Charles Darwin (1809-1882), author of "Origin of the Species" credited with the modern theory of evolution,
Karl Marx (1818-1883), the founder of modern communism and dialectic materialism;
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), the German philosopher who announced, "God is dead," and
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), the father of modern psychology; have profoundly influenced the way our world thinks.
Common to each, and to those who subscribed to their theories, is a refutation of God's Word as authoritative and accurate, a refusal of God's Will as right and good, and a rejection of God Son as “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
Of concern today is the degree to which the thought of these men has filtered into the life of the Church of Jesus Christ.
Many leading Christian universities have today endorsed variants of Darwinism to explain the origin of man.
Several Christian organizations have adapted Marx’s worldview and under the guise of “social justice” pressed against the New Testament principles of individual responsibility. (i.e. If a man will not work neither should he eat...2 Thessalonians 3:10; Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Ephesians 4:28; And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you...1 Thessalonians 4:11)
There are even professing Christians who, in the spirit of Nietzsche, are setting out to diminish and deny the God of the Old and New Testaments. Neitzsche wrote, “God is dead, and we have killed him.” Indeed many are trying.
But it is Freud and modern psychology,that I find is most pervasive and pernicious in the life of Christians and the Church.
Psychology is a lot about the pain we have. Christianity is about the cure Christ offers.
Insight into why we think the way we think, or why we act the way we act, may prove interesting, but it cannot and will not change anything. So I am anxious because my father was anxious. Now what?
Or I am lazy because my mother was lazy. And? Or how about, I am angry because my grandfather was angry. Now what?
Christianity explains that the nature of man was marred when sin entered into the world. That depraved nature affects our thinking and our behavior. But the Cross of Christ is greater than the depravity of man. “He was wounded for our transgressions [they are all forgiven!]; he was bruised for our iniquities [they are all forgotten], the chastisement of our peace was upon him [we now have peace with God and man], and by his stripes we are healed [cured from the curse of sin].” (Isaiah 53:5).
We believe and we know, that God’s grace is sufficient to remediate sin and it’s baneful effect.
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled.
Grace, grace, God’s grace,Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;Grace, grace, God’s grace,Grace that is greater than all our sin!
Psychology is about man's description. Christianity is about God's prescription.
Modern science is all about accurately describing the state of nature. Scientists pride themselves on their ability to see and explain the parts and the interworking of those parts in our universe. But the revelation of God’s Word not only accurately describes our condition, it prescribes the course of action we should follow.
Change your mind about sin and self—Repent. Trust in Christ and Christ alone for salvation—Believe. Act right, regardless of your environment or external influences—Obey.
Psychology is about what you are. Christianity is about what you can and ought to be.
It’s no wonder that so many of those seeing psychologists are depressed. All the secular psychologist can offer are chemicals that may or may not help, and advice that may or may not be right.
We do believe that some depression is the consequence of hormonal or chemical imbalances in the brain, and that medical intervention in those situations is as appropriate as taking blood pressure medicine or aspirin.
But in the vast majority of cases, the crux of the matter is not chemical or environmental, it is self-centeredness (what the Bible calls carnality) and self-gratification (what the Bible calls living after the flesh). We want our way, not God’s.
And yet, the farther we travel down the highway of “My Way” the more bound and defeated we are.
“Oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me?” the Apostle despaired. Then Jesus came! And Paul exclaims “I thank God through Jesus Christ” “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
Let all who name the name of Christ, look to Him and to Him alone for the answers to the questions we have. Let us never lose confidence or faith in His Word as the Truth! And let us never be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation!
MAY THE LORD RICHLY BLESS YOU.
ONWARD!
Pastor Rick JonesFAITH COMMUNITY CHURCH - CRUSADERS CHURCH of ST. LOUIS
WWW.FCCTODAY.ORG
2969 N. Lindbergh Blvd, St Louis, MO 63074Telephone (314) 607-1424; E-Mail: PastorRick@FCCToday.orgwww.pastorrickjones@blogspot.com
Friday, April 16, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
AN EASTER TO BE REMEMBERED!
GREETINGS IN THE NAME OF OUR RISEN SAVIOR, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!
We trust that your Resurrection Weekend was as filled with blessing as ours. What a thrill it was to welcome 216 souls to our services, to pray with seekers at our altars, to have so many visitors, and to have 59 riding our Sunday School Bus! We are excited about the possibilities for Team FCC in the weeks to come.
It has been our growing conviction that to restore our homes, strengthen our churches, and reform our culture, we must have men who will "take up the cross and follow Jesus!" Our Men's Fellowship will meet this Thursday, April 8 at 7:00 p.m. Join us for an interesting conversation and then Steak n Shake. We thank the men who led this year's LIVING LAST SUPPER PRESENTATION along with Phil Alexander at the Steinway Piano and the FCC Ensemble.
On our first Sunday in St. Louis, the 3rd Sunday of September in 1994 a little 11 year old girl named Christy Matlock was the very first child to board our Sunday School Bus. Yesterday she did the honors of creaming
PR with a pie. There were 69 on the bus, including 9 parents & adults! Vickie Jones and the team of FCC teachers: Tammy Abbott (Nursery), Edie Batye (Primary), Katherine Bissey (Intermediate) led the children with Heather Young at the piano. (FYI: Tressa, our precious daughter, is the girl on the right with the white sweater and floral dress). Jesus loves the little children, and we do too!
This afternoon I visited a man in the hospital who said he was a Buddhist. When I asked him what he liked about Buddhism he said there were two things that attracted him. The First was that his salvation didn't depend on anyone but himself. And the second was that Nirvana, being absorbed into the consciousness of God and losing personal identity was very appealing. As our conversation progressed I asked him what he thought of Jesus. He rambled off the usual "Jesus was a very great teacher" concept, and then I asked him if he thought that Jesus rose again from the dead. After a bit he confessed that he did not believe in the resurrection.
I followed up, "The fact of the resurrection authenticates the life, the teaching, and the example of Jesus." And just as I was about to address that issue with him he was interrupted by a visitor. Alas! I shall return again. And pray with me that this man will soon have an encounter with the Risen Savior.
You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart!
Thank you to all who attended, to all who supported, and to all who helped us have a wonderful Resurrection Weekend. We love and appreciate you all. Looking forward to seeing you this coming weekend!
Pastor Rick JonesFAITH COMMUNITY CHURCH - CRUSADERS CHURCH of ST. LOUIS2969 N. Lindbergh Blvd, St Louis, MO 63074Telephone (314) 607-1424; E-Mail: PastorRick@FCCToday.orghttp://www.pastorrickjones@blogspot.com/
Thursday, March 11, 2010
IS OUR WORSHIP SPIRITUAL OR SPIRIT-ED
He has attended our church on and off for several months and this morning he called to offer some friendly advice:
“Pastor, you need to get up with the times and preach a more positive message…You need to lighten up…you should just pray and help people to think good thoughts…most people are going to heaven they just need encouragement…you’d be more popular.”
His call was not well timed. I had just been reading A. W. Tozer’s warning to the Church. “Modern preaching does not deal with a genuine call to repentance from sin and a separation from the world to the cross of Christ.”
Literally minutes before he called I had re-read the words of Catherine Booth, “Popular Christianity is a misnomer. Neither Christ nor his work has ever been popular. When it becomes popular it ceases to be Christian.”
So, on the one hand I was being encouraged by a friend to “get up with the times” so that the church would be more popular. On the other hand I was being reminded that popularity is anti-thetical to Christianity.
+ + + +
Observers of Evangelicalism are reporting that mega-churches are growing. They also are alarmed that American church attendance is falling. For the first time in our nation’s history, those attending services on an average weekend will number less than 20% of the population. (See Christianity Today, “Christianity in Crisis.”)
The mega-churches have learned how to market the church, how to manage the church, and how to make their messages “relevant.” But they are not producing mega-spiritual results. The more they have chased after relevance to the culture, the less relevant they have become to Christ. They have unwittingly embraced a humanistic gospel that seeks to make men happy to the neglect of making men holy.
One pastor recently admitted that after spending millions of dollars in programming and marketing their message to “seekers,” they have failed in their mission to produce fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
What is our goal? Is it popularity or is it Pentecost? Is it influence with men, or power from God? Is it affluence, or is it the riches of Grace?
+ + + +
In reflecting on the state of contemporary Christianity, I have found myself asking God to reveal the Truth about our worship.
1. Is our worship spirit-ed or spiritual? Spiritual worship is ordered by the Holy Spirit and inspires holy love that results in holy lives.
2. Is our philosophy of ministry geared to “fit in” or to “stand out?” Are we trying to look, sound, and act as worldly as possible to attract a crowd, or are we trying to separate ourselves from the love of the world in honor of our coming groom—the Lord Jesus Christ?
3. Does our music call attention to the musician or to the Master? Is our music geared to entertain, or does it inspire virtuous living and Scriptural thinking? Does our music, and our presentation of it, appeal to the carnal nature or to the spiritual man?
4. Do we depend more on our technology to “wow,” than we do on the majesty of God’s presence to “Woe!” Remember Isaiah’s reaction when he stood in the presence of God? “Woe is me for I am undone.” (Isaiah 6)
5. Does our preaching bring comfort more than conviction? Are our messages burning in our souls and bathed in fervent prayer and fasting, or are they simply adaptations of the latest greatest evangelical book hot off the press? Are we more likely to say, “Thus saith Rick Warren, or Max Lucado or Joel Osteen, or some other popular author” than we are to say, “Thus saith the Lord?”
6. Are we producing Christian spectators or Christ-like participants? If the ministry is fulfilling its God-given assignment, it will “perfect the saints for the work of the ministry.” Ephesians 4:12.
7. Is our Christianity self-absorbed or does it move converts to “turn the world upside down?” Are we producing pray-ers or play-ers? Are we “me” oriented or mission minded? Are we, like our Lord, “moved with compassion” when we see the multitudes scattered abroad like sheep having no shepherd?
8. Are we giving to get from God or are we giving to Glorify God? Do we give incidentally or do we give sacrificially? Do we tip or do we tithe? Do we give to be loved or do we love to give? Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:21)
9. Do we seek to justify our sins or are we seeking to be justified (made righteous) from all sin?
Do we love sin or do we hate even the garment spotted by the flesh? (Jude 23). Do we desire to sin, or do we desire to be sanctified wholly?
10. Is the accent of our ministry on this world, or is it on the world which is to come? C. S. Lewis says that those who are the most heavenly minded are the most earthly good.
+ + + +
On the day that Jesus announced there would be no more free fish suppers so many of his followers left, that Jesus turned to the disciples and asked, “Will ye also go away?” (John 6:66)
As it was in the first century, so it is in the twenty-first century. Jesus is still asking his followers, “Will ye also go away?” Sadly many have.
But we agree with Peter, “Lord to whom shall we go, thou hast the words of eternal life!”
With the song-writer we have decided to follow Jesus! “Though none go with us, still we will follow! No turning back. No turning back!”
“Pastor, you need to get up with the times and preach a more positive message…You need to lighten up…you should just pray and help people to think good thoughts…most people are going to heaven they just need encouragement…you’d be more popular.”
His call was not well timed. I had just been reading A. W. Tozer’s warning to the Church. “Modern preaching does not deal with a genuine call to repentance from sin and a separation from the world to the cross of Christ.”
Literally minutes before he called I had re-read the words of Catherine Booth, “Popular Christianity is a misnomer. Neither Christ nor his work has ever been popular. When it becomes popular it ceases to be Christian.”
So, on the one hand I was being encouraged by a friend to “get up with the times” so that the church would be more popular. On the other hand I was being reminded that popularity is anti-thetical to Christianity.
+ + + +
Observers of Evangelicalism are reporting that mega-churches are growing. They also are alarmed that American church attendance is falling. For the first time in our nation’s history, those attending services on an average weekend will number less than 20% of the population. (See Christianity Today, “Christianity in Crisis.”)
The mega-churches have learned how to market the church, how to manage the church, and how to make their messages “relevant.” But they are not producing mega-spiritual results. The more they have chased after relevance to the culture, the less relevant they have become to Christ. They have unwittingly embraced a humanistic gospel that seeks to make men happy to the neglect of making men holy.
One pastor recently admitted that after spending millions of dollars in programming and marketing their message to “seekers,” they have failed in their mission to produce fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
What is our goal? Is it popularity or is it Pentecost? Is it influence with men, or power from God? Is it affluence, or is it the riches of Grace?
+ + + +
In reflecting on the state of contemporary Christianity, I have found myself asking God to reveal the Truth about our worship.
1. Is our worship spirit-ed or spiritual? Spiritual worship is ordered by the Holy Spirit and inspires holy love that results in holy lives.
2. Is our philosophy of ministry geared to “fit in” or to “stand out?” Are we trying to look, sound, and act as worldly as possible to attract a crowd, or are we trying to separate ourselves from the love of the world in honor of our coming groom—the Lord Jesus Christ?
3. Does our music call attention to the musician or to the Master? Is our music geared to entertain, or does it inspire virtuous living and Scriptural thinking? Does our music, and our presentation of it, appeal to the carnal nature or to the spiritual man?
4. Do we depend more on our technology to “wow,” than we do on the majesty of God’s presence to “Woe!” Remember Isaiah’s reaction when he stood in the presence of God? “Woe is me for I am undone.” (Isaiah 6)
5. Does our preaching bring comfort more than conviction? Are our messages burning in our souls and bathed in fervent prayer and fasting, or are they simply adaptations of the latest greatest evangelical book hot off the press? Are we more likely to say, “Thus saith Rick Warren, or Max Lucado or Joel Osteen, or some other popular author” than we are to say, “Thus saith the Lord?”
6. Are we producing Christian spectators or Christ-like participants? If the ministry is fulfilling its God-given assignment, it will “perfect the saints for the work of the ministry.” Ephesians 4:12.
7. Is our Christianity self-absorbed or does it move converts to “turn the world upside down?” Are we producing pray-ers or play-ers? Are we “me” oriented or mission minded? Are we, like our Lord, “moved with compassion” when we see the multitudes scattered abroad like sheep having no shepherd?
8. Are we giving to get from God or are we giving to Glorify God? Do we give incidentally or do we give sacrificially? Do we tip or do we tithe? Do we give to be loved or do we love to give? Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:21)
9. Do we seek to justify our sins or are we seeking to be justified (made righteous) from all sin?
Do we love sin or do we hate even the garment spotted by the flesh? (Jude 23). Do we desire to sin, or do we desire to be sanctified wholly?
10. Is the accent of our ministry on this world, or is it on the world which is to come? C. S. Lewis says that those who are the most heavenly minded are the most earthly good.
+ + + +
On the day that Jesus announced there would be no more free fish suppers so many of his followers left, that Jesus turned to the disciples and asked, “Will ye also go away?” (John 6:66)
As it was in the first century, so it is in the twenty-first century. Jesus is still asking his followers, “Will ye also go away?” Sadly many have.
But we agree with Peter, “Lord to whom shall we go, thou hast the words of eternal life!”
With the song-writer we have decided to follow Jesus! “Though none go with us, still we will follow! No turning back. No turning back!”
Friday, March 5, 2010
WORTHY IS THE LAMB!
We come now to the holiest season of the Church year--remembering the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
While baptizing converts along the Jordan River, John the Baptist introduced Jesus--"Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1:29).
He recognized Jesus for who He was, who He is, and who He will always be.
BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD
The instant sin entered the world, God's great plan to redeem us was set into motion. Sacrifices, the shedding of blood for sins, would impress upon all--"without the shedding of blood there is no remission." (Hebrews 9:22).
Time and time again God's people found their way to the altar of sacrifice. Noah offered sacrifices. Abraham offered sacrifices. Moses offered sacrifices. Aaron offered sacrifices. David offered sacrifices. Elijah offered sacrifices.
Every time the Jewish High Priest sacrificed a perfect Lamb then entered into the Holy of Holies it was symbolic of the day when Christ would shed his His blood, and offer Himself as a sacrificial Lamb for sin.
Every time a guilty man brought a pure and spotless lamb to the laid on the altar of sacrifice, it pointed to a day when Jesus would sacrifice His life on an old rugged cross.
Every time the sacrificial blood overflowed the altar, it reminded sinners of the horrid price of sin, and that there was a great day coming when the Lamb of God would sacrifice His blood.
There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains...
Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose it's power,
Till all the Ransomed Church of God be saved to sin no more.
Yet God's men knew that animal sacrifices could not take away sin.
Animal sacrifices could appease the wrath of God, but they could not purify the hearts of men.
They could atone for sin, but not cleanse from sin.
They could suffice for sin, but could not sanctify sin.
Only the blood of Christ could purge the conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:14).
WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD.
The weakness of the Old Covenant sometimes called "The Old Testament" or "The Law" was that it could only reveal our profound need for God's grace and His truth. (Read Romans 6-8 and see how the inspired Apostle Paul so eloquently expresses the difference between salvation under the Law and salvation through Christ.)
But to the glory of God, God sent to us THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD! He sent a Savior...
...to rescue us from the curse of sin.
...to relieve us from the guilt of sin.
...to release us from the power of sin.
...to re-make us into children of God.
...to restore in us the image of God.
...to refine and perfect in us the Love of God. And finally,
...to receive us into the Kingdom of God, the Heavenly City!
Praise the Lamb for sinners slain. Give Him glory all ye people!
This is no fairy tale. This is not fiction. This not make-believe. "This is my story, this is my song!" Recognize the Lamb of God! He is Worthy of our Praise.
RECOGNIZE, RECEIVE, AND REVERE THE LAMB!
But it is not enough to recognize Jesus Christ as the Lord of the Universe and Savior of all mankind. It is not enough to believe facts about Jesus. The devil knows the facts yet he is destined to hell.
OUR SALVATION RESTS ON OUR RECEIVING THE LAMB OF GOD AS OUR LORD (literally our Sovereign King--without any rival) AND SAVIOR (The one and only sacrifice sufficient to save us). Pray now that God will forgive you, for Christ's sake. Then determine to serve the Lord until the day you die. This is the way into the Kingdom of Heaven.
And join us as we revere the Lamb of God this and every Sunday throughout this Holy Season.
"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive Power, and Riches, and Wisdom, and Strength, and Honour, and Glory, and Blessing!" Revelation 5:12
A
While baptizing converts along the Jordan River, John the Baptist introduced Jesus--"Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1:29).
He recognized Jesus for who He was, who He is, and who He will always be.
BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD
The instant sin entered the world, God's great plan to redeem us was set into motion. Sacrifices, the shedding of blood for sins, would impress upon all--"without the shedding of blood there is no remission." (Hebrews 9:22).
Time and time again God's people found their way to the altar of sacrifice. Noah offered sacrifices. Abraham offered sacrifices. Moses offered sacrifices. Aaron offered sacrifices. David offered sacrifices. Elijah offered sacrifices.
Every time the Jewish High Priest sacrificed a perfect Lamb then entered into the Holy of Holies it was symbolic of the day when Christ would shed his His blood, and offer Himself as a sacrificial Lamb for sin.
Every time a guilty man brought a pure and spotless lamb to the laid on the altar of sacrifice, it pointed to a day when Jesus would sacrifice His life on an old rugged cross.
Every time the sacrificial blood overflowed the altar, it reminded sinners of the horrid price of sin, and that there was a great day coming when the Lamb of God would sacrifice His blood.
There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains...
Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose it's power,
Till all the Ransomed Church of God be saved to sin no more.
Yet God's men knew that animal sacrifices could not take away sin.
Animal sacrifices could appease the wrath of God, but they could not purify the hearts of men.
They could atone for sin, but not cleanse from sin.
They could suffice for sin, but could not sanctify sin.
Only the blood of Christ could purge the conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:14).
WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD.
The weakness of the Old Covenant sometimes called "The Old Testament" or "The Law" was that it could only reveal our profound need for God's grace and His truth. (Read Romans 6-8 and see how the inspired Apostle Paul so eloquently expresses the difference between salvation under the Law and salvation through Christ.)
But to the glory of God, God sent to us THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD! He sent a Savior...
...to rescue us from the curse of sin.
...to relieve us from the guilt of sin.
...to release us from the power of sin.
...to re-make us into children of God.
...to restore in us the image of God.
...to refine and perfect in us the Love of God. And finally,
...to receive us into the Kingdom of God, the Heavenly City!
Praise the Lamb for sinners slain. Give Him glory all ye people!
This is no fairy tale. This is not fiction. This not make-believe. "This is my story, this is my song!" Recognize the Lamb of God! He is Worthy of our Praise.
RECOGNIZE, RECEIVE, AND REVERE THE LAMB!
But it is not enough to recognize Jesus Christ as the Lord of the Universe and Savior of all mankind. It is not enough to believe facts about Jesus. The devil knows the facts yet he is destined to hell.
OUR SALVATION RESTS ON OUR RECEIVING THE LAMB OF GOD AS OUR LORD (literally our Sovereign King--without any rival) AND SAVIOR (The one and only sacrifice sufficient to save us). Pray now that God will forgive you, for Christ's sake. Then determine to serve the Lord until the day you die. This is the way into the Kingdom of Heaven.
And join us as we revere the Lamb of God this and every Sunday throughout this Holy Season.
"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive Power, and Riches, and Wisdom, and Strength, and Honour, and Glory, and Blessing!" Revelation 5:12
A
Thursday, February 18, 2010
SANCTITY AND SEPARATION
How essential is separation from the world to the cause of Scriptural holiness?
Here is what we know:
There are some who have confused the effect of holiness (separation from the world, the flesh, and the devil) with the cause of holiness, and in so doing they have entirely missed the heart of holiness (i.e. righteousness, joy, peace, and love). Their bitter, censorious, and harsh critique of those who do not live “by the book” (that book usually being the Church Manual) has turned many away from the highway of holiness.
In reaction against those who have accented separation from the world (especially in entertainments, adornments, and lifestyle), there has risen a large contingent of “Anti-Pharisees” who believe themselves to be “Super Saints.” Like the Gnostics of the First Century they suppose that they know the real truth, and so how they live their lives is not important. They criticize their critics and unwittingly fall into the same bitter attitude as those they despise.
Indeed “legalism has slain its thousands, while liberalism has slain its tens of thousands.” Sadly, both make shipwreck of their faith.
But God has brought us to the Kingdom for such a time as this! He is raising up a people who love heart holiness and who desire to live holy lives.
If God’s Word is inspired (and it is!), and if God’s Word reveals God’s will (and it does!), then God’s People will take seriously the spirit and the letter of God’s will as it is revealed in God’s Word and by God's Spirit.
To neglect separation from the world is folly, but to reject separation from the world is rebellion.
It is time for God’s people to stand for His standard and to march forward up the highway of holiness until we hear Him say, “well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”
My father used to say, “All that is necessary to have a worldly church is nothing.” Let’s do something! And let’s say something!
Martin Luther was right! “If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ.
Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”
Here is what we know:
There are some who have confused the effect of holiness (separation from the world, the flesh, and the devil) with the cause of holiness, and in so doing they have entirely missed the heart of holiness (i.e. righteousness, joy, peace, and love). Their bitter, censorious, and harsh critique of those who do not live “by the book” (that book usually being the Church Manual) has turned many away from the highway of holiness.
In reaction against those who have accented separation from the world (especially in entertainments, adornments, and lifestyle), there has risen a large contingent of “Anti-Pharisees” who believe themselves to be “Super Saints.” Like the Gnostics of the First Century they suppose that they know the real truth, and so how they live their lives is not important. They criticize their critics and unwittingly fall into the same bitter attitude as those they despise.
Indeed “legalism has slain its thousands, while liberalism has slain its tens of thousands.” Sadly, both make shipwreck of their faith.
But God has brought us to the Kingdom for such a time as this! He is raising up a people who love heart holiness and who desire to live holy lives.
If God’s Word is inspired (and it is!), and if God’s Word reveals God’s will (and it does!), then God’s People will take seriously the spirit and the letter of God’s will as it is revealed in God’s Word and by God's Spirit.
To neglect separation from the world is folly, but to reject separation from the world is rebellion.
It is time for God’s people to stand for His standard and to march forward up the highway of holiness until we hear Him say, “well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”
My father used to say, “All that is necessary to have a worldly church is nothing.” Let’s do something! And let’s say something!
Martin Luther was right! “If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ.
Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”
OUR BLESSED ASSURANCE
THIS IS MY STORY
It is the mission of the Church of Jesus to accurately and fervently speak the Gospel--the whole Gospel. For centuries the Gospel story has been the narrative upon which our Western Civilization rested. But the corrosive influence of modernism--with its viral skepticism, and the subsequent demise of modernism and rise of post-modernism, have left the West without any narrative or story upon which to build.
The story of Christ propelled the West forward because it is a true story that is filled with truth that transforms. Other cultures have had their own myths and narratives upon which they have built their civilizations. Those civilizations fell because their faulty foundations were not grounded in truth. The tragedy of our day is not that the Christian narrative, or truth cannot stand the strain of examination or the stress of experience, but that we have exchanged the rock solid foundation built on Christ our chief cornerstone, for sands of our own making.
Nearly 20 years ago Robert Jensen observed, "as the Church once lived and conducted her mission in the precisely post-Hellenistic and post-Roman-imperial world, remembering what had vanished but not knowing what if anything could come next, so the Church must now live and conduct her mission in the precisely 'post'-modern world."
If there was ever a moment when the Church of Jesus Christ needed to proclaim the old old story--of the blood that cleanses from all sin and of the Spirit that indwells and empowers and sanctifies believers--it is now! As all around our souls gives way--Christ is all our hope and stay! His Spirit answers to the blood!
THIS IS MY SONG!
But an intellectual affirmation of that old old story will only go so far. We must also have the Song in our hearts. The joyful melody rising from hearts "strangely warmed" and "purified by faith!"
Songs of "Victory in Jesus!" Songs of "Glorious Freedom!" Songs of "Holiness Unto The Lord...Now and forever!"
In seeking to win the teens and twenties of this generation, I have been struck with the stark contrast of their song, with my song. I listen to "He Touched Me!" "Because He Lives!" "The Old Rugged Cross Made the Difference" "I'm Free!" and "The King is Coming!" and my heart is stirred and memories of great Gospel services freighted with God's presence fill my mind. They are not stirred. They have no such memories. They have no song.
Only the mighty outpouring of Pentecost can produce that song in our souls! Without the Spirit, the dirge and the minor chords of defeat will characterize the nominal Christian. But where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, there is truth, there is joy, and there is holy love.
PRAISING MY SAVIOR ALL THE DAY LONG!
Our Story and our Song is not reserved for a time specific, it erupts in a life of praise, "all the day long!" It is no wonder that those who believe the Story, and who sing the Song, are so mightily used by God. The Holiness people have been at the forefront of moral revolution (i.e. Wesley's England), social justice (i.e. anti-slavery movement), and ecclesiastical reformation (i.e. the Salvation Army and Campmeeting movement).
CONCLUSION
So the blind poet Fanny Crosby saw what many of us are failing to see. Until we grasp that which she so passionately expressed, "This is my Story!" "This is my Song!" "Praising my Savior all the day long!"we will never possess that BLESSED ASSURANCE!
It is the mission of the Church of Jesus to accurately and fervently speak the Gospel--the whole Gospel. For centuries the Gospel story has been the narrative upon which our Western Civilization rested. But the corrosive influence of modernism--with its viral skepticism, and the subsequent demise of modernism and rise of post-modernism, have left the West without any narrative or story upon which to build.
The story of Christ propelled the West forward because it is a true story that is filled with truth that transforms. Other cultures have had their own myths and narratives upon which they have built their civilizations. Those civilizations fell because their faulty foundations were not grounded in truth. The tragedy of our day is not that the Christian narrative, or truth cannot stand the strain of examination or the stress of experience, but that we have exchanged the rock solid foundation built on Christ our chief cornerstone, for sands of our own making.
Nearly 20 years ago Robert Jensen observed, "as the Church once lived and conducted her mission in the precisely post-Hellenistic and post-Roman-imperial world, remembering what had vanished but not knowing what if anything could come next, so the Church must now live and conduct her mission in the precisely 'post'-modern world."
If there was ever a moment when the Church of Jesus Christ needed to proclaim the old old story--of the blood that cleanses from all sin and of the Spirit that indwells and empowers and sanctifies believers--it is now! As all around our souls gives way--Christ is all our hope and stay! His Spirit answers to the blood!
THIS IS MY SONG!
But an intellectual affirmation of that old old story will only go so far. We must also have the Song in our hearts. The joyful melody rising from hearts "strangely warmed" and "purified by faith!"
Songs of "Victory in Jesus!" Songs of "Glorious Freedom!" Songs of "Holiness Unto The Lord...Now and forever!"
In seeking to win the teens and twenties of this generation, I have been struck with the stark contrast of their song, with my song. I listen to "He Touched Me!" "Because He Lives!" "The Old Rugged Cross Made the Difference" "I'm Free!" and "The King is Coming!" and my heart is stirred and memories of great Gospel services freighted with God's presence fill my mind. They are not stirred. They have no such memories. They have no song.
Only the mighty outpouring of Pentecost can produce that song in our souls! Without the Spirit, the dirge and the minor chords of defeat will characterize the nominal Christian. But where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, there is truth, there is joy, and there is holy love.
PRAISING MY SAVIOR ALL THE DAY LONG!
Our Story and our Song is not reserved for a time specific, it erupts in a life of praise, "all the day long!" It is no wonder that those who believe the Story, and who sing the Song, are so mightily used by God. The Holiness people have been at the forefront of moral revolution (i.e. Wesley's England), social justice (i.e. anti-slavery movement), and ecclesiastical reformation (i.e. the Salvation Army and Campmeeting movement).
CONCLUSION
So the blind poet Fanny Crosby saw what many of us are failing to see. Until we grasp that which she so passionately expressed, "This is my Story!" "This is my Song!" "Praising my Savior all the day long!"we will never possess that BLESSED ASSURANCE!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
WHAT THE CHURCH CAN LEARN FROM SCOTT BROWN
Greetings Friends of Faith,
The election of Scott Brown to fill the U. S. Senate seat vacated by the death of Senator Ted Kennedy is another evidence that truth is often stranger than fiction! At the very moment when the United States Government was poised to take over the American Healthcare System, a socialistic plan that would have increased our national debt by trillions (one trillion dollars = $1,000,000,000,000.00), and would have applied taxpayer dollars to fund abortion, one of the plan's most liberal proponents is stricken with brain cancer and dies.
Into the political fray enters Scott Brown, a strict constitutionalist, a fiscal conservative, who is strong on national defense (He believes that American tax dollars should be used to capture terrorists, not defend them), and opposed to the President's Healthcare plan. He was written off with little or no chance of success. But on Tuesday of this week he won with more than 50% of the vote, a margin of 5% over his opponent. This was nothing less than a Massachusetts miracle in a state that is noted for its liberal legislators. (i.e. Barney Frank, the overtly homosexual Massachusetts congressman).
Across the United States of America there is a rising tide of voters demanding that their representatives return to the principles of the Declaration of Independence, (That all men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights...life, liberty, and the pursuit of holiness) and the U. S. Constitution. If pollsters are correct these voters will profoundly change the composition of Congress in November.
To the extent that our country is true to our national DNA (The genetic code found in the nucleus of every cell), as expressed in our founding documents, we will be strong and prosperous. Enacting laws and engaging in practices that are unconstitutional will prove a malignant force that robs us of our freedom and our secure future. Unless malignancies are quickly identified and removed, our very existence is threatened.
There is a lesson here for the Church as well. To the extent that our church is true to our spiritual DNA as expressed in the inspired, inerrant Word of God, we will be found faithful in the sight of God. False doctrine and disobedience are malignancies that will ultimately destroy us. We, who have been called by the Lord to proclaim holiness, must not dilute or deny the faith. This is not the time for compromise. This IS the time for truth.
The election of Scott Brown to fill the U. S. Senate seat vacated by the death of Senator Ted Kennedy is another evidence that truth is often stranger than fiction! At the very moment when the United States Government was poised to take over the American Healthcare System, a socialistic plan that would have increased our national debt by trillions (one trillion dollars = $1,000,000,000,000.00), and would have applied taxpayer dollars to fund abortion, one of the plan's most liberal proponents is stricken with brain cancer and dies.
Into the political fray enters Scott Brown, a strict constitutionalist, a fiscal conservative, who is strong on national defense (He believes that American tax dollars should be used to capture terrorists, not defend them), and opposed to the President's Healthcare plan. He was written off with little or no chance of success. But on Tuesday of this week he won with more than 50% of the vote, a margin of 5% over his opponent. This was nothing less than a Massachusetts miracle in a state that is noted for its liberal legislators. (i.e. Barney Frank, the overtly homosexual Massachusetts congressman).
Across the United States of America there is a rising tide of voters demanding that their representatives return to the principles of the Declaration of Independence, (That all men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights...life, liberty, and the pursuit of holiness) and the U. S. Constitution. If pollsters are correct these voters will profoundly change the composition of Congress in November.
To the extent that our country is true to our national DNA (The genetic code found in the nucleus of every cell), as expressed in our founding documents, we will be strong and prosperous. Enacting laws and engaging in practices that are unconstitutional will prove a malignant force that robs us of our freedom and our secure future. Unless malignancies are quickly identified and removed, our very existence is threatened.
There is a lesson here for the Church as well. To the extent that our church is true to our spiritual DNA as expressed in the inspired, inerrant Word of God, we will be found faithful in the sight of God. False doctrine and disobedience are malignancies that will ultimately destroy us. We, who have been called by the Lord to proclaim holiness, must not dilute or deny the faith. This is not the time for compromise. This IS the time for truth.
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