

Then, Christianity becomes the same as their own theological presuppositions and lifestyle. When the Bible calls their self-sufficiency into question they reject the message and kill the messenger.

See that Samson's sacrifice prefigures the sacrifice of Christ in some small way, where sinners handed over the Lamb of God so that even their sins could be taken away.  Status quo self-sufficiency that discounts the promises of God is nothing short of disobedience.  Unbelief is sin-  so don't be like the 3000 men of Judah.  Avoid Israel's mistakes.
 

Life is More than Politics

"Thanks for everything, Bernie!"

Politicians have words to thank for their positions. They are often long on promises and (somewhat short on delivery). This persistent human phenomenon leads people to think that somehow the solution to our problems is political. I mean, if the politicians would “get out of the way” then “we could really get things solved.” This is what creates the cheap theater that is politics (see photo).

I firmly believe that the root of human problems is sin. By sin I mean a broken relationship with God that one inherits because one is human. This sinful nature is a spiritual problem, meaning that one only addresses it in spiritual terms, in terms of intangible indescribable interaction with the Divine. And is there not One who is Divine?

Our counselors must point us to God, our money won't save us, our entertainment escape will fade quickly. Our relationships all ultimately drive us to the one relationship that matters, our relationship with the One who created us, and who calls us by name to return to Him.

The root of humanity's problem is sin. The solution to sin has been provided by God, who sent His only Son Jesus Christ to be the resolution for our sins. Jesus perfectly revealed the Father in heaven, the Lord of all of us. How can we hope to know our God if we won't know His Son who perfectly showed us what he is like?

One thing that Jesus showed us clearly is that He died for our sins, not for His own. Jesus was the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He taught that whoever believed in Him would not perish, but would have everlasting life.  Why would we not embrace this gift that God gives to us by His grace?

It is part of our duty as citizens to be engaged in the political process. But we are foolish if we imagine this will solve ultimate problems. People are good in many ways, but we are all dead in our sins with respect to God.  We ultimately cannot even help one another until we truly repent and believe Jesus. We then enter the life of God, as our sins are taken away, and we receive a new heart, a transformed moral disposition, that inclines us ever more towards the God who made us.

It is then that life truly is more than politics, more than success,  more than scientific materialism, more than...

Are You on the Sidelines?

“Christians are sitting on the sidelines while the culture rots.”  Baloney.

The culture is rotted, that's true.  But make no mistake: studying God's word, preaching God's word, publishing God's word as much as possible, proclaiming God's word publicly and living it out in our lives as we attempt to be faithful followers of Jesus... is exactly and only what the culture needs. 

In other (Biblical) words, “Repent and believe the Gospel!”

But people think,  "It isn't having an effect, things are just getting so much worse by the second!”

What, however, are we to expect by way of results if we are on mission with Jesus?  Adoring crowds and back-slapping congratulations? No! There is such a thing as the “ministry of death.” Christian ministry produces an “aroma of death” to “those who are perishing” (2 Cor 2:14-7, see also carefully 2 Cor 3-4)!

It should be no surprise that the culture has been rotting since the garden of Eden closed. The world's culture doesn't want to hear God's word of grace, mercy, and salvation. Self-serving cultural moral relativism (and its fascist political correctness) is the quite predictable result of scientific materialism an all its incarnations.This includes, by the way, those “ministries” that actively campaign against traditional Biblical Christianity in the name of “embracing” the culture (thereby becoming part of the culture and leaving the rule and reign of God). Christians who attempt to embrace the flatulent winds and grasp the festering waters of our culture in the vain effort to be accepted are finding this only hardens people's hearts against the gospel, which is (all by itself!) “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

The salt of the earth is also the light of the world. People are welcome to congratulate themselves all they want, but the salt may become tasteless and the light may be extinguished one day when the time of God's patience is exhausted (2 Thess 2:6-12)! Take heart, don't panic, the party is already over.  Most of what we hear about is being exaggerated by a tiny minority of Minitrue wannabes anyway.

In the meantime, the Great Commission is still as true as ever, and we are called, imperfect though we be, to proclaim the truth about the forgiveness that God offers.  God is merciful, full of grace, and willing to forgive and transform whoever is willing to come to Him by faith. That is the truth.

So though the world may seem to be nuts, remember that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm" (Ephesians 6:12-13).

Christians aren't on the sidelines, the world is playing the wrong game.

For another similar perspective that I just found after writing this:

http://thefederalist.com/2015/06/15/christians-need-to-stop-playing-the-self-flagellation-game/

What were those 7 Words?

Traditionally, what I refer to as the seven words of Christ are considered the seven "last" words of Christ.  This is of course a ridiculous title since Christ said plenty of other things after this, and is still speaking today.  Do people who are alive as Jesus is not speak if they are able?

So here are the seven words of Christ spoken from the cross, as it were:

"Father, forgive them, because they don't know what they are doing." Luke 23:34
"Truly I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise."Luke 23:43
 "Woman behold your son...behold your mother." John 19:26
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?" Mark 15:34 (Psalm 22:1)
"I am thirsty." John 19:28
"It is finished." John 19:30
"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." Luke 23:46

I want to emphasize these are NOT the last words of Christ.  They are the last words of Christ prior to His death on the cross.  They are a tool that helps us to appreciate the sufferings of Jesus on that day many years ago.  And we appreciate them even more when we realize that our sins were the reason for them, and not His own sins.

The last words of Jesus before His miraculous ascension are those I used in the benediction Easter Sunday, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the naitons, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Why I Went On Mission To Jamaica

"...if we would not be infinitely parochial, and thus fail in true virtue, then our private life, our public life, and our global life must be driven not by a narrow, constricted, merely natural self-love, but by passion for the supremacy of God in all things--a passion created through supernatural new birth by the Holy Spirit, giving us a new spiritual taste for the glory of God--a passion sustained by the ongoing, sanctifying influences of the Word of God--and a passion bent on spreading itself through all of culture and all the nations until Christ comes."

John Piper, God's Passion for His Glory: Living the Vision of Jonathan Edwards, p.113, 1998

Moses & Me

Moses is inextricably linked to the New Testament, and to our experience of Jesus.  We think of his miraculous rescue from persecution as an infant, the result of Pharaoh's daughter and Miriam cooperating. We learn from Stephen about how Moses was rejected by his true people, the Hebrews, as their leader, way before the burning bush.  Moses' ministry was a miraculous epic of contrasts between God and the ancient Hebrews, mediated by the life-giving law and intervention of Moses.  Yet Moses didn't enter the land of Promise, but was buried by God outside of its bounds.  

So how are we linked to this ministry?  Why is it important that Moses is mentioned about 85 times in the NT? We are his spiritual descendants, in that Moses said there would be a prophet like him raised up from the descendants of Israel.  Jesus was that great prophet, that second Moses, who fulfilled the life-giving law of Sinai.  Jesus is the great redeemer to which Moses pointed.   

We are like babies in baskets, set in the weeds at the edge of the river.  But we don't have to stay that way.  God can draw us out of the waters, can get us out of the weeds.  

We are like those who see the smoke on the mountain but want the Golden Calf.  But we don't need to be.  The true and living God is speaking in the hearts of people today, echoing the Song of Moses through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.  The mission is the same: to make it plain that God rules, and so salvation has come to the people.  

John 1:16-17 "And of his fullness we have all recieved, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ."

The Faulty Default

Jesus cannot be properly known apart from the saving work of God in the Passion (suffering, crucifixion, death, resurrection).  Why is this important?  Does anyone actually assume to know Jesus while simultaneously ignoring the passion?  I believe this is much more common than you'd think; I believe it is not only the easy thing to do, it is the "default" view of Jesus.

In Matthew 16:13-23 the main point is that Jesus "began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day." This point is common to the synoptics.  We may read this and *yawn* because everyone knows this, silly. 

Yet Peter became Satan over this.  Some early versions of Christianity tried hard to explain this away.  The Epistle of Barnabas denies the whole scenario for Islam's sake.  People have claimed Jesus' goodness, virtue, and divinity while jettisoning the miraculous from the NT texts.  Many great & good call Jesus the good man who said great things we all should follow.  Even Sam Harris points to the Jesus "as revealed in the Sermon on the Mount" and urges all to follow him. 

But Jesus is clear in Matthew 16:21, and He understood this was God's agenda (23) that would not be popular for his disciples.  So we may agree with Peterson on the point, "Jesus is not a god of our own making and He is certainly not a god designed to win popularity contests."

Do we embrace Jesus' suffering, crucifixion, death, and resurrection as the saving work of God?  Or do we agree with Peter who said, "God forbid it"?  May we pause, consider, and believe that Jesus' life was as he said, that his sacrificial work was the work of God, and so realize that to truly know Jesus we must know his sufferings on behalf of the world.  And that is the beginning.

Another reason to stick to the basics

I missed this article earlier in the year, but I did read the how-to guide.  Are you comfortable with this sort of "method" in your church services?  Is this different than what is used at the mass crusades when the counselors come forward first when the alter call is given?

RNS Article about not-so spontaneous "Spontaneous Baptisms"

Dissipation makes no sense to anyone.

I see a relationship between Romans 3:12's cryptic (!) quote of Psalm 14 & 53 and Ephesians 5:18.  That word in Ephesians 5:18b (that is used to describe the cosmic/moral state of drunkenness) has fascinated me.  I've translated it as "unsavedness" because of the quality of warning that gives to the command of 5:18a. But recent meditation in Romans 3 caused the über-harsh word "useless" to hang out there loose also.  Why would God call people "useless?" Now I think the two are theological twins, especially in light of the debauchery of 1st century Ephesus and the presence of the word for the "moral status" or corrupt-ness in Genesis 6 that motivated the Great Flood Judgment there.  If you compare what early Christians must have thought of the religious climate in Ephesus with what ancient Judaism must have thought of antediluvian morals, you can see a conclusion to which to jump.  Some of these passages, like Romans 3, can seem so harsh and judgmental, and VERY many people would have a problem with linking spirituality to Ephesians 5:18a--BUT the problem is there is 5:18b "because that is unsavedness."  Paul is encouraging the Ephesians not to be drawn into any of the habits surrounding their persecuted circle of wagons.  In Romans, Paul is making the case for the saving action of God in Christ, clearly demonstrating the parallel between salvation from the Great Flood and salvation from the apocalyptic Last Judgment.  He sees the same God warning good people everywhere to ESCAPE by faith in God through Christ.  (Peter does also I Peter 4.4, and notice the pun!) So, the Psalms echo the sentiments in the Pentateuch, and Paul echos the Psalms in light of Jesus' mission.  So the selection of this word for Ephesians 5:18 rings like a plea from God not to be fooled by the sauce into thinking it is some escape.  In fact, too much sauce can actually HINDER the most important escape of all!  Then Paul gives the better alternative in the verses that follow in Ephesians 5.

Spiritual Peace and Nature

There can be little debate that getting back to nature can put you in touch with your spiritual condition in ways that being "in the noise" can't. Seeing the graces of creation,such as the mountain view I am enjoying, accents what is transcendent and eternal about us. Deep inside we resonate with the wonders of God, and we desire to know and be known. We are so small...and yet we read,"who can separate is from the love of God?" Christ offers to all true spiritual peace,a kind that is so settling. We can be free from dread and confusion, and embrace in an unashamed way the power of the Creating God who calls us by name not to be just "religious" or "nice" but to be saved. A view of the seen is but a doorway to what is unseen. See, and pray...seek and find. "I look up to the hills, from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord."