The Angels Were Waiting


Standing on an edge of a cloud,
Thousands of Angels are gathered 'round.
Thoughts of fear go through their heads.
The scene below has them scared.

The Angels are ready with their weapons in hand.
They may have to help the One with nails in His hands.
They wait for a cry of help from below.
He should have called them long ago.

He hasn't given in, but He's growing weak.
The crown of thorns has sent blood down His cheeks.
He hangs there one hour after another.
People say He's no better than any other.

He raises his chin from off His chest.
He looks down upon all the rest.
With the power He has left, He speaks.
Words we still hear that make our hearts weak.

It is finished. It is finished.
No more, no less; that's all He said.
The Angels look sad, but they know it had to be done.
That was the whole purpose of God's only begotten Son.

A Remarkable Quote on Marriage

Here is a thought from John MacArthur that I found in a book I'm reading:

"No person deserves salvation, forgiveness, and a place in God’s kingdom, but Christ made the greatest sacrifice for the most unworthy people. The contrast is incredible: An absolutely holy, righteous God made the greatest, most magnanimous sacrifice for the vilest of all people. Husbands, don’t tell me about your wife’s problems that make it hard to love her – you’re not far removed from your wife as God was from sinners, yet He loved you. Your wife may be a sinner, but so are you. Don’t lose that perspective. "

He goes on to say,

"Men who explain away their difficult marriages by claiming they no longer love their wives are being disobedient to God’s command."

Taken from Devine Design by John MacArthur

God and Gas!

I normally don't turn the TV on on Sunday mornings. But today, I did. I was flipping through the channels and I came across Smiley. No not Miley, but the smiley preacher. You may know him by Joel Olsteen. While I haven't read his books nor have I listened to an entire sermon speech of his. I have seen a couple interviews and quotes. And that's been enough to know that he's not that scriptural.



This morning I just happened to flip the channel when he took a breath and then he said,

"God will give you better gas mileage."

I don't know the context of his paragraph around this. He did say, before I got him turned off,

"He [God] will keep you out of rush hour."

Now, I know that God is capable. But I haven't seen these in the Bible nor do I feel that these are things that he is just wanting us to pray for.

I would rather ask that He keep supplying peace, giving abundant life and keeping us out of temptation.

Easter Celebration

Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. ~Matthew 28:1-6~

Why this scientist believes in God

Taken from CNN.com:

Editor's note: Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., is the director of the National Human Genome Research Institute. His most recent book is "The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief."


ROCKVILLE, Maryland (CNN) -- I am a scientist and a believer, and I find no conflict between those world views.

As the director of the Human Genome Project, I have led a consortium of scientists to read out the 3.1 billion letters of the human genome, our own DNA instruction book. As a believer, I see DNA, the information molecule of all living things, as God's language, and the elegance and complexity of our own bodies and the rest of nature as a reflection of God's plan.

I did not always embrace these perspectives. As a graduate student in physical chemistry in the 1970s, I was an atheist, finding no reason to postulate the existence of any truths outside of mathematics, physics and chemistry. But then I went to medical school, and encountered life and death issues at the bedsides of my patients. Challenged by one of those patients, who asked "What do you believe, doctor?", I began searching for answers.

I had to admit that the science I loved so much was powerless to answer questions such as "What is the meaning of life?" "Why am I here?" "Why does mathematics work, anyway?" "If the universe had a beginning, who created it?" "Why are the physical constants in the universe so finely tuned to allow the possibility of complex life forms?" "Why do humans have a moral sense?" "What happens after we die?" (Watch Francis Collins discuss how he came to believe in God )

I had always assumed that faith was based on purely emotional and irrational arguments, and was astounded to discover, initially in the writings of the Oxford scholar C.S. Lewis and subsequently from many other sources, that one could build a very strong case for the plausibility of the existence of God on purely rational grounds. My earlier atheist's assertion that "I know there is no God" emerged as the least defensible. As the British writer G.K. Chesterton famously remarked, "Atheism is the most daring of all dogmas, for it is the assertion of a universal negative."

But reason alone cannot prove the existence of God. Faith is reason plus revelation, and the revelation part requires one to think with the spirit as well as with the mind. You have to hear the music, not just read the notes on the page. Ultimately, a leap of faith is required.

For me, that leap came in my 27th year, after a search to learn more about God's character led me to the person of Jesus Christ. Here was a person with remarkably strong historical evidence of his life, who made astounding statements about loving your neighbor, and whose claims about being God's son seemed to demand a decision about whether he was deluded or the real thing. After resisting for nearly two years, I found it impossible to go on living in such a state of uncertainty, and I became a follower of Jesus.

So, some have asked, doesn't your brain explode? Can you both pursue an understanding of how life works using the tools of genetics and molecular biology, and worship a creator God? Aren't evolution and faith in God incompatible? Can a scientist believe in miracles like the resurrection?

Actually, I find no conflict here, and neither apparently do the 40 percent of working scientists who claim to be believers. Yes, evolution by descent from a common ancestor is clearly true. If there was any lingering doubt about the evidence from the fossil record, the study of DNA provides the strongest possible proof of our relatedness to all other living things.

But why couldn't this be God's plan for creation? True, this is incompatible with an ultra-literal interpretation of Genesis, but long before Darwin, there were many thoughtful interpreters like St. Augustine, who found it impossible to be exactly sure what the meaning of that amazing creation story was supposed to be. So attaching oneself to such literal interpretations in the face of compelling scientific evidence pointing to the ancient age of Earth and the relatedness of living things by evolution seems neither wise nor necessary for the believer.

I have found there is a wonderful harmony in the complementary truths of science and faith. The God of the Bible is also the God of the genome. God can be found in the cathedral or in the laboratory. By investigating God's majestic and awesome creation, science can actually be a means of worship.

We Love Gay People!

Startled? Confused? Wondering if the headline is a mistake?
Let’s put this in perspective. Fact: Homosexuality is a sin against God. Fact: So is lying, cheating, laziness, lust, and more!
While homosexuality is a terribly wicked act, so is every other sin we commit against a holy God. But why does the church tend
to point out homosexuality as the “untouchable” sin?
Perhaps it’s because up to this point in history, the church has been full of liars, cheaters, adulterers, murderers, etc. But since
homosexuality has remained “taboo” in the church, it is the only sin that liars, cheaters, adulterers, and murderers can point to
and still feel “holier than thou!” “At least I don’t do that!” If homosexuals came into the church, we would lose our moral superiority.
We might just be grouped in the same category as “wretched sinners.”
Perhaps we should reconsider Romans 3. Verse 10 says, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks
for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” That verse describes
you, me, liars, homosexuals - all sinners!
The Pharisees didn’t see things that way. They believed they were better than the average sinner. Of course, Jesus called their
bluff when he gave them permission to “cast the first stone” at the woman caught in adultery.
Speaking of stones, there are a lot of them being thrown in the name of Christ these days. Anti-gay rallies featuring signs saying
“God hates fags” are commonplace. Sadly, many churches encourage their members to participate. It sure feels good to point
out how terrible someone else is!
But what if we decided to display the love of Christ instead? It was the radical love of Jesus that compelled Him to minister to
taxpayers, prostitutes, Samaritans, and drunkards. And by the way, He helped them transform their sinful actions into God-honoring
lifestyles. Jesus knew that the only way they would change is through His unsurpassing love - the same love that saved
you and me “while we were yet sinners” (Romans 5:8). Maybe we just don’t want these people to change. After all, that would
take away our “holier than thou” crutch.
But what if we took all our “hate” energy and poured it into ministries for homosexuals? What if we abandoned anti-gay rallies and
replaced them with “God loves you” rallies? Perhaps then the homosexual community would be able to see past our arrogance
to the powerful love of Christ and the cross.
Bottom line: Homosexuality is a terrible sin. Gay people are wicked sinners. We do not endorse the lifestyle. Nor do we support
gay marriage or gay adoption. We do, however, follow Christ’s example in loving sinners and calling them to repentance.
Of course, once they repent and place their faith in Christ for salvation, we help them resist temptation and discipline them when
they consistently rebel without remorse. That’s how we should treat every sinner in the church!

Written by:

Pastor Scott Atteberry
Wyatt Baptist Church

Is baptism necessary for salvation?

John MacArthur Answers:

No. Let's examine what the Scriptures teach on this issue:
First, it is quite clear from such passages as Acts 15 and Romans 4 that no external act is necessary for salvation. Salvation is by divine grace through faith alone (Romans 3:22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30; 4:5; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; Philippians 3:9, etc.).
If baptism were necessary for salvation, we would expect to find it stressed whenever the gospel is presented in Scripture. That is not the case, however. Peter mentioned baptism in his sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38). However, in his sermon from Solomon's portico in the Temple (Acts 3:12-26), Peter makes no reference to baptism, but links forgiveness of sin to repentance (3:19). If baptism is necessary for the forgiveness of sin, why didn't Peter say so in Acts 3?
Paul never made baptism any part of his gospel presentations. In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Paul gives a concise summary of the gospel message he preached. There is no mention of baptism. In 1 Corinthians 1:17, Paul states that "Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel," thus clearly differentiating the gospel from baptism. That is difficult to understand if baptism is necessary for salvation. If baptism were part of the gospel itself, necessary for salvation, what good would it have done Paul to preach the gospel, but not baptize? No one would have been saved. Paul clearly understood baptism to be separate from the gospel, and hence in no way efficacious for salvation.
Perhaps the most convincing refutation of the view that baptism is necessary for salvation are those who were saved apart from baptism. We have no record of the apostles' being baptized, yet Jesus pronounced them clean of their sins (John 15:3--note that the Word of God, not baptism, is what cleansed them). The penitent woman (Luke 7:37-50), the paralytic man (Matthew 9:2), and the publican (Luke 18:13-14) also experienced forgiveness of sins apart from baptism.
The Bible also gives us an example of people who were saved before being baptized. In Acts 10:44-48, Cornelius and those with him were converted through Peter's message. That they were saved before being baptized is evident from their reception of the Holy Spirit (v. 44) and the gifts of the Spirit (v. 46) before their baptism. Indeed, it is the fact that they had received the Holy Spirit (and hence were saved) that led Peter to baptize them (cf. v. 47).
One of the basic principles of biblical interpretation is the analogia scriptura, the analogy of Scripture. In other words, we must compare Scripture with Scripture in order to understand its full and proper sense. And since the Bible doesn't contradict itself, any interpretation of a specific passage that contradicts the general teaching of the Bible is to be rejected. Since the general teaching of the Bible is, as we have seen, that baptism and other forms of ritual are not necessary for salvation, no individual passage could teach otherwise. Thus we must look for interpretations of those passages that will be in harmony with the general teaching of Scripture. With that in mind, let's look briefly at some passages that appear to teach that baptism is required for salvation.
In Acts 2:38, Peter appears to link forgiveness of sins to baptism. But there are at least two plausible interpretations of this verse that do not connect forgiveness of sin with baptism. It is possible to translate the Greek preposition eis "because of," or "on the basis of," instead of "for." It is used in that sense in Matthew 3:11; 12:41; and Luke 11:32. It is also possible to take the clause "and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ" as parenthetical. Support for that interpretation comes from that fact that "repent" and "your" are plural, while "be baptized" is singular, thus setting it off from the rest of the sentence. If that interpretation is correct, the verse would read "Repent (and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ) for the forgiveness of your sins." Forgiveness is thus connected with repentance, not baptism, in keeping with the consistent teaching of the New Testament (cf. Luke 24:47; John 3:18; Acts 5:31; 10:43; 13:38; 26:18; Ephesians 5:26).
Mark 16:16, a verse often quoted to prove baptism is necessary for salvation, is actually a proof of the opposite. Notice that the basis for condemnation in that verse is not the failure to be baptized, but only the failure to believe. Baptism is mentioned in the first part of the verse because it was the outward symbol that always accompanied the inward belief. I might also mention that many textual scholars think it unlikely that vv. 9-20 are an authentic part of Mark's gospel. We can't discuss here all the textual evidence that has caused many New Testament scholars to reject the passage. But you can find a thorough discussion in Bruce Metzger, et al., A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, pp. 122-128, and William Hendriksen, The Gospel of Mark, pp. 682-687.
Water baptism does not seem to be what Peter has in view in 1 Peter 3:21. The English word "baptism" is simply a transliteration of the Greek word baptizo, which means "to immerse." Baptizo does not always refer to water baptism in the New Testament (cf. Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; 7:4; 10:38-39; Luke 3:16; 11:38; 12:50; John 1:33; Acts 1:5; 11:16; 1 Corinthians 10:2; 12:13). Peter is not talking about immersion in water, as the phrase "not the removal of dirt from the flesh" indicates. He is referring to immersion in Christ's death and resurrection through "an appeal to God for a good conscience," or repentance.
I also do not believe water baptism is in view in Romans 6 or Galatians 3. I see in those passages a reference to the baptism in the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:13). For a detailed exposition of those passages, I refer you to my commentaries on Galatians and Romans, or the tapes of my sermons on Galatians 3 and Romans 6.
In Acts 22:16, Paul recounts the words of Ananias to him following his experience on the Damascus road: "Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name." It is best to connect the phrase "wash away your sins" with "calling on His name." If we connect it with "be baptized," the Greek participle epikalesamenos ("calling") would have no antecedent. Paul's sins were washed away not by baptism, but by calling on His name.
Baptism is certainly important, and required of every believer. However, the New Testament does not teach that baptism is necessary for salvation.

"John Piper is Bad"

John Piper is known as being one bad dude. Seems like after speaking at a Passion event his words were joined with some Michael Jackson music. Here is a a sneak peak of the new Piper Song and what Piper has to say about it.

I think you can hear the entire podcast here through Itunes.

I just thought it was funny. I had the chance to hear Piper speak at the Passion Conference in 1999 in Dallas. He was the only speaker in a wool suit.

Parenting 101

I wanted to link a couple of sermons about Parenting. The speaker, Aaron Wilson, is a friend of mine and my youth pastor back in the day. He has 4 children and the oldest just turned six. He's definiteley getting the experiece, but he'll be the first to tell you that he doesn't know it all.

Aaron shared the following sermons at a Parent's Conference in Southern Arkansas.

Raising Children to Hope in God MP3 Audio

Evangelizing Your Children Faithfully MP3 Audio

The audio links will take a couple of minutes to download.

Fifteen Pro-Life Truths to Speak

By: John Piper

"You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." - Jesus Christ

1. Existing fetal homicide laws make a man guilty of manslaughter if he kills the baby in a mother's womb (except in the case of abortion).

2. Fetal surgery is performed on babies in the womb to save them while another child the same age is being legally destroyed.

3. Babies can sometimes survive on their own at 23 or 24 weeks, but abortion is legal beyond this limit.

4. Living on its own is not the criterion of human personhood, as we know from the use of respirators and dialysis.

5. Size is irrelevant to human personhood, as we know from the difference between a one-week-old and a six-year-old.

6. Developed reasoning powers are not the criterion of personhood, as we know from the capacities of three-month-old babies.

7. Infants in the womb are human beings scientifically by virtue of their genetic make up.

8. Ultrasound has given a stunning window on the womb that shows the unborn at eight weeks sucking his thumb, recoiling from pricking, responding to sound. All the organs are present, the brain is functioning, the heart is pumping, the liver is making blood cells, the kidneys are cleaning fluids, and there is a fingerprint. Virtually all abortions happen later than this date.

9. Justice dictates that when two legitimate rights conflict, the limitation of rights that does the least harm is the most just. Bearing a child for adoption does less harm than killing him.

10. Justice dictates that when either of two people must be inconvenienced or hurt to alleviate their united predicament, the one who bore the greater responsibility for the predicament should bear more of the inconvenience or hurt to alleviate it.

11. Justice dictates that a person may not coerce harm on another person by threatening voluntary harm on themselves.

12. The outcast and the disadvantaged and exploited are to be cared for in a special way, especially those with no voice of their own.

13. What is happening in the womb is the unique person-nurturing work of God, who alone has the right to give and take life.

14. There are countless clinics that offer life and hope to both mother and child (and father and parents), with care of every kind lovingly provided by people who will meet every need they can.

15.Jesus Christ can forgive all sins, and will give all who trusts him the help they need to do everything that life requires.

Church Reformation

Reforming the Local ChurchThree Examples and Three Principles
Fred A. Malone

Many say that it cannot be done in an SBC church, but they are wrong. I have been involved in reforming three Southern Baptist Churches. They were each different situations, requiring different approaches to the needs of the congregation. By God's grace, there were many things I did right; others I did wrong. Any honest pastor must say the same. However, in the process, God blessed reformation in all three churches.Three Examples of Reformation

1. The first was a typical Southern Baptist Church, North Pompano Baptist Church, in Pompano Beach, Florida. There I began as Associate Pastor to Pastor Ernest C. Reisinger and later served as Pastor. When Ernie arrived in early 1977, he found a congregation in turmoil due to a youth worker's molestation of young boys, a huge financial debt from a previous pastor's financial mismanagement and theft of building funds, and a deacon board of some good men who were strongly influenced by dispensationalism. Ernie began teaching the deacons the Abstract of Principles and developing a pastoral relationship with them. When I arrived later in 1977, the church was recovering financially, Ernie's preaching was starting to take affect and the deacons were growing spiritually.

However, soon after my arrival, things began to heat up. Some were dissatisfied with Ernie's preaching on holy living, especially those from a dispensational, "carnal Christian" background. They thought him a legalist. As I began to lead the choir and worship with good hymns of substance, explaining what the words actually meant, a negative reaction set in. When I evaluated the Sunday School literature and found the gospel absent from the preschool and elementary years, I stirred up a rebellion from preschool teachers. Some people began to leave the church, some because of Ernie's preaching, others because of mine. But others came in, especially young families, when they heard of our teaching of the Bible.

The first year and a half were marked with some being saved, some true Christians accepting sound teaching, and others just leaving in confusion. The Word of God divides. However, over all, God spared us from a church split. Many faithful young couples entered the church. When Ernie retired at the end of 1978, I became pastor and he became Missionary-at-Large. In this position he started the Boyce Project, printing James P. Boyce's Abstract of Systematic Theology and distributing it to all graduating students in SBC seminaries. The response from many students and pastors was enthusiastic. They wanted to know why they were not taught the SBC founders' theology in seminary. This was the beginning of what later morphed into Founders Ministries.

In the first two months of my pastorate, forty people who had opposed our ministry left the church. Then the chairman of deacons resigned, having accepted atheism. After this we discovered the financial secretary had embezzled funds. Later, the new chairman of deacons was disciplined for adultery. Yet, at the same time, many were growing in grace, accepting the reformed faith of our Baptist forefathers, and leading faithful lives. In August 1980 I left to work on a PhD. Ernie resumed pastoring the church and continued the pursuit of reformation.

In the years that followed, however, the church faced a difficult situation that eventually led to its decline. A co-pastor, who was added to serve with Ernie, decided he could no longer stay in the SBC. He resigned and took many of the active young couples with him and formed Emmanuel Baptist Church, a Reformed Baptist congregation. North Pompano never recovered from the split and finally was handed over to the local Baptist association for oversight.

2. The second was Heritage Baptist Church, a brand new church start in Fort Worth, Texas. I served there as founding pastor along with Bob Martin and Ben Mitchell in the early days. It was a joy to start a church from scratch with beliefs and practice as I saw them in the Scripture and the 1689 London Baptist Confession.

I worked as a bivocational pastor for the first few years in forming the church. It was the hardest time of my life yet, in many ways, the most satisfying. We need more young men who are willing to sacrifice and work bivocationally to start churches in cities that have small groups of believers who want a reformed and Baptist work. Too many are looking for an established reformed work in which to labor. Too many are fleeing into the PCA for an easier road. Where are the sacrificial "Bunyans" willing to suffer to build sound churches?

I experienced many joys at HBC along with many sorrows. Many seminary students from Southwestern came through the church. Some were very grateful for the work and were trained in ministry. Others always had a better idea of how things should be done and left the church. Some members were affected by theonomy, New Covenant Theology or a critical prideful spirit. Problems of church discipline for adultery plagued us through the years. Problems within the eldership almost led to a church split. But by the time I left in 1992, by God's powerful and transforming grace, HBC was a stable and growing church plant.

Sadly, further problems within the eldership led to difficulty in calling a pastor and for a season the church declined. However, with the coming of Larry Vincent and the stable leadership of Steve Garrick, the remaining elder, HBC is today a growing, happy and stable reformed SBC church with a bright future.

3. The third church is First Baptist Church, Clinton, Louisiana, where I have served as Pastor since 1993. This church went through reformation under the previous pastor, Bill Ascol. It was a difficult reformation that involved the beginnings of church discipline for adultery. A large number of members, who did not want to hear preaching on holiness or confront difficult situations requiring church discipline, left. Those who remained consolidated under Pastor Ascol. Soon after, a number of younger families joined, coming from a sovereign grace church in the area that had split over the pastor's adultery. When I arrived at First Baptist, the church was sound on the doctrines of grace and its members demonstrated a desire to lead a godly lives. There was much for which to thank God.

However, after arriving, I soon discovered that there were tensions in the church between some of the original members and some of the newer sovereign grace members. Issues arose on the necessity of church membership, the biblical validity of Sunday School for children, admission to the Lord's Supper, the need of other elders. Christian liberty concerning women's dress, crying babies in worship services, how to educate children, the biblical basis for insurance, women working outside the home and other matters consumed my time. Theonomy and political activity for Christians became a divisive issue.

All in all, the first few years were given to addressing these issues with individuals and the congregation to clarify the Bible's teaching on such subjects. In the midst of this, church discipline became necessary for adultery, unwed pregnancy, inactive members, DWI's and illegal drug use. So, even for a church that had gone through an effective theological and practical living reformation, other issues from serious minded Christians necessitated further reformation. I am happy to report that after 13 ½ years, God has brought about stability and unity in the church membership. We have lost many young people to the world, but God has also brought many into His kingdom. It is a privilege and joy to serve such a sincere people of God. We are not perfect, but we are growing in the faith.

Summary:

All three churches were three different situations, with different issues, different backgrounds, different kinds of people and different pastoral needs. There is no manual of "How to Reform a Church" which guides step-by-step what to do and when. Rather, each church requires the pastor to be sensitive to "where they are…where they need to be…and what to do in-between." Those who follow a book or theory of reformation step-by-step are opening themselves up to pushing the people too fast or lagging behind too slow. God has His own timetable for reformation through the use of biblical means. A "canned" approach can lead to disaster, as many a pastor can now testify on the other side of a church split or his own firing. There is no panacea or formula for church reformation. We can long for reformation, pursue it and pray for it, but we cannot produce it. When reformation comes, we must acknowledge that it is the work of God's mercy in His timing as He chooses to bless. We must trust Him and look to His Word alone to guide us. As I have watched God bring reformation to these three churches, I have gleaned some biblical priorities or principles which I believe must be followed in every church situation seeking reformation according to God's Word.

Three Principles of Reformation

1. The first principle that leads to reformation is a sound preaching and teaching ministry. This is obvious to those of us who believe that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." The Holy Spirit uses the means of the Word of God to do His work in the human heart: "Where there is no vision [i.e., revelation, not "strategy"], the people perish." However, I am convinced that most of us have not been sufficiently prepared to preach expository messages that focus on the biblical text yet apply the Word to the lives of the hearers in a Christ-centered way.

Many styles of preaching are out there today—expository, exegetical, historical—redemptive, current events, topical, pseudo-psychological and what I would simply call "story-telling superficially tied to a text." But rarely do I hear Christ preached like the Apostles preached Him, both evangelistically and didactively to the church. I rarely hear a well-rounded, Christ-centered, textually accurate, practically applied sermon like those of Charles Spurgeon or Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. We are not turning out men who preach Christ and Him crucified like these two great men.

There is a lot more to preaching Christ expositionally than being exegetically accurate to the text or giving a running commentary. Paul and Peter preached the whole message of Christ to the whole of man: mind, emotions and will. They interwove the birth, life, death, resurrection, ascended rule, and glorious return of Jesus Christ into their preaching of every conceivable issue. Lloyd-Jones calls that "theology on fire." They brought Jesus' resurrection into every evangelistic message to call the hearer to face a risen Christ. They could not teach marriage without referring to Jesus' sacrificial death as the model for husbands and wives. They could not teach humility in the church or while suffering unjustly without mentioning the humility of Jesus Christ in His humbling incarnation or humiliating crucifixion. Our church people are starving to death without hearing much of Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life and the Water of Life. This problem is not restricted to non-reformed ministers. Even good, reformed preachers are not immune.

I encourage those who want to see reformation and biblical Christianity in their churches to begin by preaching through one of the Gospels, showing the character, teachings, love, and self-denial of the Son of God. In each text we should preach a whole Christ to the whole man, applying Him and Him crucified to marriage, child-raising, Christian unity, evangelistic effort, God-centered worship, spiritual warfare, trials and the future hope. All of Scripture since Genesis 3:15 is about Him and His truth and His Kingdom. Every exhortation to obedience is about His atonement for disobedience and His grace for obedience. Every obscure passage is about being condemned under law and/or saved under His gospel of grace.

I believe in preaching the doctrines of grace. But in reformation with a people who have been untaught, centering on the life and work of our dear Lord will bring those great truths to light at the foot of His cross. Start with one of the Gospels and set Christ before them. Faithful exposition of a Christ-centered Scripture will call the hearer to deal with Christ and His apostles on the doctrines of grace, instead of inviting attack on the imperfect preacher. We need to reform our preaching before we can even think of reforming our churches. I encourage the reader to read Preaching and Preachers by Lloyd-Jones slowly, thoughtfully and annually to reform the way you think about true Christ-centered preaching. This is the greatest need to accomplish any genuine reformation.

2. The second principle that leads to reformation is gracious pastoral care. By this, I do not mean moving to a plural eldership before qualified men are in place. Church order is a biblical truth. But it does no good without biblical men who are mature, doctrinally-sound, family leaders and gracious in their dealings with others. Authoritarian elders are a plague to reformation.

A plural eldership can be a great blessing to biblical reformation—or a great hindrance. To rush toward a plural eldership does not a reformation make. I consider it one of the last things you do in reforming the local church. Few men in our churches understand sound doctrine. Few understand the gospel in its breadth and application to daily life. Few are so mature in their faith and character that they have a gracious and patient spirit with obstinate people. Why rush to an eldership until faithful men are prepared to take the office with wisdom, maturity, and love for sinners? God gives elders in His time.

Paul exhorted Timothy:

Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will (2 Timothy 2:22-26).

The first matter of pastoral care is to deal with oneself as a mature, faithful man. Only out of a personal maturity in following Christ does a godly man develop the refusal of quarrelsomeness and the grace of gentleness in teaching and correcting those in opposition. Reformation rarely proceeds at the rate we choose or wish. God has to "grant them repentance" as a result of our labors. We cannot control that or rush that. If we have nothing that we did not receive from God, we of all men must be gracious, forgiving, loving and self-sacrificing in our pastoral work of reformation. To do less is a denial of the doctrines of grace we profess.

We must start with the church leaders and become their pastor and dear friend. We must love the obstinate and teach the ignorant and always serve them. Only then will we raise up leaders to stand beside us in the more difficult days ahead of changing worship, administering church discipline, and holy living. We must be by their sickbeds, hold their hands as they deal with wayward children and help them form loving marriages. We cannot let their reluctance for reformation allow them to become our unpastored adversaries. It is the sovereign grace we show them that will lead to reformation under such grace.

3. The third principle that leads to reformation is prayer. This is no trite thing to say. I do not know why God brings revival under one faithful pastor and not under another. Nor in one of His churches and not others. It is His choice, His sovereign will, to do so as He pleases. We are called to preach the Word and pastor the flock with all the grace and truth we can muster at Christ's feet. But we must always remember that He was despised and rejected of men. He was a Man of Sorrows, acquainted with grief because He was faithful, truthful and loving in His earthly ministry. Only after His suffering and death did the Father answer His prayer to build His church. It may be so with you as well.

Prayer, faithful prayer, crying out to the Father that He might give saving grace to the unconverted and enlightened minds to the sheep is an absolute necessity for biblical, Christ-centered reformation. Not the kind of prayers that all would accept the preacher and His ministry without causing so much trouble. But the kind of prayers that set eternal souls individually before the Father and the Son, begging for mercy on their poor souls for life and godliness. Especially, prayer for one's enemies.

God has promised to honor prayer as a means for reformation as much as preaching the Word faithfully. At our Lord's darkest times, He prayed for strength and wisdom. He prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail. He prayed for the Father to keep His own in the world and for workers to bring in the harvest. And He thanked the Father for hiding the truth from the proud and revealing His grace to spiritual babes. Reforming pastors must follow their Lord.

The Second Great Awakening had multiple simultaneous beginnings. But one significant event occurred on the campus of Hampton—Sydney College when several new converts prayed for revival and reformation. These prayers were answered with a revival on campus that spread into the churches from graduates. It changed the face of America and its churches. Brethren, we must pray.

Conclusion:We need revival and reformation again. But you will notice that all three principles above have to do with the pastor's life and behavior. If true reformation comes, it must come with preaching the Word in a Christ-centered, expositional, applicatory way. It must come by gracious and patient pastoral care to earn the people's trust and following. And it must come by faithful prayer by pastors for themselves and for their people—without ceasing. This takes time, patience, forgiveness and love by the pastor. There is no other biblical secret or strategy ordained by God in the Scriptures.

Our Lord promised to build His church, universal and local, and that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. But He does it in His sovereign time, in His sovereign way and with His sovereign means. What is needed is reforming pastors who trust Him themselves and who labor faithfully, graciously and lovingly until He chooses to bless the means He has given. Be thankful for every glimmer of grace you see in your people. It is a miracle! And do not enter into controversy with our Lord because He is not moving fast enough for your comfort and joy. Look unto Jesus always, the greatest Reformer of all, and He will give you the strength to preach the gospel, which blesses and divides at the same time. And then you will hear these words one day: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

Copyright © 2006 Fred MalonePermission granted to copy this material in its complete text only for not-for-profit use (sharing with a friend, church, school, Bible study, etc.) and including all copyright information.

A J.C. Ryle Thought

A little child is easily quieted and amused with gaudy toys and dolls and rattles, so long as it is not hungry; but once let it feel the cravings of nature within, and we know that nothing will satisfy it but food. So it is with man in the matter of his soul. Music and flowers and candles and incense and banners and processions and beautiful vestments and confessionals and man-made ceremonies of a semi-Romish character may do well enough for him under certain conditions. But once let him 'awake and arise from the dead', and he will not rest content with these things. They will seem to him mere solemn triflings and a waste of time. Once let him see his sin, and he must see his Saviour.
J.C. Ryle

Homosexuality, A Sin?

I read an interesting sermon today entitled “Conflict in the Church: Is Homosexuality a Sin?” The sermon was presented on January 29, 2006 by Betsy Singleton, pastor of Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church in Little Rock, AR. She is also the wife of Arkansas Congressmen Vic Snyder.

This was her fourth sermon in a series of “Difficult Questions Christians Face.” She begins with how she developed her thoughts and ideas. She referred to “four basic tools to help us listen for God’s living word to us today” and they were “the primary one is Scripture, in addition to tradition, experience and reason.”

If you allow me to do so, I’d like to quote her definitions of the four tools above. These quotes are taken from another sermon that I will post later.

“1) Scripture. The first is scripture. While it does not and cannot specifically answer questions about which its writers knew absolutely nothing thousands of years ago, scripture is the story of God’s promises to us, not a rigid rule book. Like some Christians, we could pick apart its contents and find one or two lines to support almost any position, but that violates the integrity of its historical formation over thousands of years as people evolved in their relationship and understanding of God. The story contained in Genesis to Revelation, particularly the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, is our primary guide.

2) Christian tradition is another tool. It includes church teachings over the last 2000 years: the accumulation of creeds, liturgies, prayers, hymns, as well as church history. For United Methodists, it also includes the Book of Discipline and The Book of Resolutions, our own laws and official positions that guide our Christian actions. For example, our church has an official statement on inter-religious dialogue that should help guide our discussions with persons of other faith traditions. We may not always agree with these (and I do not always), but we do believe that God’s Spirit is working with human leaders to speak anew to the church today.

3) Experience is a third tool we bring to answering difficult questions. Experience refers to how the Spirit of God is at work in our lives as a community of faith for one another and for the world. It is not merely about how you or I experience something, but how God’s Spirit is at work through us, our prayers and our mutual witness.

4) Reason is another tool. Along with experience, John Wesley, our founder, believed that we must apply our ability to reason using the other tools, so that we can make a reasonable statement of our beliefs, and know why we believe what we believe.”
(Taken from “Is Christianity the Only Way?” – Betsy Singleton January 8, 2006)

She also uses personal stories of people she has met over the years who struggle in homosexuality and how they came to their conclusions.

Below are a few quotes taken from her sermon:
“The other two passages in the Old Testament refer to Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13: “a man shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.”

Why is this?

In ancient Israel there are two kinds of evil: 1) sin and 2) uncleanness. “Sin” is an intentional rebellion against God. Yet “uncleanness” comes from contact with some physical object—animals, foods, corpses, pagan rites, sexual process, etc. In other words, it’s contagious. Thus ancient Israel understood cleanness to be about wholeness, perfection, and completeness, so that this requirement of completeness means that classes cannot be mixed: cattle are not to be bred to a different kind; fields are not sown using different seeds, etc. Thus homosexual behavior is understood similarly as mixing what should not be mixed; it is uncleanness, not sin”

“Now to the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul provides a list of those who are living lives in opposition to God’s plans including male prostitutes and sodomites. There is debate about what these two Greek words actually mean. Some believe the words constitute a reference to any homosexual behavior, and some believe the text is only citing a specific vice called “pederasty,” a practice of male adult domination over a submissive minor male for sexual purposes. In Romans 1, Paul addresses our fallen human nature, including examples of same-sex relations by both genders. For Paul, this behavior is a result of sin because it is chosen behavior. The problem for readers today is that we also take into account that homosexuality may be “natural” for some and thus not chosen, sinful behavior. Neither passage recognizes a possible committed homosexual relationship as reality because that was not understood to be normative for some.”

Through her teaching we can see that she believes that Scripture alone is not enough. You find yourself in trouble when you start using the thoughts of man to base your beliefs on. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that the Bible is inspired and sufficient for all teaching, reproof, correction and training. I guess she missed the “all” part of the verse. I also didn’t see an asterisk pointing me to a note at the bottom of the page that says “this will not apply in 2000 years.”

Scripture on homosexuality is just as relevant today as it was then. That’s why Paul was addressing the issue above. It was rampant then as it is now. The same Word applies to then and now. You cannot take the unchanging Word from an unchanging God and interpret your personal beliefs into them. The opposite is true. Our beliefs, actions, and life should be derived from God’s Holy Word. It’s either right in all aspects of life or no part at all.

I also wanted to comment on her “natural” thoughts. Lets say that she’s correct in saying that homosexuality is natural and cannot be wrong. Ok. I said it. I believe it’s natural for people to lie, steal and lust. But the Bible teaches that these are sins as well. So we can’t say it’s ok to lie just because it’s natural. The Bible teaches that the natural man must die. A believer is a new creature bought with a price. And with His strength in us we can say no to the natural things.

Now, should the church raise the sin of homosexuality above any other sin? No, but that’s another post.

Who Can Know the Mind of God

That question is so hard to understand. My mind draws a blank trying to conceive such an answer. Who can know the mind of God? The mind of God could never be understood. The mind that thought a thought and the universe was created. How can you or I ever estimate the knowledge contained in the mind of God? The mind of God, it con­trols the sun and the moon. At His thought, the world could end. The mind of God controls our world, saves our souls, and at the same moment ponders the praise of His angels. Oh, the mind of God, it made you and me. To the very smallest insect to the greatest mountain known to man, it all came from the mind of God. He thought it all. He thought of us way before He even made the universe. Who can know the mind of God? No one. The mind of God, how great, how mighty, how holy. I wonder what He is thinking now. No one really knows, but He knows every hair on our head, every tear we’ve cried, and He never forgets small things such as those. Oh, how great the mind of God. The mind that opened the Red Sea wants us to open our hearts to Him. The mind that caught a bush on fire wants our lives to be on fire for Him. The mind that had to decide to give His Son’s live for us wants us to give our lives for him. Oh, the mind of God, I will never know the mind of God, but I know that I am on His mind and so are you.