More on Elders

The office of Elders is an Old Testament concept. The New Testament uses the term elder to refer to those who have experience with and are mature in their faith, usually referring to older men (Greek: presbuteros). Those are the ones Paul is speaking of in his letter to Timothy.

There are those who have decided that the office of Elder is proper for “running” the church. They are wrong. The office would have been properly used to run the synagogue, but not the church.

The church is to be run by priests. Every Christian is a priest; therefore the church is to be run by all of its Christians. We call this a congregational form of government.

Sure, such notables as John Piper, John MacArthur and some whole denominations disagree, but that’s OK. This is America. They have the right to be wrong.

Pastors have routinely been afraid of the congregational form of government. They have seen it as clumsy, which it is. They have seen it as cumbersome, which it is. They have seen it as opening the possibility for error, which it does (but no more than so-called Presbyterianism or ecclesiastical government). They have seen it as time consuming, which it is. They have seen it as requiring more planning, which it does.

The congregational form of government more closely follows the New Testament than any other form. It has the advantage of relieving the pastor of the decision making process, and therefore relieves him of the responsibility of the consequences of the decisions. It also has the advantage of many minds dealing with a particular issue, making its Godly solution more likely.

The pastor of the church is to be just that; a pastor. His job is not to run the church. His job is not to be responsible for the decision making process. His job is not to say, “Here’s the way we’re going to do it.” The pastor’s job is to pray, preach the gospel, edify the saints, minister to the saints and to assist the congregation with its job of decision making.

The largest non-Catholic denomination in the world was built on the principles of congregationalism. The principles have never changed and they will never change.  Sadly, some have chosen to depart from the principle of congregationalism. That will inevitably result in damage to the church.

In many churches, it already has.

Pastor Search

If I were a church looking for a pastor, here are the items that would be included in my search thinking:

We are looking for a pastor with a firm understanding of and commitment to the New Covenant, personified in Christ.

He must not live with one foot in the Old Covenant and one foot in the New Covenant.

He must have a strong belief that the Bible is God’s revelation of His character, His love of His creation and His plan for its redemption.

He must believe that the entire Old Testament points to Christ and the entire New Testament announces His arrival, His ministry, His mission and His return.

He must major on the Gospel and must understand that it is our only message.

He must understand that ministry is not about him, it is all about Christ.

He must know that his job is to pray, preach the gospel, minister to the people, edify the people and to assist them in moving toward their objective.

He must have an uproarious sense of humor and must thoroughly enjoy ministry. Sad Sacks need not apply.

I would require the following:

If you have these qualities, send a one page resume that contains a single statement about each of the following:

1.      Name

2.      DOB

3.      Contact Information

4.      Salvation Experience

5.      Family

6.      Education

7.      Experience

8.      An objective, Goals and How to reach those goals

9.      Basic vision of church organization and ministry

10.  Ability to work with and love people in Christ

If I were a church looking for a pastor, those would be the qualifications of a great one.

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE-More than Wonderful-Sandi Patty & Larnelle Harris

Luke Chapter 2 - An Outline for Study

 In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law [Gal.4:4]. It was the right time for Christ to come and die for the ungodly [Rom.5:6]. Then He, the Desire of all nations, came to fill His house with glory [Hab.2:7].


I. Characteristics of the birth of Jesus

A. In the fullness of time

1. The time of the birth of Jesus was not necessarily in the winter

a. Shepherds were watching their flocks – a spring-time activity
b. The Roman census took place in September or October
c. The early church did not celebrate His birth
d. The earliest mention of the observance on Dec. 25th is in the Philocalian Calendar, representing Roman practice of the year 336.
e. In Rome December 25 was made popular by Pope Liberius in 354 and became the rule in the West in 435 when the first "Christ mass" was officiated by Pope Sixtus III.

2. To fulfil His mission, Christ had to be born during Roman rule, and Rome was ready for Him
3. The languages used were Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin and Greek – the most precise language ever on the face of the earth
4. The nation of Israel was ready

a. They had established synagogues (about 586 BC)
b. The Pharisees [separated ones] arose in order to instruct the people to follow the Law of God more strictly (although they eventually corrupted the Law)
c. The Sadducees rejected the Pharasees’ strictness in exchange for wealth and power
d. The Essenes  believed that physical isolation from corrupted conditions would make them holy before God
e. The Zealots refused to pay taxes to Rome
f. The Samaritans (descendants of the marriage of a High priest to Sanballat, the enemy of the Jews
g. The fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.

B. At the right place

1. The little city of Bethlehem as prophesied in Scripture
2. Here, Micah clearly states that the future ruler of Israel would come from Bethlehem. By associating the Messiah with the birthplace and ancestral home of King David, the prophet recalls and reaffirms the earlier prophecies that the Messiah would come from David's line.
3. Yet the prophet cautions the nation not to expect a mere man, for the Messiah would be the One "whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

a.  No mere man could be described as eternally preexistent.
b. Thus, the ruler who would "come forth unto me" must unquestionably be God Himself.

C. For the right reason

1. The Jews were looking for a king to displace Rome
2. God was looking for a King to displace SIN
3. The Jews were looking for a leader to take them into battle
4. God was looking for a King to bring His peace to the heart of mankind
5. The Jews were looking for a king to provide them with riches
6. God was looking for a King who owned the cattle on a thousand hills
7. The Jews were looking for a king to save God’s chosen people, Israel
8. God was looking for a King to save the entire world, Jew and Gentile
9. The Jews were looking for a man
10. God was looking for mankind, His creation

D. From the right “stock”

1. Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity, and is God – the Son
2. Jesus is God incarnate; that is: in the flesh
3. Jesus came for one purpose: to pay the penalty for man’s sin
4. Jesus is the Savior of any who will come to Him in faith, believing

THE SON OF GOD BECAME THE SON OF MAN SO THAT THE SONS OF MEN COULD BECOME THE SONS OF GOD.

CHANGES COMING TO JOE'S JOTTINGS IN 2014!

2014 will see a return to a wider variety of topics and opinions on Joe's Jottings. There will still be a Bible study lesson every Saturday/Sunday and most Wednesdays. The other days of the week will be devoted to stories, videos, my opinions about social topics, philosophy, and science, as well as other things that interest me.

There will not generally be politics on this blog. If you want politics, you need to go HERE.

The same comment rules will apply, and can be seen in the side bar to the right.

WAS IT SUMMER, FALL, WINTER, OR SPRING

I am indebted to Glenn E. Chatfield at The Watchman’sBagpipes for much of the information in this post.

Every year discussions pop up about why we celebrate Christmas in December. Some say the birth of Jesus had to have been in the summer. This is the time the liberals like to choose, because it is so opposite of when most Christians celebrate Christmas and liberals just love to find issues with Christians’ beliefs. They just swallow each other’s lines and spew them out whenever the subject comes up.

Others say the shepherds’ tending their sheep close to the walls of Bethlehem indicates a deep winter time frame.

I would not argue with either position, because, frankly, I don’t care when it was.

That said, there is considerable evidence that Jesus was born some time close to December 25^th.

Alfred Edersheim, in The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, wrote:

There is no adequate reason for questioning the historical accuracy of [December 25^th]. The objections generally made rest on grounds, which seem to me historically untenable. The subject has been fully discussed in an article by Cassel in Herzog’s Real. Ency. 17, pp. 588-594. But a curious piece of evidence comes to us from a Jewish source. In the addition to the Megillath Taanith (ed. Warsh. p.20a), the 9^th Tebheth is marked as a fast day, and it is added, that the reason for this is not stated. Now, Jewish chronologists have fixed on that day as that of Christ’s birth, and it is remarkable that, between the years 500 and 816 AD the 25^th of December fell no less than twelve times on the 9^th Tebheth. It the 9^th Tebheth, or 25^th December, was regarded as the birthday of Christ, we can understand the concealment about it.

In the Jews for Jesus Newsletter of December, 2000 we read:

Ancient Jewish tradition …  seems to recognize that date…. According to Alfred Edersheim, Jewish leaders established a special fast day on 9^th day of the Jewish month of Tevet. Initially, no specific reason was given for this fast day, but later Jewish writers identified the 9^th of Tevet with the birth date of Jesus. Edersheim further states that the 9^th of Tevet had fallen on the 25^th of December numerous times in the past.

There is also the possibility of a Hanukkah-Christmas connection. Hanukkah is celebrated on the 25^th of Kislev, the Jewish month that corresponds with December. Could it be that early Jewish believers in Yeshiva (jesus) wanted to connect Hanukkah and the birth of the Messiah, and eventually that desire was transposed into the 25^th of December? After all, Hanukah commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem, which Jesus applied to Himself when He said, “Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19).

A person with a degree in agriculture tells us:

“Certainly, the Lord Jesus was born at Christmas. The only time shepherds spend the night in the fields with their sheep is during the time when the lambs are born. The ewes become ‘attractive’ to the rams in the month after June 21, the longest day of the year. the normal gestation period is five months so the ewes start lambing about mid-December.”

Isn’t it natural that the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world would be born when all the other lambs are born?

A Montana sheep rancher reports:

“Oh, yes! None of the men who have flocks are in church for weeks at Christmas. They have to be in the fields day and night to clean up and care for the lambs as soon as they are born or many would perish in the cold.” Isn’t that neat? God’s Lamb, who was to die for the sins of the world, was born when all the other little lambs are born. Because He came and died the centuries old practice of sacrificing lambs for sin could end.

So which one was it? I can’t say for certain, and I would not bet any money on any of the above scenarios.

If you don’t mind, I will continue to celebrate Christmas on December 25^th.

Hope you had a great one!

HAVE A CHRIST FILLED CHRISTMAS!

CHRISTMAS SOUNDS OF PRAISE-Silent Night-Celtic Woman

CHRISTMAS SOUNDS OF PRAISE-O Little Town of Bethlehem-Kari Jobe

CHRISTMAS SOUNDS OF PRAISE-O Come, O Come Emmanuel-Justin Rizzo

Christmas in John

Lessons from John 1:1-5 & 14

In the beginning was the (Logos) and the (Logos) was with God and the (Logos) was God.

 ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it...

¹⁴ The (Logos) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

A company's logo is a part of the company. When you see the logo, you immediately know what company it represents. For instance you instantly recognize the StarBucks logo. You know the Burger King logo. You probably know General Electric's logo and you know McDonald's as well.

The Greek word translated "Word" in John is Logos. It is the word we get our word logo from. Jesus is the Logo of God and He is part and parcel with God. He and God are one (so He made clear, Himself).

Jesus was there at the beginning of time and He is the instrument through whom all things were made.

John 14 then tells us that the (Logos) became flesh and dwelt amoung us. It is this becoming flesh that we celebrate at Christmas. There is another significant word used here. That word is "dwelt."

To understand this word we have to go back to Exodus 24:16. Yahweh gives instructions to make possible a more abiding dwelling place: "Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it." The word translated "tabernacle" is mishkan, which is simply the root sh-k-n with the letter mem prefixed. In Hebrew, a prefixed "m" often denotes the place where something happens. So, z-b-ch is "sacrifice," m-z-b-ch is an altar, a place where sacrifice takes place.

But what is the full meaning of this child's birth?

John 1:14 can be read: "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us as in a tent, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the unique One from the Father, full of grace and of truth!"

Focus on the single word translated "dwelt...as in a tent." It is the Greek word skenoo. Do you notice anything about that verb? What are its consonants? They are s-k-n, the equivalent (as Greek has no "sh") to the Hebrew word we discussed earlier, sh-k-n (dwell or abide). That word is in fact used often in the Old Testament, both in verbal and noun form, for both the Hebrew shakan and mishkan.

John is telling us that the passing picture of the Tabernacle has become eternal truth in Jesus Christ. In this baby, God Himself has tabernacled—permanently. He has come to be Immanuel, God with us.

That is the glorious meaning of Christ (Messiah) mass (celebration). We celebrate the birth of Christ not as just another baby, but as God taking on skin, as it were, and living among us.

From before the beginning of time, Jesus had purposed to come to earth as a baby, born in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes (the sign to the Magi), grow, lead His disciples and to die for our sins. He became a baby born to bear our sins at the cross of Calvary.

John tells us later that "...whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16).

What a glorious time is Christmas time!

LUKE CHAPTER 2-A Study Outline

In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law [Gal.4:4]. It was the right time for Christ to come and die for the ungodly [Rom.5:6]. Then He, the Desire of all nations, came to fill His house with glory [Hab.2:7].

I. Characteristics of the birth of Jesus

A. In the fullness of time

1. The time of the birth of Jesus was not necessarily in the winter
a. Shepherds were watching their flocks – a spring-time activity
b. The Roman census took place in September or October
c. The early church did not celebrate His birth
d. The earliest mention of the observance on Dec. 25th is in the Philocalian Calendar, representing Roman practice of the year 336.    
e. In Rome December 25 was made popular by Pope Liberius in 354 and became the rule in the West in 435 when the first "Christ mass" was officiated by Pope Sixtus III.

2. To fulfill His mission, Christ had to be born during Roman rule, and Rome was ready for Him

3. The languages used were Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin and Greek – the most precise language ever on the face of the earth.

4. The nation of Israel was ready

a. They had established synagogues (about 586 BC)
b. The Pharisees [separated ones] arose in order to instruct the people to follow the Law of God more strictly (although they eventually corrupted the Law)
        
c. The Sadducees rejected the Pharasees’ strictness in exchange for wealth and power
d. The Essenes  believed that physical isolation from corrupted conditions would make them holy before God
e. The Zealots refused to pay taxes to Rome
f. The Samaritans (descendants of the marriage of a High priest to Sanballat, the enemy of the Jews
g. The fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.

B. At the right place

1. The little city of Bethlehem as prophesied in Scripture
2. Here, Micah clearly states that the future ruler of Israel would come from Bethlehem. By associating the Messiah with the birthplace and ancestral home of King David, the prophet recalls and reaffirms the               earlier prophecies that the Messiah would come from David's line.
  
3. Yet the prophet cautions the nation not to expect a mere man, for the Messiah would be the One "whose       goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

a.  No mere man could be described as eternally existent.
b. Thus, the ruler who would "come forth unto me" must unquestionably be God Himself.

C. For the right reason

1. The Jews were looking for a king to displace Rome
2. God was looking for a King to displace SIN
3. The Jews were looking for a leader to take them into battle
4. God was looking for a King to bring His peace to the heart of mankind
5. The Jews were looking for a king to provide them with riches
6. God was looking for a King who owned the cattle on a thousand hills
7. The Jews were looking for a king to save God’s chosen people, Israel
8. God was looking for a King to save the entire world, Jew and Gentile
9. The Jews were looking for a man
10. God was looking for mankind, His creation

D. From the right “stock”

1. Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity, and is God – the Son

2. Jesus is God incarnate; that is: in the flesh

3. Jesus came for one purpose: to pay the penalty for man’s sin

4. Jesus is the Savior of any who will come to Him in faith, believing

THE SON OF GOD BECAME THE SON OF MAN SO THAT THE SONS OF MEN COULD BECOME THE SONS OF GOD.

Bound to Mysticism

God is either all-sufficient or He is not. If He is not, nothing matters. If He is, nothing else matters.

So many, many people who think they are Christians are really Christian mystics. They ascribe subjective assumptions about God and justify them with a few dozen (or hundred) verses to support their claims. Dan Phillips calls these people “members of the subjective-revelation school, the pinprick-individual-semi-revealed-will-of-God school.”

Included in this bunch are Henry Blackaby, John Piper and almost all Charismatics. This camp allows that the Bible is God’s word, but they also allow for God’s special revelation to them apart from the Word of God. The result is often a form of chaos that results in issues within the church. They also hold that you can be doing everything right, from a Biblical, Spirit-breathed faith perspective and still be out of God’s will. That’s pure and simple mysticism.

The problems with this approach are many. Proof-texting is rampant among this group. If you can just collect enough verses on a subject, you can prove your understanding of it. Leaning on experience to “properly” interpret Scripture is also big with this camp. They also tend to engage in a misrepresentation of discipleship. They seem to think discipleship is cerebral, and can be imputed by talk, by the voices of angels or by some  mystical mumbo-jumbo. That’s pure and simple mysticism. True discipleship involves getting to and practicing the nitty-gritty, here’s how it’s done, details of followship.   

Let’s take an example. Suppose you wanted to have a Sunday School class grow by witnessing and/or serving in the community. During a class you break into groups and members of each group share where they are in the area of witnessing and serving. Then the class comes back together and a representative from each group shares some of the things they talked about in the group. They have grown in discipleship, right?

Wrong. That’s pure and simple mysticism.

Instead, there should be a specific time set aside, perhaps a series of classes in which the actual procedure of witnessing and/or serving is practiced before going out to inflict the community with amateurism, faulty doctrine and other pit-falls.

One area of great confusion with these folks is the leadership of the Holy Spirit. According to them, if God has led them on Monday to preach a sermon next Sunday, the Holy Spirit can “inspire” them on Saturday night to preach something else. Then they stand before the congregation stumbling and bumbling their way through in a random manner and proclaim that the message of the Holy Spirit. What a farce! That was not the leadership of the Holy Spirit. That was their imaginations becoming vain. They think, “I’m a Christian, my mind is suddenly focused on this sermon instead of the one God originally gave me so it must be the Holy Spirit’s leading.”

Nonsense. That’s pure and simple mysticism. The Holy Spirit has never, does not now and never will lead that way. That’s not even His job! His job is to point to, and only to, the Lord Jesus Christ and His unmerited favor that leads to salvation.

Preaching requires hours and hours of proper, careful preparation. If that is not your bag, then God has not called you to preach. God is not capricious and does not flop about in the wind like so many waving flags. He is purposeful. If He has something for you to preach, He will give you ample time to prepare. If He does not give you ample time, He has not told you to preach it.

Way too many preachers engage in stream-of-consciousness preaching where some word or phrase they’ve just said or read reminds them of something and they take off chasing it as though it makes sense. That is not Biblical preaching, regardless of how many verses of the Bible are quoted in the process. That’s pure and simple mysticism.

People fall for mysticism. It touches a part of them that is buried deep in the psyche. They yearn for the exciting. They crave the mysterious. That’s why so many love magicians (who really deal in illusion, not magic). They look for some outside “force” to guide them. They are not satisfied with the God of the Bible and His plan of salvation through Christ. They want more.  They want mysticism.

That’s too bad, because if God’s plan of salvation is not enough, nothing else will ever be.

Professionalism vs. “Good Enough”

There are so many church leaders who seem to think worship should just be “good enough.” They believe that since it’s only for the church, it really doesn’t matter how smooth and polished the worship experience is. Well, no matter how large the church, that kind of thinking is “small church.”

There is nothing wrong with “small church,” unless the church intends to grow by fulfilling the Great Commission. Then “small church” just won’t cut it.

As a church grows in number, it should also grow in “professionalism.” After all, aren’t its leaders professionals? They are if they are paid for their leadership. Perhaps a volunteer pastor, song leader, education director or administrator might not be considered to be a professional. Each should none the less strive for excellence in all they do. They must remember who they serve.

Pastors and staff do not serve each other. They do not serve the congregation (although the congregation certainly is served when the leaders are serving who they are supposed to be serving). They serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

There is a principle put forth in Malachi that requires our offering to God to be perfect. When God asked Israel why they offered poor sacrifices, they asked when they had done so. God told them that when they bring a blemished lamb for sacrifice they are guilty. He said that if they would not offer that sacrifice to their governor, they should not offer it to Him. Are churches not also guilty of offering blemished worship services?

Somehow the idea of professionalism in church has become associated with snobbery or “high falutin” boredom. That should not be the case. Churches ought to shine high above the best professionals in their county, whether those professionals are doctors, lawyers or merchants. The church should be the best at what they do; better than anyone else.

Sadly, many churches are permeated with things that mar the image of Christ. They are inundated with feedback from the audio system, song leaders who sing off pitch, choirs that are lifeless, poorly planned services, poorly executed worship services, stumbling speakers, speakers whose focus is on themselves, despite their assertion that it’s all about Christ. When someone is to give a testimony, instead of having them up on the platform ready to speak, the congregation gets to watch them amble up the aisle while nothing else is happening. They are rarely trained as to how to give a public testimony (which should be much better than just rambling on). They say inappropriate things and take much too long to get their point across.

All of this is avoidable through careful planning, coordinating and evaluating each element of worship. Of the three, evaluating is the most important. Through honest evaluation, leaders can determine what worked, what didn’t work, where weaknesses are and how to best plan for the future.

So often churches take the attitude that members are not professionals and thus can be excused if they do a poor job. That sells them so short! With proper training, every lay leader in the church can excel at what he does. Every testimony can be an inspiration. Every song can be a heart-toucher. It all comes from high expectations and intensive training. The less rehearsed the church wants an event to look the more rehearsed it must be.

There is no excuse for offering the Lord a poor worship service. There are great rewards for offering Him the very best every time. It takes time and hard work, but it is worth it.

The Leader

She stepped to the platform, facing the congregation. She stood for a moment, as though something really significant was about to take place. Then, with halting voice, she began to relate a story about an event that had happened in her life. Her eyes filled with tears and her voice cracked noticeably. It was clear that this event was of great importance to her.

The story was much like the stories of many people who have “shared testimonies” with congregations in times past. As she spoke, a few people in the congregation said, “Amen,” but the “amens” sounded a bit forced, like the people were just being polite.

The story went on and on until finally she used it as an introduction to the new song she had heard that seemed to relate to the story and to have touched her heart. The song was unfamiliar to the congregation; nevertheless, during the instrumental interlude she urged the congregation to sing. They did not respond, mostly because they did not know the words, and the words and music did not flow in such a way as to be picked up easily.

As she led the song, she swayed back and forth, leaned her head back and then dropped it forward, demonstrating an emotion that the congregation clearly was not feeling. A few of them swayed with the music, some attempted to sing, but most just stood there.

When the song was over, there was some enthusiastic applause, but most of the congregation clapped politely and looked as though they were glad the song was over.

What happened? Why did the leader get so little response?

The first issue was the story itself. While it seemed significant to her, many, perhaps most of the congregation had heard the story in various forms many times before, so it was not so significant to them. It was not that they did not appreciate how God had worked in the leader’s life; it was that the story was far too drawn out and made the standing congregation restless. No one had trained the leader to be clear and concise when introducing a song. After all, they didn’t want to stifle her “testimony.”

The next issue was the song itself. She was trying to involve the congregation, but they could not involve themselves because they had never heard the song before. No one had trained the leader to introduce new songs over time by using them as specials, as offertories or as accompaniments to other worship elements.

There was another issue as well. The person running the computer program that projected the words of the song had not been familiarized with the song and its awkward rhythmic patterns and did not know when to change the slide from one musical phrase to the next. The result was that the congregation could not sing the first few words of the next phrase because they did not know where they were coming. No one had trained her for that song.

You have to feel for people who are asked to lead, but are never trained in the details of leadership. Often they think they are doing well, and perhaps they're doing "well enough for church." However, Leaders need to be aware that they are serving the King of Kings. They should make their leadership offering the best it can be.

Leadership is more than just knowledge (although that is important), it is also organization and communication. Those are two skills that can be learned through proper training.

CHRISTMAS SOUNDS OF PRAISE-Carol of the Bells-Celtic Woman

All to Him I Owe

The refrain of a well-known hymn goes:

Refrain:
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

I want to look at the phrase, “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.”

At the cross, Jesus paid the entire debt of all of the sin in my life, past, present and future. On my eternal balance sheet, so to speak, there is a “0” balance. I owe nothing. So, why the “…all to Him I owe” phrase? One can think of this phrase in several ways.

Since it was Jesus who paid my sin-debt, I owe my eternal life to Him. Without Him I there would have been no cancellation of the debt. I would still owe God absolute perfection, something I am unable to offer. Jesus has become my perfection and God sees me as perfect through the eyes of Jesus.

Nevertheless, there is something I owe Jesus. It has nothing to do with my eternal life; it has to do with my eternal gratitude. Under the New Covenant, I have only two things I can offer God: 1) my sacrifice of praise and 2) 100% myself. The sacrifice of praise must come from the depth of my being and must flow forth from my heart and mouth. The “100% of myself” must include everything I am and everything I have.

I have been bought with a price so high that it is beyond the imagination of man. When Jesus cried out from the cross, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” He was experiencing the eternal punishment for my sinful nature, as well as that of all who believe in Him. That’s a lot of punishment.

The price Jesus paid for my sin-debt cannot be repaid. He paid it willingly. He paid it for joy! His joy! He paid it so that he and I could enjoy mutual fellowship forever! I would not have done that for myself, let alone for anybody else. Yet He did it for me and for you. What a Savior!

Because of His willingness to take my punishment for me, I will praise Him, serve Him, love Him and give myself to Him. Whatever I might hold back I ask Him to prod me by the Holy Spirit to let go of and to release it to Him.

After all, I owe it all to Him.

Here’s the whole song:

1. I hear the Savior say,
   “Thy strength indeed is small;
   Child of weakness, watch and pray,
   Find in Me thine all in all.”
• Refrain:
  Jesus paid it all,
  All to Him I owe;
  Sin had left a crimson stain,
  He washed it white as snow.
2. For nothing good have I
   Whereby Thy grace to claim;
   I’ll wash my garments white
   In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.
3. And now complete in Him,
   My robe, His righteousness,
   Close sheltered ’neath His side,
   I am divinely blest.
4. Lord, now indeed I find
   Thy pow’r, and Thine alone,
   Can change the leper’s spots
   And melt the heart of stone.
5. When from my dying bed
   My ransomed soul shall rise,
   “Jesus died my soul to save,”
   Shall rend the vaulted skies.
6. And when before the throne
   I stand in Him complete,
   I’ll lay my trophies down,
   All down at Jesus’ feet.

CHRISTMAS SOUNDS OF PRAISE-God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen-Amy Moses Band

SOME REALLY GOOD POINTS

Christian Behaviorism

When I was a minister of youth (something for which I am much too long of tooth today), I was frequently asked questions about certain activities being “sin.” They usually centered on such things as drinking, smoking, dancing and “making out.” The questions would be formulated something like this, “Is dancing a sin?”

Do you realize that the major sins have changed over the years? In the middle 1950s, the major sins touched on by mainline evangelical churches were drinking, smoking and dancing. During the 1960s drugs were added to the list. Today the major sins are abortion and homosexuality.

It was supposed, I suppose, that these major sins would keep you out of heaven more completely than the more benign sins like arrogance, pride, etc.

The truth is, that any speech, thought or action that is not directly in the center of God’s will is sin sufficient to keep you from heaven. It is not the behavior that keeps you out of heaven; it is the sin nature of man. It is the very existence of sin in each person’s life.

One of the saddest characteristics of much of what passes for evangelical preaching today revolves around a neo-psychological concept called “behaviorism.” Christian behaviorism frequently takes the form of quoting verses of scripture here or there to prove a certain behavior is right or wrong. Often the speaker seems to more intent on manipulating the hearers than on getting to a truth about the gospel.

Behavioristic preaching is very much an attempt to exert some form of power over people through speech. It plays on the insecurities of the listener. It works by focusing the listener’s attention on the speaker instead of on the Biblical message of God. Often the speaker tries to disguise his intent by distraction or displacement, but he is really trying to elicit or prevent some behavior that he likes or dislikes. Sometimes it is an attempt to cover his failings as a leader.

Shakespeare wrote, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” (Hamlet, act III, scene II). Sometimes that applies to the behavioristic preacher. Quite frequently, the thing he preaches most against is one of the very issues he has in his own life. How many “failed” church leaders have you heard of who preached against infidelity and then fell into its ugly clutches? That is an awful thing to happen and even a worse witness for the Lord. It is not, however, the most devastating thing about behaviorism in preaching.

The constant use of scripture verses to reveal and control people’s behavior is the most corrupt characteristic about this kind of preaching. It belies the truth of the gospel. It overshadows the work of Christ at the cross of Calvary. It negates the saving power of the gospel. And it does that dishonestly; by sidestepping the actual message of scripture.

Treating scripture as a set of proof-texts is spiritually dangerous. It leads to false doctrine. It leads to incorrect interpretation and application. It very well could prevent the hearer from understanding the gospel message.

It really is time for preachers to stop this abhorrent practice of behaviorism. They need to get it through their heads that even the very best behavior falls short of the perfection required by God. That perfection is found in, and only in, the shed blood of Christ at the cross of Calvary. He has become our perfection for us. Although that excuses no sin, it does cover it…to perfection.

The Creative Frog

Once upon a time there was a frog-like species happily hopping around in a South American rain forest.  The little frogs had few cares in the world, but one they did have was that they kept getting eaten by larger predators.

As the eons went by, some of the frogs in the species got a little tired of their kind being eaten all the time, so they decided to develop a poison that would make their predators ill or dead. So they did.

Only as fast as they could evolve to make the poison, they killed themselves off, without any predators involved at all. They were not immune to their own poison!

So, they quit making themselves poisonous and embarked on making themselves immune to the poison they would one day start producing.

There arose a problem, though. There was no “evolutionary” reason to create immunity to a poison that did not exist. So they could not evolve the necessary immunity.

Looking ahead a few million years, the South American forest was full of the descendants of this species hopping around poisoning predators and not killing themselves in the process.

It can’t help but be wondered how this strange circumstance came to be. Evolution certainly does not explain it. Somebody must have already thought of the problem.

God just smiled.

CHRISTMAS SOUNDS OF PRAISE-Angels We Have Heard on High

Christian Behaviorism

When I was a minister of youth (something for which I am much too long of tooth today), I was frequently asked questions about certain activities being “sin.” They usually centered on such things as drinking, smoking, dancing and “making out.” The questions would be formulated something like this, “Is dancing a sin?”

Do you realize that the major sins have changed over the years? In the middle 1950s, the major sins touched on by mainline evangelical churches were drinking, smoking and dancing. During the 1960s drugs were added to the list. Today the major sins are abortion and homosexuality.

It was supposed, I suppose, that these major sins would keep you out of heaven more completely that the more benign sins like arrogance, pride, etc.

The truth is, that any speech, thought or action that is not directly in the center of God’s will is sin sufficient to keep you from heaven. It is not the behavior that keeps you out of heaven; it is the sin nature of man. It is the very existence of sin in each person’s life.

One of the saddest characteristics of much of what passes for evangelical preaching today revolves around a neo-psychological concept called “behaviorism.” Behaviorism frequently takes the form of quoting verses of scripture here or there to prove a certain behavior is right or wrong. Often the speaker seems to more intent on manipulating the hearers than on getting to a truth about the gospel.

Behavioristic preaching is very much an attempt to exert some form of power over people through speech. It plays on the insecurities of the listener. It works by focusing the listener’s attention on the speaker instead of on the Biblical message of God. Often the speaker tries to disguise his intent by distraction or displacement, but he is really trying to elicit or prevent some behavior that he likes or dislikes. Sometimes it is an attempt to cover his failings as a leader.

Shakespeare wrote, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” (Hamlet, act III, scene II). Sometimes that applies to the behavioristic preacher. Quite frequently, the thing he preaches most against is one of the very issues he has in his own life. How many “failed” church leaders have you heard of who preached against infidelity and then fell into its ugly clutches? That is an awful thing to happen and even a worse witness for the Lord. It is not, however, the most devastating thing about behaviorism in preaching.

The constant use of scripture verses to reveal and control people’s behavior is the most corrupt characteristic about this kind of preaching. It belies the truth of the gospel. It overshadows the work of Christ at the cross of Calvary. It negates the saving power of the gospel. And it does that dishonestly; by sidestepping the actual message of scripture.

Treating scripture as a set of proof-texts is spiritually dangerous. It leads to false doctrine. It leads to incorrect interpretation and application. It very well could prevent the hearer from understanding the gospel message.

It really is time for preachers to stop this abhorrent practice of behaviorism. They need to get it through their heads that even the very best behavior falls short of the perfection required by God. That perfection is found in, and only in, the shed blood of Christ at the cross of Calvary. He has become our perfection for us. Although that excuses no sin, it does cover it…to perfection.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

You shall have no other gods before me.

Anything that is as important to you as God is at any given moment constitutes having another god before Him.

All of us have done that.

You shall not make for yourself any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

A graven image is any object that is worshipped as a god or in place of God or a god.

This is a difficult Commandment to interpret, because we don’t think in terms of statues, photographs, and the like as being worshipped. But be careful. Any time we use any object in a way as to place it above God the object becomes a graven image.

All of us have done that.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

The key word here is “vain.” Vain means something that is useless or is self-centered. This does not mean we should not use the name of the Lord our God, as some have postulated. It means that our use of the name of the Lord should be deliberate and spiritually purposeful, not meaninglessly.

All of us have done that.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Some interpret “Sabbath” to mean seventh. Others define it differently. The Jews observed a day called the Sabbath which we would consider Saturday. The Sabbath has never changed. If we were Jews, the Sabbath would still be on Saturday.

But we are not Jews, at least most of us aren’t. We are Gentiles who have been saved by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah. Most of us celebrate His resurrection every Sunday as did the early church, since it is the first day of the week.

Under the New Covenant, every day is to be considered holy and should be considered as belonging to God.

All of us have failed at that point in some way.

Honor your father and your mother.

It was Mark Twain who said that when a child turns thirteen he should be placed in a large box with a hole in it and be fed through the hole. He then said that when the child turned sixteen the hole should be plugged. Most teenagers directly dishonor their parents at some point. But this Commandment goes deeper than that. It includes those times when we dishonor our parents by failing to live up to the principles that they laid down for us.

All of us have done that.

Thou shalt not kill.

“Well, at last! Here’s a Commandment most of us have kept.”

Actually, if Jesus Sermon on the Mount is to be believed, we have committed murder in our hearts whenever we have wished something bad against our fellow human beings.

All of us have done that.

You shall not commit adultery.

Here is another heart oriented Commandment. Even if we have been physically faithful to our spouse, if we have ever looked at a woman with lust in our hearts we have committed adultery.

All of us have done that.

You shall not steal.

This is yet another heart issue, but also one that has been acted out in ways we might not have imagined. If we have ever taken anything, say a paper clip at the office, with the idea that we need it more than the other person does and it isn’t that important anyway, we have stolen.

All of us have done that.

You shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

This Commandment is about testifying about something that is untrue. It would include, but is not restricted to, gossip, lying and false accusations of one sort or another.

All of us have done that.

You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor.

The sin here is not just wanting more than you have. It refers to desiring something that belongs to someone else. Notice that the Commandment specifies your neighbor’s house, your neighbor’s wife, your neighbor’s housekeeper, your neighbor’s ox (truck) or your neighbor’s ass (Lincoln). This is really about envy. We are not to be envious of what our neighbor has.

All of us have done that.

Conclusions

So if all of us have done all of those things, thus breaking the Ten Commandments, what hope is there for us?

The apostle, Paul, wrote: “What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful?” (Romans 7: 7). “If the law causes our desire for sin to increase, is the law bad? Paul says, “Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.”

In other words, the purpose of the law (specifically the Ten Commandments) was to show us the perfect standard of God, that none of us could achieve that standard and that our hope was not obedience to the law, but in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.

The entire book of Romans, if read narratively (as it was written) instead of piece meal, is Paul’s explanation that we are saved by grace, not by observing the law, because Christ died for us. This does not give us permission to sin — rather; we should serve God by being slaves of righteousness. That righteousness is not of our own making, but is imparted to us by the shed blood of Christ.

That is the message of the entire New Covenant. That’s why it is called a NEW Covenant.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Making a Worthy Offering to God

In Malachi we are given a principle about what we offer to God. We are told that if we would not make that offering to someone in an important office, we should not offer it to the Lord.

Granted, Malachi is book that was written during the Old Covenant. But New Covenant books offer the same principle. Paul tells us that our offerings should be the best and that they should not be just a portion of what we have, but all of it. In other words we should give God the very best we have.

That is why giving that old piano that you can’t use any more to the church is an abomination. God should not get our old, worn out stuff. He should receive our very best at all times. That includes our worship.

Churches call staff members to help them with, among other things, worship. Those staff members are professionals. That is not some “uppity” attitude; it simply means they get paid to do the work God has called them to. Their work should be of the highest order, because we serve a God worthy of the highest order.

When a worship service is put together sloppily, it is an affront to God and a poor witness to the value put on serving Him. What are some of the issues in worship that professional leaders must deal with?

One of the issues is order. Scripture tells us that things are to be done decently and in order. There is orderliness in everything God has created, from the smallest atom to the universe itself. Order is often demonstrated in Scripture. There is order in the rebuilding of the Wall of Jerusalem. There is order in the building of the Temple. There is order in the assembly of the tents of Israel (see Numbers 2ff). Our worship services should be orderly.

Another issue in worship is unnecessary distraction. Annoying squeals and noise from the audio equipment are inexcusable, for instance. Sound board operators should be trained to know what causes feedback and how to avoid it. They should know that if a person steps to a microphone, he is probably going to say or sing something. He should turn on the microphone before he starts. The overhead operator should be trained to change from one slide of words to another before the last words of the present slide (otherwise, people will not know the first several words of the next line of the song). The person who controls the lights should know where lighting is needed and when and how to get them on or off. These steps help ensure a proper worship offering.

A common issue in worship is the use of planned testimonies. While there is a place for spontaneous testimonies, planned testimonies should be just that: planned. The person giving the testimony should not parade to the platform from the middle or back of the congregation after his testimony is announced. He should be given a specific amount of time and should be trained to get what he wants to say done in that length of time. Otherwise, his testimony becomes tedious and loses its impact. That’s not a very good offering.

Every person in the leadership team, musicians, speakers, audio/visual personnel, the one making the announcements and any others should know what is expected of them when. This can be done by using one or more set orders of worship, or by rehearsal before the worship service. Either way, expectations should be communicated before the service. The worship service should go off without a hitch. That is a valid offering to God.

To be a worthy offering, worship should be an event that helps the congregation be involved in a personal encounter with the God of the universe. It should be a comfortable experience for them, making it easy for them to participate in praise, singing, praying, and worshipping. New songs should be taught to the congregation before asking them to sing them in praise and worship. They should be used as offertories, specials and in other ways before asking the congregation to sing them. That way they will be able to participate in praise with the new song with confidence.

When a worship leader says something like, “I just heard this new song this week. It’s great and really magnifies God…,” and then expects the congregation to sing along, he is fooling himself. That will never happen. What a poor offering that becomes!

Too often when we think of offerings we think of money. But everything we do should be an offering to God in the very same sense that our money is. Making a worthy offering to God should be the goal of every aspect of our church life. After all, it is not about us; it is all about Him.

The Church Administrator Bean Counter or Much More?

An administrator is one who is involved in: the act or process of administering, especially the management of a large institution; the group of people who manage or direct an institution, especially a school, church or college; the term of office of an executive officer or body; the dispensing, applying, or tendering of something, such as an oath, a sacrament, medicine or a ministry.

In smaller churches, often pastors are forced into the position of church administrator. This fits some pastors well, as they have the gift of administration. Many pastors, regardless of the quality of their training, simply do not have the gift of administration. In a small church this might be moot, but as the church grows it can become very important.

Lack of administrative skills on the part of a pastor can result in poor growth, a lack of stability, financial difficulties, hostility among the members of the congregation and the loss of membership and attendance.

Administration is not something that can be surmised or absorbed by someone who is not skilled, trained nor gifted in it. That is not derogatory; it is just the way it is. An administrator can look at a church and determine immediately whether it is being administered properly.

Sometimes the gift of administration is assumed to be the ability to oversee financial matters in the church. That is included, but is a small (but important) part of what an administrator does. The spiritual gift of administration is the ability to steer a church toward the fulfillment of its goals by managing its affairs and implementing necessary plans. A person may have the gift of leadership without the gift of administration.

The Greek word for the spiritual gift of administration is Kubernesis. It is found in I Corinthians 12:28 and is alluded to in I Corinthians 14:40. This is a unique term that refers to a shipmaster or captain. The literal meaning is "to steer," or "to rule or govern." It carries the idea of someone who guides and directs a group of people toward a goal or destination in an orderly way. We see variations of this word in verses like Acts 27:11, Romans 12:8c and Revelation 18:17.

In the church, the gift of administration is the God-given ability to give direction to others that result in efficient operation and accomplishment of goals. Administration includes the ability to organize people, things, information, finances, etc. Often the mark of an administrator is the ability to accomplish things in a "fitting and orderly way." The person in the Bible who personifies the profile of an administrator best is Nehemiah. He was the organizer of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.

Typically, a church administrator exhibits a desire to organize; helps bring order out of chaos; is task oriented; values efficiency and promptness and works well with ministry leaders as well as spreadsheets, budgets, organizational charts and software, files.

There are certain attributes necessary for proper church administration. A few pastors have these attributes, but not many. Here are the main characteristics of a good church administrator.

A person with the gift of administration will have the ability to see the overall picture. He can visualize a project or ministry from beginning to end. He knows how it fits the church’s objective and what resources are needed to facilitate the project.

Self-motivation is a characteristic of a good church administrator.  He has the ability to “dig in” and develop or organize what he’s charge of. The natural motivation is there – a creative desire to take what’s available and produce something that’s never been before – like organizing an office, setting up a committee, or developing a project. And in organizing they have the ability to break down major goals into smaller, achievable tasks.

Administrators must have the ability to delegate. Once an administrator sets his focus and begins to see the resources, he checks the resource of people and begins to put these people to work. He sees what jobs need to be done and finds out who can do them well. He knows what can or cannot be delegated.

Because of keen respect for authority, the administrator will never deliberately usurp authority. Therefore, in any situation where authority exists, the administrator won’t try to move in to utilize his skills, no matter how much they’re needed, unless someone in authority asks him to do so.

Changes are often difficult for church members. Change for change’s sake, therefore is not good. But change for the better is good, and a good administrator knows the difference. He also knows how to effectively implement the change with the least resistance. Often this characteristic revolves around his ability to meaningfully communicate the need skillfully and completely. In fact, effective communication is the hallmark of a good administrator.

Fulfillment, for the good church administrator, comes from seeing others fulfill their ministries and by watching them enjoy the satisfaction of a finished project or ministry. The administrator’s heart doesn’t worry about getting credit for accomplishments. He sees success as a collective achievement. He’s the one to say, “None of this could’ve happened if it hadn’t been for the excellent work of my associates.”

Once a person with the gift of administration has accomplished a goal, he’s ready to go after something else. The administrator’s work is never done. There is always something more God has for the church.

A good pastor or church leader will recognize his own gifts. If those gifts don’t include the gift of administration, a good pastor will seek someone who can serve alongside him who can do the work of a church administrator.

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE-God On the Mountain-Lynda Randle

Christian Behaviorism

“I am not a legalist!”

That is the declaration of many mainstream pastors, Christians and leaders, including many fundamentalists and evangelicals. They think that following the Law, or following the laws they think are important, does not make them legalists.

Well…yes, it does.

When Jeremiah announced that there would be a New Covenant established, he went on to say that the Law would no longer be that which was written in stone but would be written on our hearts. In Hebrews, Paul (and I believe Paul wrote Hebrews as a commentary for the Jews on Romans) spent five chapters explaining to the Jews how the Old Covenant had been superseded by the New Covenant, who is Jesus.

Perhaps in the recesses of their minds those legalistic pastors, Christians and leaders don’t recognize their legalism as what it is. Maybe they have worked out which laws are to be followed and which ones are sort of no longer applicable to today. Or more insidiously, maybe they have substituted another world view for their thinking: Spiritual Behaviorism.

Spiritual Behaviorism is characterized by the use of Scripture as a series of proverbs, thoughts for good living or rules for Christians. It seeks to make Christians conform to a specific way of dealing with various life situations based on a passage here and/or a passage there.

For the sake of example, consider the abortion issue. Understand that there is no specific Scripture that expressly says, “Thou shalt not remove a fetus from the womb before it is born.” Yet pastors will preach long sermons about the evils of abortion. They will try to justify their sermons with innocuous (as far as this topic is concerned) passages that relate to God knowing us before we are born, etc.

Abortion is wrong. Those who have God’s love and law written on their hearts know it is wrong. God gives life, and therefore life has intrinsic worth and meaning. But anti-abortionism is not the message of the Bible or of the New Covenant. The message of the Bible is of God’s character, His love for His creation, and His plan for its redemption.

The Spiritual Behaviorist, nevertheless, continues using the pulpit to tell Christians, who are supposed to be led by the Holy Spirit, what they can and cannot do and still please God. The truth is there is no behavior that will please God, except accepting His Son as Lord and Savior. That is what the “without faith it is impossible to please God” principle in the Bible is all about.

When you understand sin and what it really is, you recognize that you will never be able to please God by one behavior or another, for God demands absolute perfection to even come into His presence, let alone to please Him with our deeds. That is because sin is any thought, attitude or action that is not 100% in the absolute center of God’s will. Therein lays our problem to begin with and the truth that required Jesus to become sin for us, covering our sin with His blood shed at Calvary.

People who are not grounded in the actual message of the Bible often question whether a certain action is a sin or not. In years past the main questions were: Is it a sin to smoke? Is it a sin to dance? Is it a sin to drink? Later the questions became: Is divorce a sin? Is homosexuality a sin? Is abortion a sin?

The answer to each of those questions is that if that activity is not dead center in God’s will it is a sin. People ask those kinds of questions because God’s law and love have not been written in their hearts. That is the substance of the doctrine of the total depravity of man. (Most Christians believe in the almost total depravity of man, but not in all of it.)

Well, if the Bible was not written to show us which activities are sinful in the sight of God and which ones are not, why was it written? The answer is that it was written to reveal to us the character of God, to demonstrate man’s propensity for sin and to show us God’s one and only solution to sin in Christ.

In the end, Spiritual Behaviorism IS a form of legalism, and is totally inappropriate as a reason for a sermon, lecture or training course. Our message (our only message) is the gospel of Christ. He is our reason for being. He must be the in all, of all and through all of everything we are and do. And His love and law must be written on our hearts, or we are not His children, regardless of our behavior.

Cessationism or Continualism?

So, are you a “Cessationist” or a “Continualist”? For those who might not understand the terms, a “Continualist” is someone who believes that the so-called sign gifts of the Spirit are as strong today as they ever were, while a “Cessationist” believes those sign gifts are no longer with us because we have something the early church did not have: the Bible.

In general, Continualists include charismatic churches while Cessationists are non-charismatic. This is not absolute, but it is close enough for discussion.

Notable Continualists include such diverse preachers as Dan Betzer (former radio preacher, now in Ft. Myers, Florida), Rodney Howard Brown, and Dr. Adrian Warnock.  Cessationists would include Frank Turk, Phil Johnson, John MacArthur and others. There are also some who are sort of in the middle. John Piper is one, as was Charles Spurgeon (according to some).  

So what are we to do? How do we know which camp is the most Biblical? In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul writes:

“My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. ¹² What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas^[b]”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

^{13 “}Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴ I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵ so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶ (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”

Paul, at least, was clear. We are to follow Christ and Christ alone. We are to preach the gospel and nothing else. In this we are to be united. Does that mean that we do not have to be concerned with other doctrines? Not at all. In fact, all of 1Timothy deals with various false doctrines and how careful we must be to select leaders who do not subscribe to them.

How, then, do we decide which doctrines are important enough to fuss over and which ones are not?

Any position can be proven if we cherry-pick scripture. Selecting a verse or a few verses here or there to “prove our point” is no way to form doctrines. All divisions of faiths that call themselves “Christian” do that. Continualists do that, as do Cessationist. Mainline Christians do it. So do Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and other aberrant denominations. It is heretical to adopt one belief system over another based on selected scriptures.

In Matthew 27:5 we read: “Judas went out and hanged himself.” Then in Luke 10:37 we find: “Go and do likewise.” While in John 13:27: Jesus says:  “What thou doest, do quickly.” All three of those are exact scripture quotes. Together they justify a doctrine of suicide. Of course, that is absurd! But it is EXACTLY what almost all Christian groups do to prove that their way is the right way and all others are at least mistaken, if not satanic.

Here is how to formulate a doctrine.

Realize the purpose of the Bible. It is not a “guide-book for living” (although if you need a guidebook, there is none better). The Bible is not a history book (although if you want to know the history of God’s creation it’s the best one ever written). Neither is the Bible a psychology book (although you will not find more accurate psychology anywhere). Most of all, the Bible is not a book of religion. If you need a book on religion, you will have to look elsewhere.

The Bible is God’s revelation of His character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption. That redemption is provided through and only through the shed blood of Christ at the cross of Calvary. Any use of the Bible for any other purpose is both apostasy and heresy.

The unfortunate thing is, many pastors and theologians know this in the recesses of their minds, but they are so conditioned to the cherry-pick scripture approach that they end up trying to live by the Law and the Old Covenant and Grace and the New Covenant all at once. That just cannot work and always results in false doctrine.

Not too long ago there was a “debate” between Dr. Michael Brown and Dr. Sam Waldron. Each was quoting scripture at breakneck speed. Each proved to his own satisfaction his own stance on Cessationism vs. Continualism. It was all quite frantic and more than a bit laughable.

Both sides of this controversy would claim that they believe salvation is by Jesus plus nothing. Then they both proceed to add something to Jesus because each believes He is almost enough in-and-of Himself, but not quite. Both would deny that they are “legalists,” but each exhibit the essential characteristics of legalism.

The next step in formulating a correct doctrine is to understand that the Bible is not about you and it is not about me. It is all about Him. Everything you need to know about God is found in the Word of God. Nothing you need to know about God is NOT in the Word of God. Everything you THINK you know about God that’s not in the Word of God you just made up. It is all about Him and it is totally sufficient to reveal Him.

Next you need to know that the Bible is not a series of proverbial sayings to be applied for the purpose of helping you think or behave in a certain way. Under the New Covenant, God writes His Law and His Word on our hearts. The scripture gives us a record of the ancestry of, birth of, crucifixion of, resurrection of and the soon return of Christ. If you are reading it correctly, it is revealing Him, from Genesis to Revelation.

Friends, the Bible is totally unconcerned with Cessationism or Continualism…totally. If you think it has something to do with either position you have been sucked into that thinking by somebody who taught you wrong or by tradition and convention. That is true whether you were taught at the premiere seminary in the universe or the best Bible school in the nation.

At the risk of doing what I have just been railing against, may I remind you that Paul wrote: I Corinthians 2:2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” and I Corinthians 9:16 “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.” These quotes are consistent with the purpose of scripture to begin with.

The gospel is our message. We have no other message. If you are trying to fit some other message into your preaching, or if you are attempting to preach some social message or some behavioral message, you are engaging in heresy. If you think this message is boring or irrelevant, you are lost and need to get saved before you preach another word.

Not until we get this message to every living person on earth will we be in a position to widen our message. Since that will never happen, we are well advised to stick to the gospel, God’s revelation of His character, His love of His creation and His plan for its redemption through Christ Jesus, to whom all focus and glory belongs forever. That message you will find in every verse of the Bible.

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE-Great is the Lord

An Overview of Hosea

Hosea Chapters 1- 14

The Theme of Hosea: Gomer was faithless; Israel was faithless; God is always faithful.

Many people think the Minor Prophets are called that because their books are short. Hosea is longer than the book of Daniel. Minor prophets are not minor. They are even quoted by the “major” prophets. They were nationalistic and focused on the Israelites’ breaking of the Law. But their main message was the inability of Israel to keep the Law. Hosea is the prophet in the Northern Kingdom who compares to Jeremiah in the Southern Kingdom. Both warned of Israel’s captivity and both lived to see it come to pass.

Chapter 1 – God tells Hosea to take a harlot for a wife. This is contrary to the Law of Moses. This is indicative that the purpose of the Law is to reveal sin, not to provide a way out of sin. Imagine if this happened in your life. Your son says, “God told me to marry a harlot.”

Chapter 2 – Gomer proves faithless; Israel proves faithless; God proves faithful. This is about God’s love for the nation Israel. Ultimately He will restore her, and she will give up the worship of Baal. Hosea understands the attitude and action of God because of his own love for Gomer.

Chapter 3 – Hosea is commanded to take Gomer again

Chapters 4 & 5 – Israel plays the harlot. She is constantly turning from God to idolatry.

Chapter 6 – Prophesy that Israel will return to God in the last days. We’re getting closer.

Chapter 7 – Israel turns to Egypt and Assyria. They think the grass is greener on that fence side.

Chapter 8 – Israel turns to golden calves and altars of sin. This is repeated behavior by Israel.

Chapter 9 & 10 – Israel turns to a land of productivity but is told she will be driven from the land

Chapters 11 & 12 – Israel turns from God again but God will not give her up.

Chapter 13 – Israel will be judged in the present. Our sins find us out and have consequences.

Chapter 14 – Israel will be saved in the future. God is not finished with Israel. They are His chosen people, not because they were good, but because God gets to choose.

What do we learn from Hosea?

The Character of God: God is always faithful, even when we are unfaithful.

God’s love for His creation: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8)!

His Plan for its redemption: No one is too dirty, too hopeless, too far-gone for Jesus to save them.
Jesus is a faithful husband, who gave Himself for His bride the church (us) and is purifying that bride (us) for Himself (Ephesians 5:25-27).

We are called to live out this good news, forgiving others, redeeming the hopeless, loving the unlovable, and speaking the message of Jesus and His love.

Our salvation comes from trusting in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary and believing that God has raised Him from the dead.