When the Church becomes like the World

I was working out in the gym today and saw a segment on the M&J Show (some talk show in the morning) on one of the TVs on the keys to a happy marriage.  They had some secular marriage counselor.  She used a four word alliteration for the keys, acceptance, affection, appreciation, and something else, I don’t remember right now.  What struck me like a lightning bold was the fact that I heard a sermon from a pastor whose church we were visiting two weeks ago who used the exact same alliteration, the exact same words, and as far as I could hear on the TV show, much the same content.  His was a sermon entitled Fireproof: Dare to Last, which consisted of the Four Ingredients to Make a Marriage Last a Lifetime.  Of course he threw in a few Scriptures, mostly taken out of context, to make his four points and to make it look Biblical, but the content was the same as the secular marriage counselor on mid-morning TV. 

This is a crime when the world and the church speak the same message with the same words.  2 Timothy 4:1-4 states, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.  This text is very relevant today.  This pastor may be a Bible-believing Christian, and I know he is, but he is condemning his congregation to hell by preaching worldly fluff rather than the substance of the gospel.  People’s souls are way too important to be left to the 4 ingredients to a fireproof marriage. 

These types of sermons play on the fleshly desires of sinful human beings, reinforcing their pride and the American “I can do it myself” attitude, while neglecting the care and feeding of the souls of the people.  This is nothing short of criminal negligence.  It deceives people into thinking they are saved by God but are no more saved than the man in the moon.  This pastor made a feeble attempt to have some sort of gospel message buried in one of the points, but failed to follow through.  At the end of the talk, he did some sort of “altar call” about a commitment to marriage, but he ended up considering it as a decision for Christ.  There was no gospel presentation, and I was confused about what people were actually raising their hand for.  Can people be saved from their sins and reconciled back to God when they don’t even know what they are believing in?  I doubt it. 

In 1 Kings 19:10-18, and Romans 11:4, the Scriptures refer to Elijah complaining to God that he is the only prophet that honors God and even the authorities are looking to take his life.  God  assures him that He still has a remnant of 7,000 that have not bowed the knee to the false god Baal.  I know that there are many churches around the world that are the remnant.  But it seems to me that at least in America, the typical “evangelical” church is no longer evangelical, but psychological.  After all, evangelical is from the Greek word meaning good news or gospel.  The American church, on the other hand, has sold out to a feel-good, felt-needs, pop psychology that is devoid of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but having the appearance of godliness but denying its power.  It is unethical and incorrect to refer to most American churches as evangelical when the evangel (or gospel) is nowhere present in anything they say or do.  In fact, most of what goes on in American churches nowadays is what Paul blasted the Galatian church for in his letter to them.  He accused them of following a false gospel of Christ and… (fill in the blank here).  Grace and works.  They say from the pulpit, ” I can do it with a little help from Jesus. I can have a better marriage if I just follow these four ingredients, and pray that Jesus will help me.”  This is not the gospel of grace, which is a complete work of God and you play no part in it, lest you should boast about how you helped God.  This may be the American gospel of self-help, but it is not the Biblical gospel.  And Paul said in Galatians But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.  This is strong language tantamount to saying that if someone preaches a false gospel, then let them go to hell.  This is how serious the preaching of the true gospel really is.   

People in those churches for the most part are happy and content thinking that they are getting a good Bible message when in fact their souls are in peril and they are on the verge of Hell, without knowing it.  This is the greatest deceit of the Devil, to convince people they are right with God through comfortable, self-centered, practical and uplifting messages, when they are heading straight to eternal damnation through a lack of the gospel truth or a gross misunderstanding of it.   What if a doctor came in to your hospital room and gave you a good uplifting talk about the benefits of good health and a better marriage, but didn’t speak directly to you about your condition however hard that may be, and what exactly needed to be done in order to fix your fatal illness?  A feel-good speech about a secondary topic, no matter how important, does not even make one feel good when death is knocking at the door.  Pastors and ministers need to preach Christ and Him crucified, in season and out of season, because their people have one unfelt-need that puts them in dire straits.

Charles Spurgeon, the prince of preachers and the pastor of a megachurch long before America knew what they were, stated, “SERMONS should have real teaching in them, and their doctrine should be solid, substantial, and abundant. We do not enter the pulpit to talk for talk’s sake; we have instructions to convey important to the last degree, and we cannot afford to utter pretty nothings. Our range of subjects is all but boundless, and we cannot, therefore, be excused if our discourses are threadbare and devoid of substance. If we speak as ambassadors for God, we need never complain of want of matter, for our message is full to overflowing. The entire gospel must be presented from the pulpit; the whole faith once delivered to the saints must be proclaimed by us. The truth as it is in Jesus must be instructively declared, so that the people may not merely hear, but know, the joyful sound.”  Preach the Word, as Paul instructs Timothy.  Preach on marriage, finances, relationships, and other topics through a faithful exposition of the Scriptures, not with pop psychology and a few scriptures thrown in to make it appear Biblical.  But preach the gospel message of salvation in Christ first and foremost.  The souls of men and women are too important to be left to worldly pop psychology drivel and nonsense.

Harvester Bible Church

I have not been posting for a while, but the big news is that I am finally stepping out in faith and my wife and I are planting the church God has put on our hearts for the past five years.  Harvester Bible Church.  Click the link to go to our website.  We are officially starting April 12, Easter Sunday.  It will be a Reformed Charismatic church along the lines of Sovereign Grace Ministries. 

If you are in the greater St. Louis area, stop by!  And by all means, please keep us in your prayers.  Spiritual warfare is real, and the Word and prayer are the best weapons. 

 

The Creation Ordinance of Marriage in Today’s Church

On Feb. 4, 2004, the Supreme Court of the State of Massachusetts declared marriage to be “an evolving paradigm,” and in a bold leap in that evolutionary process, the court ruled that marriage could no longer be legally defined as the committed union of one man and one woman. The court declared that the definition of marriage must now include a union of two men or two women. This court ruling, which would have been inconceivable forty years ago, illustrates the radical cultural changes that have taken place in this country in the last generation.  Marriage is under attack in the United States, the world, and even in the church.  The concept of the family is undercut in our society. Individualism and politically correct language have eroded the classic image of the family. While the “image” of the nuclear family is not necessarily biblical, there are forces that seek to destroy the family as an antiquarian relic of the Judeo-Christian legacy.  The prime example occurred in the state of California. 

On May 15, 2008, the California Supreme Court, by a vote of 4-3, ruled that the statute enacted by Proposition 22 and other statutes that limit marriage to a relationship between a man and a woman violated the equal protection clause of the California Constitution. It also held that individuals of the same sex have the right to marry under the California Constitution.  As of June 17, 2008, marriages between individuals of the same sex were considered valid and recognized in the state of California. A UCLA study estimated that 18,000 same-sex couples married between then and early November, 2008.[1]  Californians concerned for the institution of marriage garnered enough support to put Proposition 8 on the November 2008 ballot.  Proposition 8 was a California State ballot proposition that amended the state Constitution to restrict the definition of marriage to a union between a man and a woman. It was intended to overturn the California Supreme Court decision that had recognized same-sex marriage in California as a fundamental right. The official ballot title language for Proposition 8 is “Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry.” The entirety of the text added to the constitution is: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” This proposition passed by a 52% to a 47% margin.[2] If one notes the language of the ballot, it was written in the negative – eliminates the right of – as opposed to a positive tone of promoting the sanctity of marriage.  While this is a victory for the sanctity of marriage, the fight is still ongoing.  Lawsuits are expected to be forthcoming on both sides of the issue in California and elsewhere. 

Teach People the Ten Commandments

OK, this is a long post, but I would encourage all of you to read it.  I believe the Ten Commandments is one of the long lost subjects of preaching, and it is what people these days need the most.  You can’t understand the gospel without the law.  Sorry, but my blog is NOT a guilt-free zone.  We should all feel guilty of our sin before a Holy God so that we will all repent daily and live holy lives.  If Jesus loves me, and I don’t need to feel guilty before the law and a Holy God, then why should I change or repent?  Read on, brothers and sisters!

In 2007 and part of 2008, I took an informal survey of the sermons I heard to determine how they basically presented the gospel.  In virtually all of the dispensational and seeker sensitive churches I attended, the gospel call was essentially the same, with a few minor variations in wording:

• Jesus loves you, and He died for you so that you could be free from your guilt, your hurts, and all your mistakes.
• Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. All you have to do is ask him to come into your life.
• God loves you just the way you are.
• Come to Jesus and you will find peace, joy, and happiness in your life.

This sampling of just a few comments shows that most gospel calls in many evangelical churches today all start with God’s love or Jesus’ love for the particular person sitting in the pew (or auditorium).  Most of the pastors I had heard started, with good intentions I am sure, with an appeal to the heart.  They appealed to everyone’s sense of longing to be loved.  Most appealed to each individual in their current situation, stating that God or Christ loved them just as they were, “warts and all,” “with all of your bad mistakes and bad relationships.” In most, if not all, of the sermons there was very little mention of repentance.  When there was mentioned repentance, it was said to mean a “change of mind,” and the terms sin or sins were not mentioned regularly.  Repentance was for wrongdoings, mistakes, bad relationships or bad decisions. 

           

Soldiers, not wimps.

OK, it has been a long hiatus, but I hope to be back on a regular basis. 

Watch the link below.  This is just plain disgusting that human beings can do this to one another. 

http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?swf=http%3A//s.ytimg.com/yt/swf/cps-vfl59689.swf&video_id=VIdbYjmbFzo&rel=1&hqt=1&eurl=&iurl=http%3A//i3.ytimg.com/vi/VIdbYjmbFzo/default.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskI-WgOzrG9j6wrQGduNPOPU&use_get_video_info=1&load_modules=1&fs=1&hl=en

But does this video leave any doubt in anyone’s mind that we are in a war?  No, not with the liberals or even with Barack Obama.  Obama is a person with a soul just like me or you.  God can use him in a mighty way just like he used King Cyrus or Nebuchadnezzar or even Constantine.  If Paul can be saved, so can Obama.  No, we are at war with our arch enemy the Devil.  Satan.  No, not the Halloween devil with a red suit and a pitchfork.  The real spiritual enemy of man and God, Satan.  He is the deceiver who walks around like roaring lion waiting to deceive and pound someone (1 Peter 5:8). 

The problem is that I think there are way too many chaplains in the Kingdom of God than soldiers or warriors.  We don’t need any more people telling us how sorry they feel for us, holding our hands, and crying with us.  We don’t need any more sensitive, touchy-feely tender hearts that want to get together, hold hands, and sing kimbaya.  We need soldiers who are willing to go, fight, and kick some serious Satanic butt. Through the power of the Holy Spirit of course with the main weapon of the Christian.  No, not the hanky or a tissue – the Word of God.   We need more people wielding the sword of the Spirit on our Satanic enemy.  Patton said that no ***** ever won a war by dying for his country.  He made the other poor dumb ***** die for his country!  I think it is time we as Christians start taking spiritual warfare seriously and start taking the fight to the enemy. 

Now, before you get me wrong, here is what I don’t mean.  I don’t mean another anti-abortion rally (or pro-life, or whatever) in front of some abortion clinic.  Or some phone barrage telling everyone that Obama is the antichrist.  These are weak-minded and plastic toy knife responses to a serious war.  This is bringing a toy knife to a gun fight.  Remember the scene in Indiana Jones when the super skilled, ninja sword guy confronted Jones?  Jones took out his revolver and shot him dead with one bullet.  This is what Satan is doing to Christians nowadays.  We act tough, and really look good to boot.  But we are like a moron with a knife at a gun fight.  It is time we unleashed the sword of the Spirit – or better yet, the machinegun of the Spirit or the tank of the Spirit on the Satanic kingdom and go and kick some booty! 

So how do we do this?  Ministers first of all need to preach the real Word of God.  Not some seeker-sensitive mumbo-jumbo about how to have a happy marriage or how to live your best (read materialistic, selfish, self-centered, get-all-you-can) life now.  This is not the gospel, and is not helping matters any, except, maybe for the other side.  Preachers need to preach the real gospel.  If you want an example, see Acts 2, Acts 13, and Acts 17 for examples.  These are not your typical seeker sensitive Jesus-loves-you-and-has-a-wonderful-plan-for-your-life sermons.  Yes, the preacher needs to teach on marriage (Ephesians 5, Genesis 1-2, etc) and meaning of life (Ephesians 2:8-10 and others).  But let’s do it in the context of real Scripture teaching and real gospel preaching. 

Secondly, laypeople need to quit reading Joel Osteen books (and some others – you know who they are) and start reading the Bible.  We are being eaten alive by the Devil because we don’t know what we believe, and consequently we can’t witness or be a witness if we have really no idea what Christianity is all about.  Forget the relationship crap – everyone has a relationship with Jesus.  You are either an adopted son of daughter, or you are an enemy of God (Romans 5).  The good news is that enemies of God can be reconciled to Him through the preaching of the Word.  Christians of all stripes and backgrounds need to study hard, know what they believe, and then get off their behind and tell people the situation they are in. 

Once people really understand the situation they are in, the Spirit works in them when the Word is preached.  Once people’s lives are changed through the regeneration of their spirit by the Holy Spirit, then we will be able to see change in our cities, states, and even in Washington, D.C.  Not through man’s efforts of legislation and elections, but through the power of God working in the hearts and minds of real people.  This is how change begins.

Conservative Protestants and Wealth

 

In a recent segment on the Albert Mohler show, Dr. Mohler of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, briefly discussed an article recently written by Lisa Keister of Duke University and published in the American Journal of Sociology entitled, Conservative Protestants and Wealth: How Religion Perpetuates Asset Poverty.  The gist of Keister’s research is that religious affiliation and beliefs affect wealth ownership for conservative protestants (CP’s).   Based on Dr. Mohler’s summary and discussion of this article, I had to find it and read it.  So I found the journal, paid my $10 to download the article, and read it with interest.  What I found was, as Dr. Mohler also found, shocking and at the same time refreshing. 

Keister’s states, “The results demonstrate that religion affects wealth indirectly through educational attainment, fertility, and female labor force participation. The results also provide evidence of a direct effect of religion on wealth. Low rates of asset accumulation and unique economic values combine to reduce CP wealth beyond the effects of demographics.”  Let me explain what she found out, then I will throw in some comments of my own.

CP’s typically have a net worth much lower than the rest of the country.  She found that in 2000, a CP’s median net worth was $26,000, vs. a full sample median of $66,200.  The mean net worth for the full sample was $200,000, while the mean for the CP’s was only $85,000.  In other words, CP’s make much less, save much less, and have an asset value of much less, almost one-third less, than the average American.  Why is that?  Keister’s research attributes this discrepancy to the religious beliefs of CP’s.  She states that the central defining trait of a CP “is their interpretation of the Bible as the inerrant word of God. A key assumption that follows and that figures prominently in CP financial values is that money belongs to God, and people are managers of God’s money.”  Conservative Protestants interpret such passages as Lev 25:23, Deut 10:14, Psalm 24:1, and Psalm 50:10-12 to mean that “people are not the true owners of worldly possessions. Rather, God has entrusted people with the objects they possess, including both real and financial objects.”   Because CP’s hold to this truth, it affects the way they view and manage money, thus causing them to accumulate and build wealth differently than most Americans.  This is an incredible observation from a secular researcher. 

What are the effects of this central trait on wealth accumulation?  There are several that Keister found out.  She concluded that indirectly, these values affect the educational levels of CP’s, causing them to have a lower level of educational attainment than other people, and educational level is a strong predictor of wealth.  Why is that?  She discovered that CP’s tend to marry earlier, have children relatively early in marriage, and have more children than the typical American family.  She very specifically states that family size reduces asset and wealth accumulation, and early fertility exacerbates the effect because it limits opportunities for further education, career development, and savings.  Moreover, most CP families are one-income families, because the wife/mother usually stays home to raise the kids.  Additionally, because CP children get their values from their parents rather than from a daycare or other source, these religious values and lifestyles are perpetuated generationally. 

She also notes several other effects of the CP’s central trait of holding the Bible as the inerrant Word of God.  One is that “divine advice, advice from clergy, and other religiously oriented advice about money and work have important merit. Given that God owns all worldly possessions, it is prudent to seek his advice when making decisions about how to accumulate and handle those possessions,” especially from ministers.  Secondly, another value that follows the Biblical text is “that excess accumulation is undesirable.” She gives several reasons for this, with Scriptural examples, such as the danger of becoming overly focused on material well-being at the expense of spiritual well-being, excess accumulation is a bad investment compared to a spiritual investment, and it is unnecessary to accumulate worldly possessions because God will take care of believers.  A third value associated with the Biblical text “that follows from the assumption that God owns all material goods is that it is necessary to give some money back to God and to otherwise use money to do God’s works.”  This is tithing and sacrificial giving and generosity. 

In the article she provides here research methodology, tables and charts, and data to support her findings. 

Now, this is an incredible research project.  The underlying assumption, though, of the whole project is that asset and wealth accumulation is good, and asset poverty is bad.  It is better to be well-off now and even better to prepare for the future through investments, savings, and relative selfishness in terms of wealth.  However, her findings indicate that conservative protestants tend to live according to different values that what is typically put forth by the world.  This is a tremendous witness to the power of the Word of God and the gospel of Christ.  Even when the author tries to be unbiased, her contempt comes through.  Note the title of the paper.  However, 1 Peter 3 states, ¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, ¹⁵ but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶ having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. ¹⁷ For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.  Note my underlined passage.  Even when Christians are slandered for their obedience to God, they may have a good conscience and those that slander us may be put to shame.  I think this research project is a huge witness for Christ and a statement against the worldly attitudes that prevail in our culture. 

It is also interesting how Keister relates children and families with asset building.  No children = good asset growth.  Many children = asset poverty.  Therefore the underlying conclusion is that one should think long and hard about having children, because they are a drain on your ability to build wealth for the future.  One can almost sense the self-centered presuppositions that permeate our culture today.  When our entire existence is about the accumulation of wealth for our own comfort and security, then children will ultimately get in the way.  Hence the abortion culture, and the increasingly low birth rates in many Western countries. 

Low CP wealth is not a bad thing; in fact, it is a Biblical thing.  Luke 16:10-13, 1 Timothy 6:9-10, and Luke 12:15 are all warnings of the dangers of trusting in wealth and not trusting in God.  We live in a society and culture that puts a premium value on money and wealth, as well as comfort, entertainment, and security.  Wealth accumulation provides all of those, or so it seems in America.  However, Christians are called to live differently.  We are to value children as gifts from God and integral parts of the covenant of God, not as asset drains on our ability to build future wealth.  We are to trust in God for our provisions, and not our selves.  We are called to fully understand that every material thing belongs to God, and we are simply mangers and stewards of what God has allowed us to have.  Not only are we to understand this, but are to live like it is true.  So many times I have seen, even in my own life, how Christians profess to trust God yet live like atheists.  We say we trust God for our provisions and our future, yet we store up wealth like there is no one else to provide for us or take care of us. 

This research is encouraging from a Biblical perspective because it shows that there are Christians who are a big witness for the countercultural values of Christ.  We should all become more aware of what it really means to live for Christ in every area of our lives, especially material possessions.  We need to teach our kids what it means to trust God for our provision, both in our words as well as our deeds.  There are more important things than wealth.  And yes, investment in the Kingdom of God is a much better decision and provides much better yields than an investment in this world. 

Love and Marriage….

My wife and I just returned from a vacation where we were celebrating our 20^th wedding anniversary.  We were high school sweethearts, stayed together through college, and were married after we both graduated.  This may be a bit personal, but we have only known each other, so to speak.  We are living examples that, yes, it is possible to remain true and faithful before and during marriage, and we are striving to teach both of our daughters this same lesson.  We certainly have no regrets about anything, and in fact, our long courtship and celibacy before marriage have only made us stronger in our relationship.  We are looking forward to at least another 40 more years! 

Marriage seems to have fallen on hard times in this country and across the globe lately.  With the world’s preoccupation, actually worship, of sex, marriage seems to have lost its meaning and given way to unbridled pleasure, self-gratification, and self-centeredness.  Why is marriage such a big deal anyway?  I mean, why can’t two people, regardless of gender or some piece of legal paper, enjoy an intimate relationship in whatever manner they wish?  Shouldn’t our own desires and pleasures govern the way we love and relate to one another? 

In a word, no.  The Bible has a lot to say about love and marriage, but let me say something that is obvious first.  True relationship cannot exist between two people who are self-centered and live life only for self-gratification.  How can two people care about each other if all they care about is themselves? That is why marriage and even real relationship today is becoming an endangered species.  People nowadays are consummate consumers, and live life to fulfill their own desires, whatever those may be.  Self-fulfillment, more money, wealth-building, a better life, self-improvement, etc.  All of these goals and more are focused on the self.  Real relationship is focused on someone else.  The reason very few people have strong and long-lasting relationships today is because in our consumer-driven and self-focused modern world, devoting yourself to someone else, subordinating your desires temporarily or permanently for someone else’s, is heresy.  Relationships, even in the church, are usually built on what the other person can do for me to help me in my quest for self-improvement or fulfillment.  Even many Christians see God not as the Almighty Creator of the universe, Lord over all of heaven and earth, the object of my worship and sacrifice, but a means to get what I want out of life, be it happiness, a good marriage, well-behaved kids, financial security, good health, or job security.  The focus on the self does not make for good relationships and certainly does not breed strong marriages. 

The primary Biblical picture of a marriage is that of a covenant.  God’s covenant relations with his people are described in the language of marriage.  We get our meaning and models for relationship from the covenantal relationship of God and his people.  There are three main elements of the marriage covenant that we can derive from the Bible: 1) the promise of committed love between the husband and the wife; 2) the public declaration of the covenant by which a new family is created; and 3) the personal communion between a husband and a wife in the relationship.  God’s covenant with his people is permanent, and the marriage covenant between a man and a woman is also permanent.  When we think of marriage as a model of God’s relationship with His people, we have a solid foundation on which to build our own marriage.

Marriage is a creation ordinance of God, and affected the total life of man.  God ordered the ordinance of marriage when He states in Genesis 2:18, “it is not good that man should be alone.”  So God created a helper.  O. Palmer Robertson states that, “The creational origin of the marriage relationship has far-reaching implications.  By tracing this ordinance to the sovereign creative act of God himself, Scripture removes all doubt with respect to the sanctity of marriage.  The Lord-Creator ordained marriage from the time of man’s creation.”  Robertson reaches several conclusions, which should be fairly obvious from the Biblical texts concerning marriage.

1.  There is an interpersonal fusion between a man and a woman, a husband and a wife.  God created woman from man, and Genesis 2:22-24 describes how a man should leave his parents and cleave to his wife to form one flesh.  This oneness is to be consummated only in the marriage bond and union.  Implicit in this union is the fact that only two can enter into it.  By the ordering of creation, marriage unites two persons. 

2.  Creation’s ordering determines the internal structure that characterizes God’s institution of marriage.  This will clearly not be politically correct, but Paul states in 1 Corinthians 11:9 that the man was not created for the woman, but the woman was created for the man.  A significant balancing element must be noted in the scriptural presentation of the role of the woman in marriage.  The woman is to be man’s helper, but is to be a helper corresponding to him.  The woman is no less significant than the man with respect to the person.  The roles are different, but the equality before God is the same. 

3.  The effect of the creation ordinance of marriage on various sexual aberrations should be noticed.  Because an order has been established for the relation of men and women by creation, this order cannot be ignored or supplanted.  Polygamy contradicts the creational order of marriage.  Divorce contradicts the creational order of marriage.  Homosexuality contradicts the creational order of marriage. 

A sexual relationship between a man and a woman has been designed by God to be exercised only within the marriage relationship.  Today, we have made sex as strictly a fulfillment of stimulation and pleasure, with little to no deep commitment or relationship.  It has become a superficial act of pure stimulation in which we attempt to selfishly satisfy our own desires and urges.  What modern man and woman has made sex is much to the contrary of what God designed sex to be.  God intended sex to be the consummation of a close and personal relationship within the marriage covenant. 

Marriage should therefore be regarded as a significant and supremely important component of God’s creation and created order.  It is through marriage that reproduction occurs (or should occur), and the Christian’s reproduction of children is a primary way God works his redemption and plan through generations in His covenant.  Today marriage is seen as merely a social construct that can and must change to keep up with the changing times and changing cultural contexts.  However, as part of God’s created order, marriage is a lasting ordinance that can never be changed, and was designed and created by God himself as part of His ordering of His creation.  A proper study of marriage is in order for Christians, because most Christians don’t understand the importance of marriage.  When Christians understand the supreme significance of this ordinance and covenant, then perhaps marriage will be revived in America. 

The Expelled Revolution

Yes, I saw Expelled last weekend.  Quite frankly, I wasn’t really interested in going, because I had heard all of the arguments and much of the whining about how evolutionists suppress all discussion about creation and intelligent design.  However, I went with a group of friends, and wanted to show my support for the theaters that showed the movie.  If you haven’t seen this documentary, GO SEE IT! 

 I have been reading some of the columnists rant about this film, but one of the best ones supporting the movie is Ben Stein Vs. Sputtering Atheists, by Brent Bozell.  Man he makes some great points.  He states,

It is a reality of PC liberalism: There is only one credible side to an issue, and any dissent is not only rejected, it is scorned. Global warming. Gay “rights.” Abortion “rights.” On these and so many other issues there is enlightenment, and then there is the Idiotic Other Side. PC liberalism’s power centers are the news media, the entertainment industry and academia, and all are in the clutches of an unmistakable hypocrisy: Theirs is an ideology that preaches the freedom of thought and expression at every opportunity, yet practices absolute intolerance toward dissension.

We see this reaction in nearly all of the comments against this film.  No one really addresses the content specifically, but instead rails against the film as stupid, made for and watched by idiots, and only for those morons that believe the earth is flat.  Listen to the comments by some of the stars of the film:

Now that the film is complete, the evolutionist prophets featured in the film are on the warpath inveighing against it, and the alleged idiots who would lower themselves to watching it. Richard Dawkins laments how the film will solicit “cheap laughs that could only be raised in an audience of scientific ignoramuses.” Minnesota professor and blogger P.Z. Myers predicts the movie is “going to appeal strongly to the religious, the paranoid, the conspiracy theorists, and the ignorant —- which means they’re going to draw in about 90 percent of the American market.”

Hmmm.  If you can’t address their substance, then insult them, attack them, and slander them in the press. 

It’s understood that God had nothing to do with the origins of life on Earth. What, then, is the alternate explanation? Stein asks these experts, and their very serious answers are priceless. One theorizes that life began somehow on the backs of crystals. Another states electric sparks from a lightning storm created organic matter (out of nothing). Another declares that life was brought to Earth by aliens. Anything but God.

This is the crux of the matter, isn’t it?  If someone is adamant about denying the existence of God, then one must come up with a “creation” story that does not include any form of outside, supernatural deity.  This is evolution.  It is NOT a scientific explanation of the world or of its origins.  It is, plain and simple, an explanation of the world and its origins WITHOUT God.  That is the agenda of the evolution crowd.  There is no science, no proof, no well-reasoned arguments, and no data.  It is aliens, crystals, and chance.  It continues to amaze me how strongly human beings will suppress the truth about God and nature in order to live life autonomously.  What is amazing is that theories of the origins of the world have been around for along time.  Our understanding of the natural world has changed considerably over the past several thousand years.  What is amazing is that the Bible has endured for 3,500 years, in the same form with the same words as it is now, and is still truth.  People have been suppressing the truth of God and His revelation in nature and His Word for thousands of years, and yet the truth still comes forth.  This irritates the wise, the smart ones, because they think God is foolish. 

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians chapter 1: But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, ”Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”   

The Gospel of Personal Relationship

If I had a dime for every time I heard that Christianity is not a religion, it is a personal relationship, I would be rich.  If I believed that statement as most Christians tell it, I would still be lost in my sins and bound for hell, though I would be really feeling good about myself in the process.  The gospel is not about a personal relationship with Jesus.  The gospel is not that subjective, nor is it that undefined.  However, I must emphatically say that every created being does have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  Yes, everyone.  And it is only one of two relations.  One is either through love, grace, and mercy as sons and daughters of adoption; the other is through the wrath of His just judgment.  At some point at the end of history as we now know it, Jesus will either be your savior or judge.  The gospel is not about a personal relationship with Christ; it is about a right relationship with God through Christ.  It is not as touchy-feely as most sappy so-called evangelicals explain.  But it is a very serious matter on which your very soul depends. 

The gospel is the announcement of the good news of Jesus Christ.  What is that good news?  In a sentence, it the fact that Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners, and that he died for the forgiveness of our sins and was raised for our justification.  It is about how God through Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit is building Himself a people, called the church, who are His and who will worship Him forever as forgiven, adopted, justified, sanctified, and glorified sons and daughters of God. 

The problem with the current evangelical view of the gospel is that it is marketed as “good news,” but in fact is very shallow and really no good news at all.  A personal relationship is way too subjective to be THE good news.  What is it?  Why should I care?  What does it mean?  If the content of this personal relationship is all about me, then what’s the big deal with God?  This shallowness touches various parts of the fallen human psyche and creates a sense of belonging in a disconnected world, attempts to fulfill that longing for the love of God, and secure the relationship in a world where relationships fall apart daily.  While these are very high idealistic goals, the problem is that they fall short because they are rooted and grounded in human needs and wants, and not the Word of God or the power of God through Christ in the Spirit. 

The gospel is so much more!  Yes, it is much more than some Hollywood made-for-TV chick-flick pseudo-love story that may bring a tear to our eye and a lump in our throat.  Through the gospel, Christ has accomplished what we could never accomplish.  He has made His people right with God.  He has taken us from the relationship of wrath and judgment to the relationship of love, life, and family.  The work of Christ didn’t just provide the opportunity for us to be in the family of God, it secured it for those who believe in what Christ did.  If it were left up to us, then we would all still be in a sad state of affairs.  Christ effected our forgiveness and reconciliation.  He secured the justification for those who believe.  Romans 5:1 states that we now have peace with God.  The war is over, reconciliation is accomplished, and there will never be hostilities again!  We have a relationship with God now that surpasses any earthly relationship we can ever hope for.  We have been adopted into the family of God.  We are joint-heirs with Christ.  The inheritance is ours.  We have full legal rights to every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms!  And once we have been adopted, do you think Christ will ever kick us out?  When a human family adopts a young child, if he messes up once or twice, do they kick him out?  The child has no say in the legal adoption; it is by the grace of the adopting family.  But once he is in the family, he is the legal son or daughter of that family will all of the rights and privileges and responsibilities of that family.  This is not just a relationship; it is a covenantal family bond!

So the next time some tells you that Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship.  Tell them, no, it is more than that.  It is salvation from the wrath of God.  It is the forgiveness of sins.  It is the justification – setting right – with God.  It is the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us.  It is peace, reconciliation, with God.  It is the adoption of believers into the family of God.  Every human being that ever lived has had a personal relationship with God, either under wrath and condemnation or under grace and forgiveness.  Which side are you on?

 

Greed is Destroying Us

Michael Douglas, as ruthless corporate raider Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street, said it best:  Greed — for lack of a better word — is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms — greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge — has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed — you mark my words — will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA.  While this movie was made in 1987, it defines our times today.  Greed is deemed the savior of the world.  In reality, however, greed will not save anything or anybody, but ultimately drives it into the ground and kills it. 

¹⁹ ”Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ²² ”The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, ²³ but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! ²⁴ ”No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.  (Matthew 6:19 – 24 ESV)

There is a difference between capitalism, the free market economy, and greed.  One is generally healthy, while the other is decisively unhealthy.  Now, I am a republican and a capitalist, but what we are observing in the world today is not a healthy capitalism, but an unhealthy system in which greed is the primary driver unbridled by any controlling ethical or moral considerations.  It is controlled by pure profit. When people and companies and countries take capitalism to the extreme as is happening today and govern all of their business decisions, personal decisions, and interactions based on the bottom line, then something bad happens.  People and businesses lose focus of what is really important and long-lasting, and focus on what is only meaningful at the moment, that which will earn them an extra dollar.  Employees suffer, relationships suffer, companies suffer, and countries suffer because they become only tools in the hands of a few who only care about profit and making more and more money.  Companies fire people, not because they are losing money, but because they are not making enough.  Companies ruin relationships with customers because they demand that extra dollar in price at whatever expense of the relationship, and ruin the relationships with suppliers because they demand that extra dollar in savings.  It may work for the immediate future, but it ultimately kills in the long run.  But who cares about the long term…that is someone’s else’s problem after the few have made their millions, let go most of the workforce, and retired in luxury. 

Should this surprise anyone?  It should not really if one is familiar with the doctrine of total depravity and sin in human nature.  Unbridled by any moral and ethical boundaries coming from the Creator God, humans will move toward their most base desires and nature.  Greed, selfishness, and pride all come to mind.  With all of these, it is all about me. 

And unfortunately, the church in America has not just been ineffective in this cultural arena, it has in fact contributed to much of it.  The health and wealth gospel (which is no gospel at all) has fueled this fire for several decades now, but it is not alone.  The typical evangelical church in America has also jumped on the band wagon.  Who preaches humility any more?  How about sacrificial giving?  How about storing up treasures in heaven instead of on earth where moths and rust destroy…?  Many evangelical churches today don’t even preach Christ crucified, but instead preach Five Steps to Financial Freedom, How to Have a Successful Life, and Living the Better Life.  Sermons like these cater to the greed mentality.  After all, the gist of these sermons is that as a child of God, you are blessed beyond measure.  So claim those blessings.  The problem is, they are all worldly material blessings, and nowhere does the Bible state that a child of God will be blessed with all material blessings in Christ Jesus!  On the other hand, we are blessed with all spiritual blessings, according to Ephesians 1:3.  However, you will be hard pressed to find an early disciple or apostle that didn’t have to completely rely on God as his sole provider!  And none of them, including our Lord Himself, lived in the lap of luxury, nor desired to! 

Greed is essentially and fundamentally faith in oneself, and conversely a lack of faith in the sovereignty and provision of God.  After all, if we had faith in the provision of God for our daily bread, then why would we want to be greedy?  Why would we need to be greedy?  Even as business owners, business leaders, church leaders, and individuals, if we trust God for our provision and submit to His providential care and love, then we would know that He cares for us and provides for us.  We want more and more to fulfill our own desires, hoping desperately that next purchase, that new job with 20% more pay, our new wife, or that next savings deposit will provide the satisfaction and comfort to our souls.  We think that a little more money will buy our soul some rest, but we had better think again.  It never buys us rest, but feeds the desire to want more and more.  We look at ourselves in the mirror and realize that we are not doing enough to ensure that we will be happy and secure in our future, whatever that is, and so we again kick ourselves in the butt so that we go out, set more goals, work longer hours, lay off a few more people to make our numbers look good, squirrel away more and more money in our 401(k) plan trusting in the New York Stock Exchange for our future instead of the Almighty God. 

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that God’s record has been a lot more stable and dependable than the New York Stock Exchange! 

Greed and selfishness go hand in hand.  Greed usually manifests itself in selfishness that is solely focused on the good of one thing.  Greed by nature is self-centered.  It cares for no one or nothing except in those instances where it uses people and things for its own good.  Greed is not an entity by itself, but is always born out in and through people.  Billionaires who give millions to charitable causes are not primarily doing it for the cause or to help people, but they give to these causes primarily for their own fame and stature.  How do I know this?  Because none of them do it behind closed doors.  The give only in front a camera in front of millions of people.  This is self-centeredness. 

Greed manifests itself in idolatry.  If one doesn’t trust God for his provision, then who does a person trust?  Money, Wall Street, job, profits.  It all comes down to self, what can I do to secure my future.  And that ultimately is idolatry.  One can justify it by ambition, practicality, wisdom, “the way it is,” or whatever phrase or slogan one can come up with.  The bottom line is that it is idolatry.  Jesus said plainly, “²⁴“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”  As the influence of real Biblical Christianity declines in America and around the world, something else must take its place.  The god of ‘self” is doing just that, and greed is its driver.  With the rejection of Biblical Christianity by more and more people particularly in the West, and the confusion of Biblical Christianity with a false gospel particularly in America, we are seeing the elimination of former boundaries that balanced constitutional republican government (not the political party but the form of government), economic capitalism, and individual freedoms.  All of these now are beginning to be governed by greed and selfishness, and the results are massive individual debt with the consequence of slavery to the job, corrupt politicians and executives that live by the bottom line, and economic and technological instability and stagnation because innovation costs money, and the bottom line is the ultimate judge.

So what’s the solution?  While I don’t want to be simplistic, I believe that the first step is for preachers to preach the true gospel and the whole counsel of God.  The root problem is in human nature, and it can only be solved with a new nature, and that from working of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the real gospel of Jesus Christ as documented in the Word of God.  The preaching of God’s Word brings revival, and what we need is a good handful of pastors that are not afraid to preach the Word of God to the people, teach them the things of God, and live a Biblical life as far as one can, while at the same time mortifying (killing) the sins in one’s life through, again the Spirit working through the Word.  The time for soft, touchy-feely religion is over, and it is time for real religion in the gospel of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, preached and taught in the power of the Spirit with fire and passion. 

Along with the preaching of the gospel, Christians need to stop living like the world.  There is statistically no difference in the way most Christians live than the way nonbelievers live.  I am just as guilty as anyone else.  When Christians covet their neighbor’s 60″ LCD TV, their friend’s new SUV, and can’t give to the church cheerfully because they are saving too much in their 401(k) plan or are in so much debt because of frivolous purchases they don’t really need, then perhaps these same people are not really Christians but only professors whose real god is their checkbook.  Christians don’t need to voluntarily live in poverty, but we need to be able to help those in need, especially within our own local congregation, and live a life that reflects the values of our Lord God and not those of the world.  Greed, covetousness, faithlessness, and idolatry are not values espoused by Christ; they are characteristics of the devil.  It seems we have more children of the devil than children of God among those who profess to be Christians (John 8:44).

Thirdly, and this is going to be tough, I think Christians need to stand up in our churches, places of business, and in politics, and execute our values in our decisions.  Even if one does not run their own business, you can still live the gospel in the way you do business in your own small way.  I have learned this the hard way over the years, and in all my negotiations with vendors, partners, fellow employees, and others, I strive to uphold Christian values when it comes to money and greed.  I have stood up to the bosses who epitomize the greed mentality, not by my own strength but the strength of God, and yes, by the grace of God, I am still employed.  Money is the root of all kinds of evil, and we as Christians must step up and show that this evil does not have an enslaving grip on our lives.  This will not be easy, as it will take fervent prayer, serious study of God’s Word, and the guts to make hard decisions.  Christ never promised it would be easy, but he did promise never to leave us or forsake us, and that he would be with always, to the very end of the age.