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.