October's Hymn ( Part 3 )

"You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God..." ( Exodus 20:3-5 ) 

This month in my blog I thought it would be good to write a bit about the Protestant Reformation along with Reformed theology. The tradition varies some from church to church, in things such as the order of service and baptism. I have to assume that all of us attend churches that we believe are the most pleasing to God in our worship. Although we have a pattern given to us in the Scripture, there is some liberty as well.  

Today I wanted to give us something to think about this week that maybe we've never given much thought to and before you disagree with me, please just hear me out first. Then go to the Scriptures yourselves, ponder and pray.

If you're familiar with Reformed churches you'll know that they tend to be a bit, how shall I put it? Plain. In other words, you normally won't find pictures of God and Jesus hanging on the walls. My own church has a large simple cross at the front of the sanctuary with a banner of Scripture on either side. 

There's nothing wrong with decorations and ornaments, necessarily. In the design for the Tabernacle in the Book of Exodus ( 31:1-11 ) God fills his people with his Holy Spirit, as we see for the first time in Scripture, giving them "ability and intelligence with knowledge and all craftsmanship to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting and in carving wood, to work in every craft." ( verses 3-5 ) 

And I'm sure Heaven will blow our minds. 

However, back here on earth in our places of worship, our homes, and even in our own minds, God doesn't want us to "carve" images of him to worship. 

Before I read J.I. Packer's book "Knowing God," specifically Chapter Four, I had not given much thought to the second commandment. I just assumed the commandment was addressed to those primitive individuals who had the audacity to carve idols of pagan gods out of wood and stone and then bow down and worship them. 

I was pretty sure that was the one commandment I hadn't broken. 

Wrong. 

After God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, ( Exodus 12- 18 ) In Chapter 19 when the children of Israel come to the wilderness of Sinai ( the third day ) they encamp there before the mountain, but Moses goes up Mount Sinai to God. 

When Moses comes down he gives the people the instructions that God has given to him about washing their garments and being ready ( again, on the third day ) when God "will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people." ( verse 11 ) 

"And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, 'Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot, ( with an arrow, that is ), whether beast or man, he shall not live.'" ( verses 12-13 ) 

When the third day arrived "there was thunders and lightenings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.... Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire..... the whole mountain trembled greatly" ( verses 16-18 ) 

God is Holy. 

More holy than we can ever possibly imagine, but the children of Israel were given an idea of just how holy. And it was terrifying. The LORD tells Moses again to warn the people not to break through least they perish. 

Moses goes up once again on Mount Sinai and this is when God gives him the Law ( including the Ten Commandments ), the promises, confirms His covenant, and instructs how the Tabernacle is to be built, how the priest are to be clothed and perform their duties. 

But the people think Moses is taking too long up there. 

And his brother Aaron, who is a priest and Moses's right hand man, agrees to make the people a god because they don't know what has happened to Moses. The people give Aaron their gold jewelry and he "fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf." ( Chapter 32:1-5 ) 

And here's the interesting part: "And they said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.' When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it." 

They think they are worshiping God in the form of a bull calf. How degrading is that? 

Why would God not want us to make an image even of Him to "help us focus more on Him or Christ" in our worship? The result of the Israelites worship of this idol was pure idolatry - "they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings... they rose up to play." ( verse 6 ) 

Because anything we can come up with in our imperfect, human, small minds will fall horrifically short of the True, One and Only, Triune God. This was a problem back in 1973 when Dr. Packer wrote "Knowing God," but it might be more of one today with all of our technological advances. 

The people were so quick to turn away from God - this God who they had quickly forgotten made the mountain smoke and tremble with his holiness. They could not even stand before him nor did they want to because of his glory, and yet, they were worshiping him in the form of a creature, a bull. ( Romans 1:22 ) 

And before Moses ever goes back down from Mount Sinai God tells him in verse 7: "Go down for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them." 

Moses must have been thinking, "Your people? They aren't my people - they are your disobedient people!" 

But God did mean "Your people," and that's the most beautiful part of this story. 

God isn't some angry deity needing to be appeased. No, God is love, and perfect love demands perfect justice. We would not want it any other way. God told Moses that He will in no way clear the guilty, and we are guilty sinners, all of us. His holy wrath must be satisfied if we are to stand before him, let alone be adopted as his children. ( Exodus 34:7 ) ( Psalm 14, 53, Romans 3 ) 

Another important aspect of the Protestant Reformation that I mentioned in my last blog in the "Five Solas" is "Solus Christus" ( Christ Alone ), meaning Jesus Christ is the only mediator between this Holy God and sinful man. Not Mary, Saints, the Pope, sacraments, our own righteousness, or penance. None of that will do. 

"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus..." ( 1 Timothy 2:5 ) 

Christ Alone. 

Moses stood between God and the people as a type and shadow of the Mediator to come. We see Moses pleaded to God for the people in verse 11. "O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, who you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?" ( Notice they are "God's people" again. ) Exodus is such a deep, rich book in the narrative of God's wrath and mercy and our redemption. 

"Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seal?" proclaimed the mighty angel with a loud voice in Revelation 5. 

And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy.....And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing.......And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne." ( read all verses 1-14 ) 

Christ Alone. 

Should we have pictures of God and Jesus in our homes or churches? In our home office I have a framed print supposedly of God's finger touching the lifeless finger of Adam from Michelangelo's painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, a gift from the Farmer many years ago. I haven't removed it. Yet. I'm pondering on it. I don't know. 

Although Dr. Packer's words cut me deep. "The mind that takes up with images is a mind that has not yet learned to love and attend to God's Word. Those who look to man-made images, material or mental, to lead them to God are not likely to take any part of His revelation as seriously as they should." 

More than anything, I think this commandment should give us pause to meditate on our view of the Triune God. Has our view been too small? Too human-like? Too man-made? Are we getting our knowledge of God from the Bible or from our own imaginations? Or from what others say? Or paint? Or carve? 

Should Jesus be depicted in films and on felt boards in children's Sunday School classes or lesson material? ( Not sure felt boards are a thing anymore. Sure they're not. )  I mean, Jesus did take on human flesh. At any rate, I've read my grandchildren Bibles and books with pictures of Jesus drawn in them of what the illustrator thought Jesus looked like. Isaiah gives us the most striking description of Jesus' physical appearance in the Bible - and it's not very pretty. ( 53:2 ) 

I hope this encourages you to think and to gather with your little ones and your family and even your church family to discuss how the second commandment concerns the holiness of the God who loves us and the Jesus who saved us and the Holy Spirit who untied us to Him. 

Happy Monday 

💜

"Jesus leaving the ninety-nine in search of the one seems crazy, until you're that one." 

October's Hymn ( Part 2 )

October's Hymn ( Part 2 ) 

"You have made us for yourselves, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You." ( Saint Augustine, "Confessions" ) 

One of the first surprising ( or maybe not so surprising ) bits of information I learned about the Great Pyrenees Livestock Guardian Dog (known as LGDs in the working class ) when the Farmer and I were first getting acquainted with the whole notion of "dogs with jobs" is that the girls are the chief workers in the Pyrenees breed. I know, seriously. Back when I was breeding them for families with homesteads, farmers who knew their business would call and ask, "Have you got a pair a Pyrenees sisters for me?" 

Even though we had two "pair of Pyrenees sisters" working our sheep fields, my heart still ached for a big teddy bear male. I followed working farms on social media for educational purposes, and that's where I would watch these gentle-giant boys guarding homesteads and kids and their food bowls. And I wanted one too. 

My first male Pyrenees, who was also for a time our baby daddy, I named "Atlas" after one of my favorite mythological creatures. Then a year before my old boy died I was blessed with his grandson which I named after one of my favorite literary characters of all time, Lewis's Lion King of Narnia, the Jesus-figure, "Aslan."

I told the Farmer recently that if and when I get a third male he will be "Augustine," after one of my favorite theologians. "My A Team," I quickly told him before he had a chance to think too deeply about me getting another dog. ( Of course, a huge shout out always extends to my girls who do a bang-up job in the livestock field and keep us all alive. ) This while Aslan sleeps on a foam bed in front of a floor fan inside the chicken coop. 

In my last blog I said that it was on my heart this month to write about the Protestant Reformation, and in order to understand the powerful impact of that historical event, I believe, one must begin with Saint Augustine of Hippo.  

Augustine lived about one thousand years before Martin Luther was born. 

There is much that can be said about Saint Augustine and honestly it feels just plain wrong to devote so little space to him in this blog. His importance as a church theologian, and the contributions he made in how the Church came to understand many core doctrines of the Christian faith, I don't think can be overstated. 

In his own autobiography, "Confessions," Augustine isn't even the key figure, it's God. The book is addressed to God in prayer. I believe this beautiful, solemn devotion reflects Augustine's changed heart more than any other form of literature could. Through the painful recounting of honest and hard stories that eventually lead to his conversion tale and subsequent spiritual growth, he continually weaves his narratives in thoughtful prayers around Christian doctrine like an elegant braid of soft hair. 

I love how Dr. Robert Godfrey, church history president and professor emeritus at Westminster Seminary California, put it. He said in "Confessions" that Augustine's biblical understanding breaks through. ( BTW, you can take Dr. Godfrey's survey of church history through Ligonier Ministries online. I want to share this because I believe church history is the most important and insightful study we can engage in after the Scriptures. And we live in a day and age when incredible things like working on a farm and listening to lectures at the same time are possible. ) 

If we could narrow the Protestant Reformation down to the most crucial aspects it could be summed up in what has become known as the 'Five Solas.' ( Sola is Latin for "only" ) The Five Solas are a good summary of Reformed theology, which the Reformers argued for against the Roman Catholic church during the Reformation because they understood and believed each crucial point to be biblical theology, in other words, truths they were willing to live and die for. 

They are: 

Sola Scriptura ( Scripture Alone ) ( The Bible alone is the supreme authority for Christians in faith and practice. ) 

Sola Fide ( Faith Alone ) ( Our salvation is a free gift through faith alone, not faith plus our good works. ) 

Sola Gratia ( Grace Alone ) ( Our salvation is by God's grace alone and nothing we do to merit salvation and boast. ) 

Solus Christus ( Christ Alone ) ( Our salvation is in Christ alone; Christ alone is the mediator between man and God. ) 

Soli Deo Gloria ( To the Glory of God Alone ) ( God says that He does not share his glory with another. Isaiah 42:8 ) 

Long before the Protestant Reformation Saint Augustine was already defending these biblical truths, biblical positions that the church fathers had held since the conception of Christ's Church. His debates were with a theologian by the name of Pelagius. I believe, as do many, that these series of debates and his writings that followed are Augustine's most important contribution to the Church. Augustine found that he could not avoid arguing against Pelagius because he was striking against and denying the biblical Doctrine of Original Sin while emphasizing man's choice over God's divine sovereignty and grace.

Pelagius arguments had originally arisen from his reading of Augustine"s "Confessions." 

I recently wrote a blog ( The Cul-de-sac ) that addressed the antinomy that exists between God's sovereignty and human responsibility. To try and explain this divine mystery or pit one against the other is to damage both as Charles Spurgeon warned centuries later. We must be careful because there's a ditch on either side. If we elevate God's sovereignty, without man's responsibility for his actions, we make God the author of sin. 

However Pelagius denied that God's sovereign grace worked at all through our salvation and that it was entirely a work of human choice with man being fully capable of making the decision for Christ on his own since man was not too sinful from birth as to be able to reach God. A direct contradiction of the Scriptures: 

Psalm 14:1-3: ( Psalm 53:1-3 is almost identical. ) "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one."

Romans 3:11-12: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." 

Genesis 6:5: The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." ( Before the flood ) 

Genesis 8:21: And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, 'I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth." ( After the flood ) 

Genesis 9:20-21 ) "Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent." 

It appears God wants us to see that his "righteous man" was like all of us. This and then the very next story is none other than the Tower of Babel. "Let us make a name for ourselves." ( Genesis 11:1-9 ) 

You might be saying, "Well, what then was the point of the flood if not to get rid of evil?" I believe the Bible teaches us that the world-wide flood is a shadow and warning of something to come: God's righteous judgment over the whole earth. So get in the "Ark of Salvation" while you can. Repent of your sins and trust Christ as your Lord and Savior. 

God's judgment is revealed all through the Scriptures - But. So. Is. His. Mercy. How long did the people in Noah's day have to repent? 120 years. How about Nineveh with the Prophet Jonah? 

I'm getting off topic. 

Anyway, here are a few more Scriptures that are proof texts for original sin, also known as total depravity or radical depravity. ( Isaiah 53, Jeremiah 15 & 17, Psalm 143:2, John 1, Isaiah 64, Genesis 3:15, Eph. 2:1-3, Job 42, Proverbs 20:9 ) I listed whole chapters in some references because its always best to read them in context. 

Total depravity, not meaning that man is born as bad as he could possibly be, but that sin has left no part of us unmarred; our bodies, minds, spirits, emotions, and will are all in bondage to sin because of the fall of Adam, our federal head. ( Romans 5:12-19 ) If not for God's common grace and mercy over all that he has made ( Psalm 145:9 ), raining on the just and the unjust ( Matthew 5:45 ), the earth would surely crack down the center and split wide open because of the power of sin left to itself without the Grace of God. That scenario is actually hell, not earth. 

So Augustine defended the doctrine of original sin and stressed the grace of God in our lives. His writings were not so much on the freedom of the will but on "the reality of the will," making clear is it only God's grace and the Holy Spirit working in our will that we have a way back to God through Christ. 

Pelagius was deemed a heretic later in the 5th century for his emphasis on the human will being able to achieve salvation without the grace of God. ( Although later it would be reversed at the Council of Trent during the Roman Catholic response to the Protestant Reformation. ) I'm not sure what happened to Pelagius as his writings did not survive him, not that I could find anyway. However, Pelagius' students did carry on his heretical theology and through the centuries Pelagianism, as it became known, did survive and morph into a "Semi-Pelagianism" recognizing God's grace in man's salvation, along with our works added to it. This became the theology the Reformers would eventually fight against, justification by our works added to God's grace. And we'll look at that in later blogs. 

This is very incomplete and just an overview of a few events in Augustine's life. I hope more than anything I encourage folks to read and study their Bibles and to do their own research into church history. You know, when you think about it, we have something the first centuries of Christians didn't have. Well, we actually have a lot of things they didn't have. Not sure sometimes if that's good or bad. But one thing we have that they didn't is 2,000 years of church history to look back on. 

Our church fathers poured over the Scriptures diligently for years seeing how we are to understand such difficult doctrines as the Trinity and the two natures of Christ. God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. They defended the church against heretics holding councils and summarizing the core beliefs of our faith according to the Scriptures in creeds and confessions so that the church would not go astray and could identify a wolf in sheep's clothing if one was to ever stand before them. Sound biblical doctrine even filled the songs the churches sang because hymns were not written by professional song writers, but by theologians because they knew in their wisdom that "theology brings doxology." 

Bibles were scarce in those days for the common folk. But that would change. 

Looking back over church history, I believe, we can see Christ building his church while protecting his flock. That's why I believe remembering the Protestant Reformation is a good thing to do. 

💜

October's Hymn

Part 1 

You always know it's the fall season here at Healing Brook, not so much by the gentle drifting of changing colors, but more by the plummeting of dirty white clumps. Our Great Pyrenees have begun to participate in the Olympic farm sport known as "the blowing of the undercoat." I can already see that Aslan is a shoo-in for the gold medal. 

Aslan reminds me of that popular Pyrenees meme where the dog sits in mounds of shedded, thick hair while his owner exclaims, "How are you not bald?" This is so relatable. 

Much of our dogs' clods of discarded white hair are now scattered like autumn leaves among the chicken's fall molting event. This morning as my boots scuffed through the wreckage toward the barn I thought if I had to come up with a farm brand name it would definitely be "Fur and Feathers." Kind of catchy, I think 

Being October my attention is also drawn to the fact that it is "Reformation Month," and it is on my heart to write a bit on the subject of the Protestant Reformation and the significance of it, not just in church history, but history in general. 

One year ago this past weekend, actually it was on the twentieth anniversary of my sister Kathy's death, I was up early with plans to spend the day with my dad and attend church with him and take him to lunch. However, he had been battling a bad infection in his leg and called at the last minute to say that he didn't feel up to it. So there I was all dressed way earlier than usual for church on a Sunday morning. 

The Farmer looked at me and said, "You've been wanting to attend a service at Grace Church; since you're all ready, I'm taking you this morning." I've always been transparent in my blogging with the details of our faith journey in hopes that it could help others, so I'm not going to stop now. I hope I encourage you to journal your own as well. The often forgotten little details of our lives stir the affections of the heart toward God when we can look back and see what he has been doing all along. 

I began reading my Bible back in January of 2019 as if someone had suddenly flipped on a light switch in my brain. I had been in church my entire life and done morning "devotions" since I was a teenager, but something was different. Something had changed inside of me after a dark night of the soul. And the crazy, cool thing was that it had happened to the Farmer as well just two weeks prior. 

After that I remember a voracious hunger for the Bible. I began reading through it and really wrestling with the texts of Scripture for the first time in my life it seemed. I came face to face with the sovereignty of God and began to see the Holy God of the Bible and his Son Jesus truly again for the first time in my life, by the guidance of his Holy Spirit I know now. I saw the doctrines of grace, and even though I didn't understand them thoroughly and grappled mightily with them, I couldn't unsee them. 

It was excruciating to think of leaving my current church family for another one as the decision took several years to execute, but my heart kept yearning for the "Reformed" tradition. It wouldn't go away. I didn't even know fully what that all meant exactly - I had never identified with any denomination or faith tradition in particular. I had just always referred to myself as a Christian - the Farmer too. And I began to believe that Reformed theology was biblical theology. 

We had visited several Reformed churches in and outside of our area, one in particular with some of our dear friends, but not Grace Church. Thinking back now, I think it was because I didn't want the church to "disappoint" me. Although we had never visited a worship service at Grace Church, back in the late eighties and early nineties, before we homeschooled our two sons, they had attended Grace Academy - an elementary school operated at Grace Church. 

Those early school years were a wonderful experience, and I guess deep in my heart I didn't want that experience to be spoiled. I'm weird like that. So Grace Church was the last one on our list of churches to visit. 

Anyway, one of the things I remember the most about Grace Academy is that they did not celebrate Halloween. The teachers didn't make a big fuss over denouncing it or anything; it was just that their focus in October was centered on teaching and remembering the Protestant Reformation. 

Those memories touched something in my soul and something from my childhood. The creeds, the confessions, the catechisms, the hymns. 

The first Sunday we visited Grace Church, October 13, 2024, happened to be the last day of the congregation's "Mission's Conference." That was not planned; we had no idea. But as you may imagine with the call on the Farmer's life in Indonesia and throughout Asia, he loved and connected with the church's commitment to local and world evangelism and missions. For him it seemed like an instant connection. 

For me it all seemed like God's Providence. 

💜

To be continued 

"Sharp Minds, Warm Hearts, Steel Spines"

( Dr. Voddie Baucham /  Spoken in his final message at Founders Seminary ) 

"Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord." 

"Walk as children of light ( for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true ), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them." ( Ephesians 5:6-11 )

"And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, be broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'" ( Luke 22:19 ) 

Today I want to add my two cents along with the others who have been warning about the American communion revival taking place on the mall of our nation's capital this weekend with Lou Engle and many others. 

Now I know on the surface that engaging in a big communion service with worship music and pastors and a mile long communion table inviting everyone to come join seems like a good and right thing to do, but Friends, first things first: We are taught in the Scriptures: 

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world." ( 1 John 4:1 )  

The Apostle John goes on in this passage and his next letters to the Church to explain the tests each person should pass claiming to be from God, including a proper Christology, not worldly especially in the sense that the world listens to them and loves them, ( John 15:19 ), sticking to the Scriptures, not going beyond them. ( 2 John 2:9 ) Loving the brothers. 

Secondly, my concern after watching the promotional material for the event ( which one promoter said wasn't an event I guess because they're saying it's a "revival" ), but my concern is that although partaking of the Lord's Supper is a biblical sacrament instituted by Christ himself, the promoters claim they were shown another special way of doing communion in dreams, visions, and revelations. One promoter said that he saw it in his "mind's eye." That's a new age term, not sure if he knew that or not; it is also called the "third eye." He made the same statement three times about seeing it in his "mind's eye."  

One coordinator referred to this event as "the wedding supper of the lamb." No, Friends, the wedding supper of the Lamb is not the same as the communion table. Jesus taught us to partake in the bread and wine in remembrance of him until he comes again. The wedding supper, or marriage feast of the Lamb is when Christ is united with his Church, his bride, as the culmination of God's plan for the redemption of his children. ( Revelation 19:6 ) ( Matthew 26:26, Mark 14:22, Luke 22:14 ) 

Lou Engel says that what they are doing in DC is a "better blood message." Better than the blood of Christ?  What does he mean by that? They are attributing to the Lord's table things Jesus never said - they are going way beyond the Scriptures which we are warned not to do. 

For instance, the sacraments do not give us special healing powers as they claim. Beni Johnson, Bill Johnson's wife who passed away from cancer in 2022, wrote a book about this in 2019 entitled "The Power of Communion: Accessing Miracles, Through the Body and Blood of Jesus." The product description on Christian Books website asks the question if we are missing something in this ancient ritual that releases healing and deliverance and shifts spiritual atmospheres, even world events, and new dimensions of divine glory? Again, that sounds an awful lot like new age language. ( and NAR ) 

Our Lord's Supper is not a pagan ritual. Jesus said that we are to do it in remembrance of him, until he comes again. Period. It is for Christ's Church to partake of in remembrance of him; in Christ already, at our conversion, we were given the Holy Spirit to indwell us forever. What else do we need besides God? Nothing. 

And yet, he invites us to pray to Him. 

To me this is all so disturbing, and so yeah, another huge red flag is Bill Johnson. He doesn't appear to be at this event but earlier this year in April he hosted the communion revival night with Lou Engel at Bethel Redding's baseball field. 

There is so much, too much in fact for my post, that I could say about Bill Johnson and the Bethel organization, engaging in everything from a supernatural school of ministry ( that their students call their "Hogwarts" ) "teaching" the students how to operate in the prophetic along with other spiritual sign gifts ( yes, you must pay tuition to obtain the power ), grave soaking, ( Beni Johnson can be seen on Twitter/X stretched out on the grave, I believe, of C.S. Lewis and hugging Charles Finney's tombstone. This is done in hopes of receiving the mantles of "spiritual giants" because some believe the Holy Spirit is trapped in the body after death. Bethel also participates in fire tunnels, a pagan deliverance practice using Gandoff's wizard staff to get rid of racism, manufactured glory clouds, gold dust, and angel feathers. 

Johnson teaches that Jesus laid aside his divinity when he came to earth, a false Christology. ( If Jesus is only a man, he is not a sufficient substitute for our sins, and we are still condemned. ) That's only one problem with that heretical view. Johnson and the other Bethel leaders continually teach that Jesus did miracles, as a man, not God, to show us what we could do, not to prove he was God which again is in direct contradiction of the Holy Scriptures:

"Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." ( John 20:30-31 ) 

Bethel will rip verses out of their original context like John 14:12 when Jesus said that you will do greater works. All one must do here is use some critical thinking skills. No one in 2,000 years has walked on water, multiplied bread and fish, turned water into wine, raised people from the dead, and yes, resurrected themselves from the dead like Jesus Christ! Bethel has claimed all kinds of great miracles, and yet none have been verified. Their theology doesn't even work for them. Bill Johnson wears glasses. 

Johnson is also a huge part of the NAR ( New Apostolic Reformation ) teaching dominion theology and the seven mountain mandate. If you don't know what that is, I asked you to please consider doing some homework so you can be aware of it. We are not the heroes of God's redemptive story - it is Christ alone.  Praise God! 

I'm not writing this to convince you necessarily; I know some will ardently disagree with me. That's fine. I want more than anything to encourage people to please read their Bibles and get under sound, biblical, orthodox Christian preaching at a gospel-centered church. Partake in the Lord's Supper with your brothers and sisters at your local church. Remember, the Holy Spirit already dwells in you if you are in Christ. He's already transforming us into the image of Christ. 

And please have the integrity to examine your own denomination or faith tradition and the leaders you follow to see if they are biblically sound. Please. What do you have to lose? False teaching, that's what. 

I beg you to please do your own research into these movements comparing them with the Scriptures. Don't take my word for it. 

1.)  Let's have sharp minds - studying God's Word to show ourselves approved and having answers ready, ( 2 Timothy 2:15, 1 Peter 3:15 ) and not being conformed to this world, but being transformed by the renewing of our minds, that by testing we may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. ( Romans 12:2 ) 

2.) Let's have warm hearts - speaking the truth in love with kindness and clarity. ( Ephesians 4:15 ) 

3.) Let's have steel spines - not giving in to false teachers for a moment so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved. ( Galatians 2:5 ) 

Thanks, Voddie

💜

"The People who Know their God"

This is why I'm inspired to keep blogging ( and praying ): 

"I. Those who know God have great energy for God.

In one of the prophetic chapters of Daniel we read: 'the people who know their God shall be strong, and do exploits' ( 11:32). RSV renders thus: 'the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.' 

In the context, this statement is introduced by 'but' and set in contrast to the activity of the 'vile person' ( verse 21 ) who sets up 'the abomination that maketh desolate,' and corrupts by smooth and flattering talk those whose loyalty to God's covenant has failed ( verse 31-32 ). 

This shows us that action taken by those who know God is their 'reaction' to the anti-God trends which they see operating around them. While their God is being defiled or disregarded, they cannot rest; they feel they must do something; the dishonor done to God's name goads them into action.

This is exactly what we see happening in the narrative chapters of Daniel, where we are told of the 'exploits' of Daniel and his three friends. They were men who knew God, and who in consequence felt compelled from time to time actively to stand out against the conventions and dictates of irreligion and false religion.

Daniel in particular appears as one who would not let a situation of that sort slide, but felt bound openly to challenge it. Rather than risk possible ritual defilement through eating palace food, he insisted on a vegetarian diet, to consternation of the prince of the eunuchs ( 1:8-16 ). 

When Nebuchadnezzar suspended the practice of prayer for a month, on pain of death, Daniel not merely went on praying three times a day, but did so in front of an open window, so that everyone might see what he was doing. ( 6:10 f. ). 

One recalls Bishop Ryle leaning forward in his stall at St. Paul's Cathedral so that everyone might see that he did not turn east for the Creed! Such gestures must not be misunderstood. It is not that Daniel, or for that matter Bishop Ryle, was an awkward, cross-grained fellow who luxuriated in rebellion and could only be happy when he was squarely 'agin' the government. 

It is simply that those who know their God are sensitive to situations in which God's truth and honor are being directly or tacitly jeopardized, and rather than let the matter go by default will force the issue on men's attention and seek thereby to compel a change of heart about it - even at personal risk.

Nor does this energy for God stop short with public gestures. Indeed, it does not start there. 

Men who know their God are before anything else men who pray, and the first point where their zeal and energy for God's glory come to expression is in their prayers.

In Daniel 9 we read how, when the prophet 'understood by the books' that foretold time of Israel's captivity was drawing to to an end, and when at the same time he realized that the nation's sin was still such as to provoke God to judgment rather than mercy, he set himself to seek God 'by prayer and supplication, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes' ( verse 3 ), and prayed for the restoring of Jerusalem with a vehemence and passion and agony of spirit to which most of us are complete strangers.

Yet the invariable fruit of true knowledge of God is energy to pray for God's cause - energy, indeed, which can only find an outlet and a relief of inner tension when channelled into such prayer - and the more knowledge, the more energy! 

By this way test ourselves.

Perhaps we are not in a position to make public gestures against ungodliness and apostasy. Perhaps we are old, or ill, or otherwise limited by our physical situation. But we can all pray about the ungodliness and apostasy which we see in everyday life all around us. If, however, there is in us little energy for such prayer, and little consequent practice of it, this is a sure sign that as yet we scarcely know our God." 

"Knowing God" J.I. Packer, 1973, InterVarsity Press, ( pages 23-24 ) 

“Doctrine is useless if it is not accompanied by a holy life. It is worse than useless; it does positive harm. Something of ‘the image of Christ’ must be seen and observed by others in our private life, and habits, and character, and doings.” ( Bishop J.C. Ryle ) 

"God Only Wise"

III

"These things are written for our learning: for the same wisdom which ordered the paths which God's saints trod in Bible times orders the Christian's life today. We should not, therefore, be too taken aback when unexpected and upsetting and discouraging things happen to us now. 

What do they mean? Why, simply that God in his wisdom means to make something of us which we have not attained yet, and is dealing with us accordingly.

Perhaps He means to strengthen us in patience, good humor, compassion, humility, or meekness, by giving us some extra practice in exercising these graces under specifically difficult conditions. Perhaps He has new lessons in self-denial and self-distrust to teach us. Perhaps He wishes to break us of complacency, or unreality, or undetected forms of pride and conceit. 

Perhaps His purpose is simply to draw us closer to Himself in conscious communion with Him; for it is often the case, as all the saints know, that fellowship with the Father and the Son is most vivid and sweet, and Christian joy is greatest, when the cross is heaviest. ( Remember Samuel Rutherford! ) 

Or perhaps God is preparing us for forms of service which at present we have no inkling. Paul saw part of the reason for his own afflictions in the fact that God 'comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.' ( 2 Corinthians 1:4 ) 

Even the Lord Jesus 'learned.....obedience by the things which he suffered,' and so was 'made perfect' for His High-Priestly ministry of sympathy and help to His hard-pressed disciples. ( Hebrews 5:8 f. ): which means that, as on the one hand He is able to uphold us and make us more than conquerors in all our troubles and distresses, so on the other hand we must not be surprised if He calls us to follow in His steps, and to let ourselves be prepared for the service of others by painful experiences which are quite undeserved. 

'He knows the way He taketh,' even if for the moment we do not. We may be frankly bewildered at things that happen to us, but God knows exactly what he is doing, and what He is after, in His handling of our affairs. Always, and in everything, He is wise: we shall see that hereafter, even where we never saw it here. ( Job in heaven knows the full reason why he was afflicted, though he never knew it in this life. ) 

Meanwhile, we ought not to hesitate to trust His wisdom, even when He leaves us in the dark.

But how are we to meet these baffling and trying situations, if we cannot for the moment see God's purpose in them? First, by taking them as from God and asking ourselves what reactions to them, and in them, the gospel of God requires of us; second by seeking God's face specifically about them. If we do these two things, we shall never find ourselves wholly in the dark as to God's purpose in our troubles. 

We shall always be able to see at least as much purpose in them as Paul was enabled to see in his thorn in the flesh ( whatever it was ). It came to him, he tells us, as a 'messenger of Satan,' tempting him to hard thoughts of God. He resisted this temptation, and sought Christ's face three times, asking that it might be removed. 

The only answer he had was this, 'My grace is sufficient for thee; my strength is made perfect in weakness.' On reflection, he perceived a reason why he should have been thus afflicted: it was to keep him humble, 'lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations.' This thought, and Christ's word, were enough for him. 

He looked no further. Here is his final attitude: 'Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.' ( 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 ) This attitude of Paul is a model for us. Whatever further purpose a Christian's troubles may or may not have in equipping him for future service, they will always have at least that purpose which Paul's thorn in the flesh had: they will have been sent to us to make and keep us humble, and to give us new opportunity of showing forth the power of Christ in our mortal lives."

J.I. Packer, "Knowing God" 1973, InterVarsity Press, pages 86-88 

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Contend for the Faith

"I found it necessary to write to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints." ( Jude 3 ) 

Hi Friends, 

A couple of things are on my heart to share this morning. I haven't watched the entire memorial service for Charlie Kirk yet, but I have watched some of it. I do plan to take the time to watch the entirety. Overall, I am saddened that Charlie Kirk was the exception and not the rule. I pray this knowledge affects us in our urgency as Christians to share our faith more boldly and also "always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope, yet do it with gentleness and respect." as the Apostle Peter taught us in his epistle.  ( 1 Peter 3:15 ) 

What I saw and what made my heart glad was Tucker Carlson explaining that the Gospel of Jesus Christ means to repent and believe! It must be both. James tells us that the demons believe. R.C. Sproul used to say that the devil could get an "A" in his theology classes. What makes us different as believers in Jesus from satan and his minions who also believe, and tremble, I might add!? ( James 2:19 ) 

Repentance. That's the difference. A turning away from our sin. Knowing we are poor in spirit, bankrupt, desperately in need of Christ because we have fallen short of the glory of God in our sin and rebellion and are separated from him forever with no way back. Broken over our sin against God. Humbled. Throwing ourselves on the grace and mercy of God in Christ alone. 

Tucker I felt conveyed this truth clearly, and Erika Kirk fleshed it out for the world to hear when she said that she forgave the young man who killed her husband. 

Beautiful. That's the Gospel. We forgive because God in Christ has forgiven us. 

"Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors." ( The Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:12 ) 

Forgiveness is a mark of a true believer. 

The other thing I want to share is this: Friends, please don't think everyone attending Charlie Kirk's memorial service was a sheep. I am not referring to unbelievers who are curious about the Christian faith through Charlie's life or even just wanted to get in on the action. I hope there were many of them there, what ever the reason, and that they came to faith in Christ or at least were given much to ponder on about our Lord Jesus. 

I'm talking about wolves in sheep's clothing. False teachers and false prophets. 

Jesus told us that they will be in our midst until he returns. ( Matthew 13:24-30 ) 

The aftermath of this terrible tragedy seems to have the makings of a revival or renewal for our country, I don't know, maybe a mercy from God for all of our wanderings to repent, to get back on track and be about our Father's business in the Great Commission and contending for the faith. Let's please be more vigilant than ever. 

Don't think for a second that the devil is going to sit idly by and watch this all play out with a tub of popcorn and a Red Bull. 

No, he had his ministers in place in that arena. And in this movement all along. 

This is not a time to sit around the campfire singing Kum ba yah. Listen to Paul: 

He is addressing the elders! The leadership. 

"I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them." ( Acts 20: 29&30 ) 

And again to the Corinthian church:

"For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds." ( 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 ) 

There are many other passages. 26 of the 27 New Testament books warn of false teachers and false prophets coming to lead sheep astray and make merchandise of them. In fact, some of the strongest language in the Bible is reserved for false teachers and false prophets, wolves in sheep's clothing preaching their false gospels to Christ's sheep.

"But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed." ( Galatians 1:8 ) Accursed is the Greek word "anathema" meaning accursed, condemned, or damned. Let them who preach a false gospel be damned, Paul is saying. That's sobering, to say the least. 

Jesus told us time and again to beware of them! Because they are dressed like sheep and talk like sheep, we must be discerning!! Pray for discernment! Jesus said that we will know the wolves by their fruits. Look at all leader's theology and their character. These are the fruits. Examine what they are teaching against the Scripture! ( Acts 17 ) 

Before we can test their theology, we must be grounded in sound biblical doctrine ourselves. We must know our Bibles. This can't be said enough. Read it and sit under pastors and elders who are taking you through the whole counsel of Scripture, not just teaching shallow, topical points or self help or your best life now. If you're visiting a church, ask them if they preach through the entire Bible. Don't be shy; ask them. This is crucial for us and our children. We need all of it. The Scripture is what grows vulnerable lambs into strong, mature rams and ewes and what the Holy Spirit uses to transform the whole flock into the image of Christ! 

Okay, I didn't mean to be so long, but I just wanted to encourage you this morning along with myself and my family to be more vigilant than ever! The enemy hates what's going on. He knows his time is short, and I just bet he's doubling down with his servants as Paul warned. 

Because of all of this I've shared above, it is also on my heart to post some of J.I. Packer's "Knowing God" in future blogs. Yesterday I posted section one of his chapter "The Heart of the Gospel." Dr. Packer does a beautiful job of explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ and helping us through the Bible to know the God who created us and the Redeemer who saved us and the Holy Spirit whose fellowship we enjoy better. 

I hope and pray it encourages us to read our Bibles and let the Word transform us. 

I think this is what Charlie would want, but more importantly, I think this is what God desires from his people. Let's guard our hearts and not miss this opportunity of the open hearts around us. It may not come this way again. 

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"The Heart of the Gospel"

I

"Prince Paris had carried off Princess Helen to Troy. The Greek expeditionary force had taken ship to recover her, but was held up half-way by persistent contrary winds. Agamemnon, the Greek general, sent home for his daughter and ceremonially slaughtered her as a sacrifice, to mollify the evidently hostile gods. The move paid off; west winds blew again, and the fleet reached Troy without further difficulty.

This bit of the Trojan war legend, which dates from about 1000 B.C., mirrors an idea of propitiation on which pagan religion all over the world, and in every age, has been built. The idea is as follows. There are various gods, none enjoying absolute dominion, but each with some power to make life easier or harder for you. Their temper is uniformly uncertain; they take offense at the smallest things, or get jealous because they feel you are paying too much attention to other gods and other people, and not enough to themselves, and then they take it out on you by manipulating circumstances to your hurt.

The only course at that point is to humor and mollify them by an offering. The rule with offerings is the bigger the better, for the gods are inclined to hold out for something sizeable. In this they are cruel and heartless, but they have the advantage, and what can you do?

The wise man bows to the inevitable, and makes sure that he offers something impressive enough to produce the desired result. Human sacrifice, in particular, is expensive but effective. Thus pagan religion appears as a callous commercialism, a matter of managing and manipulating your gods by cunning bribery; and within paganism propitiation, the appeasing of celestial bad tempers, takes its place as a regular part of life, one of the many irksome necessities that one cannot get on without. 

Now the Bible takes us right away from the world of pagan religion. It condemns paganism out of hand, as a monstrous distortion of truth. In place of a cluster of gods who are all too obviously made in the image of man, and who behave like a crowd of Hollywood film stars, the Bible sets the one almighty Creator, the only real God, in Whom all goodness and truth find their source, and to Whom all moral evil is abhorrent. With Him there is not bad temper, no capriciousness, no vanity, no ill-will. 

One might expect, therefore, that there would be no place for the idea of propitiation in biblical religion. But we do not find this at all: just the opposite. The idea of propitiation - that is, of averting God's anger by an offering - runs right through the Bible." ...... 

to be continued. 

Knowing God, 1973, J.I. Packer, InterVarsity Press, pgs.161-162 

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My plan is to share some of J.I. Packer's "Knowing God" I'm starting with the chapter "The Heart of the Gospel" because I want those outside of the Christian faith to understand it and those inside the faith to be able to explain it. Sadly, Charlie Kirk was the exception, not the rule. Let this be a wake up call for us. 

"Here Comes the Judge"

I believe it was D.A. Carson who said that in our generation the most well-known Bible verse is no longer John 3:16, but the beloved passage has been replaced by Matthew 7:1 - "Judge not." Even people who do not claim to be Christians know and quote this one. 

But let's take a deeper look at the verse, shall we? 

It is embedded within Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. 

First, let's understand what this judging is not because the word gets thrown around a bit in our current "church" culture among the false prophets of our day. If you skip down to verse 15, Jesus warns his listeners to beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. In verse 22, he says that many claiming to have prophesied in his name will be told to depart from him, that he never knew them. Sobering and scary words. 

I'm not trying to get off topic here, but when my parents left our progressive traditional church back in the mid 1970s to join the ecumenical charismatic renewal movement, I distinctly and vividly remember that speaking in tongues was all the rage. It was done everywhere in that movement, and at least in the circles we twirled in, done all at once in a worship service. It was taught, also contrary to Scripture, that everyone could possess that gift. Not so much today. I mean tongues is still practiced, but in my observation, in prominence, tongues seems to have been replaced by prophecy. "Prophecy." 

There are literally thousands and thousands of "prophetic voices" with YouTube channels claiming to have words given to them weekly, if not daily, by the Lord himself. None foretold the assassination of Charlie Kirk, or the Covid pandemic or many other world events for that matter, but those are just my musings. 

Anyway, in the last days, we are warned that there will be 'many' false prophets, not a few. The Farmer cracks me up because he calls them "profits." Not many false tongue speakers will be deceiving people, but many false prophets. And everyday it's just like we are seeing the "prophetic Word" of Scripture "more fully confirmed" as Peter taught us ( 2 Peter 1:19 )  because false prophets are literally everywhere. 

Friends, more than ever we must apply John 4:1: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for MANY false prophets have gone out into the world." ( My capitalization. ) 

Do not be deceived. Do not be gullible. Do not be tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine. Be mature in our thinking. ( 1 Corinthians 14:20, Ephesians 4:13, Hebrews 1:1, 6:1, Colossians 1:8 ) Don't let these false prophets make merchandise of you with their books and materials and false teachings and prophecies. We are warned. ( Jeremiah 14:14, 23:16, Matthew 7:15, 24:11, 2 Peter 2:1-3 ) 

Everything we need to know is in the Scripture. ( 2 Timothy 3:16-17  ) God has not left his children in the dark. He is a good Father. Why would we believe a false prophet over our Father? That very sin got Israel in all kinds of trouble in the Old Testament. ( Ezekiel 13 ) 

Said all that to say, when you heart a person claiming to be a "prophet of God" "executing judgement" on a virus or hurricane or whatever the case may be, they do not have the power to do this. Only God - the just Judge of all he has made - can execute that kind of judgement. Now, they will tell you that they are in fact a "little god," but that's a blog for another day. Again, only God can execute this kind of judgement. Please for the love of all that is good in this world stay away from these charlatans. 

However, we are told by Jesus that we can and should judge here in this passage of Scripture, but it isn't the same kind of judgement that God alone is in fact executing now according to Romans 1 and later on Judgement Day over all sin and evil on earth. 

Let's read the judging verse in context:

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye, when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." 

The first thing we should notice is that Jesus is using the word "brother" meaning a believer in Christ. We should not judge the world - nonbelievers. We are to judge ourselves and the church. Paul clarifies this in 1 Corinthians 5:12. 

So, we are to help each other. To judge a brother or sister in Christ is the most loving thing we can do, but before we do, Jesus says that we must first examine ourselves. If my sister in Christ is spreading gossip, I am a hypocrite if I try to correct her while engaging in the same sin. 

First we must judge our own hearts, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us because we can't always see our sin. He convicts our hearts. Maybe a brother or sister will come help us. I've definitely had that happen, and I received it even though it was painful because I knew it was done in love with kindness and concern for my benefit, because my brother and sister truly love me. 

Using a cotton ball to remove a speck is always more effective than using a jackhammer. 

Jesus says in John 7:24, "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgement." This is in the context of Jesus accusing the Jews of not keeping the Mosaic Law, but instead wanting to kill him. 

So we are to judge each other in the church, but with right judgement - not in hypocrisy. This is how God has set up his church. Even though this is not technically, full-scale church discipline, I want to mention that Matthew 18:15-35 teaches us how church discipline is to be properly handled within the Body of Christ. 

Awhile back I wrote a few blogs ( One Holy Christian and Apostolic Church ) on what it means according to the Scriptures, and affirmed by our church fathers and biblical theologians throughout church history, to be a "true church." These marks are the true preaching of God's Word, the proper administration of the sacraments, and church discipline. 

Possibly looking out for each other in proper judgement in the church could be a guardrail to keep us from going over the edge in need of Matthew 18 church discipline. When it says to go first to your brother and "tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens, you have gained your brother" I believe we can see how God intends us to speak the truth in love to one another. 

This is a pattern for the church,"but if he doesn't listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven." ( verses 16-19 ) 

So let's judge each other as Jesus commanded us to judge - with righteous judgement. 

"Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves." ( 2 Corinthians 13:5 ) Paul says to go so far as to see if we are truly in Christ! This is sobering. 

After we check our own hearts, ( 1 John 3:21, John 7:5 ) let's have the genuine love for our brothers and sisters that Paul talks of in Romans 12:9 enough to snatch them out of the fire when necessary. ( Jude 23 ) 

I think the last words of James's epistle, 5:19-20, fit perfectly here at my conclusion:

"My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sin." 

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Taking Up the Cross

"Those who are not willing to lose their lives for Christ are not worthy of Him. ( Matthew 10:38 ) 

They cannot be His disciples. ( Luke 14:27 ) 

These statements cannot be made to accommodate the casual approach to conversion that is in vogue in our generation. Jesus is not asking people to add Him to the milieu of their lives. He wants disciples willing to forsake everything. This calls for full-scale denial - even willingness to die for his sake if necessary.

When Matthew 10:38 says, 'He who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of Me,' it does not mean bearing the "cross" of a difficult situation, a chronic disease, or a nagging spouse. I have heard devotional sermons spiritualizing the cross to mean everything from a cranky mother-in-law to a leaky roof in a 1957 Chevy! 

But that is not what the word "cross" meant to Jesus' first-century audience. 

It did not call to their minds the idea of long-term difficulties or troublesome burdens. It did not even evoke thoughts of Calvary - the Lord had not gone to the cross yet, and they did not understand that He would.

When Jesus said, 'take up your cross' to them, they thought of a cruel instrument of torture and death. They thought of dying in the most agonizing method known to man. They thought of poor, condemned criminals hanging on crosses by the roadside. Doubtless they had seen men executed in that fashion. 

Jesus' listeners understood that He was calling them to die for Him. They knew He was asking them to make the ultimate sacrifice, to surrender to Him as Lord in every sense. 

Jesus adds a final paradoxical thought on the meaning of discipleship: 'He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it.' ( Matthew 10:39 ) 'He who has found his life' seems to refer to a person who has guarded his physical safety by denying Christ under pressure, or someone who clings to his life rather than taking up the cross. 

Because his first concern is securing his physical life, that person loses his eternal soul. Conversely, those who are willing to forfeit their lives for Christ's sake will receive eternal life. 

The Bible does not teach salvation by martyrdom. The Lord was not advising the disciples to try to get themselves killed for Him. Again, he was referring to a pattern, a direction. He was simply saying that genuine Christians do not shrink back, even in the face of death. 

To express it another way, when confronted with a decision between serving self and serving the Lord, the true disciple is the one who chooses to serve the Lord, even at great personal expense. 

Again, this is not absolute in the sense that it disallows temporary failures like that of Peter. But even Peter 'did' ultimately prove himself to be a true disciple, didn't he? The time came when he willingly gave his life for Jesus' sake. 

Luke 9:23 records similar words of Jesus: 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.' Notice the addition of the one word 'daily.' The life of a disciple invites persecution and therefore must be a life of daily self-denial. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, 'I protest, brethren, by the boasting in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.' ( 1 Corinthians 15:31 ) 

The idea of self-denial does not jibe with the contemporary supposition that believing in Jesus is a momentary decision. A true believer is one who signs up for life. 

The bumper-sticker sentiment 'Try Jesus' is a mentality foreign to real discipleship - faith is not an experiment, but a life-long commitment.

It means taking up the cross daily, giving all for Christ each day. It means no reservations, no uncertainty, no hesitation. ( Luke 9:59-61) It means nothing is knowingly held back, nothing purposely shielded from His lordship, nothing stubbornly kept from His control. 

It calls for painful severing of the tie with the world, a sealing of the escape hatches, a ridding oneself of any kind of security to fall back on in case of failure. Genuine believers know they are going ahead with Christ until death. Having put their hands to the plow, they will not look back. ( Luke 9:62 )

That is how it must be for all who would follow Jesus Christ. It is the stuff of true discipleship." 

( "The Gospel According to Jesus; What is Authentic Faith?" John MacArthur ) 

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A Joyful Noise

“To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, and to devote the will to the purpose of God.” ( William Temple ) 

"But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." ( John 4:23-24 ) 

In this well-known passage from the Gospel of John where Jesus is speaking with the Samaritan woman at the well, the words that leap out at me are "the true worshipers." 

"the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth" 

It concerns me because I want to make sure that I am a "true worshiper." If there are "true worshipers" then I'm assuming there must be "false worshipers." What does it mean to be a "true worshiper?" I think that's a vital question because we were created to worship, and everyone worships something whether we realize it or not. We were created for God's glory. ( Isaiah 43:7 ) 

And God as the Creator of all things is the One who determines how we are to worship him. That's his call, not ours. 

I was recently reminded that in the Old Testament we see wives being discovered at wells - Issac, Jacob, and Moses - all of their wives were found at wells. Their marriages began at wells - this isn't a coincidence. 

What Jesus is saying here in the New Testament - "the Father is seeking such people to worship him;" "the hour is now;" "in spirit and truth" - informs us of how the Father wants such people he is seeking to worship him. 

"in spirit and truth" 

Recently as I was reading through the five verses of Psalm 100 I believe I saw the "spirit and truth" harmony that Jesus speaks of to the woman at the well. 

"Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!" ( verse 1 )

This is how we are to enter worship: joyfully. From our hearts - our spirits. Jesus says that the time is coming and is now here when our worship isn't confined to any particular place, but we can worship God everywhere! Whether we are at home or at church, we enter the courts of our King, not announcing our petitions or declaring what we think we deserve, no, we come praising, serving, singing. 

And what is driving this praise, this joyfulness? 

Look at verse 2: "Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture." 

Doctrine. 

Truth. 

"Know" Part of worshiping God is "to feed the mind with the truth of God." Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love God with all of your heart, soul, and mind. ( Matthew 22:34-40 )  Our praise flows out of our knowledge of the truth that has made its way down from our brains and into our hearts. It starts with what we 'know.' 

God's truth in Scripture is what is moving us to worship. 

This is why not only reading and studying our Bibles at home is vitally important, but sitting under the preaching of God's Word when we gather as Christ's church, in sermons and Bible study. 

Our pastors are feeding our hearts by preaching the truth to our minds. I guess we could say that in one sense the pastor is the real worship leader. They get the ball rolling. This is why sermons on Sunday morning are so important. They plant the truth in us. In organizing the church, Paul explained it this way to Pastor Timothy:

"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching.... " ( 2 Timothy 4:1-3 ) 

The truth keeps us on track. 

If we attempt to worship with our spirits and no truth, what is the real motivating factor behind that worship if it isn't God's Word? The music? The fog machine? Our emotions being manipulated in a certain atmosphere? Experience and encounters? Exciting stories? 

On the flip side if we attempt to worship with truth and no spirit, without the truth of God's Word making the trip down into our hearts, our worship can become dry and mechanical. In other words, there is a ditch on both sides of the road. 

I know on a personal level one way that I've found I'm doing both is that after the preaching of God's Word as we sing the next hymn or spiritual song and I focus deeply at the doctrines of grace on the power point, tears begin to form in my eyes and my hands seem to go up automatically, surrendering and praising, in response to these truths. And I'm learning to let my tears flow. Not to hold them back. They have become part of my worship as I seek to understand the glorious truths of which I heard and now sing back to the Lord, giving him thanks. 

I find myself at times meditating on these same truths as I'm working and walking around the farm in the midst of the magnificent creation and amazing creatures God has made to inhabit his world. I've found that when the biblical doctrines I understand with my mind begin to flood my heart, that's what a true move and work of the Holy Spirit looks like. 

I've been looking for this for some time now. And Jesus has been saying it all along. 

To his bride. 

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!" ) verse 4 ) 

Spirit.

"For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations." ( verse 5 )

Truth. 

💜

"In the Sanctification of the Spirit, for the Obedience to Jesus Christ" ( 1 Peter 1:2 )

"Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what we suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek." ( Hebrews 5:8-10 ) 

The Book of Hebrews, perhaps my favorite, is a New Testament book rich in beautiful teachings that unravel and clarify how the Jewish Old Testament priestly atonement rituals were a type and shadow of Jesus, our perfect, ultimate high priest to come. 

This is what the ESV Study Bible says concerning the theme of Hebrews: "Christ is greater than any angel, priest, or old covenant institution; thus each reader rather than leaving such a great salvation, is summoned to hold on to faith to the true rest found in Christ and to encourage others in the church to persevere." 

"He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him." Pulled out of context this verse can be interpreted improperly to say that in order to be saved we first must obey Jesus. Read contextually within God's plan of redemption in the entirety of Scripture, we see plainly that our obedience can't save us. 

"None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God." ( Romans 3:11 ) "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." ( Romans 3:22 ) "All we like sheep have gone astray.." ( Isaiah 53:6 ) "For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of Law, and do them." ( Galatians 3:10 ) 

As unbelievers, we searched for a lot of things to heal us and help us, our own righteousness, even gods of our own making, none of which are the true God who formed and made us. So we need a perfect high priest. 

"But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent ( not made with hands, that is, not of this creation ) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption." ( Hebrews 9:11-12 ) 

Here's what I'm getting at: Our good works do not save us, but a new desire to obey God is placed inside of us by the Holy Spirit at the moment of our justification. We obey 'because' we are saved. This treasure is one of the proofs of our salvation. God had the plan of redemption; Jesus carried it out; the Holy Spirit connects us to it. The Godhead, Three in One. 

We fight the good fight of faith, meaning we continue to struggle with our flesh and sin, but it's different now. I really hate my sin. I'm no longer comfortable with it. The Holy Spirit convicts us, and he is replacing those inordinate, fleshy desires in our heart with a desire to obey Christ, to live for God's glory and not our own. ( We also fight against this world's system and the devil. I don't want to downplay them, but according to the New Testament as a whole, our main fight is with indwelling sin and our flesh. It addresses this struggle by far the most. ) 

"...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure." ( Philippians 2:12 ) 

The Holy Spirit gives us a hunger for God's Word, and opens our eyes and minds to understand it. He comforts us, assures us, leads us, equips us with gifts, and teaches us. He gives us a longing to pray and a love for our new family. He gives us the power to overcome the sin in our lives. He gives us the desire, power, and strength to obey as he transforms us into the image of Christ, "from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." ( 2 Corinthians 3:18 )  

And he's with us forever. Isn't that amazing and life-giving? This truth alone is overwhelming.

Today many in the church seem to be seeking miracles of all kinds, but they've failed to realize that if they are in Christ, they are a living, breathing miracle! This truth should be celebrated. It should be at the heart of our worship! The greatest miracle that could ever happen to a person, the only one that truly matters, is God's salvation! The Holy Spirit miraculously regenerates our sinful, wayward, rebellious hearts at conversion, and yet, the church doesn't hardly mention it! Sometimes I wonder if people truly understand this astounding truth! 

It's hard to wrap our minds around the fact that obedience will naturally follow salvation instead of being the cause of it, or even the maintenance of it, in our "works righteousness mentality and culture." Deep inside of the human heart, I believe we think we must earn our way, pay our dues, so to speak, contribute somehow, but we simply can't when it comes to being acceptable in God's sight. We're powerless to overcome our sin. We can't stand. 

We need a high priest, One who is fully God and fully man, to atone for us, to offer the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf. One like us and One very much not like us. 

And when we obey Christ, we can be confident we are in Him. Even if we still struggle with our sin as Paul described that he did in his Christian walk in Romans 7, that struggle and continuing everyday in the act of repentance, asking God for forgiveness of the sin we hate, is another proof of our salvation. We know we desperately need him. Yes, that's right, another proof. We know we are bankrupt in our souls and dependent entirely upon Christ. 

"Bless are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Bless are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." ( Matthew 5:3-4 ) 

Do you mourn over your sin? Do you yearn to obey Christ for all he has done for you? Do you still struggle with sin at times? Are you brokenhearted when you give in to sin? Do you confess your sins and earnestly ask God to forgive you and help you because you know there is no way in the whole wide world you can do this without him? Do you believe he has forgiven you in Christ? Aren't you just beyond grateful for the fellowship of the Holy Spirit? 

Is Jesus not just your Savior but your Lord? Not just the One saving you from hell, but the sovereign One you joyfully obey? 

If so:

That's the life of a believer, my Friend. 

Rejoice and stay the course! 

P.S. I hope I encouraged you to persevere. 

💜

Happy Monday / Soli Deo Gloria 

"The Way of Salvation"

"Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it." 

"No passage in all of Scripture attacks modern-day easy-believism with more force that Matthew 7:13-14. It is the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, and it amounts to the Savior's own presentation of the way of salvation. How different it is from the trend of modern evangelism! There is no encouragement in these words for those who think they can be saved by a casual acceptance of the facts about Jesus Christ. Here our Lord brings the Sermon on the Mount to its evangelistic climax.

This passage crushes the claim of those who say the Sermon on the Mount is not the gospel, but law. In fact, these closing verses are pure gospel, with as pointed an invitation as has ever been issued. This closing lesson also debunks the opinion that the Sermon on the Mount is merely discourse on ethics for us to stand back and admire. 

Jesus is clearly not interested in bouquets for His moral teachings. And His challenge here erases any possibility that the Sermon on the Mount is truth for some prophetic tomorrow; Jesus is preaching to people in the here and now, and His message is urgent. 

Each person inevitably must make a choice, Scripture presents that choice in several ways. Through Moses, God confronted the Israelites saying, "I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live." ( Deuteronomy 30:19 ) 

Joshua challenged the Israelites as they entered the Promised Land, "Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." ( Joshua 24:15 ) 

Elijah called for a decision on Mount Carmel: "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." ( 1 Kings 18:21 ) 

God told Jeremiah, "You shall say to this people, 'Thus says the Lord, "Behold I set before you the way of life and the way of death.'" ( Jeremiah 21:8 ) 

What to do with Jesus Christ is a choice each person must make, but it is not just a momentary decision. It is a once-for-all verdict with ongoing implications and eternal consequences - the ultimate decision. Jesus himself stands at the crux of each person's destiny and demands a deliberate choice of life or death, heaven or hell. 

Here, in the culmination of all He has said in the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord requires that each person choose between following the world on the easy, well-traveled road or following Him on the difficult road. You will not find a plainer statement of the gospel according to Jesus anywhere in the Scripture. 

Here are two gates, the great and the small; two roads, the broad and the narrow; two destinations, life and destruction; and two crowds, the few and the many. The Lord goes on to describe two kinds of trees, good and corrupt; two kinds of fruit, good and bad, two kinds of builders, wise and foolish; and two foundations, rock and sand. ( Matthew 7:16-27 ) 

The choices are clear-cut. He demands a decision. We all are at the crossroads, and each individual must choose which way he or she will go." 

"The Gospel According to Jesus, What Is Authentic Faith?" John MacArthur 

The Cul-de-sac

I've had a love for farmland and country living ever since I can remember; however, I began life with my childhood roots firmly planted in suburban soil. I grew up playing hopscotch and hand-clapping games with my neighborhood girlfriends until our parents called us in for dinner, an era that now seems three lifetimes ago to my older self. A life where families took their meals together and instant anything was not a thing at all, expect of course when it came to discipline, and that was delivered instantaneously if you possessed the foolhardiness to disobey or sass your elders. 

Our brick ranch sat at the end of the last road of our subdivision on a cul-de-sac. The low traffic and quiet privacy meant many of our girlfriend gatherings happened in my neck of the woods. Beyond the cul-de-sac, past our whimsical chalk designs, lay this wide open field with a farmhouse sitting at the furthest stretch.

I can remember the magical look of the frosty soil as it sparkled like little diamonds in the rising winter sun. Slowly, the field would melt and fill with wildflowers and butterflies each spring and throughout the summer. By autumn the grass would have grown long and brown, bending with the passing wind as my sisters and I hurried out the front door to catch the school bus. 

Dad would often shush us when he heard the sound of a game bird calling from the thick overgrown strands of hay. Somewhere I suspect there must have been an aging reluctant farmer digging in his boot heels in defiance of a cold-hearted, money-grubbing developer, the old timer relentlessly refusing to give up this simple, pure piece of country goodness in the middle of suburbia. 

If that was the case, I can't say that I blame him. 

In my Christian life it's taken me a bit to picture the relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility as one of kindred spirits. Instead, as I struggled to reconcile the two in my Bible reading, I viewed the concept as a dead end road, a barricade, a paradox, two contradictory, hard cold truths that somehow, someway existed co-eternally in an alternate universe far away from human reasoning and anything resembling a welcome mat. 

First however, I've learned that these two truths, and they are both truths, aren't a paradox at all.  A paradox by definition is actually a figure of speech, a play on words. 

Theologian J.I. Packer points out that many truths about the Christian life can be expressed as paradoxes: For instance, when we come to Christ we gain our freedom by becoming a slave to righteousness. "Paul states various paradoxes of his own Christian experience: sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything; 'when I am weak, then I am strong.'" ( 2 Corinthians 6:10, 12:10 ) 

"The point of a paradox, however, is that what creates the appearance of contradiction is not the facts, but the words." Also, and this is important, a paradox is always comprehensible. A speaker or writer casts his ideas into paradoxes in order to make them more memorable and provoke thought," Dr. Packer clarifies. 

So what of God's sovereignty and human responsibility? What are they together if not a paradox? Aren't they contradictions? The Scriptures imply, "No." Because both are biblical realities that exist together in an incomprehensible, cordial relationship right here in our neck of the universe. Not away from human reasoning, but in spite of it. 

This enigmatic friendship is known as an antinomy.  

Of all of the examples given in Scripture, and they appear to be on every page, of God's sovereignty alongside of human responsibility, I think the most often quoted is possibly from Peter's first sermon in Acts 2:23:

"..this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men." 

And again in Acts 4:27-28 Peter praying to his "Sovereign Lord" says that both Herod and Pontius Pilate along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel were gathered together "to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place." 

It was God's sovereign plan for Jesus, his holy servant whom he anointed, ( verse 27 ) to be crucified, and everyone who played a part in putting him on that Roman cross was held accountable for their actions. They were not coerced. They were guilty. How is that? I don't know. 

In another more drawn out example, Paul, anticipating the people's objections in Romans 9 to God's sovereign choice in his election and man not being let off the hook for his actions, to my disappointment, the apostle didn't present them with diagrams and charts on parchment of how God's sovereign purposes all worked themselves out through human agency. 

Paul didn't offer any explanation; only to quote what God told Moses in the Book of Exodus saying, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy." ( verses 15 & 16 ) 

"Why does he still find fault? Who can resist his will? But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, 'Why have you made me like this?' Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?" ( verse 20 & 21 ) 

"What if God desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory - " ( verse 22 & 23 ) 

Then in Romans 10 we see man's responsibility: "because if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised him ( Jesus ) from the dead, you will be saved. ( verse 9 ) For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." ( verse 10 ) 

This is just one, albeit long, example in the Scriptures, but the complex relationship between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility truly seems to appear everywhere we look in the Bible. 

When teaching on the two Charles Spurgeon used the analogy of two parallel lines that seem separate, but will converge somewhere in eternity. He stated, "No man will ever get a right view of the gospel until he knows how to look at the two lines at once," teaching we must hold both truths in our hands. We must keep them balanced. 

Later in the Book of Romans, Paul seems to abruptly stop in the midst of all of these mind-boggling thoughts and burst into doxology:

"Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen." ( Romans 11: 33-36 ) 

Even if some of God's truths are deeper than human understanding, I want to hear the whole counsel of God's Word. Don't you? Every bit of it, not just the "pleasant" and understandable parts. Unless we are reading and wrestling with all of Scripture, we will not have an accurate picture or deep, abiding relationship with the God who created us. How can we? Knowing just a little of what the Bible says about God, isn't truly knowing him at all. 

I look back on my past life and wonder if we don't want to know God because, to borrow a famous line from a movie, we can't handle the truth. It's better just to create a God of our own making, one we shrink down and tame to our level. One we can handle. One who does things our way.

I realize God says some very difficult things especially in the Old Testament, and with every major Christian doctrine there just seems to be these tensions and complexities, like the Trinity, Jesus being fully man and fully God, the virgin birth, the resurrection, Jesus saying the world will hate his followers, and the cost of everything in our lives to follow Christ, ( I don't mean to go down a rabbit trail here, but for me that's one of the proofs Christianity is true. Who in the world making up a religion would put all this hard to believe stuff in their sacred book hoping to gain disciples unless it were all true? ) but don't you want to truly know God? The God who created you? Even though we won't understand his mind and his ways. Jesus says in John 17:3 that knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent is eternal life. Don't you want that? 

If the Apostle Paul, and further Jesus, didn't attempt to explain the relationship between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility, we shouldn't speculate in this area. To inflict our own imaginative, fallen ideas onto to one or either would be to damage both. 

I wouldn't even say the two are in tension together, no, they exist peacefully, as Spurgeon taught, side by side. Therefore we too should live contently and peacefully within their friendship even though we don't understand. We must believe both. Not understanding this relationship, helps to dissolve our own pride and live humbly and dependently before the God whose mind and ways are far above anything our small minds can wrap around.

This is the God we serve. 

We love him only because he first loved us. ( 1 John 4:19 ) 

He's the Creator. We're the creatures. He's perfect and holy. We're sinful. He's all-wise and all-knowing. We're not the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree. And yet, we think our definition of good is the correct one, that goodness couldn't possibly be any other way than the way we imagine it. It's not going to always make sense to us. 

But that doesn't mean the complexities and secret things aren't still stunningly beautiful. It doesn't mean we can't marvel, standing in awe, before the glorious intricacies of our Sovereign Lord as we would at one of the natural wonders in his created world. 

Like the gorgeous field full of life and wonder at the end of my childhood cul-de-sac. 

The relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility isn't a killjoy, a cold-hearted road block forcing us to turn around without question or compassion. No, when we come to the end of our knowledge we should view it more like a welcoming turnaround. True, we can't travel any further, but we're not scolded and then sent away. We're invited to linger as long as we like, to marvel at the beauty. To smell the fragrance and listen to its sounds. To stand and behold from a quiet distance the secret things, at least on this side of eternity, we're not to understand. 

Where the mysterious wind swirls the tender seed and then plants it firmly in the good ground. 

💜