Mar 02 2013
6 Comments
Authentic Christianity, Discipleship, Fellowship, Grace, Honesty, Humility, Jesus Christ, Love, Reign of Christ, Repentance, Truth, Twitter

Counterfeit Grace

Just felt I should share what I posted on Twitter today.

It needs to be said.

@Pasturescott: Be wary of those who are all about grace and not accountability. They haven’t received a revelation of God’s brand, only a cheap knock-off.

This addresses one of the more subtle deceptions snaking through the church in these last days. Shamefully, multitudes are drinking the purple kool-aid because it goes down smoothly and appeals to old Adam’s proclivities.

If we believers are not still accountable to God, then we’re right back in the Garden, fruit in hand, feeling good about ourselves and our chances.

Hashtag: “God have mercy!”

This has happened because, for generations now, the Gospel has been tampered with, tweaked, muddied and dumbed down. It’s been reduced to a formulaic cover-all prayer and a me-centered narrative rather than a lifelong grace-empowered surrender that forsakes all – even our own self – but Jesus.

On a related note, when I fail to forsake my own way and know that I’ve grieved the Holy Spirit, I take to heart the blessed truth of 1 John 1:9 – which is graciously for me! – and repent to Him, find mercy even for my egregious oversights, and fall ever more deeply in love with God who saves, keeps and covers me. And changes me. With genuine grace.

Now I can get into and embrace that brand of grace!

Feb 27 2013
4 Comments
Authentic Christianity, Discipleship, Encouragement, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Obedience

Track Record

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Romans 8:14
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons (and daughters) of God.”

Certainly, this verse (and a litany of others) teach us that the Christian faith is ORGANIC and DYNAMIC.

A comforting layer of meaning in this particular passage arises when we consider that there are seasons and circumstances the Lord leads us into by His Spirit, and when we submit and display contentment, it shows we are children of God.

Yes it means moment-by-moment obedience, but when we are not always faithful in these episodes, we may take comfort with our overall track record of our accepting and thriving in the seasons and narratives we find ourselves in.

I also find it assuring that, at times, we are “led along” while at other times, “carried along” (2 Peter 1:21).

Footprints, anyone?

Feb 14 2013
4 Comments
Love, Marriage, Sandy

Say It With Cake

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I remember it well. Valentine’s Day, 1983. A chocolate cake with white icing on which floated a curvy, squiggly symbol which, I learned, was shorthand for “I love you.” It was the very first time Sandy let me know how she felt even though I’d been laying those words on her for weeks while, to my consternation, she remained mum.

Until that cake.

That glorious, decadent cake.

That’s just like her: “I’m not going to tell you, I’m going to show you.” And she’s been showing me for 31 straight V-Days (and all the days in between).

I love you, my joyance. Happy Valentine’s Day.

Jan 04 2013
6 Comments
Answered Prayer, Discipleship, Faith, Hope, Intercession, Intimacy with Christ, Obedience, Prayer, Trusting God

Confidently Yours, Me

How’s your prayer life?

Could it use some tweaking?

Some CPR?

Perhaps some believing?

Consider Professor Torrey’s key insight that could transform your prayer life and give you confidence with God whose promises to you never, ever, fail.

If we listen to all God’s commands to us, He will listen to all our requests of Him. If, on the other hand, we ignore His instructions, He will likely ignore our prayers. We find here the secret of much unanswered prayer. We are not listening to God’s Word, and therefore He is not listening to our petitions.

I was once speaking to a woman who had been a professed Christian but had given it all up. I asked her why she was not still a Christian. She replied she did not believe the Bible and said, “I have tried its promises and found them untrue.”

“Which promises?”

“Does it not say in the Bible, ‘Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith’?” she asked me (Matt. 21:22).

“It says something nearly like that.”

“Well, I asked fully expecting to get and did not receive, so the promise failed.”

“Was the promise made to you?”

“Certainly, it is made to all Christians, is it not?”

“No, God carefully defines whose believing prayers He agrees to answer.” I then turned her to 1 John 3:22 and read the description of those whose prayers had power with God.

“Were you keeping His commandments,” I asked, “and doing those things pleasing in His sight?”

She frankly confessed that she was not, and she soon came to see that the real difficulty was not with God’s promises, but with herself.

That is the difficulty with many unanswered prayers today: the one who makes the request is not obedient. If we want power in prayer, we must be earnest students of His Word to find out His will, and then having found it, do it. One act of disobedience not confessed on our part will shut the ear of God against many petitions.

- R.A. Torrey, How To Pray (1900)

Dec 29 2012
2 Comments
Church, Church Planting, Compassion, Discipleship, Encouragement, Family, Freedom, Hearing God, Humility, Leadership, Loving Others, Marriage, Ministry, Parenting, Pastoring

Father to Son: The Talk

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I was privileged to pastor for 17 years and remain a pastor of sorts in the same community. I consider shepherding a local community of saints one of the greatest joys of my life, albeit one of the most difficult. Because it demands so much of one’s self I have told numerous minister wannabe’s to pursue it only if they cannot have passion for – or picture themselves doing – anything else.

Still, I could not invent a better “profession”! It is like air that I breathe, food that I consume, a crown that I wear (1 Thess 2:19)…and for all the best of reasons. I like the emphasis that Artie Davis places on this magnificent calling in the context of encouraging a son with ministry aspirations…

If my son were starting a church this weekend…

…and he came to me and asked, “Dad, what are the most important things I need to know?” I would think, “Man, this is my BOY! He has got to get this right.” I would pray a minute, ask him to take out his Ipad, and then say…

1-What you’re doing is all about loving people. Forget that, and you’re doomed

2-Make your wife priority! Never let her feel she’s in the back seat behind ministry

3-Raise your kids in freedom! Don’t let your position make you feel they have to be superstars

4-Learn to hear God’s voice. Know what His whisper sounds like… There is NO other way

5-It would be better to promote someone a year late, than a day early

6-Invest in those on your team. Let them see the good, bad and ugly

7-Never get in a rut! If you change 1-Degree at a time, you will maximize effectiveness

8-Preach from the overflow of what God is telling you

9-Don’t serve bread dough on Sunday morning, serve hot bread

10-Find a group of other leaders, form relationships… They will save your life!

11-Never seek to please people. That is a merry go round that never stops

12-You serve a Supernatural God, look for His movement, if you don’t look, you wont see

13-Hear God, follow Him, and leave the results to Him. “And the Lord added.”

14-Never forget to have fun! Serving God is hard, but you have to fun too!

15-Don’t ever try to be someone else. God put you there to be you…He likes you just as you are!

16-Strive to be a giver and not a taker! Always sow into others, rather than being the “Asker”

-Pastor Artie Davis, Cornerstone Comm Ch, Orangeburg, SC

Let me close out this post by including this quote from our friend, John Wesley. I think he hits the nail on the head when he advises the candidate (and seasoned vets) never to be after a ministry but, well, let’s go straight to the source:

“Don’t seek for a ministry, but seek for the fruit of a disciplined life.”
John Wesley

Amen.

Dec 21 2012
4 Comments
Authentic Christianity, Christianity, Christmas, Forgiveness, Grace, Jesus Christ, Love

Christmas Love

I’m grateful to the Writing Sisters for posting this on their blog. It’s just too good not to share! So, hat tip to them…and kudos to Sharon Jaynes for such a creative rendering…

 1 Corinthians 13 Christmas Style

©By Sharon Jaynes

 If I decorate my house perfectly with lovely plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights, and shiny glass balls, but do not show love to my family – I’m just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals, and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family – I’m just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family – it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties, and sing in the choir’s cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn’t envy another home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of your way.

Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

Love never fails.  Video games will break; pearl necklaces will be lost; golf clubs will rust.  But giving the gift of love will endure.

– From http://www.sharonjaynes.com

Dec 19 2012
8 Comments
Adversity, Birth of Jesus, Christmas, Encouragement, Grace, Hope, Jesus Christ, Miracles, Obedience, Persecution, Praise, Salvation, Suffering, Trials, Trusting God, Truth, Worship

Favor

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“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” Luke 1:30

We throw ‘favor’ around the way many refer to as a run of good luck.

“So much good is going on in my life right now. I’m really walking in favor…”

But there’s a side of favor I’ll bet you haven’t considered.

I once heard about a young teen-aged girl, no more than thirteen, maybe fourteen at most, who had a chance-of-a-lifetime encounter with a very powerful and famous individual. Her name was Miriam, but most knew her as Mary. The night visitor told her he was sent on a mission by God Himself and came to her because His Master found her favorable and wanted to bless her.

Actually, He wanted to rock her world.

That was the curious word he used. He said the Almighty “favored” her. So…how does one reconcile the two: you are so favored, I’m going to scandalize your life?

Unmarried but preggers. Then you can’t tell people the baby inside you is the Son of God. And even if you could, you’d have your ticket punched for a one-way trip to an asylum. Or exiled. Or stoned.

This is favor?

I mean, Noah, too, was favored and God said I’m going to save your life, but first you have to spend the next hundred years building a boat in the desert. Joseph was favored as well, but his price of admission was to be sold off as a slave, go through the mother of all set-ups, then be forgotten – not once, but two times – in an Egyptian hell hole where he would spend nearly half his life.

You call this “favor”?

If young Mary’s life teaches anything, it schools us with the truth that favor is often accompanied by challenge. It requires a submissive response, a costly sacrifice, an abiding amen. Stuff you don’t learn on a chalkboard.

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
Luke 1:38

Favor removes you from your present condition and sets you on an epic journey. It takes you higher, but there is always either persecution or great trial – or both – linked to it.

Sort of like: You’ve been chosen…this is your glorious (and perilous!) mission should you choose to accept it…

Well sign me up!

All things must change to something new, to something strange.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Favor also signals a transition. Note Mary’s “from now on” in her Magnificat:

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.”
Luke 1:46-49

The little girl’s world has just been rocked like a cradle and she responds by bursting into song! She’s grown-up enough to know that when she wakes up in the morning the Son will be in a new place: her belly. You can’t make this stuff up.

Yes, “favor” is code for challenge. It’s calling card is upheaval. And it is spelled c-o-s-t-l-y. But take it from a girl who grew up overnight: Favor always leads us into a new measure of glory.

You’ve heard about the three-legged dog with one blind eye and a bad case of mange, answers to Lucky?

I was reflecting on my own pitiful self recently: teeth discolored from ingesting years and gallons of antibiotics, eyes blurred from other meds and hair falling out from still other super-drugs. Back hurts all the time, scars like ropes around my body, can’t walk. Ah, poor creature!

Even still, I know who I am: I am highly favored. I am His. I am chosen. I am blessed. I am eternal, going from glory to glory.

Not lucky, not by a long shot.

And that suits me just fine.

______________________________________________

FOR DISCUSSION: does the above post make you want to think twice before asking for God’s favor in your life?

Dec 16 2012
4 Comments
Authentic Christianity, Blogging, Church, Culture, Deception, Discipleship, Endurance, Faithfulness, Grace, Humility, Jesus Christ, Judgment, Love, Loving God, Loving Others, Passion, Pride, Renewal, Repentance, Salvation, Scripture, Truth, Writing

We Three Writers

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It’s been my absolute joy to speak into and invest in the lives of three of the finest young man I’ve ever been around. These three fellows and I have been meeting together around God’s word for the last year-plus, and in one of our gatherings a few months ago I asked each to write a mini-essay based on a random topic that I would give them. I merely handed them titles and gave them the assignment to give to it their own words. I also promised to post their interpretations to my blog.

So, without any further delay, here’s Nathan, Rick, and John using the power of electronic print – with only minor editing on my part (I think I added one punctuation mark) – to shed greater light on some pretty pointed subjects.

Trivial Pursuits
Nathan

​Spoiler Alert: This author is definitely guilty of what is mentioned here!

​How much of our time and focus is spent on trivial matters in life? Really, take some time and think about it. We are all guilty; myself included. Triviality is a state that has affected the human race, especially God’s people, for countless millennia. If we want a self-contained example, we need look no further than the ancient Israelites that we study throughout the Bible. Time after time we are reminded of how much of a “space-case” these people were. God was there constantly trying to get their attention focuses back on Him, and they would not budge. Judges is all about the people running after the distractions of the pagan gods that were prevalent amongst the native peoples. Every major instance in that book has God intervening in some major way, only for the people to lose focus not long after.

​The triviality continued in Israel from the latter years of Solomon and all the way until the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. as we see in several Biblical accounts. I have been recently reading through all of the Major Prophets in the OT, and we really get an idea of how trivial the people’s focus had become. Even though there were several times when you would think God’s patience would run out, He never wavered (never has, never will). Wavering is not a word in His vocabulary. We just need to accept that fact, even though it seems so hard to do. Again, I am guilty of this.
​
We also get a constant reminder of His grace and mercy throughout all of the words given to the prophets. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, and there still is. This may have been an extremely brief look back at history, but I believe that we need to see Israel as an example for ourselves. Take a look at our country for an example. We have truly lost focus on what is really important, and that is putting God first. For years, some have argued that the country never had its focus on God in the first place (we are looking at you Deists). I believe now more than ever, that we need to turn our focus on God. Not just as a country, but a church too. Something is not right, and has not been for a while. We have gotten lost in ourselves and our own incessant trivialities. There is so much of a parallel that exists between us now and with ancient Israel. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc… all give us examples that sound too familiar to many situations we now face. Maybe I am reading a little more into the text than I should, but it is too eerily similar to ignore. Dig into the text and see for yourself, if you haven’t already. We need to get our act together! It is of the utmost imperative. I believe that it needs to start with the church! We have gotten too complacent and caught up in our own trivialities. Poor public examples of our faith have tainted our reputation, and reputation is a hard thing to rebuild. Where do we go from here? I am not sure. What I am sure of is that we need to get rid of triviality and focus on God.

Paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13
Rick

Paul’s letter to the church of Corinth.

This specific chapter is over what many would call the eighth wonder of the world: Love

The first half of this chapter is solely about faith without love. It really is impossible.

​If I speak in the tongues (Or languages) of men and angels, if I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains; if I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I am worthless noise. I am nothing. I gain nothing.

It isn’t about us, but it is for us.
​
​Love is patient, kind, without envy, without pride or boast. Love is not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered, and never keeps a record of wrong. Love rejoices with the truth and never delights in evil. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. It never fails. Love never fails.

​In a world that confuses love for lust, we find out that in this passage that Love is accurately for others.

​Lust is seeking after what one can get out of the other. Love is seeking out not only what one could do for the other, but also what one could do to uplift and encourage the other.
​
Many things will fade in this world, as most know. But in and after verse eight of chapter thirteen; Paul speaks on many great spiritual gifts that will, in time, fade.
​
Our minds are limited.

​He speaks of the great day that Christ comes back, where we will know fully and see imperfection depart and complete perfection arrive.
​
When we are born again, we search the Word for truth and for our way of life. We seek to put the old behind, and the new ahead. (Philippians 3:13)
​
Christ is our new, and our chains are our past. When we grow spiritually, we learn through the Word, how to release our bad qualities and gain righteousness (John 3:20-21); we begin to live as Christ, as we put childish things behind us. Although now, it is difficult to live for someone we have never seen physically, but to read His word and pray constantly is how we hear Him and get closer to Him. Now, we only get to see Him in a poor reflection, within us! Now, we only know little. But when our Savior comes back, we shall know fully. We will see Him face to face.
​
Jesus tells us the most important of all things, is to Love one another in brotherly love. May we be a family! He speaks through Paul stating that though Faith and Hope are amazingly needed things, Love is the greatest. In waiting for our God, He gives us Faith, He gives us Hope, and He gives us Love.

Everyone loves the black suit
John

What does the “black suit” represent?

When you think of spiderman’s black venom suit, what comes to mind? Power? Beauty? Strength? Cool? I think of all of these terms. But doesn’t the black suit bring out the greed, the selfishness, the hate, and the love of power in Spiderman? The answer is yes, it does bring forth all of these attributes. Why do we like the black suit then? I believe that it captures sin in its truest form. It produces nothing but sour fruit. The thing is, the fruit looks so tasty and tantalizing to us until we partake of it and recognize it as sin. The suit symbolizes the very picture that the enemy paints for us. The picture is painted with the greatest care with its only purpose designed to consume every part of your interest. The enemy knows your weaknesses and your very desires. It takes very little effort for him to construe a masterpiece and place it right in front of our faces for us to buy. Sin is like a good deal on craigslist; it is so easy to say yes, but it takes some serious effort to say no. This is why we love the black suit. It is so easy to wear, but it is so hard to take off. It feels so good, it feels so natural, and it fits like a good pair of jeans. Why? Because this “black suit” didn’t come out of nowhere one day and present itself to us. We were born wearing it. It is intertwined in the very fiber that makes up our very being. Sound depressing? Ya, a little bit. But the other side of this whole “black suit” dilemma is that there is this guy who wants to help us take it off. This guy’s name is Jesus! He wants to peel this suit off layer by layer. He started this mission when he took on, no, when he became the black suit on the cross and died for us all. His blood works like Clorox. You put your black suit in the washer, add his blood, and he washes it white as snow! That blows my mind! His blood is infinite and does not run out after 182 fl oz. No matter how many times you mess up, no matter how many times you lean on your own understanding, and no matter how many times we put another layer of the suit on.. he is always there waiting on us, arms open wide! That is the best part of this side of the story. You don’t have to do anything; he has already done it!

Oct 02 2012
18 Comments
Christianity, Disability, Faith, Grace, Sovereignty of God

This is my story, this is my psalm…

Thirty-one October 2nd’s have now gone by since the accident that put me in a wheelchair. I cringe whenever I reference it as an “accident” as it was anything but. However, human nature being what it is, we like to classify things in terms we can wrap our heads around. To say my fall from a cliff while 17 other people stood as witnesses was happenstance is a miscarriage of truth. The truth is, God – Jehovah-shammah – was there.

And He was actively involved.

He didn’t enter the scene in the aftermath, like an EMT, but was overseeing and overruling the event as it unfolded. Try and wrap your head around that, why doncha?

Did He, then, shove me off the precipice?

Or did He stand aside and let it happen?

I know how we quantify His ways often by saying God “allows” things but doesn’t cause such things. I’ve said it often myself – and on most levels I believe in His permissive will. But we say it like it’s almost a passive will, that He looks at the evil that comes against us and says, “I wish I could stop you but my hands are tied.”

Okay, okay, yes He chooses to tie His hands as He did when His Son was being tortured and brutalized. That’s not my point. I somehow (somehow?) believe that evil set its design upon me 31 Octobers ago and asked for a warrant from the Judge of the Highest Court to tamper with me. The Almighty said, “Proceed” but did something far greater than step aside and let it happen.

He was there.

I said God was actively involved and I believe this is how: Isaiah the prophet encouraged the people of God with the promise,

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. – Isaiah 43:2-3

He told them the LORD would “uphold them with His right hand” (41:10) and I, personally, have been struck by the words I have long since felt the psalmist wrote just for me:

The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand. – Psalm 37:23-24

When the Almighty granted permission for my, shall we say, incident, I believe He added the caveat: “devil, you cannot kill him, cause any brain injury or completely sever his spinal cord. You may make My child a paraplegic, but no worse!”

I then believe God dispatched His angel-ministers to make certain His legislations were carried out.

If you interviewed many of the eighteen college friends that were gathered at Fort Bluff in Dayton, Tennessee that night, more than a few would probably say that over all, prior to my headlong jettison from that bluff (a height of barely 20 feet, thank the Lord), the night was memorable for all the right reasons: the mild temps, sunset over the Pocket Wilderness, the perfectly cooked steaks, the meaningful conversation, etc.

And yet…and yet…

Nothing anyone could up to that point put their finger on, but something felt…well…cockeyed.

What we couldn’t see in those hours between arrival, setting up camp, cooking and eating and cleanup, then the ambulance carting me away, was the open hostility in the heavenlies, where angels and demons stood their ground, the enemy determined to kill me and the heavenly beings determined to not let him.

God was anything but passive. Far from giving the devils free reign and making me open game, He was present and presiding and, as my body tumbled over the edge of that old rugged bluff, He did for me what He didn’t (by choice) do for His only begotten Son – intervene. Aren’t you deliriously joyful that there will never, ever be another son or daughter of God’s for which He will never intervene ever again? That He will always be present in our sufferings and afflictions?

They found me waking from unconsciousness with my head perched on a stone, however, the only mark on my head was a gash above my left eye where a scar still remains. My head wasn’t split open, my brain wasn’t damaged. I wasn’t a quadriplegic. My spinal cord wasn’t severed (although the enemy did everything to it just short of). And I wasn’t dead.

Thirty-one October 2nd’s later and I’m very much alive, with a quality and purpose of life I delight in, the Father is glorified in, and the devil despises (which is just fine with me). To His grace and glory, I’ve never come close to cursing God and taking my life. Every day I awaken I’m acutely aware of something I never much paid attention to those 21 years I lived on healthy legs: the strong Hand of God – His right Hand, He says – holding me up, carrying me when I require it, and hastening me on for another go. Every day, every season, every mile…until I am perfect – just like the One who made me.

“THOUGH HE FALL,
(I) SHALL NOT BE CAST HEADLONG
FOR THE LORD UPHOLDS (MY) HAND.”

Aug 26 2012
6 Comments
Christianity, Church, Deception, Freedom, Ministry, Preaching, Repentance, Spiritual Authority, Truth

Not All Poetry Rhymes. Sometimes It Flogs.

Oh. My.

Just watch, church.

H/T to Timmy Brister

Aug 08 2012
9 Comments
Apologetics, Authentic Christianity, Christianity, Church, Deception, Doctrine, Jesus Christ, Judgment, Ministry, Pastoring, Preaching, Repentance, Salvation, Scripture, Spiritual Warfare, Truth

Sound Doctrine, Or Else

Another preacher fell from favor this week.

This particular pastor, incidentally, married a girl I had a crush on when I was ten years old. Poor girl, her quite famous Dad, who pastored the same church prior to his son-in-law, was also unfaithful to her mother, and her brother, tragically, followed suit as a serial adulterer. The church, which I attended as a boy, is well-known as a Mecca of sorts for some circles of fundamentalism. It is also infamous for its long history of pedophilia, incest, adulteries, rape and molestation among its leaders, though not always its senior pastors.

I find myself crying inside even while I’ve been separated from this assembly for decades.

This recent offender is quoted as saying, “it’ll be a cold day in hell before I get my theology from a woman.” Among the eccentricities of his own “feminine-free” aberrant theology comes his teaching that God hates the world and so His Son asked the Father if He could come to earth and straighten it out.

Later, when the Son returned to the Father, the Father asked His Son how it went (?!?). The Son said “not too well” and proceeded to tell His Father that He was hated, despised, rejected and crucified. “I hate the world too, Father, and want you to send them all to hell.” The world’s only hope, according to the now-fallen but theologically and gender-sound pastor is that the Father and Son have made contracts with saved men who can tell the world the “good news” that God and Jesus hate them but have offered a way to escape hell by asking Jesus into their hearts.

I contend that bad theology insidiously corrupts men and women and opens the door to moral and every other kind of wickedness. The first record of “spin” on pure doctrine came in the Garden when the serpent seduced Eve into believing that God’s declaration needed some tweaking. The horrific result is that the First Couple acquiesced to the will of the anti-God and plunged the world into fratricide (very next chapter), adultery, incest, idolatry, patricide, rape, warmongering, and all kinds of invented evil. And we’re only up to Genesis Six!

What launched it? I again contend: bad theology.

A low view of God, a bad view of God, a wrong view of God, the enemy’s view of God, man’s take on God. You name it.

Paul pled with Timothy to “rightly divide” the scriptures. Literally, “make a straight cut.” Don’t proof-text or eisegete the scriptures, don’t put your spin on them, soft-peddle or add meaning. Don’t think your sermon is finished when you’ve cleared the “clever” bar and feel like you’ve produced something that will tip the “wow” factor. Preach the logos (2 Tim 4:2).

That means, preach the revelation of Holy God, careful to remove your breath from the text, adding nothing and subtracting nothing.

In the same passage, Paul warned Timothy about a day when full numbers of professing believers will opt for bad theology because it titillates the flesh, and somehow validates our wicked choices.

That day is here, by the by. The people in the rows of our fellowships are shipping out to find UNsound doctrine. The old apostle accosted young Tim to NOT give in, but to keep preaching “sound doctrine.” Healthy doctrine. Reliable doctrine. Whole doctrine. Why? Because there’s always hope.

And because there’s a remnant that yearns for truth – not mere intellectual truth – that can be experienced by the power of His grace, and lived out autobiographically.

What’s wrong with the Western Church? There’s a lot of answers to that question, but whatever we say in answer to it, remember: it all got pushed through from unreliable pulpits that opted for relevance (what do the people want?) or higher criticism (hath God said?). In short:

Bad theology.
Bad exegesis.
Bad exposition.
Bad application.

God is purging pulpits in this country, which is testament to His mercy. He’s cleaning house. If He doesn’t do it, well, I sure hope He makes His appearance on earth soon.

God help us.

God have mercy.

Aug 06 2012
2 Comments
Grace, Help, Jesus Christ, Wisdom

Here’s A Cut-Through

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Luke 1:78-79
“…because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the Sunrise shall visit us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the Way of peace.”

John 14:6
“I Am the Way…”

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There’s a story, often credited to E. Stanley Jones, about a missionary who gets lost in the jungle. He comes upon a village in the middle of the trees, and asks a resident to lead him out. The local agrees, and for an hour he walks ahead of the missionary, clearing a way through the foliage with a machete.

Eventually the missionary asks, “Are you sure we are going the right way? Isn’t there a path somewhere?” The villager smiles. “Friend, I am the path.”

There is a way, we are told, that seems right…but is always a dead end.*

Don’t walk in the treacherous realm of “seems” today. Everyone is looking for a short-cut when life’s greatest quest can only be encountered as a cut-through. Find Him who is the sure path, and you will walk on the heights.
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*Prov 16:25

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