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Happy Monday to you friends. I pray you had a meaningful time in God's house on Sunday. Hopefully everyone who reads this is engaged with a local Bible believing church, but if you are not, allow me to encourage you to seek out a body of believers that can encourage you in your walk with the Lord.
Hebrews 10: 23-25 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Today I want to talk...er....write about an issue that is close to my heart, not only as a pastor, but as a follower of Christ. If I were to say to you: "Christians who can go to church, but choose not to are selfish," what comes to your mind? Does that seem too harsh? In your opinion, is that statement true or does it depend on the circumstances? Notice that I didn't say "Christians that do not go to church are selfish"...I didn't say that because there are valid reasons (albeit few) that can keep a follower of Christ away from their local church. I make a distinction between people who legitimately can't attend verses those who can, but choose not to. Also, allow me to make clear that I'm not talking about the person who misses church every once and a while. I am talking about the person who (on a regular basis) chooses to do other things, rather than be engaged with a local church. I'm talking about a long-term habit of neglecting "meeting together" (Hebrews 10:25). For those who know me, you know that I do not go around saying things like the statement I made above. In general, I see little benefit in making pronouncements like that...but just because I would not say it, does that mean it's not true? In fact, I believe it's very true and it breaks my heart whenever I see someone choosing to stay away from their local church. I say this, not only as a pastor, but as a follower of Christ. For some (who choose to not go to church), it's a matter of a past hurt, for others it's a matter of priorities. Sometimes it has to do with theological differences...while other times, it's good ol' fashioned laziness. Also, and it saddens me to say this, but I've met people who choose not to attend a church because they do not want to support a church financially. Regardless of the reason, when someone makes the choice to stay home, work, go fishing, or simply sleep in, that person is choosing themselves over other people. Can you imagine what would have happened if the Apostle Paul had chosen to stay home or work on his tents, instead of engaging with other believers? What if every Christian were to have the belief that attending church were not necessary? I think most of us would agree that both of those scenarios would be very bad. Here is why I call the choice to not engage with and support a local church "selfish": because the reason we choose to engage with other believers has more to do with "them" than it does with "you." In addition, when we choose to support a local church, we are making a conscience effort to propel the gospel forward, to places we can never reach and to people we will never meet. Here in the Western hemisphere, where we view everything through an individualistic worldview, the typical Christian views their relationship to follow Christ no different than other "individual" choices they make. In reality, our choice to follow Christ should affect everything we do. God does not want us to be selfish with the free gift of salvation. If we are parents, our top priority should be to get our kids involved in a local church. However, even if we do not have kids, we have so much to offer others...this is why it is selfish to choose what YOU want over the needs of others.
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Hello friends. I pray you are well. It's Thursday, which means it's almost Friday, and Friday goes by quickly, then it's Saturday...so, basically what I'm saying is "happy weekend." My bizzare opening reminds me of what my son (Sam) tells people when they ask how tall he is. Sam says "well, I'm 5'7 1/2, which is basically 5'8 and when you think about that, 5'8 isn't much different than 5'11, which is super close to 6ft, so, yeah, I'm 6 feet tall." Classic Sam!
Anyway, I have taken some time off of the blog to focus on my school and church work. I am rested and ready to get back at it. Today we are going to look at a couple of passages that deal with a very important part of living an authentic Christian life in Christ. When speaking about living an overcoming life for Christ, this principle might be considered the most important aspect and unfortunately, this subject is not spoken of nearly as often as it should. For some reason, many (otherwise) decent pastors and churches that preach that Christ was crucified for the forgiveness of mankind,that it is by grace alone that we can be saved and that a person must confess and believe, in order to be a Christ follower…despite teaching these things (all of which are good) they fail to properly teach and preach this component of our walk with the Lord. Perhaps you are asking what this principle is...well, it is REPENTANCE. Revelation 2:5 Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the [d]deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent. Revelation 2:16 16 Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth. Revelation 3:19 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. For those of you familiar with scripture, you know that repentance is a common concept throughout God's word. Despite this, pastors will rarely take an entire sermon and dedicate it to the important practice of repentance. In the book of Revelation we can find a group of letters written to various churches, 7 of them. The letters are written to the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and to Laodicea. These letters can be found in Revelation Ch.'s 2 and 3. The letters are written from Jesus to the people/leaders in the various cities. The letters address a number of subjects, but the main idea is that God is calling out the believers for their faithfulness and/or unfaithfulness. One common theme running through the letters is the idea of repentance. God instructs the people to repent and turn back to their first love...which was God. So, what is so important about repentance? Most understand that we become believers by believing in Christ and confessing that we are a sinner, in need of a savior. When we take this small step of faith, we know little else. We recognise our need for God. The reason that the Bible talks about repentance so much is because repentance is different than merely asking for forgiveness. We are forgiven of our sins when we confess, but it takes repentance to truly change. There is no doubt that God honors that small mustard seed of faith and confession, but we are called to live a life of repentance. If a person takes that step of belief and confession, but does not live a life of repentance, then they are like the seeds thrown on infertile ground in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13). So, what is the difference between confession or asking for forgiveness and repentance? Well, confession is us recognising our wrongdoing and admitting it, which is an important first step (and enough for God to honor). Repentance, however, is about life change. When we repent, we not only recognise our wrong, but we turn around and walk the other way, no longer continuing on the wrong path. Until a young Christian understands this, they will struggle with sin in their life. This is why teaching the principle of repentance is so important. I have yet to meet a Christian that really understood the concept of repentance when they first started living for Christ. Thankfully, God is so merciful and full of Grace that He gives us time to learn these important things. This is why our salvation is not based upon our righteousness, but on the righteousness of Christ. The goal though, is to learn to have a heart like King David, a heart of repentance. Ok, back for another post here. I've been busy, as I'm in the last 2 weeks of a set of classes. I have 4 huge assignments due this upcoming Monday and Tuesday. One of them is a 14 page exegesis on 1st Timothy 2: 11-15. One of the other big ones is a 10 page paper on "My Rules For Life." The second one is much easier, as it does not have to be formatted and cited according to the SBL formatting rules. That said, I haven't much time for blog posts. However, I did want to type one out. I want to begin talking about the next Sunday morning series I'll be preaching (starting in March). The name of the series is called "Real Life Faith: Living An Authentic LIfe." One week 1, one of the passages I'll be covering is
Galatians 2: 11-14 11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he [i]stood condemned. 12 For prior to the coming of certain men from [j]James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing [k]the party of the circumcision. 13 The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not [l]straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? [m] Most know that Apostle Paul wrote this letter. In it, Paul is talking about how the Lord has given him a special calling to preach to the gentiles, while Peter has been called to reach his fellow Jewish brothers and sisters. Then, starting in vs. 11, Paul tells of an interaction he had with Peter, and it wasn't a pleasant one. Paul had to correct Peter in front of other people, as Peter was not living out the message of the Gospel and worse, Peter was leading others astray (in this particular area). Peter was showing partiality towards fellow Jews. My question is: why would Peter do this? Did Peter know it was wrong? Well, the answer to the second question is a resounding "YES," Peter knew his actions were wrong. When these influential Jews were not around, Peter had no problem eating with the gentiles. It was only when these men came around that Peter found himself staying away from the "unwashed." I believe the answer to our first question is "Fear." Not fear like "Peter is afraid of the influential Jewish men," rather, Peter (on this occasion) had fear of man. No doubt, Peter had built a reputation up over the years and was well known. Peter did not want to appear "less than" in front of the Jewish men, therefore, he made the mistake of allowing the outward righteousness of the law override the inward righteousness of grace. I will talk more about this (hopefully) later next week. God Bless. Hello friends, I pray your Valentine's day has gone well. Laura and I have never really celebrated this day too much...but my son and his wife, this is their first Valentine's day as a married couple, so there are some expectations...on his end.
Today I am going to finish up this series on hermeneutics. We will look at the last 2 points. If you have not read my last 3 entries, I would encourage you to do so, as this one builds on those. Just as a reminder, here are the steps: 1. What did the text mean to the original audience? 2. What are the differences between the biblical audience and us? 3. What is the theological principle in this text? 4. How does our theological principle fit with the rest of scripture? 5. How should individual Christians today live out the theological principle? Let's do our final analysis of: Joshua 1: 1-9 1 Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, 2 “Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. 3 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. 5 No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous; [b]be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may [c]have success wherever you go. 8 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may [d]be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will [e]have success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Let's answer question 4 and 5. How does our theological principle fit with the rest of scripture? How should individual Christians today live out the theological principle? In my last entry I pointed out a couple of theological principles that fit within our passage in Joshua. The principles are: God keeps His promises and God honors obedience For our passage in Joshua, these last two questions are pretty easy. Let's look at question 4 first. How does our theological principle fit with the rest of scripture? Are we able to confirm the principles of "God keeps His promises" and "God honors obedience" throughout the rest of scripture? Are there other verses or stories that support our principles? Well, if you know anything about the Bible, the answer should be a resounding YES! God always keeps His promises and God honors obedience. I don't have the time to do a deep-dive on the subject of God's promises and how He honors obedience, but let's look at a couple of scriptures that confirm our hypothesis. Psalm 19:9-11 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether. 10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward. In regard to God honoring obedience, there are many scriptures that confirm this truth. This passage is but 1 of them. If I were writing a sermon on God honoring obedience, this is one I would use. All throughout the O.T. and N.T. we see God affirming obedience, with the promise that obedience will bring its own reward, in due time. I suppose if we want to believe this, we must address the first principle...does God keep his promises. After all, if God does not have a record of keeping His promises, then being obedient is of no consequence. So, does scripture confirm that God keeps His promises? Again, I could use many examples to prove this principle, but for now, I'll use one from later on in the book of Joshua. Joshua 21:43-45 43 So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. 44 And the Lord gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hand. 45 Not [m]one of the good promises which the Lord had [n]made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass. The Bible makes it clear that our God is a God that keeps His promises! God promised Abraham that his offspring would become a nation; God promised that He would send His son, to die for the sins of mankind, that promise was fulfilled. God promised that Jesus will return one day, for an obedient Bride...we can be sure that God will keep this promise! Let's quickly answer the last question in our hermeneutic journey: 5. How should individual Christians today live out the theological principle? If we desire to truly live for the Lord, we must believe that God keeps His promises and that God honors obedience. I would argue that the overriding theological principle here is that God keeps His promises. As I pointed out earlier, if we do not believe that, then why are we being obedient? While Sam was growing up, there were times that I broke a promise. I never did this lightly, but I would make a commitment to him, then have to break it, for whatever reason. If a parent does this enough, the child will learn that mom or dad can't be trusted. When that happens, their behavior will change (for the worse) over time. The opposite is also true, if a child completely trusts their parents, a strong bond will develop over time. Thankfully, our Father has a 100% proven track record of keeping His promises. We can live this principle out by having faith...even when it may appear that God has broken His word, we must believe that He hasn't. As a matter of fact, God cannot break His word...it is against His very nature to do so. We must trust and obey (just like the old Hymn), in spite of our circumstances. Sorry for my lack of posts (not that anyone is chomping at the bit to read my posts), I have been busy with church stuff and school. Let's get back to crossing the interpretive bridge. If you have not read my last 2 posts, I would encourage you to do so before reading this one, as today builds on those.
Just as a reminder, here are our steps to interpretation: 1. What did the text mean to the original audience? 2. What are the differences between the biblical audience and us? 3. What is the theological principle in this text? 4. How does our theological principle fit with the rest of scripture? 5. How should individual Christians today live out the theological principle? Joshua 1: 1-9 1 Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, 2 “Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. 3 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. 5 No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous; [b]be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may [c]have success wherever you go. 8 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may [d]be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will [e]have success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Here is the question we are asking today: 3. What is the theological principle in this text? Today we are looking at the 3rd step in our hermeneutics journey. Obviously I do not have the time to do a deep dive into the theological principles displayed in this passage, but I will touch on a couple of ideas. One of the main theological principles on display here is the idea of promise. God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a nation. Because of the obedience of Moses and Joshua, that promise came into fulfillment...despite some bumps along the way. So, the theological principle is that God keeps His promises...and of course, we see that all throughout scripture, in the O.T. and the N.T. The other theological principle I'll point out is that God honors obedience. God tells Joshua to make sure and obey the principles given to him by Moses...and if he does that, God will honor that obedience. This is another principle we see all throughout scripture. What do you think? Can you think of any other theological principles? It's been a few days since my last entry. I've been quite busy with school. Today I will continue to look at the topic of hermeneutics. If you have not read my last entry, I would encourage you to do so, as this one builds on that. Let's look (once again) at our steps of interpretation.
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