Chistmas cheer

 What a beautiful time of year! The beautiful lights twinkling around a bushy pine, fires crackling in the fireplace, eggnog and cocoa steaming out of our cups, a soft white blanket of snow covering the ground so fresh the only prints are that of a young rabbit. The air is filled with the smell of Christmas, the pine tree brings the outdoors inside, the char of the fire, treats coming out of the oven and the sounds of Christmas carols fill the background in a room filled with family and conversation. Sounds to good to be true, probably because it is. We love this time of year as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, but many of these wonderful things can lead you into distraction. 

For instance, who handles the decorating in your house? Is it really possible to decorate without at least a few barbs against each other? Who picks up all the Christmas gifts and cooks the meals, cleans up the spilt eggnog and pays the credit card bill? These are all consequences of the above sensational state of mind.

Anytime we fix our attention on the physical we will be truly disappointed. After all none of these things are truly representative of what Christmas is all about. Sure I have heard the stories of what the candy cane stands for, who st. Nick really was, and all the other things that are supposed to point to Christ, but why don't we just point to Christ? Persecution or not, He is the reason for the season, He is the face of Christmas. I have used candy canes and decorations to teach the gospel to kids but what do we do when its January, April or June?

So here is my thought for the day. Don't accept the deceit! Reject everything that pushes Jesus out of Christmas and embrace everything that draws us closer. The funny thing is this isn't even a Christmas thing, its a Christian thing. 24/7/365. 

I really do love Christmas. People are nicer in general, things are prettier, people begin to make spending time together more of a priority and we have Christmas services where little girls wear thier pretty little dresses and the little boys thier little suits or sweaters. There is definately a lot of emotion that goes with Christmas, but our faith must not be an emotion. Enjoy the season, and proclaim the name of Jesus to everyone you encounter, give thanks before you eat that bountiful meal, and join in with the multitude worshipping. You'll be glad you did.

Oh yeah, one final thing. It's not xmas, it is CHRISTmas, so say it with emphasis on the Christ.

Till next time

P.M.

Who would intentionally cause harm to a child?

 It used to be that as a child you could always turn to one of three places to be safe.

First we could call the police, flag one down or go to the police station and receive help or instruction without fear of being abused in some way.

Second we could always speak to the school faculty. Advisors, teachers, counselors, and principles were always available and ready to listen to us and help us out.

Thirdly is the church. Most any kid, churched or not, knew that if they got in a bind or needed help they could reach out to a church pastor or leader.

I really couldn't say when things turned upside down, maybe only that it was over a few decades it became increasingly worse. As we have seen in the last year specifically all three of these, "once safe", places are under fire. Defund police, sick health and sex agendas being discussed in our schools for our children, pastors who have fallen hard in their sins and abuse of position in all three. I am glad my kids are grown, but now with grand kids I feel even more protective of what these three institutions have become.

Two of my daughters have tried to opt out of the stimulus' because of the corruption they stand for and the uncertainty of the amounts and have both been told that without releasing biometric information they would not be allowed to opt out. I sat in a meeting last night led by Matt Innis who revealed that the new health mandate Nebraska schools are considering has a portion that does not allow the families the right to opt out. When I hear these things it makes me boil. We have been compliant for far too long and it has left us right where we are. I told my wife its like a wasp nest. I have torn down countless nests and have never been stung because of it. I hit the nest down and wasps buzz me and might even run into me but in general they fly around hopping mad darting all over the place but they eventually quiet down if I just leave them alone and they go about thier business dealing with the fall out but in the end nothing has changed. A stolen election, a wickedly evil education agenda and rioters who are allowed to do as they want. A movement to hold whites accountable for the evil of the past instead of mending the relationships. And for the record I could care less what color someones skin is, I care about thier attitude and character and it was whites who fought to stop the slavery and put an end to it. But most of our history classes wouldn't teach that. I can easily become frustrated and try to turn to scripture as a source of dealing with my own attitude and understanding why it is the way it is. Not only have I learned that it will get worse and that we are to stand up for truth and not be passive and complacent, I also recently read a familiar scripture and in fact preached on it for Fathers day, or at least it was part of the text I used. You will recognize it also...

Luk 11:11  "Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?
Luk 11:12  "Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he?
Luk 11:13  "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" 

This time when I read these words it stopped me cold in my tracks as I considered the discussions among the Nebraska state board of education as well as many of the communities whose school boards are toying around with this discussion as well. I am so proud of some of the communities whose board stood firm and rejected it fully saying that they will not consider any part of it including the critical race teaching. I truly believe that what these folks are doing is exactly what Jesus is asking the disciples, what caring loving adult who wants what is best for children would even be willing to discuss this garbage let along try to force its way into our schools? What scripture teaches us, is that these are wickedly evil people and indeed they are not only trying to take our children from us they are poisoning them with profane things. I personally believe anyone who has voted for this agenda should be arrested and charged with child endangerment and thrown in prison. What they are doing is far worse than what many parents have been arrested due to human services records.

It is time for us to put our feet down and say no more. If you love your children and desire to see them flourish in their future goals, you will need to be willing to not stand by, but just the opposite, stand in and say "no more". When evil presents itself their is no compromising with it. When it threatens us or those we care about, you cannot convince it to go away. You cannot ignore it and you cannot wish it away. No...evil must be confronted head on and firmly. Our greatest ministry opportunities may come from showing someone a better way but when they will not listen to reason and truth you must not back down and abandon your convictions. Stand together and lets give our nation back to God.

Till next time

P.M.

 

Security of Salvation part 2

 Last time we began to discuss the controversial Hebrews 6 passage. A widely misunderstood and mysterious section of scripture that is difficult even for the scholars.

We made it through the first few verses last time but this week we really get to the nuts and bolts of the scripture as we ask the question, "once someone has come to faith in Jesus, can he/she lose or turn from that faith and lose salvation?" Of course one concern is the genuineness of ones profession and the authenticity of being truly "born again" in Christ.

Let's look at the text before breaking it down.

Heb 6:4  For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
Heb 6:5  and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
Heb 6:6  and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. 

(NASB)

When we look at the text there are a few words that will need to be defined.

First we see the word enlightened. This does not pose any real confusion to our question, as it is simply the revelation of Jesus Christ. Once anyone has heard the gospel or been told of the grace of God they no longer walk in darkness regarding Jesus' sacrifice and the way of salvation. In fact if you simply look at the disciples, Judas Iscariot was enlightened, acted as if one of the followers but in reality had rejected the Light.

The second word that needs explained is "tasted". Some of the people addressed in this letter to the Hebrews had tasted the heavenly gift. The heavenly gift here is the Lord Jesus, his words, grace, miracles, etc. There is no mention of repentance and eating and drinking, only tasting. I would guess this concept is pretty straight forward as we see a similar idea in 1st Corinthians 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.  (NASB) The teaching here is not that the unbeliever is saved because of someone else's faith, but they are receiving the blessings of the other persons faith. When God blesses the righteous those around them will be able to taste of those blessings, maybe even look like it is because of them. In Matthew chapter 27 Jesus was offered wine mixed with gall. A drink to help with the pain that had a bitter taste. Jesus tasted it but would not drink it. John 6:53 tells us tasting is not enough, Joh 6:53  So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. Joh 6:54  "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. Clearly the people who have been informed and experienced Jesus have all but accepted Him. So what about the last part of verse 4 where it appears they are genuine because they have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit? Well hang on because this goes deep. The Spirit of God reveals the truth of God to the unregenerate, which is all of us at some point before coming to Christ. One author calls it the preconversion ministry of the Holy Spirit. In other words we in our own flesh are unable to discern spiritual matters and so the Spirit of God opens our eyes to Spiritual truth. In reality it would be impossible for us to choose Christ without the revelation or enlightenment, through whatever source, and the Holy Spirits revelation to us of these spiritual truths. The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost....you and me. According to John 16:8 He convicts unbelievers of sin, of righteousness and of judgment so a person can partake in these benefits without being indwelled by Him. Let me remind the readers that it would be foolish to believe every person in church on any given Sunday is truly regenerated. They are partakers in service and events, maybe even try to teach and direct, but God knows their hearts. They receive the glory they long for by being in and among the blessed believers and take the glory from God as if it is theirs. Every church has these people!

Verse 6 therefore is referring to those who appear by all indications to belong to the body of Christ but resemble Judas more than Jesus. When I was serving in missions I went through a tough phase when it finally occurred to me that if I share the gospel and someone rejects it that they are without excuse, they have been informed, invited and warned. Of course, how naive to believe anyone has a valid excuse, but I think you see my point. Those who hear and taste and reject the truth..ie Jesus, will be allowed to have their choice. God will not force them to come to Him. So the concept of verse 6 is once a person has come to this point of experiential faith and never personalized it, never repented, never trusted in Jesus and walked away, they will be turned over to their consequences. I have had two men in my life share the gospel and although I didn't respond until a third man shared with me, I never became hostile or flat out rejected Christ, I just didn't gravitate toward him at that time. I became increasingly curious, felt the hand of God leading me toward Him and eventually accepted His gift of salvation, through faith in Christ. I shudder to think it could have gone the other way, my attitude in those days very well could have rejected the truth and according to verse 6, once my decision has been made I am clearly disregarding God, betraying His invitation, spurning Christ, and joining the forces that oppose Him. This could be almost instantaneous or it could be years in the making. Billy Graham had a mentor who got him involved in ministry by the name of Charles Templeton. Charles was charismatic and a great speaker, enthusiastic and seemed to be on fire for Christ. Until one day he revealed he had been living a lie and was done with the charade. Billy and others were shocked and devastated, but Charles went on sadly to reject the Lord. Even Lee Stroble tried to reach him but it was unclear if he was able to complete Lees book before his death. 

In case you were unfamiliar with what an apostate is, it is someone who hears the gospel, makes a profession of being a Christian, becomes identified with a christian church, then abandons their profession of faith, decisively repudiate Christ, desert the christian fellowship, and take their place among the enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ. By default if your not with Christ, your against Christ, this isn't the NFL where you can pick your team. One more thing, the apostate can only be a non-Christian. Not to be confused with the average person who hears the gospel and does nothing about it.

For those apostates it is impossible for them to be renewed again because they were never renewed to begin with. This would be suggesting a second crucifixion of Christ which would suggest the first one wasn't enough or appropriate. 

This is a condensed exhortation of these verses and certainly many other aspects and considerations could be followed up for even more clarity. But if you are like me and this text has caused you to question your security in Christ, let me remind you...Joh 10:26  "But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. Joh 10:27  "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
Joh 10:28  and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. Joh 10:29  "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. Joh 10:30  "I and the Father are one."

Maybe in my next blog I will try to answer the question that is closely related to today's topic, "is there such a thing as a carnal Christian and if so are they truly saved?"

Till next time.

P.M.

Security of Salvation part one

 Paul tells the Corinthian church, 2Co 6:2  for He says, "AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU." Behold, now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME," behold, now is "THE DAY OF SALVATION"— . (NASB) The Corinthian church was full of milk drinking infant Christians and Paul had written to them multiple times to address their infancy in faith.

Today i want to touch on a scripture that gave me a wrestless year of trying to figure it out and is one of the deep subjects of scripture. I in no way feel adequate to explain such complex spiritual issues but I know others have struggled with this scripture as well. The scripture in reference here is Hebrews chapter 6 which some would suggest support the loss of salvation. I had been taught once saved always saved but never could reconcile my stance with this verse. Probably because I was looking to support what I already believed instead of approaching the text to see what it actually teaches. That would be the difference between eisegesis and exegesis.

We must understand that in chapter 5 the author was discussing the priesthood of Jesus until verse 11 where he digresses to rebuke the Hebrews. He says that they have become dull of hearing and by this point ought to be teachers but are still infants in need of being taught the elementary teachings of the faith. In short what the author is doing is warning the Hebrews not to become apostates, or someone who falls away from their original beliefs.

So when we get to chapter 6 we see the word therefore, which is a continuation of thought. Another way to say it might be, "in light of this warning, let me press on and stress the need for your spiritual growth.

Remember he his writing to the Jews who held to a stringent code of rules and regulations.They struggled with the mere idea of faith as opposed to works, even though it has always been about faith the code required obedience which is key to understanding this passage. 

In verses 1 and 2 the author contrasts the Jewish faith with the christian faith. One could say that the Jewish faith was the infancy and beginning words of God. After all the prophets, the historical writings and the patriarchs were taught about the foundation, or the coming of a messiah. The messiah that we would need to approach with faith. We see this further in these first verses as many of the Jewish doctrines were to prepare them for this messiah. These basic doctrines stopped shy of the death and resurrection. The Old Testament believers believed that God would send a messiah but not everyone recognized Him when He came. Christianity then, would be the advancement to maturity living under grace and not law. (Romans 6:14-15). 

According to verse 3 maturity will follow, God permitting.

One final thought before we approach the core of the text found in verses 6:4-6. The phrase "faith toward God" found in verse one is very Jewish oriented. This is a phrase that was much more common in the Old testament than in the New testament where the phrase is usually faith in Christ or in Jesus. This reminds us of who the main recipients were of this letter.

Well thats all we have time for this week, be sure and catch the conclusion to this fascinating scripture next week in part two. 

Till next time.

P.M.

Foolishness of the Cross

 Just a few weeks till Easter and undoubtedly the minds of many are turning toward the death burial and resurrection of Jesus.

Over the years countless individuals have studied and made claims that the cross of Jesus just isn't possible. The time line doesn't line up, the gospels seem to have conflicting reports and so they conclude the error lies within the Bible. If something that significant, in other words all of Christianity hinges on the cross, is faulty than the entire Bible must be dismissed as unreliable. This of course brings into question those who are desperate to understand and are confronted with this supposed wisdom, those who are persuaded that the Bible is untrustworthy and renders their faith foolishness.

This concept and attempt to hijack the gospel with self proclaimed wisdom has bothered me more and more in recent years. Many times it is the "creastors" those who only attend church two times a year, who want to educate those who actually come to church regularly, read their Bibles and take a genuine interest all year in the gospel. But this year in God's providence I have been studying through the book of 1st Corinthians for our current series, "Corinthian coach". I say in God's providence, because the first chapter addresses this very current dilemma in the church. By verse 10 the apostle Paul is already rebuking the believers for the factions they have formed. Arguing over which man to follow when the gospel clearly reveals only one man worth following. But by verse 18 Paul has identified two people groups. don't forget this letter is to the church and therefore is assuming that they know the gospel and love God.Of course, they don't have the parable of the tares yet so they don't realize that even the first century church contained weeds mixed throughout the wheat.

The first people group are those who are perishing. These people may look like, act like and sound like the real deal but in their hearts they are playing church. They don't believe the gospel and have their own ideas on what it means to be saved.

The second group are those who are being saved. These folks don't claim to know everything, there are things about the Bible, God, and even the gospel that are confusing and hard to understand but in their hearts they know the word of God is reliable and the lack of understanding is not a reason to void the truth.

But the interesting thing is Paul says the thing that distinguishes them into these two groups is the word of the cross. Or course you and I call it the gospel today but it is the same thing that Paul is referring to. It is found in verse 18 of chapter one. He says the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. In fact what is being emphatically stated between the lines here is without believing the gospel of the cross it is impossible to be saved. These people search for humanly wisdom which is kind of an oxymoron. They might be wise in their own sight but Paul later says the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisest humans claims. In fact the term foolishness here is where we get our word moron from and the word perishing in verse 18 means to destroy. 

on the other hand to those who are being saved it is the power of God. Maybe you have heard someone speak of the power of the gospel. It is the most life changing truth you can possibly hear if you are willing to believe. We as humans seek to understand and that's a good thing, but when it comes to the gospel we have entered into the world of spiritual revelation. Without God's Holy Spirit it would be impossible to understand the gospel. Why? Because it is spiritually discerning and contains great wisdom and insight into our creator. 

So what is the gospel exactly? The gospel contains what most have called the bad news, good news syndrome. The bad news, you are a sinner, you were born that way and your sin offends a holy and righteous God. And by the way you are helpless to remedy the situation. A just judge requires justice and that is God's demand. We were given the 10 commandments, which Jesus summarized into two, love God, and love others. This served as a guide to reveal that not one of us can keep the commandments and therefore even if we think we are good, the standard shows we fall flat. The good news, which is where we get the term gospel, is that God provided payment for our sins, past present and future. He sent His Son Jesus who willingly went to the cross, having never sinned, fulfilling the law and therefore provided the perfect sacrifice for mankind. Having been crucified on a cross, He was killed, buried and rose from the grave 3 days later. His resurrection was the defining moment that defeated death and for those who believe give us the glorious hope of eternity in heaven. 

That being said it does sound pretty sensational and hard to believe, that is why it is called faith. For example you believed the chair you are in would hold you up when you sat down. The faucet had water come out when you turned it on and the computer had power when you plugged it in. All things you probably couldn't explain every detail about,, yet you believe, that is faith.

I will leave it at that and let you wrestle with it for now. your comments and questions are welcomed and my prayer is that all who read this will come to the same conclusion I have.....Jesus is my Lord and savior and I place my faith in Him and abandon my own efforts to be saved. After all it is not foolishness, it is the power of God.

Till next time.

P.M.

Ashes to ashes

 As a pastor you get some regular type questions, and they usually come about the same time of year. There are many surrounding Christmas, such as how many wise men were there? Was Jesus born in a cave? Doesn't the Old Testament say it is evil to bring a tree into the house and decorate it? 

But there are other times as well that bring questions to the minds of people. How could it be 3 days if Jesus died on Friday and rose on Sunday? If we have a fall festival and have the kids dress up is that better than having the kids go trick or treating?

Some of these questions are wonderful and show a persons interest in following scripture as best as they can, while others are just for argument sake. 

Today I want to address a question regarding Ash Wednesday. I have had over the years dozens of questions, from what time is service to, does the ash have to be on the forehead or can it be on the wrist, and probably everything in between. The entire subject is very confusing and based more on tradition than anything Jesus said or did regarding Ash Wednesday.

Let me first be clear that I never have done ash Wednesday services and will not be. That is not to offend those of you that go and have a cross of ashes painted on your forehead but let me explain why I personally disagree with it. 

Ash Wednesday marks the start of the Lenten season, a period of 46 days of fasting and prayer that lead us into Easter. While most of the churches that have this service will acknowledge that it was never a command from Christ they tie it to the 40 day temptation of Jesus. I will be the first to say that is a bit of a stretch. They also would claim the basis of the ashes, are the several records in scripture of putting on sackcloth and covering themselves in ashes while mourning. If this is the case wouldn't Good Friday make more sense to receive the ashes, considering the temptation is an entirely different subject theologically not to mention the fasting and praying. When you get right down to it, many will observe the ashes but neglect the fasting even if they do the praying part.

When it boils down to it this is a matter of tradition, not all bad, and theology. Simply put, if the theology doesn't make sense then why are we doing it? Really we could put ash on our heads and fast and pray anytime of the year. In fact wouldn't it make more sense when we lose a loved one, seeking Jesus or at a time of desperation to seek God in fasting and prayer as we saw with Job and others?

So here is problem number one I personally have. The same people that usually observe the ashes, will often recite the Lords prayer as a prayer, instead of the intended model it was meant to be. Did you realize that before the Lord gives the model of praying in Matthew chapter 6, He gives warnings, not to be like the hypocrites who stand before men to be seen, instead you are to do it in the inner room in secret. You are not to use meaningless repetition, in other words, God wants to hear your heart not some predescribed montra to chant. (Mt. 6:5-8) You can pray publicly or privately but do it in the right sense. But that is just the beginning. When we fast we are not to be obvious about it. We are to make this a matter between the Lord and ourselves, so when we walk around with an ash cross on our forehead we are asking to be noticed. If you disagree with me I would personally challenge you to put on sackcloth and ashes and sit in a prostrate position and then maybe i will consider your motives. An ash cross does indeed draw peoples attention to the fact you are in mourning if that is why we do it, right? But my opinion is no more special than anyone elses, so I wonder what scripture might say about this. 

Mat 6:16-18 "Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. (NASB)

certainly we have two topics here, that of fasting and praying and that of mourning. While I do agree that sackcloth and ashes were a sign of mounring, I still must maintain that  this practice was long before Jesus' temptation and should be studied out carefully. We see many places in the New Testament where fasting and prayer were prescribed but don't seem to be followed by the sackcloth and ashes, let along a one day event, because we know we are not going to have that cross on for very long or people will think we don't shower, haha. 

Anyway this is just the tip of the iceberg so if you decide to observe with ashes, do your homework and understand as well as observe all that goes with it traditionally. If you choose not to observe ashes, I would also challenge you to stand with clear understanding why you do not. It isn't merely enough to do something, we must be in accord of what scripture says and proceed with a clear conscience before the Lord. May the Lord give you the clarity of understanding and be able to differentiate between theology and tradition. 

Till next time

P.M.