We Need Reform! Part 1

As I prepare to feed the flock at Shellsford this Sunday I have been challenged again by the beauty, simplicity, and the sovereignty of God and the power of His Word. The truths in II Timothy 3:16-17 are timeless. Paul gives us a number of truths that will guide us, rather will carry us to the reality of Christ's reformation.

To be reformed God will lead us to:

R ecognize the authority of Scripture.
E xperience the change of Scripture.
F ollow the teaching of Scripture.
O ffer ourselves to the God of Scripture.
R ely on the sufficiency of Scripture.
M editate on the whole of Scripture.

If we are ever going to see the revival in our church we need to experience a new Reformation. Martin Luther, 488 years ago (October 31st, 1517) began a movement in Germany that has all but stopped in our own nation. He saw, as few others had at the time, that the Church had left it's Scriptural Anchor and was adrift in the traditions of man. He recognized that the Body of Christ is firmly connected, not to man's world, but to God's Word. As he spent the rest of his life proclaiming the life-giving power of God's Living Word, he saw the beginnings of a movement that has returned Christ's Bride to her True Husband.

What can we do to be Reformed this morning? In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Paul shows us 6 truths the we must experience in order to see true reform, true revival:

1. Recognize the authority of Scripture.
'All Scripture' These are all of the collected writings throughout the history of Israel and the New Testament church that have been preserved by God.
'breathed-out by God' This means that God literally spoke these words. Paul is stating that regardless of the form in which these words actually took, they must be looked upon as though they were 'spoken, breathed out' by God.

This does not strike me as an area where I will receive any disagreement initially. Everyone in an evangelical setting will say that the Bible has authority. The problem is that it is only a figurehead authority.

We treat the Word with:

The same respect we have for that employer who gives us instruction but we only follow it as long as we know they are paying attention.
The same respect that we have to the officer’s face but when he leaves we cringe and mock.
The same respect we have for our spouse or parent when they are giving us advice or correction but we still do what we wanted to anyway.
We each believe that the Word of God has authority we simply fail to realize that as long as we determine the amount of authority it has over our lives it really has no authority at all.
We use it to get our way and we ignore it when it corrects our way.
When we are the ones who determine what to follow and what to obey...where does the real authority lie? Not in the Word...it lies in us. We need to recognize this and submit to It's authority on It's terms.

Tomorrow I will continue with Part 2 of We Need Reform!

How does it feel to be bound to this Lord?

What a huge thing to consider. The reality that God, Himself, has included us in His body: the Church.

'...and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.' Colossians 2:19

This is another evidence of the principle of just throwing the Word:

This body, Christ's church, exists under His authority, receives its health from Him, is bound to
Him completely in its activities and its flexibility, grows because healthy living things grow.

This is just like the seeds in Mark 4:26-29. The farmer throws the Word and sleeps and rises, night and day, not knowing how the seeds grow. He simply watches and waits for the time to harvest. The seeds grow because God has created them to do this and sustains them throughout their cycle. The church is the same.

We must think this way more and more. Look around. Those who do not display this kind of living before God, especially but not exclusively in the area of church membership, bring their own faith into question. The Truth is that those who are Christ's grow with a growth that is from God.

What about you? What does your growth look like?

What's so important about church, anyway?

Recently, I have had to sit down and consider the question, "why is it soo important for Christians to attend church?" This is due to the fact that there are many church members today who do not feel that attending and being active in a local church is really all that big of a deal. After all, our relationship with God is a personal one, and there are so many people that do attend church that are just horrible people, so it's just better to stay home, and worship God there. It is important, in fact it is crucial, that we worship God behind the closed doors of our house. But on the same note, it is just as crucial that we are active in a local church if we are able to be. Of course, that is not always possible, is it? Some people are not physically able to attend church, and the church must extend itself out to these people. Missionaries often don't have the opportunity for this kind of community until they are able to spread the Gospel and thereby have a body of believers. For the most part though, we are all physically able, and in a position to attend church regularly.
But many do not. Why? some are bitter towards churches because at some point in their life they had a bad experience. Some feel that they are not treated with kindness, or maybe that they are the only normal people in the church. People just have a hard time getting along. They don't like the music, the prayer, the singing, the pastor or his message. They feel as though they should belong to the perfect church, the one where everyone is kind, understanding, gentle, friendly, helpful, intelligent, generous, encouraging, motivating but not much so or they might start becoming overbearing. It's got to be just right. We all feel this way sometimes because we are human, and much too sinful in our attitudes.
But does this mean we should not be active in Church? Should we give up on a church because we don't get along with everybody? Should we decide we can do better just staying homeby ourselves, and seperating from other Christians because we disagree with them on something? This is not the message in the Bible.
In Ephesians 4, we see Paul talking to the Church at Ephesus about this very thing. Paul writes that those in the Church must treat one another with "humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in love." (4:2) So Paul is telling the church that they need to put up with one another. But most importantly, Paul gives the reason why in the next verse. "endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." We treat one another this way, putting up with our differences, putting one another first (that's what humility means, isn't it?) because we are unified in the Spirit. Paul doesn't write, "to make us unified in the Spirit." Rather, we are to "keep" the unity that is already present. Once we accept Christ, we are unified with all other believers in the same Holy Spirit. It just happens that way. So, for this reason, we bear with one another, loving one another in order to keep the unity.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer discusses this in his book, "Life Together", and he gives a stirring reminder that God has chosen to place his people in a community setting. Our community setting should not be solely based upon our social desires when we gather with other people. Rather, when it comes to the church, we should, as Bonhoeffer states, remember that it is “not what a man is in himself as a Christian, his spirituality and piety, [that] constitutes the basis of our community. What determines our brotherhood is what that man is by reason of Christ.” He continues, “one who wants more than what Christ has established does not want Christian brotherhood. He is looking for some extraordinary social experience which he has not found elsewhere; he is bringing muddled and impure desires into Christian brotherhood.” We find it all too easy to think of Church as a place where we get refueled, and our needs met, and us, us, us, me, me, me. It is true that we find comfort and renewal in Church, but only by focusing our attentions on worshipping God rather than looking inweard to what we want. We tend to forget we are there to worship God, and honor Him first and foremost. We do this through humbly serving one another in the body.
This thought is echoing Christ's words in the Garden as He prayed to His Father. "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those that believe in me through their word, that they all may be one as you, Father, are in me, and I in you; that they may be one in Us, that the world may believe you sent me" (John 17:20-21). We cannot escape from the fact that we are unified with other believers, and so we must treat one another lovingly. We are to imitate the relationship Christ has to the Father. How do we do this? In the conext of the local Church (Part 2). We must hold ourselves in check, sacrificing certain things that we know we are free to have for the sake of the "weaker brother" (Rom. 15). As Christians who faithfully follow the Word of God, we cannot escape the fact that we must be in fellowship with and supporting one another (more on the community of believers in Part 2). We cannot turn our backs on one another simply because of our comfort, or preferences. There are times when it is better to agree than to disagree (except on issues pertaining to Biblical truth), but not to turn one's back on a a fellow believer.
There is a clear command in the New Testament for keeping the unity of the Spirit with fellow believers. There is a clear explanation that we are to do this because in this we are are imitating our Father. So perhaps we should ask ourselves "for whose sake am I going to Church?" Is it solely for my own benefit, or is it for the Glory of God, who calls us to keep the unity? Let us look to God first.

Here we go….we’re online again!

After a short hiatus I have been able to work out the bugs that kept us from posting but now…we’re back! This is a good thing too because I have been talking this site up all over the place and no one has been able to access it. So here we go!

We're moving to www.throwtheword.com!

It is official. I have set up our own website and am trying to figure out how to get it online and working.

What Does the Bible Say About Creation?

The brief synopsis of my AM sermon: "What Does the Old Testament Have to Say About Creation?" This is what it came down to:
God is the Creator of heaven and earth. He began it and will finish it. He designed it for His purpose and He will provide, protect, and judge it according to His righteous Law. The historical God of Israel, the Living God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has demonstrated His worth and His wisdom in the creation. This we can see and is all the proof we need to know that He is truly God. The Creator retains all ownership of His creation. Never does He relinquish it or forego responsibility. His work of creation is not only limited to that which is good, He creates both the good and the bad. Even though He remains involved with His creation, He is totally and absolutely separate from it in His essential being. The entire work of Creation points to the time when the True God will destroy His original creation and replace it with a brand new one.
What a powerful reality we face as His creatures!

All Dogs Do Not Go To Heaven

What a night! I got home yesterday afternoon and was greeted by the bounding, jumping, frantic antics of our little fiest dog (otherwise known as a rat terrorist). I told her she was the best little dog I have ever had (forget that I haven't ever really owned my own dog before) and praised her for taking care of my family all day long. I went in the house to carry on with my afternoon plans and about an hour later one of my neighbors informed me that my 'little black and white dog' is way down our road in the highway....dead! What a shock. How did she get all the way down there? Why? How did it happen? What are we going to do? This and all of the tears of my children and wife greeted me as I brought her poor little broken body and laid it to rest beside her favorite trail.
What a shock to our family. What a vivid reminder of God's awful providence. I use this word, awe-full, in this way: He is in control. He has used this dog to protect my children in ways I will never know.
He is the Guide of all of our destinies. He provides the prey for the lion and the raven (Job 38:39-41; Matthew 6:26). God even knows when one of His sparrows dies (Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.) I am full of the awe that comes from realizing once again that I have no control over what comes into my life. I am helpless in that area.
I shared with my children as we stood over that mound of dirt that God gave that dog to us and now it was gone. I know of no revelation concerning the salvation of dogs. So I explained to them that she was gone. But the powerful gospel, that God raises dead people and gives them eternal life, was easily shared. This is the third animal we have buried. Three graves mark our memories. Three opportunities to explain the permanence of death and impossibility of life apart from Christ.
My dog couldn't believe...but my children? 2 have so far. How many more opportunities will I have today to show them the Good News? More than I realize!

Southern Baptists in the South, an Outside Perspective

Working at UPS in the mornings is usually a very dull and boring job. I wake up at 2 o'clock in the morning and go and move boxes around all day. It requires no thinking, and I only have opportunities for conversation on occassions when I'm not busy. However, a few weeks ago we started a new computerized system at UPS, and so we had people who came in to train us. For one whole day I had a "trainer" who followed me around. He and I got to talk quite a bit, so I naturally asked him what he liked, and he told me. He asked what I liked and I said I liked theology and God, and that I was studying to be a minister. He told me his mom was Catholic and his dad was Protestant, and that he knew a lot about Christianity and stuff. Then he asked me where I was studying at and I told him the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He looked at me for a minute with this odd look, and then he said, "You're a Southern Baptist?"
I said "yeah, you seem surprised by that."
He said, "but you're wearing shorts."
Then I looked at him oddly. Growing up Southern Baptist, I'd always worn shorts and never for a minute felt bad about it. But here was a man who thought all Southern Baptists wore pants. I asked why he thought that, and he said he'd just heard that that was what Southern Baptists were like. I corrected him, and we had a great conversation after that. Later though, I started thinking. Here was a guy living in the heart of "Southern Baptist Country", and the only thing he knew about Southern Baptists was that they didn't wear shorts. I find it hard to believe that he never ran across another Southern Baptist, either working or in any other situation, in his life who could have shown him otherwise, and told him what we do believe by sharing Christ with him. Most of the Southern Baptists I know around here are happy to wear shorts in the 95+ degree weather, but I can only guess that my acquaintance didn't realize he was looking at a Southern Baptist. I don't find it too hard to believe that he has come across many Southern Baptists who never even mentioned anything about their faith to him, because they were afraid, ashamed, intimidated or whatever. Or maybe because that isn't the first thing they think about when talking with a lost person they come in contact with. it is so easy to be more concerned with how a lost person views us then how they would view the Gospel message. Most people would be willing to hear that message, but we are afraid how they would view us.
In Scripture there is a clear mandate to put Christ first in our lives, and that we are to grow in Christ more and more each day. Our concern is to glorify God in each thing we do, and find true joy in Him. Many people in our churches today put that on the back burner when it comes to actually sharing something so intimate and personal as we have made faith to be with those they are in contact with regularly. We have such a great opportunity with the people right around us, people that we can build relationships with and show them, by every facet of our life, that we are Christians. This is more than simply meeting a stranger and giving the Gospel message, but showing them a caring person who is, at least in some way, in their life on a regular basis. We can show them by our words as well as our lives who does wear the pants around here, the Lord.

What about those who die without Christ?

That is such a real question right now. I just got off the phone with a gentleman who has been asked to speak at the funeral of a cousin who died young and unexpectedly. He is concerned about offending the family members at this sensitive time.
Isn't this so real? Pastors, isn't this a situation where the rubber meets the road, where theory and practice come to an intersection? This is where our faith, or lack of it, is demonstrated. As pastors, and Christians for that matter, there is no choice. There is nothing more offensive than withholding the antidote for a deadly poison when you have it to give. There is nothing more devastating than to willfully reject to save someone who is drowning when they are right within reach.
Yet so often we don't even think this way. So often we strive to make people feel comfortable in their coffin. We strive to make blind people be better at being blind rather than to give them sight. We strive to make them to be better as spiritual cripples rather than giving them the opportunity to really walk!
Those who die without trusting in Christ for their life, forgiveness, perfection, and hope are lost forever. No amount of preaching and evangelism will reach them now but those who are hurting and searching in the aftermath of the tragedy can still be reached if God will bring them to life by the preaching of His Gospel. Don't write them off just yet. Cry out to them and present them with the only antidote known to bring dead men to life...the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Living Son of God!
In John 11:23-26 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
That is the question that should be asked of those in the tragedy: Do you believe that you will live when you die? If not...then you have something to be offended about.

My Picture for the Day

So, this is that picture of the turtle and the bass. I found it on Field and Stream's website. Some guy was pulling in the bass he had hooked, and was lifting it out when the turtle came up from the deep and snatched the fish! I can't think of any great moral for the story other than: That ought to make you think twice when you go swimming in the lake!

Talk About Having Eyes Bigger Than Your Stomach!

I was browsing around and found this amazing photo! How in the world will this thing ever be able to finish this off? He won't need to eat for months!
My children are amazed that their cornsnakes can swallow little fuzzy mice. Well this snake sure has a mouthful! It reminds of how we need to visualize Satan. Satan is a snake! Not a cute little (my mother would shudder) corn snake that just hisses and snaps. Satan is a violent predator seeking to destroy and devour! Fortunately we have a greater Protector! Revelation 20:2 says that "he (Jesus) seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years," Jesus will destroy this devil-snake, one who is even more terrible than the one pictured!

Testing...1..2..Testing.. ah, good.

Hey Steve, I finally put a blog on here. Are you happy? I'm fixing to go get some Barbecue from this new place down the street and then we're off to see our friend's new dog. I'll try and get on later tonite, or tomorrow and put something else on here. Something more worthwhile and thought-provoking (I have no idea what, but I'm sure it'll just come to me...that's how it works right?) But here's a picture to think about and drool over while I'm gone. That there is a wild rainbow trout caught fly-fishing in the Smoky Mountains! Whew Boy! Good times. More fun to come later.

What a wonderful family!

THis is our family. I am the one taking the picture so I am relegated to the place where every father in history has found himself, behind the camera. It is probably best this way. They are, by far, my better side!

Ah'll Be Baaaack....For My Shoes!

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is so proud of his vast shoe collection that he has his gold-plated footwear protected by armed guards. We might not be so fortunate to have all of the things we could want but we all have things that we treasure enough to guard or defend: our opinion, our reputation, our stuff, our pride, our appearance. The Bible says in Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Where is your heart? What is important to you? It seems kind of rusty to me. You must look to Jesus Christ, in Him are hidden all of the treasures of wisdom!