As I observe the landscape of media and social media, it is nearly impossible to avoid verbose commentary on the political arena. Whether one considers himself a liberal or a conservative, everyone has an opinion when it comes to the credibility, performance, and character of political figures whom he or she supports or opposes. It seems that nearly all “walks of life” are free to chime-into the conversation concerning who is good and who is bad; who is right and who is wrong… except for the “the church”. Should a church organization or dare-say a pastor weigh into the conversation, he is met with the old adage of “separation of church and state” as if this battle cry holds some sort of trump (no pun) card against religion having any influence over political or governmental issues. To best understand the fallacy in such a claim, one must merely return to the pages of history in order to understand the true meaning behind this “mis”- quote and the reasoning behind it.
Many of the British North American colonies that eventually formed the United States of America were settled in the seventeenth century by men and women, who, in the face of European persecution, refused to compromise passionately held religious convictions and fled Europe. Some settlers who arrived in the New England colonies, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland came for secular motives--"to catch fish" as one New Englander put it--but the great majority left Europe to worship God in the way they believed to be biblical. They enthusiastically supported the efforts of their leaders to create a "holy experiment," whose success would prove that God's plan for his churches could be successfully realized in the American wilderness. Even colonies like Virginia, which were planned as commercial ventures, found leaders who considered themselves "militant Protestants" and who worked diligently to promote the prosperity of the church. Our founding Fathers, (many of them professed believers), constructed our system of government, building into it clear and specific protections for religious freedom. Which leads me to bring clarity to the source of the aforementioned “separation” misnomer. A professed Christian, Thomas Jefferson, (who needs no introduction as) one of the founding Fathers of our great nation, wrote an affirming letter to the Danbury Baptists. (Perhaps you are surprised that this statement came from no governmental document?) I am pasting the letter below: To messers. Nehemiah Dodge, Ephraim Robbins, & Stephen S. Nelson, a committee of the Danbury Baptist association in the state of Connecticut. Gentlemen The affectionate sentiments of esteem and approbation which you are so good as to express towards me, on behalf of the Danbury Baptist association, give me the highest satisfaction. my duties dictate a faithful and zealous pursuit of the interests of my constituents, & in proportion as they are persuaded of my fidelity to those duties, the discharge of them becomes more and more pleasing. Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties. I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection & blessing of the common father and creator of man, and tender you for yourselves & your religious association, assurances of my high respect & esteem. Thomas Jefferson Jan. 1. 1802. Note that the tenor of this entire letter is one of protection for religious freedom FROM the government! In nearly every case that I can cite concerning the “separation of church and state” argument, the antagonist uses the quote to defend interference in government from the church. Ironically, the “separation” statement is of the reverse. Note Jefferson’s exhortation: “Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.” Friends, this Jeffersonian statement represents a desire (included in the constitution) to protect the government from meddling in the church… not the reverse! Let me wrap-up this (certainly to be inciting) blog by exhorting you Christian man and Christian woman- our calling is to make disciples. We are “in the world, but not of the world.” Nevertheless, as we contextualize our calling to our stature in 21st century America, we must be bold in making our voice heard as one (of many) people groups here in America. Remember that the religious freedom granted to us in the Constitution does not allow us to dominate everyone. However, it does guarantee us the right to practice what the Bible teaches without Governmental interference.
1 Comment
This semester, I am teaching a course at the College of Biblical Studies on the wisdom books. My favorite wisdom book is the book of Job. Some may think it strange that this is my favorite of the wisdom books due to the tragic nature of the events and the suffering endured by the so named recipient of those tragedies. Many people believe that the book is indeed about suffering. While there exists a great amount of suffering in the account of Job, the book's focus remains on the main character of the Bible. This main character is of course, God. In essence, what we get to see here in the book of Job is a "peek behind the curtain" into the spiritual realm. Job begins and ends with prose. Yet sandwiched between these two bookends is poetry. After the Introduction, we are transported into a scene in heaven where we learn that the sons of God (metonymy for angels) including Satan, report to God regularly. We know this because the event is reported not once, but twice. The ironic thing that readers learn is that Satan and his minions (demons) can only do what God allows. (see 1:12 God says: "Behold, all that he has is in your power only do not put forth your hand on him.") After this first encounter, readers discover that Satan indeed destroys everything that Job possesses including his children. Yet, rather than weep or mourn, the text reveals that immediately Job worshiped God. (How do you get to that level of maturity?) What I find most surprising, however, is that God takes credit for Job's suffering. (see 2:3b "And he holds fast to his integrity even though you (Satan) incited Me (God) against him (Job)”. It is in this moment and in the events that follow that the reader realizes that the book of Job is about God's sovereignty. The saga continues with Job's friends expressing some initial empathy, but underneath they attempt to identify the reason for Job's immeasurable tragedies. Finally, God steps in and lays it all out in the longest recorded monologue of God speaking in the Bible. Simply put, God says, I'm God- do not question my reasons or motives. Your mind is too small to get it.
Ultimately, when readers realize this truth concerning God (He is sovereign and His ways are far above our ways), it drives us to a deeper understanding of His Omni-benevolence (His way is the best way.) Consider this: God has considered the billions of possible outcomes for every scenario for every person, in every situation and has determined the very best outcome that bring about His master plan for all eternity. You and I are blessed to be a part of that plan. Nevertheless, our experiences, our sorrows and our joys are inconsequential to the ultimate perfect outcome that these events affect. Romans 8:28-29 explains it best as the Apostle Paul writes: "And we know that God causes all things to work for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to His purpose (believers). For those He foreknew, He also pre-destined to be conformed into the likeness of His Son." In other words my friends, everything that has ever happened and everything that ever will happened is designed to shape believers into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Take comfort in the grand plan my friends and seek the shaping. Well, That’s What You Believe. But, I…
I have heard many people debate about the meaning of a passage in Scripture. Many a Sunday school class incorporates a discussion period where the leader asks a question similar to: “well, what do you think John? What do you think, Jane? How about you Bill?” From these queries, we often get a cornucopia of opinions concerning the meaning of the text in question. Such heretical discussions often stem from a lack of training on the part of the leader resulting not only in disagreements amongst members of the local body, but also in a complete skewing of the text’s true meaning. Is there meaning in the text that can be derived? Absolutely! Is the Bible an enigma wrapped in a riddle that cannot be discerned this side of eternity? Absolutely not! In order to support the answer to these aforementioned questions, one only need to look as far as the ancient Scriptural text. Second Timothy 2:15 reads: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” Breaking this passage apart exegetically helps us understand an absolute truth. Let’s begin with the first clause: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God…” God is perfect. God is infinite. So, how can we as believers EVER present ourselves before Him as “approved”? Well, Paul (as inspired by the Holy Spirit) answers this question with the remainder of the sentence: “as a workman who need not be ashamed…” So, the qualifier for presenting ourselves before God as approved is that we stand before Him saying that we worked very diligently. We “left it all on the field.” We gave it our all. The Greek word used for workman is ergates. This Greek word connotes a day laborer. I live in Houston. In the summer as I drive around the city, I see workmen along the highway wearing their hard hats and reflective vests drenched in sweat from shear physical effort. This is the context of what Paul means when he exhorts his readers to, “accurately handle” or “rightly divide” (NASB) the Word of truth. The Greek word used here for “rightly divide” is orthotomeo. It is where we get out word orthodontics. You get the idea. There is correction needed. So, we labor, and tighten, and straighten until the results are clearly accurate. Back to my original statement about absolute truth. The absolute truth to which I refer is that the Scripture can be “accurately handled” or “rightly divided”. In other words, Scripture can (and must) be accurately interpreted. Finally, the verbs in this passage are in the imperative mood (a command). My friends, if Scripture commands us to do something, you’d better believe that it is doable! Well, why then do we (so often) disagree about the interpretation of Scripture? Let’s begin with an understanding of the sources of authority that exist for each of us. The first source is Intellect. Our intellect incorporates our reasoning, training, and education whereby we arrive at conclusions about circumstances, conditions, and life in general. Perhaps you have heard people say things like, “well, that doesn’t make sense to me.” This is a response based on intellect. The next source of authority is Experience. Our experiences drive our view of circumstances, decision-making, and our general view of the world. Related to this source of authority, people will say things like, “well, I’ve never seen anything like that” or “in what I’ve seen and what I’ve experienced…” Thirdly, another source of authority is that of Tradition. I am sure all of us (especially we Baptists) have heard, “well, we’ve always done things this way.” Humans are creatures of habit. We use the same routine to get ready in the morning. We park in the same spot at the places where we regularly visit. We rely on the “familiar”, even to our own detriment. Finally, as you may have guessed, the fourth source of authority is the inspired Word of God- the Scriptures. Scripture is the one true source of authority. Our struggle is when we intermingle the false sources of authority (the first three) with the one true source: The Bible. But, how do we separate them? How do we “rightly divide the Word of Truth”? Hermeneutics is the art and science of biblical interpretation. In layman terms, we call it the Inductive Bible Study Method. Inductive Bible Study reflects an impartial approach to understanding a Bible text by comparing related Bible passages in order to allow the Bible to interpret itself. We begin by using the Bible itself rather than books written by men. We study the passage in a completely objective manner, laying aside any prior understanding of the text. First, we examine the details of the passage rather than jumping to a conclusion about its meaning. CONTEXT IS KING! (The context determines the meaning). The surrounding text of a passage uncover s its meaning. Additionally, the surrounding text establishes the occasion and circumstances in which the event occurred. THE THREE COMPONENTS OF INDUCTIVE BIBLE STUDY: 1. OBSERVATION: Establishes- What does the text say? (Investigation Stage) 2. INTERPRETATION: Establishes- What does the text mean? (Interpretation Stage) 3. APPLICATION: Establishes- What does it demand? (Implementation Stage) As a Professor at the College of Biblical Studies, I teach a class called Bible Study Methods. CBS offers this course as a “free tuition” course. You can register for this course using the link below. Let me encourage each of you as believers to take very seriously the thought of knowing truly what the Bible says, what it means, and ultimately what it requires of us. May God bless you and keep you! Pastor Doug Here is the link: www.freebsm.com A while back, the acronym WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) became popularized in Christian circles. Interestingly, as I observed the context of when church folks asked this question, it was usually in a situation in which the person asking the WWJD question was “checking” someone on his or her actions toward another person. In other cases, WWJD was sometimes directed at a person’s behavior or response to circumstances. As a believer, it is imperative that we can answer the WWJD question Biblically in every circumstance. But, in order to do so, a person must be intimate with how Jesus responds to circumstances similar to the ones in which we find ourselves involved.
Not to over-generalize, but many times when the question is posed, it involves circumstances where a Christian is assessing another person’s behavior as being in some way sinful. Whenever we look at another’s behavior and become righteously indignant regarding sinful behavior, the Holy Spirit gives the believer angst in our spirit and we react with various tenors of response. Our level of spiritual maturity can impact how we counsel the sinful infraction. The believer’s desire must always be to bring honor to Christ and further the Kingdom. The maturity level of the third party observing our efforts to accomplish this goal can often drive them to ask the question “What Would Jesus Do?” Often, this response is a backhanded way to chide us for our “judgmental” attitude toward another person. I find it ironic when church folks confront other believers about being perceivably “judgmental” the person questioning the judging is in fact themselves being judgmental! In order to properly answer the question (WWJD) in any circumstance, both Christians (the observer and the reprover) must understand several factors that affect the answer. First, as believers we must ask ourselves if the person in question is themselves a believer. When we read about Jesus in the Gospels, we find Him treating lost people and the religious leaders differently. Additionally, as we read the Bible and in particular, renderings of what Jesus said and did, we must observe the audience, occasion, and Jesus’ purpose with the person(s) that He is addressing. For example: the author of the Gospel of John indicates his purpose statement in chapter 20 as he writes, “many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” Based on this purpose statement (which is applicable in all four gospels), the Gospel writers centered on teachings of Jesus pursuant to winning the lost. In His Kingdom Life Discourse in Matthew (Sermon on the Mount- and restated in Luke), Jesus describes the heart of a believer and his lifestyle as a member of God’s Kingdom. Furthermore, in the book of Revelation, Jesus appears to the Apostle John in a vision revealing to him past, present, and future events (cf 4:1) “after these things…” Prior to 4:1, readers find “letters to the seven churches.” Without going into any great deal of exegesis, the 7 letters are written to actual 1st century churches and are addressed to the pastors of those churches. In essence, Jesus is encouraging, exhorting, and instructing each of the 7 pastors in what is going well and what is not going so well in His church. Jesus’ reproof is followed by correction and training. He holds the pastor accountable to enhance what is going well and what needs correction. To encapsulate what I have laid out so far in answering the WWJD question, the answer is: it depends on the role of the person and the audience. Let’s look at the varied audiences. Christian to Unbeliever We see a number of examples of how Jesus dealt with the lost. The commonality in all of these instances is compassion. In John chapter 8, Jesus is confronted by the religious leaders bring a “woman caught in the very act of adultery.” The “Law” requires stoning of both participants. Yet, the man is conspicuously missing. Some scholars cite this issue as an indication that Jesus was being set-up… (as if man could ever trap God!). So, Jesus says, “let he who is without sin cast the first stone”. One by one, everyone departs leaving He and the woman alone. What Jesus says to her next is key, “where are your accusers? Did no one condemn you?” To which she replies, “no one Lord”. Jesus replies, “neither do I condemn you. But, go and sin no more.” So, for the believer to the lost person, Jesus does not condemn the sin. But, neither does He condone it. This is a key issue that we often miss. For the lost, we as believers are not to condemn- but we are also not to condone the sin. In a similar situation, we find Jesus encountering a “seeker”. The “woman at the well” had multiple divorces in her past and was currently living with a man. Neither condemning or condoning the woman’s behavior, He evangelizes her and leads her to the truth about worship (in Spirit and Truth) and ultimately illuminates her about salvation. Believer to Poser The Pharisees were the religious leaders during Jesus’ first coming (1st century Palestine). Jesus was highly critical of the Pharisees’ hypocrisy and legalism. He referred to them as “white washed tombs” and told them that their “father was the devil”. When it comes to anyone portraying themselves as religious without demonstrating the heart behind the actions, Jesus harshly criticized them. In another case where He laid out the requirements of following Him in John 6 many said, “this is a difficult statement, who can listen to it?”. Jesus’ response: “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” In both instances, Jesus calls people out. He confronts the poser (false Christian) with his hypocrisy and challenges the person(s) to “fish or cut bait”. (a metaphor for asking a person if they are in or are they out). Jesus to the Pastor So often when a person asks the question (WWJD) they forget, or don’t realize that Jesus is the entity in Revelation who is speaking with the Apostle John. He instructs John to, “write to the church in…” He addresses issues, both positive and negative, in seven 1st century churches. He instructs the Pastor (“write to the angel of the church in…”) to enhance the church’s strengths and to correct the church’s shortcomings. Sadly, this structure is counter-cultural in many 21st century churches. The pastor is viewed as the employee and presumed to operate at the direction of the members, rather than the reverse. This is what I refer to as a “club-mentality”. Such a mentality flies in the face of the pastor’s job description in Ephesians: “to equip the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body…” as well as the description in Acts 6: “let us appoint for ourselves servants… so that we may focus on prayer and teaching”. A healthy church is one that operates at the direction of Christ (the Head of the body) as led by the Holy Spirit. Unity is the evidence of this underlining. Fortunately, I am blessed with a group of believers who view church the biblical way. We are a church who seeks growth as the Body of Christ in order to go out into the community and win the lost. An important caveat concerning WWJD as it relates to the church is we must always remember that Jesus called His disciples to follow Him. He trained them for 3 years and then sent them out. After He rose from the dead, He imparted the Holy Spirit upon His disciples and sent them out to make disciples who make disciples (and so on..). We see the concept of mentorship (or discipleship) all over the Bible. So, while it is incumbent upon the pastor to provide guidance from the Word (2 Timothy 3:16), he must, like Jesus, train leaders who in turn, train leaders, and so on. To summarize what the Bible says regarding WWJD, He would not condemn the sinner. Yet, he would not condone the sin. He would call out the hypocrite. Yet, He would call them to repentance and to life. He would charge the pastor to oversee the direction of the congregation. Yet, He would charge him with training disciple makers who make disciples. So, I suppose that the real question in all of this is not WWJD, rather, it is what would Jesus have you do? And… are you doing it? As we approach Resurrection Sunday (what many call Easter), I am reflecting on my role as both pastor and Christian to evangelize the lost as well as equip the saints. It strikes me that those church attenders who only come at Christmas and Easter (some call them “Chreasters”) only hear the message of Jesus’ birth and the message of His resurrection over and over again. If that were me (praise God I get to be in church every week!), I’d probably struggle not to get pretty “glazed over” hearing the same message over and over again. I’d probably even become inoculated by these messages. You know what an inoculation is, right? An example is what some of us do when we go to the doctor for our annual flu shot. We get the flu shot and Boom!... we don’t (hopefully) get the flu this year. Many of us know that in fact, the flu shot is a small dose of the actual flu strain. (I am not a medical doctor- I’m a doctor of ministry- so don’t ding me on the details of how this works too much!) It’s a great word picture for how some folks response to sermon messages. Anyway- inside the syringe is a small amount of the flu virus that is introduced into our system. This introduction triggers anti-bodies in our system to build up immunity to the actual virus so that, when the “real thing” comes, we are immune to its’ effects. It can get this way (metaphorically) in church. The twice a year attendee has heard the same message over and over and so, they become immune to its’ effects.
So, I asked myself: what can I do to break this cycle? Well, the answer sounds kind of crazy! I am NOT going to preach on the Resurrection of Jesus this year. I will be preaching on one of the most misunderstood parables that Jesus told in the Gospel of Luke. Don’t get me wrong, I agree that the birth, life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ are not only the most significant events in the history of history, they represent the pillar of our Christian faith. Nevertheless, I want to demonstrate to the visitor that there is a great deal more depth to church than Jesus was born, died, and rose from the dead and if you believe this (hallelujah) you are saved and will spend eternity with the Lord! What is more than that you say? Well, I am glad you asked. To this I say, Why Wait! We can experience a deep and abiding relationship with the Lord and His chosen people RIGHT NOW! It’s called church. And it is AMAZING! We at Brazos Bend Baptist Church love the Lord and we love each other. Our Mission is to help people in the surrounding community experience abundant life by coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and to equip and build disciples in a Biblical worldview. The Brazos Bend Baptist Church invites you to worship with us and get involved in serving and worshiping our Lord! I hope you will join us this coming Resurrection Sunday at the amphitheater inside Brazos Bend Park for our Sunrise Service at 7:30 am. Breakfast will be served following our worship service. See you there! Pastor Doug As I prepare for this week’s sermon covering the Cain and Abel narrative, I cannot help but consider the impact of God’s exhortation to Cain in verses 6 and 7 of Genesis chapter 4. To set the context, both brothers in the story have given an offering to the Lord. The text tells us that, “God had regard for Abel and his offering. But, for Cain and for his offering He had no regard.” Readers then learn that Cain’s “countenance fell”. Webster’s defines the word countenance as ones “face, visage especially the face as an indication of mood, emotion, or character; bearing or expression that offers approval or sanction. e.g. The photograph showed his somber countenance. So, countenance is an outward expression of an inward response. Interestingly, God acknowledges Cain’s response to God’s lack of regard for the offering. God, proceeds to exhort Cain by asking him a rhetorical question. (A question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer.) God says, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?” Notice that in His exhortation, God gives Cain the solution to his problem. Cain’s problem is that his countenance has fallen. So, God says that the solution to lifting his countenance is for Cain to “do well”.
We do not need to extrapolate from the text (which I never wish to do!) in order to determine that Cain DIDN’T do well. Because if he had, well, then his countenance would have been lifted instead of downcast. However, the burning question is this: what is “doing well”? And equally important: what is it that Cain did not do well? The answer to both of these questions lie in the story itself. Bot brothers gave an offering to the Lord. The text describes the nature of Abel’s offering as, “the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions.” The Old Testament, of which the book of Genesis is the first of 39 books, is written predominately in biblical Hebrew. Those original readers of the Old Testament, which was written by Moses as authored by God in around 1,400 BC, would have clearly understood that Abel’s offering was the very best of what he owned. On the other hand, Cain’s offering is described simply as “the fruit of the ground”. Some uneducated Bible students may say that Abel’s offering was accepted because God expected animal sacrifices. This observation is naïve and draws conclusions which are outside of the text and are based on the sacrificial system which was not affected until around 1,000 BC. So, why did God have regard for Abel, but not for Cain? Why did Abel do well in God’s eyes and why did Cain not do well? I have been sharing with my Bible study group the concept of progressive revelation. Fortunately for us, we can compare like Bible passages in order to allow the Bible to interpret this issue for us. We want to draw the meaning out of the text (exegesis), rather than to project our interpretation onto the text (eisegesis). During the sermon series in 1 John, I shared with our folks the purpose statement for John (the Apostle’s) writing 1 John. In chapter 5 John pens, “I write these thing to you who believe in the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” Each week as we went through the series, I was able to illuminate our sermon listeners to John’s comparison of the heart of a believer to the heart of an unbeliever. What we learned in that the heart of a believer desires do well and thus be pleasing to God. While the heart of an unbeliever has no regard to do so. Do you see the verbiage here? “Do well” “have (no) regard”? To do well friends is to desire to please God. While we may fall short and miss the mark (hamartia is the Greek word for sin, which means to miss the mark), our DESIRE is to do well and to please God. Well Pastor Doug, you may say, what specifically can I do to be pleasing to God? Do I have to sell everything and give it to the poor? Do I have to be on 5 committees and be at church every time the doors fling open? Do I have to give up the things I like to do? To this I say, (surprising to some), No! The only thing that we must change in order to “do well” is to change the REASON why we do them. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Similarly, Colossians 3:17 says, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” Make your motive this in all things my brothers and sisters, and you WILL do well. As a pastor, ringing in the New Year brings with it an opportunity to exhort people to re-prioritize their lives. A common tradition among Americans (lost and saved alike) is to make New Year’s resolutions. These resolutions are usually driven by the individual’s desire to improve him or her “self” in some way, whether it be physically, professionally, or emotionally. As one might imagine, my role as a pastor drives me to encourage others within the scope of my influence to grow spiritually. I can think of no better way for an indwelled believer to do this very thing (grow spiritually) than to develop a Daily Quiet Time with the Lord.
A Daily Quiet Time is defined in its’ name. In a D Q T, the Christ follower sets aside a prescribed time (daily) to spend with the Lord. During this time, the person reads, studies, and meditates on God’s Word. He or she prays, praises God, and in so doing, naturally grows closer to Him. The second largest struggle to executing on this need for daily time with the Lord (the first being actually taking the time!) is knowing HOW to plan and execute the Daily Quiet Time. Below is a Template for the beginner to build upon: Many times, when I speak to individuals about this concept, they express that after only a few minutes, they “run out of things to say to God”. Many Christians view prayer and time with the Lord this way, where prayer becomes this monologue in which we enter into God’s presence and ask Him for things. We ask Him to heal people (including us). We ask him to make our problems go away. We ask Him for something that will either improve our lives, or make them better (in our perception) in some way. Well to this notion I say, why not “flip the script” on prayer? Let God begin the conversation! (After all, He is God!) What He has to say is certainly far more important than anything we can say to Him, right? But, how do we let God begin the conversation? Do we do this by sitting in a dark room quietly and waiting for Him to speak into our brains? No. He has never spoken to people that way. Hebrews 1:1 says that, “long ago God spoke to us in many times and many ways through His prophets. But now He speaks to us through His Son.” This is a figure of speech known as metonymy- which is the substitution of a name or phrase for something with which it is associated. In this case, the author of Hebrews is referring to (you guessed it) the Bible. So, we let God begin the conversation through reading the Bible. Perhaps you are unaware that if we read the Bible for 15 minutes a day that we can read through the entire Bible in a year! Begin your daily quiet time with 15 minutes of Bible reading. During that time, try to take note of what you are reading. A prayer Journal is a great way to make observations about what you are reading as well as to make note of your prayers to God and the outcome. Once you are finished the 15 minutes of reading, select a passage within the reading (don’t try to assimilate the whole thing!) and meditate on the one main point of the passage that you chose. Ask God to help you understand the meaning of the passage and how it can apply to you. Is there a sin to forsake? Is there a promise God made? Write down these thoughts in your prayer Journal. Take time to review these thoughts in days going forward. Prayer Time- Now that you have allowed God to begin the conversation, you are poised to commune with Him. Prayer is a dialogue that involves both talking and listening to God. To maintain a healthy dialogue with God, remember the acronym A C T S. This acronym stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication (intercessory prayer for others). Using the observations that you wrote down from the aforementioned passage, find reasons that the passage gives for God to be praised and adored (there are always many to be found in the Word). Confession- a lot of Christians do not fully understand the purpose and the need for confession. Either they think they have to do it in order to maintain their salvation (legalism) or that they don’t have to confess theirs sins because “all is forgiven” and “we can’t lose our salvation”- so sin doesn’t matter (libertinism). Both of these are heresy! While it is true that once a person is regenerated (John 3:3) he or she cannot be undone from salvation, confession is necessary in order to maintain the active fellowship between God and His children. For example: when my two (now adult) sons were younger, if they committed an infraction against me (like disobeying or disrespecting me), I’d send them to their room as punishment. Even though they were sent to their room, they still remained my sons. Nothing can EVER change that! However, we were out of fellowship. Until they came out of their room, admitted that they had wronged me, apologized, and repented from doing such an infraction, we were out of fellowship. The action of repentance and apology to God is what we call confessing our sins. In a previous blog, I described the various types of sins (Omission, Commission, Wrong Motives, Wrong Attitudes). Feel free to go back and read the blog entitled “Go and Sin No More” for more detail. Once we have completed the “C” of the acronym, we can move on to the “T”, which stands for Thanksgiving. Even in the worst of times, we have numerous reasons to be thankful to God. Take time to write these things down in your prayer journal and return to them regularly. If (and when) the valleys come, this is a great underpinning to remind ourselves of the faithfulness and generosity of God! Feel free to use the day’s passage to find reasons to be thankful as well. The last letter of the acronym is the one we are most familiar with: The S (Supplication) is what we normally call our “prayer requests”. I can tell you from personal experience that by following the above formula, your requests (at least your perception of them) will change. God will no longer be Santa Clause who gives you stuff. He will no longer be a genie in a bottle that (if we own the lamp of obedience) will grant us our wishes. He will no longer be a vending machine who gives us what we ordered since we “put our money in the slot and punched A-7”. Our requests will become Kingdom oriented. Our desires will be to glorify God and to further the Kingdom to this glory. You see, when we ask God to clear the path for us to further His agenda, that is a request that He WILL answer! ” 14 This is the confidence which we have [l]before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” (1 John 5:14-15). I have heard it said and I believe it to be true that “the journey of 1,000 miles begins with one single step.” It is my prayer that you (blog reader) will take the first step in this journey of growing in a deeper relationship with the All-powerful Creator of the universe. Begin with 15 minutes a day. I like to give God the first fruits of my day. So, I start my day with the D Q T. Perhaps you are not a morning person. That’ ok. God uniquely made you! Before you lie down at night, give Him the last 15 minutes and see where He leads you. I guarantee you that you will be richly blessed and experience a peace that you never knew that you would! As a pastor, one might imagine that I encounter many people’s varied perspective on the topic of sin. These perspectives fluctuate between believers and non-believers as well as among professed believers. Before addressing the varying perspectives and what the Bible says about them, it is important that I define “sin”. The New Testament was written in koine Greek. The Greek word that the Bible uses for sin is hamartia. Hamartia is actually an archery term meaning “to miss the mark”. So in essence, to “sin” is to “miss the mark”. This definition begs the question, what “mark” did I miss? In archery, the ultimate goal is to hit the red spot on the target known as the “bulls-eye”. Most of us know that this red spot is located at the very center of the target. Hitting the bulls-eye reflects a perfect shot. It does not take a rocket scientist to conclude that the metaphor implied in this term indicates missing the mark of God’s perfection. In other words, to sin is to miss the mark of perfect expectation required by our perfect Creator.
The Bible says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) and that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). The second aforementioned passage refers to spiritual death or an eternal separation from God. The first passage indicates that “all” humanity is deserving of this fate. Fortunately, the All Powerful Creator of the universe made a way for everyone to escape this fate. He sent Jesus Christ, the God-man, to voluntarily shed His own blood as a propitiation (satisfaction of God’s wrath) and atonement (being put right with God) for our sin. (John 3:16) I do want to stay on-topic here regarding understanding the definition of sin. Ask any unbeliever (someone who does not realize that salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ) what sin is and you may get a response similar to, “well, it is doing anything bad to another person” or “it’s breaking the (civil) laws”. Interestingly, ask a professed believer what sin is and you may get the same response with an added caveat, “something that is against the Bible – or God”. Many of us (believer and unbeliever alike) may be surprised to learn that sin goes deeper than simply committing perceived bad things to humanity and/or to God. There are actually four categories of sin: Sins of Omission, Commission, Wrong Motives, and Wrong Attitudes. It is appropriate to clarify what each of these categories entail. Sins of Omission- These type of sins are sins where a person has left out or, “omitted” doing something that they should have done for God or for their human counterparts. Sins of omission include, but are not limited to, neglecting a need that the transgressor could have met, willfully (or inadvertently) shirking a commitment, or delaying the fulfillment an obligation made. This category of sin is less overt (except to the object of the infraction) and are often not even consciously perceived as been wrongdoing. Sins of Commission- This category of sin represents the most overt and identifiable infraction. Once a person becomes a “believer”, sins of commission are the first category that the new Christian begins to hide. (Yes, I said hide!) While the committing of outward sins may be gradually reduced over time through spiritual maturation, these sins still “rear their ugly head” from time to time. All humans possess a general-bend toward certain types of sins, while not struggling at all with other sins. (e.g. Some may struggle with lying, while others struggle with stealing.) As the believer matures, he or she may struggle to a less degree with the temptation. However, the urge never completely goes away. At least not on this side of the New Heaven and the New Earth. (A topic for another blog!) Sins of Wrong Motive- This category is arguably the most difficult to perceive. Sins of wrong motive represent an action, a choice, or a decision that the trespasser made with the wrong intention for doing it. Outwardly, the action may be perceived by others as a noble deed that served others well. But inwardly, the person affected this action for selfish purposes including self-gain, self-promotion, or self-service. To better understand why this type of infraction is considered sin, we must again consult the Bible. First Corinthians 10:31 reads, “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Similarly, Colossians 3:17 states, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” Thus, the proper motive for all humans do must be to glorify God in Jesus’ name. Any other motive is sin. These passages make it clear that only the indwelled believer is capable of avoiding the sin of wrong motive. The unregenerate lost person cannot possibly do anything to the glory of God because he or she lacks the Holy Spirit who enables this divine motive. Sins of Wrong Attitude- This category of sin is arguably the most damaging. I say this not because of the response that a person committing the sin of wrong attitude may impose on the object of his attitude, but rather, what the long-term effect of these “un-loving” attitudes may have on the sinner. Our attitude toward God and humanity must always be that of agape’ love. To sum up our understanding of what constitutes violation of any of these categories of sins, we need to look no further than the Word of God and the words of Jesus Christ Himself (the God-man). When confronted to identify the Greatest Commandment, Jesus expressed that one must, “love the Lord God with all of one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength and love one’s neighbor as himself.” Jesus continued, “On this (commandment) hang all of the law and the prophets” (a cultural metaphor for the Bible). The type of love of which Jesus speaks is agape’ love. This love is described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and can be summed up as selflessly putting others and God ahead of one’s self ambitions/motivations. As a caveat, only the (Spirit) indwelled believer is capable of agapao (the noun for agape’). By surrendering control to the Holy Spirit, the believer allows God the Spirit to love through us. Before concluding this blog, I would be remiss if I did not address the common statement (even by believers): Well, nobody’s perfect! (and that’s true). But when a believer says this, what he or she really means is that since we are going to mess up anyway that it is okay and God gives us a “pass”. This is not biblical! While it is true that salvation is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (and not by works- Ephesians 2:8), this false statement legitimizing sin cheapens the great sacrifice that He made on the Cross through shedding His own blood. Don’t get me wrong, once a person has been born-again (regenerated) the action cannot be undone. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” However, the irrevocability of our regeneration is not a license to sin. In fact, our new nature has freed us from the bondage of sin and has made us “slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:16). Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 10:13 believers discover that sin is predictable, avoidable and escapable… every time. Let me encourage you as a Christ follower to meditate on the aforementioned Scriptures and pray for a healthy understanding of sin as well as how to honor God with your thoughts and to glorify Him with your lives. If you are not yet a regenerated (born-again) believer, (or even if you are!) let me encourage you to go to our website: bbbchurch.org go all the way to the bottom of the page and click on the link entitled: Have questions about God? GET ANSWERS. As always, I am here to help you in your walk with God, wherever you are in that journey. Blessings, Pastor Doug In considering the events of this past week, (and the weeks’ events that led to them), as a pastor, it drives me to challenge people to ask themselves why they believe (or support) Ms. Ford or Judge Kavanaugh respectively. As most of the world (or at least the United States) is aware, over the past few months, investigations and Senate hearings have taken place in order to vet and approve (or decline) President Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the United States. Notwithstanding the political motives of either the Democratic or Republican parties, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford levied accusations against Judge Brett Kavanagh of sexual assault. Last Thursday, the world had the opportunity to witness both parties’ testimony before the Senate Committee responsible for approving or denying the senatorial vote, which would affirm or deny President Trump’s nomination of Judge Kavanaugh to the highest court in the nation. Both parties were availed an opening statement and were subsequently questions by both Democrat and Republican Senators as well as an attorney who specializes in validating (or invalidating) plaintiff and defendants’ testimony in sexual assault cases. What resulted was a bi-partisan vote to move forward to a full Senate vote with the caveat of a week delay in order to allow the FBI to further investigate these allegations.
I am fairly well connected to social media. I have lived in 4 different states in various parts of the country and I have friends all over the US. Some of them support the Democratic party. Some of them support the Republican party. Some are passionate about their beliefs. Some are indifferent. I use social media (as a pastor) in order to positively impact the Kingdom of God. As I read the reactions to the aforementioned hearing, I find most people fairly polarized to one opinion or the other. Either a person believes Ms. Ford, or they believe Judge Kavanaugh. I find the decision to further investigate these claims to be an opportunity for a social (and ultimately spiritual) experiment. Interestingly, as I continue to observe the reactions to the hearing last week, I have noticed very little difference in people’s original perception of what did or did not happen between Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh. So, here is my question: If you currently support Judge Kavanaugh and the investigation yields irrefutable evidence that he is guilty, will you withdraw your support of him for the appointment? Conversely, if you are currently a supporter of Ms. Ford’s claims and the investigation yields no evidence to substantiate those claims, will you fall in behind Judge Kavanaugh and support his nomination? If your answer to either question is no, then I would challenge you to question the source of your worldview. What is a worldview? I am glad you asked! Simply put, a worldview is a person’s perception of the world or, how he or she views and assesses circumstances, events, and judges them. A worldview is comprised of five key elements: a person’s view of reality (physical and spiritual); ethics (right & wrong); humanity; truth; and ultimately: his or her view of God. The perception of reality and the overall belief system of how things should be, formulate the worldview of a culture. The foundation of a cultures’ worldview stems from a series of conformities among members of a civilization and how they respond to circumstances and to each other. Furthermore, the continuance of a worldview “is imposed on the young of a society by means of familiar processes of teaching and learning.”[1] Such conditioning indoctrinates the young into society’s generally accepted way of thinking and their view of how the world works. Based on these perceptions, a member of a culture may arrive at suppositions as a result of the paradigms of his culture. One’s presuppositions drive his conclusions. Therefore, for the individual to successfully change his or her conclusions, he or she must first clearly understand his presuppositions. As Christians, it is essential that we hold to a biblical worldview. In other words, our assessment and subsequent judgement of circumstances and events must be based on the Bible. We must ask: what does the Bible say about this situation? Then we must base or responses and actions on biblical truth. Conversely, if a person’s worldview is based on his or her political ideology, he or she will assess the circumstances based on the perceptions of that political paradigm. To draw us back to this specific instance: If the outcome of the investigation contrasts the side that I support, and yet I do not change my mind, then I hold to a worldview based on my political preference rather than a biblical perspective. Our politicians’ (Republican and Democrat alike) metal will be tested at the end of this week. We must ask ourselves: are they (and ultimately are we) willing to stand up for what is right regardless of whether their party “wins” or “loses” in this situation? Or are they (and are we) willing to “win at all costs”? The answer to THAT question (concerning our politicians) my brothers and sisters should drive our decisions at the polls, not our political paradigms. On a related note, my guess is that if Brett Kavanaugh is proven to be guilty of this heinous crime, it will be his end. All the years of upstanding service to our country, all the spotless record of integrity, the dozens or even hundreds of character references, will be wiped out by one (currently alleged) drunken incident by a 17-year old high-school kid. Many will say that (if it is proven true) Brett is deserving of just that level of punishment. Perhaps you are aware that in the eyes of God, you and I are deserving of far worse a fate than what hangs in the balance for Kavanaugh. The Bible says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Even in returning to the original language of the New Testament, “All” still means all. That means every human deserves spiritual death. A few chapters later, the text tells us that, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). This passage describes the eternal spiritual punishment of separation from God. The good news is that God provided a means for humanity to be redeemed from this fate. He sent Jesus Christ to provide a satisfaction for God’s wrath against sin (propitiation) as well as atonement for sin. John 3:3 says, “unless on is born again (Greek anothen can means from above, or again) he cannot enter the Kingdom (of God)”. In this passage, Jesus describes the divine act of regeneration upon the believer that can be clarified in Ezekiel 36:25-f. The evidence of this new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17) is described in Romans 10:9-10 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” Ephesians 2:8 clarifies that salvation is given by God’s grace and not our own efforts. I praise God the He is a billion times more forgiving than humanity. Because although I (and you) deserve spiritual death, He has provided the means for us to be forgiven through the blood of God the Son, Jesus Christ. If you would like to discuss this truth further with me, I’d love to meet with you. Feel free to reach out to me. -And may God bless you and keep you! [1] Charles H. Kraft, Christianity in Culture. (Maryknoll, NY, Orbis Books, 1988) 53. |
AuthorDr. Douglas Brooks (Senior Pastor @ BBBC) Archives
January 2020
Categories |