CAESURA

JESUS + NOTHING = EVERYTHING

2012-01-20T14:12:00.002+10:00

A dear blogging brother, Paul Burleson, has recently published a comment arising from a conference where he taught on Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. In his comment he says,

“Have you ever noticed that Paul NEVER mentions the Law of Moses in this letter we call 1st Corinthians? He's certainly having to deal with problems in the church that are grievous in nature such as drunkenness, arguing over who had been the greatest pastor, [ Paul, Peter, or Apollos] suing one another in courts of law and then there was that immoral situation they were not dealing with at all, and proud they were not as if it were a badge of honor that they were permissive.
In fact, the ONLY time Paul used the Law of Moses in his arguments for pure living was when he challenged the legalists who needed to be shown that even the law itself could not be kept in an effort to be holy. He NEVER used the law of Moses, even the ten commandments, as a standard to hold up for New Covenant behavior.”

That observation, in itself is extremely important, but he goes on to point out something very important for many today who forget that the genuine follower of Christ IS NOT FIGHTING AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, as he says,

“ …………that Paul was willing to engage the culture of his day and wasn't angry toward it or did not rail against it as if it were some kind of witchcraft at work against the gospel. He recognized its weaknesses and its inability to speak to the deepest problems and need of the human race, namely dealing with the fallen and hopeless nature of the human condition, but had no real answers. The wisdom of God seen in the gospel does have answers, however. Paul thought so at least. I do too.

I hadn’t long read Paul’s thoughts when I came across this from Ed Trefezger’s blog, This Mystery, where he writes:

“I’ve been following Tullian Tchividjian’s passionate advocacy of the sufficiency of the gospel and the discussions he’s had with others who want to drive people to law for sanctification. Two people at our church have brought up Tchividjian’s latest book,Jesus + Nothing = Everything, so I thought it was about time I read it. This snippet is from a section of the book subtitled, “The Greatest Threat”:

The Bible makes it clear that the gospel’s premier enemy is one we often call “legalism.” I like to call it performancism. Still another way of viewing it, especially in its most common manifestation in Christians, is moralism. Strictly speaking, those three terms — legalism, performancism, and moralism — aren’t precisely identical in what they refer to. But there’s so much overlap and interconnection between them that we’ll basically look at them here as one thing.

And what really is that one thing?

Well, it shows up when we fail to believe the gospel. It shows up when behavioral obligations are divorced from gospel declarations, when imperatives are disconnected from gospel indicatives. Legalism happens when what we need to do, not what Jesus has already done, becomes the end game.

Our performancism leads to pride when we succeed and to despair when we fail. But ultimately it leads to slavery either way, because it becomes all about us and what we must do to establish our own identity instead of resting in Jesus and what he accomplished to establish it for us. In all its forms, this wrong focus is anti-gospel and therefore enslaving.

Tchividjian, Tullian.Jesus + Nothing = Everything. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011. Print. (p. 45–46)”

How good it is to read the work of those who know that Jesus + Nothing = Everything, and, as a consequence, have no desire to drive people back to the prison from which Christ set them free!

By the way! If you want a good read, look at Ed's "Completed by the Spirit"!

A New Heart and a New Covenant

2012-01-13T16:18:00.000+10:00

Recently, I experienced an event which was, to say the least, life changing. No! I’m not writing about the new birth, which was also, most definitely, life changing, entailing a changed heart attitude.

I am alluding to heart surgery requiring a triple by-pass. The heart that beat in my chest 5 weeks ago is now substantially altered, with three grafts made from a vein in my right leg supplying blood to the required parts. During these weeks I’ve been given a new lease on life, experienced the prayer fellowship of brethren world-wide, and an assurance of the Lord’s presence, of His being “with me” such as I have never known previously. I was given a peace which I would have loved to give to many who were worried about my condition.

I’m not sure why, but whilst thinking of these events, I’m drawn to think of things such as new wine skins, and the fact that new wine was never placed in old wine skins, simply because the old skins could not contain the pressure of the new wine, and would burst.

The old veins around my heart could not do the work required of them, and despite having led a life conducive to good heart health, other factors such as heredity came into play. My paternal grandfather died from a heart attack, my father had a heart attack and eventually died from the consequences. My mother suffered similarly.

I consider that, to all intents and purposes, because I had no damage to my heart muscles, I now have a new heart, reconditioned with sound blood vessels, but not simply patched up, like an old wine skin.

The New Covenant is very much like these new blood vessels. It is NEW, not the Old Covenant patched up. It is new because of the New Covenant Person (Isaiah 42:6) who is the New law written on the heart by the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.

Here is “the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”, Christ dwelling in us by His Spirit is our New Covenant Law. (Jer. 31-34)

Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of the Old Covenant and then as our New Covenant Person He revealed what was hidden in the Old Covenant types and shadows in the light of His person and ministry . He did not come to abolish the law or the prophets but to fulfill them, to meet all the requirements and expectations of the Old Covenant as it was given to Moses (Matt. 5:17) Hence His cry from the cross, "It is finished!"

He made concrete, and gave reality, to what the Old Covenant foreshadowed, and could never achieve (Heb.8:7).

It foreshadowed a people who would function by the power of the Holy Spirit, being led by the Spirit, and who are directed and caused by the Spirit to be lovers of Christ, and of each other.

This is the evidence of a changed heart which Jesus spoke of to the old Pharisee, Nicodemus (John 3:3). This is a radical life change. It is New wine requiring New wine skins to contain the absolute newness and power of a life motivated by love towards the One who took our covenant place before the justice of God, and our brethren.

You and I are "in Christ", if we are as Jesus soke to Nicodemus, "born again", and as such we are a "new creation " as Paul told the Galatians in 6:15. Our relationship with God through this "new birth" involves much more than"becoming a Christian" or "joining a church."

We are spiritually new, the spiritual offspring of the Father, born as a new creation in Christ, old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Cor.5:17). We are part of a new humanity that is only marking time in this world as we know it. In Christ we have been baptized into one body by one Spirit, which is not governed by man's laws of organization, but by the life and nature of the New Covenant Person who created it.

Our hope of righteousness puts no weight in personal acts of piety but in the changed heart that has been placed within you. And, as I was promised as a young man, "He who began the work in you will finish it to the praise of His glory".

Our very existence as God's children, is in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Our citizenship is in heaven, ". . . we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Corinthians 5:1). As the book of Hebrews, makes clear, we have already come to the heavenly Jerusalem and to the heavenly assembly, the church of the firstborn (Hebrews 12: 22-24). The New Covenant requires a circumcision made without hands (Colossians 2:11) and a new heart in the Spirit (Romans 2:29), not the flesh.

My Times in His Hands

2011-12-23T09:41:00.000+10:00

Had thoughts of article for Christmas, but all circumvented by some dramatic events leading to triple by-pass heart surgery, one week ago.

Been home two days, which makes it seven days since surgery. No doubt of the Lord's hand in these events.

May the Lord bless those who read, and those who don't!

THE CHURCH IS CHANGING!

2011-11-30T07:22:00.000+10:00

A MUST READ!

Wade Burleson's article: http://www.wadeburleson.org/2011/11/church-is-changin-reformation-of-church.html

CHRISTIAN ONE-UPMANSHIP?

2011-11-24T08:14:00.001+10:00

I am reminded of Jesus’ words when He prayed, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes Father, for such was your gracious will”.

Religious pride was something Jesus observed quite often. It was seen in displays of arrogance and superiority of knowledge amongst the Pharisees.

There was strong confidence in their learning, in their own righteousness and personal interpretation of what they had learned. In fact they looked down on everybody else, who didn't think and act as they did.

Is it possible to, on the one hand, speak and write about humble Christ glorifying living, write Biblical messages and blogs which give advice about the self effacing, others focused manner of true disciples of Christ, and, on the other hand, display in one’s writing, the very same Pharisaical pride with which Jesus was confronted?

I have found myself having strong sensibilities on behalf of other brethren when comments on blogs are made, or, advice given, which, to my mind, comes across as proud and thoughtlessly patronizing.

It seems to me that the same proud spirit which has accompanied much traditionalism, is now accompanying some of those who, a few years ago, started off so well in challenging that which was clearly not according to Scripture, and have now come to a new tradition which they have developed and with which they are now comfortable.

If it’s not the same spirit as the Pharisees exhibited, maybe it’s the very similar carnal game of one-upmanship? A clash of egos?

William Barclay tells a story with a strong message regarding this matter of which I speak, "Once I made a journey by train to England. As we passed through the Yorkshire moors I saw a little whitewashed cottage and it seemed to me to shine with almost radiant whiteness. Some days later I made the journey back to Scotland. The snow had fallen and was lying deep all around. We came again to the little white cottage, but this time its whiteness seemed drab and soiled and almost gray in comparison with the virgin whiteness of the driven snow."

And then Barclay observes: "It all depends what we compare ourselves with."

It seems that it is an unconscious (?) ability that we have, of comparing ourselves, what we preach, write, or believe, with what others preach write or believe.

There is only One against whom we ought compare ourselves:

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

SOUND ADVICE

2011-09-30T06:29:00.002+10:00

I haven't been well, of late, so more silent than usual, but I was motivated to write today to simply urge you to read this, by another old-timer, like myself, http://vtmbottomline.blogspot.com/2011/09/mistakes-made-by-modern-ministers-part.html

It's one thing to read the words of the "young idealistic upstarts" who "think they know everything"( many of whom DO know what they are talking about), but we would do well to take notice of an experienced one who has long "on-the-job" experience.

Don't forget to follow through with Part 2, here http://vtmbottomline.blogspot.com/2011/10/mistakes-modern-ministers-make-part-11.html

Maybe I’m just culturally handicapped

2011-09-05T16:37:00.001+10:00

A small word with so many connotations, which can be steered by culture, attitude, health, or misapprehension of intent.

Random House Websters College Dictionary defines the word “sigh” as “to let out one's breath audibly, as from sorrow, weariness, or relief; to yearn or long; to pine; to lament.

Princeton WordNet is much simpler in its definition: an utterance made by exhaling audibly; a sound like a person sighing,"she heard the sigh of the wind in the trees";to heave or utter a sigh; breathe deeply and heavily,"She sighed sadly"; utter with a sigh.

Kennerman Learner’s English Dictionary defines the word “sigh” as: to breathe out noisily when you are sad, tired, bored, relieved, etc. “He sighed in frustration.”

Webster’s Dictionary says the word means: to inhale a larger quantity of air than usual, and immediately expel it; to make a deep single audible respiration, especially as the result or involuntary expression of fatigue, exhaustion, grief, sorrow, or the like, to lament; to grieve, or mourn over, a deep and prolonged audible inspiration or respiration of air, as when fatigued or grieved; the act of sighing

It’s obvious that we can normally sigh if we are either frustrated, can't do something or are bored. I’ve been known to sigh if when I’m trying to explain something to someone but cannot get the message across. I know that people sigh they are sad or happy or tired.

As a matter of fact, people sigh as a result of feeling most emotions, it just depends what context the sigh is in to determine why the person is sighing.

In 1858, James Smith wrote about the last days of a believer: “Death-beds differ, even the death-beds of true believers. Some are filled with joy, others are only hopeful. Some glide away smoothly and softly — while others have much hard fighting at the last. Some have no doubts or fears — while others are very much tried with them. Some shout victory — others can only say, "I have a good hope." Some speak much to those about them — others say but very little. This was the case with the good man I was reading of, his whole dying experience was comprehended in one sentence, "I am sighing for Jesus!"

He did not sigh for life, nor for ease — but he was sighing for Jesus. I cannot help observing, how much of my experience now, is expressed in those words, "I am sighing for Jesus." Yes, yes, I can do without riches, or fame, or the honor which man confers. I am pretty well content with what providence sends me — and yet I often sigh, and sigh deeply too. Some would think me unhappy — but I am not. Some may conclude I am discontented with my situation in life — but I am not. Yet I sigh — I often sigh.”

Having ministered in some very sad situations over the years, especially at funerals, sighing was rather common. I’m discovering that this little action of sighing can be interpreted negatively or positively according to cultural mores, or maybe whim, often without reference to context, or explanation from the one who sighed. That's certainly true in my household. My wife sighs quite often, and for a multitude of reasons. I used to think they wee sighs with a negative content. They weren't, I'm pleased to say.

I don’t think Eric’s small contribution was negative, especially in the light of His writing about the unity of Christians, wherever they come from, and previous words such as he penned, “I'm reminded once again that Christ and His gospel are of first importance. Church practice, while critical in the life of the Christian, is secondary. Our oneness in Christ binds us together. Because of this, we can and should strive to remain as one even if what we think about church differs significantly.”

Maybe I’m just culturally challenged, and understand words differently ! After all, we are upside down here!

Be the Judge!

2011-07-04T06:55:00.001+10:00

I see, and hear, a lot of criticisms regarding those brethren who are genuinely seeking to practice their faith in a manner which is closer to Scripture. Some of the criticism is out of genuine concern, many from an arrogant sense of , “we know better than that. We’ve moved on since those days”.

Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) is often dismissed as a radical rebel, nothing more than a philosopher who had a bit of knowledge about Scripture, and some rather strange ideas.

I cannot help but think that he had some sound insight into what God wants for those who claim to be disciples/followers of Jesus Christ. For example think about the following two quotes:

“The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world?”

“It is well known that Christ consistently used the expression follower. He never asks for admirers, worshippers, or adherents. No, he calls disciples. It is not adherents of a teaching but followers of a life Christ is looking for.

Christ understood that being a disciple was in innermost and deepest harmony with what he said about himself. Christ claimed to be the way and the truth and the life (Jn. 14:6). For this reason, he could never be satisfied with adherents who accepted his teaching – especially with those who in their lives ignored it or let things take their usual course. His whole life on earth, from beginning to end, was destined solely to have followers and to make admirers impossible.

Christ came into the world with the purpose of saving, not instructing it. At the same time – as is implied in his saving work – he came to be the pattern, to leave footprints for the person who would join him, who would become a follower. This is why Christ was born and lived and died in lowliness. It is absolutely impossible for anyone to sneak away from the Pattern with excuse and evasion on the basis that It, after all, possessed earthly and worldly advantages that he did not have. In that sense, to admire Christ is the false invention of a later age, aided by the presumption of loftiness. No, there is absolutely nothing to admire in Jesus, unless you want to admire poverty, misery, and contempt.

What then, is the difference between an admirer and a follower? A follower is or strives to be like what he admires. An admirer, however, keeps himself personally detached. He fails to see that what is admired involves a claim upon him, and thus he fails to be or strive to be what he admires."

What do you think? Reasonable thoughts, or those of an eccentric?

WHAT BRINGS GLORY TO GOD?

2011-06-30T13:05:00.002+10:00

As I read the blog scene today, I see much clear thinking dealing with the failures of Christendom, especially in the area of ecclesiology. As much as I applaud the writing of some in this area, I also have concerns regarding what appears to be a focus on one aspect,whilst overlooking others. The one aspect, which a group focuses on seems to vary. One group will focus on social action, another will focus on one or more of the "one anothers" of Scripture, others seem to have a fixation on a "warm and fuzzy feeling" kind of love.

Eric Carpenter wrote a good article entitled No Guarantee, in which he argues that the purpose of gathering “is the edification of the body in Christ to the glory of God”.

Whilst not disagreeing with Eric, I would ask the question,”Is it not the purpose of the Christian to glorify God in every aspect of his/her life?”

I was rather pleased to read Dave Black, as he entered an opinion on the matter when he says,

I do not disagree with this perspective. But it seems to me that the emphasis in Reformed circles on the glory of God is rather nebulous. In my opinion, this definition is neither missiologically broad enough nor theologically deep enough. As I understand Scripture, the church is to carry out the Missio Dei of the Triune God at both the micro (individual salvation) and macro (societal) levels, with a view to redemption, reconciliation, and social transformation. I recognize that many Christians today are starving for genuine koinonia and deeper relationships within the Body of Christ. Yet Jesus Christ defines His followers as those whom He has sent forth into the world. Thus, while it is good and proper to unpack the theological and ecclesiological significance of such texts as 1 Cor. 14:26, which speak of mutual edification as a goal whenever the church gathers, I think it is neither scriptural nor helpful to reduce our definition of "church" to the gathering. The ecclesiological challenge must drive us closer and closer to our original mission, not further away from it. An outward focus is critical, not optional.

That last small sentence encapsulates my concern about much of what I have observed regarding the newer expressions of gathering Christians, which have become very singular in their focus, often becoming insular mutual admiration societies, which pat themselves on the back for being so “Biblical”. Maybe I'm wrong, but what I see happening is simply a smaller expression of what has been going on for decades, and no different to denominations wearing their denomination labels and distinctions as badges of honor, and declaring themselves “Biblical” for doing so.

Dave Black further says,

The Book of Acts consistently emphasizes "missional hermeneutics," and is clear that the Gospel is the Holy Spirit's instrument for the formation of faithful witnessing communities that enjoy corporate life both together and scattered in the world. This same Spirit now works through believers to enable them to be Christ's witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. To be sure, "church" is broader than the missional church. But the focus of God is the world, not the church. Thus, while calls for mutual edification are valid (and sorely needed), it does not help to make the overcorrection of emphasizing corporate discipleship at the expense of Trinitarian mission. The only way Christ is presently incarnated to a lost world is through believers as they carry on His presence, His Word, and His works to a new generation. We are no longer citizens of this world but Christ's ambassadors, sent to this world from another kingdom, operating in His authority and power. If we're rightly connected to the Head in this way, it would be hard to imagine making the focus of the church the gathering rather than the going

.

It seems to me that if we are to be truly Biblical, whilst dealing with the very real problems of our ecclesiology, and its implications for the local assembly, we need to remember that we individual believers, are the only interface many have with the things of God.

So,in the light of what I've emphasised in Dave's last paragraph, I would ask another question, “Are we not stewards of God’s great grace, and will not God be equally glorified as we tell these people, in our Jerusalem, of His amazing grace in Jesus Christ, and on into Samaria, and to the end of the earth?”

SELF PROMOTION

2011-06-09T10:49:00.003+10:00

As I write the occasional bog, and read those of others, I’m becoming more, and more, aware of the need to avoid self-promotion of any kind.

When I read a blog which chronicles the exploits performed in the Name of Christ by the writer, I sometimes have a real sense of unease about what is going on.

Marlena Graves, a guest blogger on Her-menuetics, the Christianity Today womens’ blog, wrote an article entitled , “Is Self-PromotionSinful?”, in which she refers to J.D.Salinger’s book The Catcher in The Rye.

In her article she refers to Salinger’s “efforts to spurn fame and self-promotion because they can lead to phoniness, something Salinger abhorred.”

As her article continues, Graves speaks of her own thoughts when writing,

"Am I doing this only to build a bigger platform? Is this just self-promotion? Sometimes, “You have to have an audience built up before you write a book” gets translated into, “Throw yourself down from this high point of the temple" (do something spectacular to get attention) (Matt. 4:5-6) or, “No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world” (John 7:4). Some readers might accuse me of scraping my conscience or of being oversensitive; on the other hand, some may think that I’m using this very post to promote myself."

She goes on to quote Salinger saying something about this in “Catcher in the Rye”. When protagonist Holden Caulfield’s sister, Phoebe, asks him why he doesn’t become a lawyer like their father, he says:

[T]hey’re all right if they go around saving innocent guys’ lives . . . but you don’t do that kind of stuff if you’re a lawyer. All you do is make a lot of dough and play golf and play bridge and buy cars and drink Martinis and look like a hot-shot. . . . Even if you did go around saving guys’ lives and all, how would you know if you did it because you really wanted to save guys’ lives, or because . . . you really wanted to . . . be a terrific lawyer with everyone slapping you on the back. . . . How would you know you weren’t being a phony? The trouble is, you wouldn’t. (p. 172)

This fictitious character is right. That bothers me when I write, right at this moment. It bothers me when I make subjective judgments about the writings of another, because I don’t know the other person and their thinking, to legitimately make the judgments I am inclined to make. As much as there may be some truth in what we say we need to be careful how we critique a particular post, or article, with which we disagree, without taking into account what the author has revealed he/she thinks in their other writing.

I wonder if this is what Spurgeon had in mind when he said, “Self-love is, no doubt, the usual foundation of human jealousy...the fear lest another should by any means supplant us.”

MANDY IS SEEING HIM FACE TO FACE

2011-06-07T06:23:00.000+10:00

In a recent post I asked for prayer for Mandy and Johnny. Thank you for praying.

After a short rally, Mandy has succumbed to the cancer that had ravaged her body.

The elder who cares for the congregation, of which, prior to our retirement, we were a part, reports that Johnny is absolutely surrounded by his loving family. Please continue to pray for this sensitive, loving man.

I am most privileged to have had the joy of introducing Mandy to her Savior so long ago.

Jonathan Edwards speaking at the funeral of David Brainard, said that David was now enjoying "the ineffable delights he has in heaven, in the enjoyment of his Father ".

Mandy is now doing the same.

AN ENCOURAGING MORNING

2011-06-02T07:26:00.005+10:00

I'm usually going through some of my favorite blogs by 5.30AM, and then read emails.

This morning? What an encouraging morning!

I must share the joy I received! In no particular order of preference:

Firstly an old curmudgeon like me, Paul Burleson who warmed me up on this second morning of winter, then Alan Knox "A criterion, a treasure, an assumption, and a broken heart". He features four blogs which are a must read, the third one, written by Eric Carpenter is a regular for me.

Then there was the icing on the cake as I read Dave Black at Wednesday, June 1,10:42 AM, writing what is so very important for followers of Christ to understand. The cherry on top of this was Becky Black's morning reflections.

Trust you are blessed as I am!

I'M SO SAD!

2011-05-28T17:23:00.003+10:00

Today, I’m very sad and prayerful.

It’s twenty-six years ago since I became the pastor of a very small, very fragmented church. Only one of the seven deacons (yes, you’re right! According to the deacons,“Because the Biblical number for deacons is seven) was a member of the denomination because of conviction. Six of the deacons, middle aged and more, had migrated from five other denominations, each was convinced that their previous practices were the correct ones, and argued the point, loudly! The odd one out, Johnny, a sound follower of Christ, member by conviction, and a young man, was a rose amongst the thorns. A bright light in a dark place!

The church had a membership of eighteen and averaged about 25-30 at the Sunday service.

I can hear you chuckling from here! Seven deacons amongst eighteen members?

Without describing any of the outcomes of this I can say that, for the first eight months, I had more headaches (not literal) than ever before in my life.

They were unhappy times!

Then! Something wonderful happened!

Johnny had a young lady, Mandy, whom he had been keeping company with for a couple of years, and I had the opportunity to get to know them and to share the gospel with her.

She came to know Christ in a life changing way, but was hurt by the unloving way she observed the deacon’s behaving. There were comments from whence she had come, and objection to her happy boisterous character and jolly laughter.

Later, I had the joy of standing before Johnny and Mandy as they made their marriage vows.

Twenty-five years on, they have two beautiful daughters, who were raised as children of followers of Christ should be. Both young ladies are now school teachers.

About two years ago we received news that Mandy had breast cancer. The lumps were removed. The surgeons thought they had it all. Then, devastation, a mastectomy was in order, then six months of chemo-therapy. Another mastectomy. More chemo.

After several months it appeared that she was clear, with the usual, “Well know for sure in five years”.

A short time elapsed and lumps began to appear in other parts of her body. More operations. More chemo. Radiation.

A little over twenty-four hours ago, the elder who cares for these dear folk now, rang me. I could hear the tears in his voice as he haltingly told me that Johnny had been called to be with Mandy!

My heart is breaking for this family, who put themselves last to server others, ever since I first knew them.

In their early fifties, Johnny and Mandy have so much more they could offer., and I cannot help but have fleeting thoughts of, ”Lord, why them and not this old, worn out feller?”

Although my body won’t allow me to travel the 180 miles to visit with them, to sit with them, pray with them, hug them and love them, I’m very confident that the Family my wife and I left behind will do so, and very well!

UPDATE:

As of the 2nd June, no news of change.

AUTHORITY: OF CHRIST OR PATRIARCH?

2011-05-01T13:34:00.001+10:00

The beginning of Matthew is important in any discussion regarding patriarchy, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham”. (Mat.1:1)

The first verse names the three foundational patriarchs “of the geneology of Christ”:

Abraham the father of Isaac, was first of the Hebrew patriarchs and a figure revered by the three great monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam :

The Bible declares that he lived approximately 175 years. Wife was Sarah. Sons were Ismael and Isaac . According to the bible Abraham and Sarah were 99 or 100 years old when Isaac was born.

Isaac Isaac the father of Jacob :

As the Bible says, he lived 180 years! Wife Rebecca. Sons Esau and Jacob. He was later told he would be called Israel.

Jacob the father of Judah:

Wives Leah and Rachel. Twelve sons and one daughter. The Bible tells us he lived 147 years.

His name is given to all of his descendents and the land that God stipulated they should inhabit. Jacob’s having two wives means that there are four matriarchs between the three patriarchs.

A patriarch is "the male head, ruler, or progenitor of a family, tribe, or people."

Jacob, who earned the name Israel when he wrestled with an Angel, is the patriarch, the descendants of whose twelve sons became the twelve tribes of Israel.

God’s design for these three patriarchs, through their lineage with Abraham, was that they were to establish nations under His rule, “Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.”(Gen.17:3-4).

Something else stands out as Matthew goes on. He establishes that from this line of three patriarchs, King David is a part of this same bloodline, which in fourteen generations establishes that Jesus Christ is whom he declared in the first verse as “.. the son of David” , whose life he chronicles.

Are all the males patriarchs? No. It seems not. As far as I can see there are only two verses in the New Testament that refer to men as patriarchs, other than the three men mentioned above. In the Septuagent the term is used only five times.

Patriarch, the word, means “father rule”, or “patriarchy”, and is an elemental part of an hegemonic hierarchy, of which the New Testament knows nothing.

The use of the word, according to dictionaries, such as The Oxford , The Merriam-Webster, and the The Macmillan say among other things, that “patriarchy” means:

”a system of society or government in which the father or eldest male is head of the family and descent is reckoned through the male line.

a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it.” (Oxford) or,

“ 1: a social organization marked by the supremacy of the father in the clan or family, the legal dependence of wives and children, and the reckoning of descent and inheritance in the male line; broadly : control by men of a disproportionately large share of power

2: a society or institution organized according to the principles or practices of patriarchy”(Webster) or,

“a society, system, or organization in which men have all or most of the power and influence (Macmillan)

As those claiming to be Christian, we have to take into consideration what people understand when we use words, such as patriarchy, which are commonly understood to imply "Power" or "control". We cannot simply take a word we like and apply it to a New Testament concept.

From a Christian point of view such words apply to the Godhead alone. Christians have only one Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true representation of God the Father, and whose sole authority is exercised though His written word revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.

If we want to use the “archy” language, we could use the term "Christarchy", where all submit to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christs.

What a difference we would see if we understood that. Servant leaders, whether of households or congregations, and even governments, would lead, and set the example of one who submits to the authority of Jesus Christ, as is declared in the Scriptures and applied to their lives by the Holy Spirit.

Yet the very opposite is true as Dave Black says, “Christ’s claim to our total allegiance is one we seek to avoid at all costs”(ChristianArchy, x), and we avoid it by espousing the idea that, for example, a father must exercise some kind of power and authority which allows him to command how others (wife and family) behave and function.

We, fathers, avoid any hint of what the world sees as weakness, but what Christ taught was formidable strength; humble servitude, in weakness!

John Chrysostom, one of the early church fathers was spot on, when he said,

“For as long as we are lambs we conquer; even when a thousand wolves stand about, we overcome and are victors. But if we act like wolves we are conquered, for then the aid of the Good Shepherd departs from us, for He does not foster wolves but sheep.”

“…He does not foster wolves but sheep.”

In my idealistic moments, I imagine what it would be like if people who dare to call Jesus as Lord, really submitted themselves to His headship. This One whom we profess as Lord, as our “archy”, would be seen as the only authority in charge, and everyone else, husbands and wives were submissive to each other, negating any need to claim to be equal, or having authority over another.

I imagine what it would be like to live in a climate of no imposed hierarchies or command structures, no power struggles among men and women, rich and poor, young and old, with each one serving the other. I think that's what Jesus modeled for those who were His followers.

Paul was used of God, in his Epistle to the Ephesian congregation, to declare His direction for a marital relationship.

It was to be as Jesus modeled as He submitted himself totally to the will of His Father. With Christ as their model, husbands are not charged to exercise authority over their wives, but are charged to imitate Christ’s headship over themselves. Such headship demands that they imitate Christ’s obedience to God. As the husband models Christ’s obedience to the Father, so the wives are to follow.

Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as to the Lord.For the husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. It is he who is the Savior of the body. Indeed, just as the church is submissive to Christ, so wives must be submissive to their husbands in everything.(5:22-24)

Whether we redefine the word to suit our personal preferences or not, the word “patriarchy” indicates power and authority over another.

If wives are called to submit to their husbands in the same way the church submits to Christ, then it cannot have anything to do with patriarchy.

Dave Black speaks of ,”…any other Christian “reformist” movement (patriarchy, agrarianism, age integration,etc.) The trouble is that such moralizing can be done sheerly in the flesh. We can get so caught up in the idea of raising modern knights or returning to the land or asserting male headship when oftentimes all that is actually happening is that our little archy is becoming more and more impressed by it’s own importance as a revolutionary cause.” (Christian Archy p.14)

I cannot agree more, especially when Dave says on page 14, “The Enemy of the church always seeks to turn it aside from the cross in order to make it follow its own way”. Remember the church is men and women.

The thought that Christ would command submission to His headship is erroneous to say the least. If there is any compulsion at all for Christ’s redeemed to obey him, it is solely through love and thanksgiving alone, as an act of worship.

The love of Christ controls us, for we are convinced of this: that one person died for all people; therefore, all people have died.He died for all people, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for the one who died and rose for them.(2 Corinthians 5:14-15).

When calling wives to submit to their husbands as the church submits to Christ, then they are called to respond to their husband’s modeling of Christ’s love and self-sacrifice. They are to submit to such amazing love, not to the authority of the husband.

By the way, Paul says nothing about the husband’s “rule”. The headship Paul refers to is the authority to serve God by serving others, which leads to God’s blessing on the relationship.

Christ’s own submission to the Father was spelled out in His parable as He rose from supper.

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was returning to God,got up from the table, removed his outer robe, and took a towel and fastened it around his waist.Then he poured some water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel that was tied around his waist. (John 13:4-5)

There could be no missing what Jesus explicitly taught on that occasion, unless we purposefully, and willfully choose another explanation. The Christ’s washing of feet revealed the quality of his Lordship, and set the example for those who follow him, who were to emulate this kind of authority, a humiliating servant role, which entailed, authority to wash feet, authority to sacrifice themselves to demonstrate God’s grace to others.

It’s very difficult for the Adamic human mind to grasp that servant-hood has “authority”.

Consider Jesus, who had the God-given authority to sacrifice himself for His people as an act of amazing love.

Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

When someone receives Christ as Savior and Lord, we submit to His authority.

That is exactly the kind of headship a Christian wife is called to submit herself to. Not that of a patriarch, but that of a husband who is called to love her with the same Holy Sprit endued attitude as Christ revealed in His love for His church.

She is called to follow him and his example as he follows Christ. It is not easy, as Peter showed when Jesus wanted to wash his feet. It’s what Paul knew was a necessary part of God’s transforming grace, when he told the Romans, “I therefore urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercies, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to God, for this is the reasonable way for you to worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but continually be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God's will is—what is proper, pleasing, and perfect.”(Rom.12:-2)

As a wife responds to the example of her husband, she lays aside her will as her husband has laid aside his, so they serve Christ as one, as a picture of the gospel (Ephesians 5:32).

Husbands and wives, one or both, who care more about imposing their own authority or desire than submitting to the headship and example of Christ, not only personally act like a drunken person, but they cause those to stumble for whom they are supposed to set the example, each other, their children, and their brethren.

When a husband incorrectly understands his role as head of the family, as that of a patriarch, one called to rule and uses that as an excuse to dominate, he stumbles like a drunken man. A wife, who takes advantage of her husband’s servant-hood does likewise.

Nowhere does the Bible show us that God is interested in improving a Christian husband’s authority and rule. Likewise He is not interested in helping a Christian couple rule their family as equals.

God is interested in restoring His rule.

As a couple grow in Christian marriage, husbands cease to live in a mindset of patriarchy, and becomes faithful stewards demonstrating the reality of the Lordship of the One who said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their superiors act like tyrants over them. That's not the way it should be among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant,and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave.That's the way it is with the Son of Man. He did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people”.(Matt.20:25-28)

In a Biblical marriage such as this, a husband will inspire his wife and children to “follow me, as I follow Christ”. This is not patriarchy past, present or future!

As Dave Black says in his book, “We must have the courage to say flatly that human archys are nothing less than the contemporary resurrection of the pharisaic ethic”. (p.31)

Let Vernard Eller conclude, as he writes in ChristianAnarchy, “..that worldly arkys are of the "all" that "in Adam" dies and are no part of the "all" that "in Christ" is made alive (1 Cor. 15:22). Consequently, worldly arkys must die (and we must die to them) in order that the Arky of God (his kingdom) might be made alive in us (and us in it).”

Important Addendum:

I have, in the last few minutes discovered a good article on Wade Burlesons blog, in which he refers to a book by Jon Zens for which Wade has written the Forward.

The book is entitled: "No Will Of My Own: How Patriarchy Smothers Female Dignity & Personhood "

Comments from sites previously blocked UNBLOCKED

2011-04-24T12:11:00.000+10:00

Somehow the comments have been blocked to some who have read my blog. I have no idea how things became changed.That has been unintentional.

It has been fixed!

A PLAIN MAN

2011-04-22T15:40:00.000+10:00

I was quite pleasantly surprised, and taken back a few decades whilst reading Dave Black's site. He quotes Thomas Haweis, who was preaching at the inauguration of the London Missionary Society in 1795.

Thomas Haweis said:

A plain man -- with a good natural understanding -- well read in the Bible, -- full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, -- though he comes from the forge or the shop, would, I own, in my view, as a missionary to the heathen, be infinitely preferable to all the learning of the schools; and would possess, in the skill and labour of his hands, advantages which barren science would never compensate.

After many years of sitting under the ministry of quite few excellent, some not so excellent, preacher/pastors, and having been called to our first country pastorate, I had been impressed with similar thoughts as those expressed by Thomas Haweis.

I have a very clear memory of the first day I sat at the desk in my first office, surrounded by the library of good books I had collected over the years, all by great men of God. I felt a surge of pride, and immediately was ashamed, as I remembered my previously mentioned thoughts.

As I sat there I was compelled to pray that my loving Father would keep me an ordinary man,able to be in touch with the lives of those to whom I would minister.

A few years later, after the Lord of the Church had blessed our evangelistic efforts I was asked to speak at an evangelism conference regarding rural evangelism. I mentioned that one thing I had learned was that it was important for those who wish to minister to others to learn to "sit in the dust" if necessary, "get some dirt under one's finger nails", if we were to fully relate to those we sought to influence for Christ.

There were some fellows there, both young and older, who thought my comments were ridiculous.

Over the years we continued to be blessed. I can only assume that the Lord didn't consider my words ridiculous.

Whether I'm still an ordinary bloke, that's for others to judge,but I have no desire for anything else.

Haweis was right. Thank you Dave for reminding me!

SOMETHING IS MISSING!

2011-04-13T07:29:00.000+10:00

No matter what way a congregation of genuine Christians function, traditional, home church, or some other form of the gathering of God's people, I would assume that the Scriptures have a leading part in the what transpires, yet, as I read the writings of each of the alternatives, I see something standing out quite clearly, and have to question my assumption.

I wonder whether you have noticed what I'm alluding to?

I will illustrate what I'm noticing with a well known story by C. H. Spurgeon, told in a sermon preached on March 13th, 1859.

“A Welsh minister who was preaching last Sabbath at the chapel of my dear brother, Jonathan George, was saying, that Christ was the sum and substance of the gospel, and he broke out into this story:

A young man had been preaching in the presence of a venerable divine, and after he had done he went to the old minister, and said, "What do you think of my sermon?"

"A very poor sermon indeed," said he.

"A poor sermon?" said the young man, "it took me a long time to study it."

"Ay, no doubt of it."

"Why, did you not think my explanation of the text a very good one?"

"Oh, yes," said the old preacher, "very good indeed."

"Well, then, why do you say it is a poor sermon? Didn't you think the metaphors were appropriate and the arguments conclusive?"

"Yes, they were very good as far as that goes, but still it was a very poor sermon."

"Will you tell me why you think it a poor sermon?"

"Because," said he, "there was no Christ in it."

"Well," said the young man, "Christ was not in the text; we are not to be preaching Christ always, we must preach what is in the text."

So the old man said, "Don't you know young man that from every town, and every village, and every little hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London?"

"Yes," said the young man.

"Ah!" said the old divine "and so from every text in Scripture, there is a road to the metropolis of the Scriptures, that is Christ. And my dear brother, your business when you get to a text, is to say, 'Now what is the road to Christ?' and then preach a sermon, running along the road towards the great metropolis—Christ. And," said he, "I have never yet found a text that had not got a road to Christ in it, and if I ever do find one that has not a road to Christ in it, I will make one; I will go over hedge and ditch but I would get at my Master, for the sermon cannot do any good unless there is a savour of Christ in it." Now since you say amen to that, and declare that what you want to hear is Jesus Christ, the text is proved—"Unto you therefore which believe he is precious."

AN IMPORTANT QUESTION

2011-03-31T10:18:00.000+10:00

The title of a recent article on the excellent blog of Alan Knox, was a question, “What Caused You to Start Studying the Church?”

In my case, the reason was my first meeting, half a lifetime ago, of a large number of other pastors at a denominational pastor’s conference, and the denominational annual assembly. Those meetings were the catalyst to start me questioning why I was even a part of such a group.

That meeting helped me, over a period of time, to see that for myself that, as a denomination, our understanding of “church” was very limited. That limited view was established by our experience of church life and denominational distinctives, not by the Scriptures.

For me, and many others, that experience was a long one, the authenticity of which we had never questioned. Mine began at the age of twelve, and had been repeated and established during the first twenty years of my total involvement, from simply sitting in the pews to preaching and teaching.

To ask anyone the question, "What is church?", always had the effect of people looking very perplexed, and finally voicing the opinion that, “We are the church!”

The faithful attendance at the habitual following of established traditions, reinforced by the messages from the pulpit, was instilling in the congregations the certainty that, as long as they were regular in attending to this, everything was fine and dandy.

The only conversations the congregations were involved in always revolved around the pragmatic matters of organized religion; filling empty pews, and bigger buildings when we filled them, finance and the need to increase the accumulation of it to do the grand schemes the pastor had envisioned. Of course there was the normal discussions of house keeping, maintenance, etc. Occasionally the matter of missions came up. Of course our mission was those missions and never our Jerusalem, or even Judea.

We were a missions oriented church, but not mission oriented!

Very seldom were there discussions which didn’t result in some strong words, which were certainly not appropriate for those claiming to be brethren in Christ.

We didn’t know it at the time but, our individual definition of “church” revolved around our own experience, that with which we were familiar, we were always correct and anyone who disagreed was incorrect. As a result most other congregations in the area were suspect.

No wonder we had problems and cliques of those who agreed with each other, and disagreed with everyone else, even within the local congregation. (have a look at this great article from Paul Burleson)

Other definitions of “church” arise from the satisfaction of personality problems of functioning in community, or desires for “life” which has more to do with sensual satisfaction.

As I’ve talked to people, and pressed them on the original question, "What is church?", several common thoughts appeared. Although, not in any specific order they were generally:

1. Believers who came together each week on Sunday

2. They were a church because they had been baptized as become members.

3. They had a qualified pastor, and possibly elders.

4. Baptism and communion was practiced according to denominational dictates.

5. Although unsure of what it meant church discipline was necessary.

6. Most importantly there had to be a document of doctrinal beliefs which defined who they were.

7. Evangelism is important as long as someone else accomplished it.

When asked, “Who owns the church?” The answer was always, emphatically “We, the congregation, do!”

The presence of Jesus Christ is only assumed, and any concept of His presence by His Spirit, is very vague.

This assumption has allowed many of our institutional churches to become nothing more than social institutions for people who gather using Jesus’ name, and to have reinforced in us the thought that our church/denomination is the one with God's stamp of approval.

Where is the evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit, who reveals Jesus amongst a ministering people from whom living waters flow, who opens our hearts to understand Scripture, who leads and directs?

Is our idea of church formed by the standard of what we have always done, or, the clear standard of Scriptures?

Are we disciples of Jesus Christ, or, are we disciples of a tradition, from which our standard arises?

Are we afraid to ask questions of that standard, and compare it with Scripture? I think so!

BIRTHDAY PRESENT FOR ALAN

2011-03-31T07:05:00.000+10:00

Read the following links and give a brother in Christ a birthday boost:

Here, here, and here.

OUR SOVEREIGN GOD!

2011-03-22T16:33:00.000+10:00

If you want to read something very important, read this . When you have read it read this!

IS HISTORY HISTORY?

2011-03-18T07:02:00.000+10:00

My blogging friend Paul and I share quite a few similarities. He says, “I love history”.

Well, we are different on this one! I don’t love history.

I like to read history. The more history I read history, the more I see that mankind cannot be trusted to record his own history. Almost every author has his own version, revealing his bias. Even the so-called “official” versions.

As far as I can ascertain, from spending time in the home of an American school teacher, Americans have not been taught Australian history in their schools. Maybe that’s a good thing. Even our Australian “official” histories reveal the (often political) bias of the writer.

When I was attending school, we were taught quite a bit about world history, including American, but all of my reading since confirms my suspicion that secular history alone, is clearly not reliable, especially if we will put aside national pride.

The Apostle Paul has history well defined in his statement regarding the Jews, “ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God himself has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been understood and observed by what he made, so that people are without excuse."

That statement applies to the whole human race!

The fulcrum upon which all of history hangs is spiritual. God created all that there is. From the first day of creation, God’s hand was on all that would ever take place (I did not say God caused ). God's Spirit is at work among men, and no one can understand history apart from that fact. He is both “hands on” and “hands off”, at the same time.

God is indeed sovereign, and if He is sovereign at all, He is sovereign over all, including history, at all times.

My friend, Paul, avers his love of poetry, as well. As for poems, I love some and loathe others. Here is one which rang a bell for me:

The Calf-Path
Sam Walter Foss (1858 -1911)

One day, through the primeval wood,
A calf walked home, as good calves should;

But made a trail all bent askew,
A crooked trail as all calves do.

Since then two hundred years have fled,
And, I infer, the calf is dead.

But still he left behind his trail,
And thereby hangs my moral tale.

The trail was taken up next day
By a lone dog that passed that way;

And then a wise bell-wether sheep
Pursued the trail o'er vale and steep,

And drew the flock behind him, too,
As good bell-wethers always do.

And from that day, o'er hill and glade,
Through those old woods a path was made.

And many men wound in and out,
And dodged, and turned, and bent about;

And uttered words of righteous wrath,
Because 'twas such a crooked path.

But still they followed - do not laugh -
The first migration of that calf.

And through this winding wood-way stalked,
Because he wobbled when he walked.

This forest path became a lane,
That bent, and turned, and turned again.

This crooked lane became a road,
Where many a poor horse with his load,

Toiled on beneath the burning sun,
And traveled some three miles in one.

And thus a century and a half,
They trod the footsteps of that calf.

The years passed on in swiftness fleet,
The road became a village street;

And this, before men were aware,
A city's crowded thoroughfare;

And soon the central street was this,
Of a renowned metropolis;

And men two centuries and a half,
Trod the footsteps of that calf.

Each day a hundred thousand rout,
Followed the zigzag calf about;

And o'er his crooked journey went,
The traffic of a continent.

A hundred thousand men were led,
By one calf near three centuries dead.

They followed still his crooked way,
And lost one hundred years a day;

For thus such reverence is lent,
To well-established precedent.

A moral lesson this might teach,
Were I ordained and called to preach;

For men are prone to go it blind,
Along the calf-paths of the mind;

And work away from sun to sun,
To do what other men have done.

They follow in the beaten track,
And out and in, and forth and back,

And still their devious course pursue,
To keep the path that others do.

But how the wise old wood-gods laugh,
Who saw the first primeval calf !

Ah ! many things this tale might teach -
But I am not ordained to preach

ONE HALF CENTURY OF GOD’S HAND

2011-03-06T08:59:00.000+10:00

Fiftythree years ago I was sitting in an interstate coach travelling from norther New South Wales to the city of Brisbane in Queensland. In those days such public transport had a large, full width mirror above the windscreen to enable the driver to see all the passengers.

From where I was sitting I could see most of what the driver could see, but off to one side I saw a beautiful blonde sitting by herself. I must have been staring, because she noticed me looking at her, and, with a haughty shrug of her shoulder, she moved out of my line of sight. Soon after, she alighted at her destination.

Two years passed. The girl in the mirror never left my mind. I used to think of her daily. I even made up songs about her, which I used to sing as I worked. I was, as they say, smitten! I didn’t know who she was, or where she came from. All I knew was that I could not forget her.

During this time I had started a youth group for the local young people. The young people, and their parents were left in no doubt that the primary concern was healthy lifestyle based on the teachings of Scripture. Many of these youngsters learned, for the first time, that “fun” was not a dirty word for Christians. The group was well established and there was room for more to join with us. I started visiting homes in a wider area, offering transport and an early arrival at home after the gathering.

Knocking on the door of a house, in a nearby small timber milling village, the door was opened by a rather stern looking lady, but before any introductions could be made, my attention was drawn to the very face I had seen in the bus. She was sitting at a table behind the lady at the door, her mother. I must have seemed a rather incoherent, dubious character as I blurted out my reason for disturbing the peace of this home. My message must have gotten through, though, as the lady of the house asked her daughter to come to the door. I repeated my reason for being.

She said, “I’m Valerie! Yes! I would like to come”.

No sleep for me that night!

I picked her up with several other young people, and had a great night at the Youth meeting. I carefully engineered the dropping off of all except Valerie, whom I dropped off last. Having been invited by my boss and his wife to go to a movie, I thought I would ask Valerie if she would like to accompany us.

Again! She said, “Yes!”

We had known each other for three months, meeting two or three times a week. We were talking about serious matters and seemed to be so much at ease with each other that I asked Valerie to marry me..

And, again! She said, ”Yes!”

We set the date for twelve months hence, 4^th March, 1961.

Fifty years ago, on that date, we sealed our lives together “till death do us part”.

To those who talk about “falling out of love”, I say, “You never knew love !”

I still cannot find words sufficient to tell her what she means to me.

I do know that for both, love is not a bed of roses, and that it does not fail, even though each of us have.

If I know anything with absolute certainty it is this, GOD’S HAND WAS IN EVERY ASPECT OF THESE PAST FIFTY YEARS, from that first glimpse of the beautiful woman who was to change my life, to this day.

When we failed, His Spirit guided us out of the failure. When we sinned, His Spirit reminded us of what God had paid for through the incarnate Jesus. We have no doubt of His protecting hand on our five children, as they had amazing escapes from sickness, and even from death.

Fifty years of marriage, five beautiful children and their wives and husbands, seven grandchildren, two great grandchildren.

I’m the richest man in the world. No money, but so wealthy!

Valerie, my sweetheart! You are still my dream girl! Thank you so very much!

Father God, to You belongs the glory!

Scripture, Tradition or ?

2011-02-10T10:51:00.000+10:00

There's an interesting discussion emanating from an article on A Pilgrims Progress. As a Christian of many years, a large part of which was in so-called, "full-time-ministry", I speak from my own experience, and with some amount of shame:

When a man/woman, Christian or otherwise, has been well instructed, in whatever philosophy or teaching we may choose, Christian or pagan, we develop a mindset which may take years before one is willing to examine that mindset, and allow it to be challenged.

The genuine Christian is not exempt from this fact of human frailty, hence Luke's commendation of the Bereans.

Apparently the Thessalonians were more like me. I trusted my professors, pastors and teachers, and received what was taught without question. After all, they were the experts. I was only a novice. What they said the Bible taught was more important than my own convictions. Their expectation was that those under their teaching became carbon copies of themselves, teaching what they taught.

From new birth, in my very early teens, God moved me over a period of years, by what I read in the Scriptures, from rank Arminianism, to Reformed theology, which I embraced, and preached for 30 or so years, finally rejecting much of the ecclesiology, but holding firmly to the doctrines of grace.

As I prepared sermons, wrote Bible Studies and articles, I would often find myself challenged by Scripture, especially on matters ecclesiological, which caused, not a few, internal struggles. I dismissed the turmoil by reminding myself of what my systematic theology taught and the perceived need to be consistent with the system, which I adhered to.

After all, I subscribed to a Statement of Faith, which was thoroughly Reformed, and, I well knew that my tenure as the pastor would be very short if I upset the status quo, even if I could show the truth from Scripture. I was told in no uncertain terms that it was important to stick to what we had always done, regardless of the fact that some of our practices and beliefs were radically different to what Scripture revealed.

What would the denominational leaders say if the church allowed me to challenge some traditions which could not be sustained from Scripture? What would my peers in ministry say? I was already under a shadow of suspicion because I had already dared to be Reformed in a traditionally Arminian denomination, and to now suggest that, from an ecclesiological point of view that both the Arminian and Reformed might need to rethink some of what was accepted was close to being blasphemous in the eyes of those who saw themselves as the authoritative voices on denominational matters.

There is only one authoritative voice, no matter how famous or well recognized other voices are, and that is the Scriptures. Sola Scriptura.

PERVERTED AUTHORITY

2011-01-21T11:57:00.000+10:00

There's a fellow blogger whom I've learned to love, whose grasp of Scripture I truly respect. He's an old-timer, just as I am. He's even got a similar hair-do! So he must be good :)!

Whatever you do have a look at his recent blogs, the latest of which is HOW FAMILY LEADERSHIP WORKS .

Make sure you read the previous three first, in the order written, WHO'S THE BOSS? ; I-YOU-WE; PERVERTED AUTHORITY.

Just to whet your interest he says, "This means that they were viewed to be gifted leaders by others and were thus appointed by the Holy Spirit and then recognized by the people. So that, even when the writer of Hebrews admonishes believers to follow the leadership of elders, it uses the Greek language that according to W.E. Vine, means [peitho] "to persuade, to win over, in the Passive and Middle Voices which indicates one voluntarily does so with an eye on their [The elders] character and life. [Hebrews 13:17]"

TRYING TO MAKE A SILK PURSE FROM A SOW'S EAR

2011-01-18T09:07:00.000+10:00

My walk with Christ began in my early teens, at which time, an aunt gave me a novel by a Congregational pastor, Charles Sheldon, it’s title, In His Steps. The story was written in 1896, and was read to the young people, a chapter at a time, on Sunday evening servicess in the Central Congregational Church, Topeka, Kansas.

That novel had a huge impact on my life. Later, as Scripture began to open up for me, I was often reminded of the tramp, of whom Sheldon writes, and his words to a church full of people, words which helped me avoid the problem of regarding the Gospel as simply a list of abstract facts, about which we are to learn.

Even though fiction, I think the tramp’s words are important in the “Christian” climate in which many of us live today,

“I lost my job ten months ago. I am a printer by trade. The new linotype machines are beautiful specimens of invention, but I know six men who have killed themselves inside of the year just on account of those machines. Of course I don’t blame the newspapers for getting the machines. Meanwhile, what can a man do? I know I never learned but the one trade, and that’s all I can do. I’ve tramped all over the country trying to find something. There are a good many others like me. I’m not complaining, am I? Just stating facts. But I was wondering as I sat there under the gallery, if what you call following Jesus is the same thing as what He taught. What did He mean when He said: ‘Follow Me!’? The minister said,” — here he turned about and looked up at the pulpit — “that it is necessary for the disciple of Jesus to follow His steps, and he said the steps are ‘obedience, faith, love and imitation.’ But I did not hear him tell you just what he meant that to mean, especially the last step. What do you Christians mean by following the steps of Jesus?

“I’ve tramped through this city for three days trying to find a job; and in all that time I’ve not had a word of sympathy or comfort except from your minister here, who said he was sorry for me and hoped I would find a job somewhere. I suppose it is because you get so imposed on by the professional tramp that you have lost your interest in any other sort. I’m not blaming anybody, am I? Just stating facts. Of course, I understand you can’t all go out of your way to hunt up jobs for other people like me. I’m not asking you to; but what I feel puzzled about is, what is meant by following Jesus. What do you mean when you sing ‘I’ll go with Him, with Him, all the way?’ Do you mean that you are suffering and denying yourselves and trying to save lost, suffering humanity just as I understand Jesus did? What do you mean by it? I see the ragged edge of things a good deal. I understand there are more than five hundred men in this city in my case. Most of them have families. My wife died four months ago. I’m glad she is out of trouble. My little girl is staying with a printer’s family until I find a job. Somehow I get puzzled when I see so many Christians living in luxury and singing ‘Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow Thee,’ and remember how my wife died in a tenement in New York City, gasping for air and asking God to take the little girl too. Of course I don’t expect you people can prevent every one from dying of starvation, lack of proper nourishment and tenement air, but what does following Jesus mean? I understand that Christian people own a good many of the tenements. A member of a church was the owner of the one where my wife died, and I have wondered if following Jesus all the way was true in his case. I heard some people singing at a church prayer meeting the other night,

‘All for Jesus, all for Jesus,
All my being’s ransomed powers,
All my thoughts, and all my doings,
All my days, and all my hours.’

and I kept wondering as I sat on the steps outside just what they meant by it.”

How familiar that all sounds to this old bird! The tramp had experienced exactly, the devastating cancer which a “Gospel” of abstract facts generates. Sadly that “Gospel” of abstract facts is far too common in the groups commonly called “church”.

Even into middle age, I was a zealous, sincere, idealist, but I created tsunami sized waves railing about the teachings of traditions different to mine, their founders and their “intellectualism without feet”, etc. I’m sure you know what I mean. Of course, I made sure that I emphasized how correct my own theological leaning were.

How utterly foolish! I was wasting my time, bashing my head against a brick wall, trying to make a silk purse from a sow’s ear.

Only the living Lord, Jesus Christ can do that, indwelling a person by His Holy Spirit and molding the hearts and minds of sinful humans to be living stones in the Church He is building.

The Lord Jesus Christ, stands over the whole of history like an enormous beacon, and we waste time playing church in His shadow, jumping from ideas of human beings, sinners like you and me. Instead of rivers of living water flowing from us, we spend our time jumping from author to author, new idea to new idea, like stepping stones over the living waters.

Information, whether from the Scriptures or a Puritan, or any other author IS NOT transformation.

Causing sinners to become religious fountains of Biblical knowledge who have flat backsides from sitting on pews, will NEVER grow them into disciples of a living, functioning, ministering family of brethren bound into relationship with one another, by their relationship with their Savior and Lord, which He called “My Church” (Matt. 16:18)

Australia is Hurting

2011-01-15T06:58:00.000+10:00

Been too ill to be writing lately, but wanted to alert anyone interested to what has been happening in Oz. The whole of Eastern Australia, roughly the same length as the Western Coast of USA, has been devastated by catastrophic flooding, the like of which I have seen only twice previously in my 72 years.

My wife, myself and family have not suffered any loss, but, literally thousands have lost everything of material value. Many lives have been lost when a wall of water swept through a small country town west of Brisbane, wiping it off the face of the map. At least 50 not yet accounted for.

To get a glimpse of what has happened check out the following web page of our Brisbane newspaper, the Courier Mail:

http://media01.couriermail.com.au/multimedia/4days/day1/index.html

That Sinful Church

2010-11-23T07:49:00.000+10:00

And he (Jesus) said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matt. 22:37–40 (ESV)

If we profess to love God as Jesus commands, we must immediately ask ourselves why we don’t obey His command to love our neighbor. The problem we find ourselves having to deal with is this: We cannot obey the first if we don’t obey the second.

My wife and I have just read through 1 Corinthians aloud, and as we read we discussed something which has bothered me for many years: I have never heard a message preached on the book which doesn’t emphasize how sinful this church was. We discussed the fact, and began to realize that the Corinthian church was no different to any church we had known over the many years, or now know, traditional or otherwise.

Do we like to have this totally negative view of the Church in Corinth, because it draws attention away from our own sinfulness? Although the actual sin of the members is sometimes quite different to those Paul comments on regarding the church at Corinth, there can be no doubt that sin is still evident, I dare say, at least to the extent it was in Corinth!

Some of the annual Assemblies, Pastor’s Conferences, and local church meetings I have observed prove the point.

The traditional church has become like the Pharisees to whom Jesus spoke, covering over what Scripture says with the blanket of tradition, inventing red herrings (straw men ?), and neglecting the weightier matters.

I confess to having preached through 1 Corinthians several times. Each time dissecting it, analyzing and being careful to remain within the bounds expected of one who is attached to a traditional evangelical confession, and, as a result, cannot exclude myself from the criticism I make.

How many of us would receive a letter and read it using the slice and dice methodology of most traditional sermon preparation? How many of us would take weeks, sometimes months, to read a letter addressed to us?

To do so would deny us any idea of the true picture the letter was intended to convey.

We are well aware that to always read and teach, from a Scriptural epistle, in the traditional manner, conveniently allows for the careful avoidance of some matters and the careful protection of others, such as “what we have always done”.

There is no doubt that 1 Corinthians is dealing with a church which fails to use a solid , Biblical disciplinary approach to known sinful behavior, but the failure of the Corinthians centers on two major facts which are spelled out in the above two commands of Jesus in Matt.22:37-40.

This church showed no evidence of love for God revealed in their attitude towards the Lord Jesus, and they showed no evidence of love for their fellow believers, including their fellow believers whose sin was being pointed out.

Having let them know he was aware of reports of their apparent disregard of sinful practices, which reveals to Paul their lack of maturity, so much so that , “…I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh.”

He says this to a church which, he acknowledges, is blessed, “…. in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, ….”. It would appear that even though it appears that this church was doing some things right, is never-the-less actually no more mature than the most newly convinced believer.

Furthermore it is clear that the sinful behavior, which was evidently being ignored, extended to the attitudes shown during their love feast, which gives Paul the opportunity to turn the congregation’s attention towards the Lord Jesus Christ as he reminds them of what this love feast is all about. He reminds them of Jesus’ words at The Last Supper. The Lord’s Supper has a past, present and future aspect to it, and they need to be mindful that in coming to this meal, if anyone, “…eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.”

The whole church was partaking of this great meal, “in an unworthy manner”!

Some were obviously sinning by what they did. The rest of the church was sinning by what they did not do!

^"Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.”

If they took seriously Paul’s charge for every individual to “examine himself “, not one person of that congregation could escape having to admit their sin because they were not “discerning the body” .

The church, as a whole, had an individualistic, selfish, self-centred attitude towards being a part of this body of people, who are part of the wider Body of Christ.

What I see Paul doing is focusing their attention back to actively proving their love for Christ, by having a Christo-centric view of their membership in the local body, because the Body to which they belong was bought with the price He paid (1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23; ch.15).

Their love for God and one another will then be expressed as they lovingly, carefully deal with the sin in their midst. As Paul told the Galatians, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

Today we are more likely to do things in the way Paul warns against, self-righteously pointing the finger, chest out-thrust ( so the sherriff’s badge can be seen ?), “ For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.”

Paul is well aware of this legalistic tendency. After all, he was right in the thick of it at one time.

They were obviously using the gifts of the Spirit in some way, as Paul had already acknowledged the giftedness of this church in chapter one, but they needed to be reminded that the gifting wasn’t for selfish aggrandizement or self promotion, but for the building up of each other as part of the Body of Christ.

To do this, love for one’s neighbor (one another) is second only to one’s love for Christ. Indeed, one without the other is impossible, as Paul demonstrates as he spells out, in ch. 13, what love for Christ and one another is like, and he expects that such love will be actively pursued (14:1).

As he draws his letter to a close, he brings the attention of the church back to its reason for existence, the Lord Jesus Christ, and Him alone.

With this thought to the fore he briefly touches on a few other points, then,” Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”

This church isn’t any different to any other church I have experienced both in my country or the USA, sinners, saved by grace, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

MIMICRY OR?

2010-09-10T09:27:00.000+10:00

We have some rather unique wildlife in our part of the world, one of which is the Superb Lyrebird, (below) which happens to be the most amazing of mimics. The male is able to sing beautiful, and intricate songs, often including a combination of perfectly mimicked songs of other birds of the forest in which they dwell.

These amazing birds, about the size of a domestic rooster, even perfectly mimic other sounds they hear in the bush, chainsaws, tractors, trucks, etc.

We admire them so much that we put one on our ten cent coin, as you can see.

As much as I like our lovely birds, I don’t really want to write about them at this time, but I do want to mention another mimic, the human mimic, especially the one who seems to be able to mimic what they suppose is Christian.

They do everything that traditional dictates. Everything! They sit on rows of seats for an hour or so every Sunday, sometimes twice. Whilst sitting on the seats they mimic each other. Unlike the bower bird, they don’t sing a combination of their own song from their hearts, including the songs of others, they simply sing what everyone else is singing, which is nice, sometimes. It would be lovely to hear the melody of their own hearts as they are moved to glorify God and honor Christ!

Often, when the Master of Ceremonies utters an incantation, “Lettucespray!”, they mimic each other by shutting their eyes while the M.C. (often accompanied by a voice change) speaks amazingly flowery, often banal, words, which we never hear spoken in our daily lives.

These actions often bring about an involuntary reflex action of each person, in perfect unison, placing their hand in their pockets, or purse, and then over a plate or into a bag.

After these goings on, they are seated at the command of the M.C., where they remain for the next 15 or twenty minutes, sometimes longer.

Then, there is a sigh of relief as they rise from their perch to repeat the singing ritual, at the end of which the M.C. utters an incantation, often after repeating of "lettucespray", which seems to release their minds from his control, and they stream from the building, with smiles, nods, and the occasional few second chat.

As they leave the property, where the meeting was held, a change comes over them. No longer the unsmiling, sombre visages, held for the last period of time. As they go their separate ways, they appear to revert to a manner which appears to be quite normal for those who have no part in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Whatever it was they have been doing for the last hour or so is gone, until next Sunday!.

I cannot help but wonder how many of those who flock together on Sundays, never truly expressing the radical, life-changing work of the Holy Spirit, which the Scriptures indicate are the result of a life indwelt and imbued by Him.

How easy it is for a lyrebird to mimic something which has no part of him. How easy it is for a man, woman or child to do likewise, especially if that is what the last couple of generations have done. It must be right, after all, we have always done it that way!

IT'S ABOUT RELATIONSHIP

2010-08-31T06:59:00.000+10:00

It seems to me that the following story is illustrative of what we often speak of. Christianity, on the whole, and without doubt, has become a religion of performance. If those claiming to be Christian are seen to attend church, do daily devotions, do not drink, smoke or swear, get involved with certain works like serve at conferences or childrens' camps, they are deemed to be genuine Christians.

As I was thinking about this I came across a story which Alan Knox tells, a story which I couldn't help but repeat here:

There is a story about an old man and a young man on the same platform before a vast audience of people.

A special program was being presented. As a part of the program each was to repeat from memory the words of the Twenty-third Psalm.

The young man, trained in the best speech technique and drama, gave, in the language of the ancient silver-tongued orator, the, words of the Psalm.

“The Lord is my shepherd …” When he finished, the audience clapped their hands and cheered, asking him for an encore so that they might hear again his wonderful voice.

Then the old gentleman, leaning heavily on his cane, stepped to the front of the same platform, and in a feeble, shaking voice, repeated the same words-”The Lord is my shepherd. . .”

But when he was seated -no sound came from the listeners. Folks seemed to pray. In the silence the young man stood to make the following statement:

“Friends,” he said, “I wish to make an explanation. You asked me to come back and repeat the Psalm, but you remained silent when my friend here was seated. The difference? I’ll tell you. I know the Psalm, but he knows the Shepherd.”

Being a disciple of Jesus Christ, a follower of Christ, is much, much different to what we have traditionally seen as "being a Christian". The word Christian now-days has been stripped of its meaning to simply mean a religious person.

Sadly, there are many who are heading towards the end of their lives, believing they are safe for eternity because they are loyal attenders, workers, etc., when in reality, they are as certain of a lost eternity as any unbeliever.

The above story illustrates the simple truth of what it means to be a follower of Christ, a member of His Father's family. It's about genuine relationship which the Lord Jesus Christ earned for all who would come to Him believing that what He did in His life, death and resurrection, and through the merit of which, those who trust, rest on this completed performance of a work, in faith, are assured of an eternity in His presence.

It's sinful for anyone to want, or expect more, from those who have placed their trust in Him.

Genuine followers of Christ, will want to meet together, not to follow a pre-arranged program, but to celebrate the Lord's Supper, in rememberance of what He did, and what He purchased for us. While they are together they will pray for and with one another, encourage one another, edify one another with what Scripture is saying, exhort one another. Occasionally they may have a teacher they know they can trust.

A strange phenomenon occurs when they understand this; they grow in grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and they can't get enough of it, as they disciple one another, and make disciples, and the prominent figure, central amongst them, is the Lord of the Church, Jesus Christ.

As I said, it's about relationship with the Father, the Son and each other indwelt and bound together by the Holy Spirit.

A MALIGNANT DISEASE Part 3

2010-08-17T06:35:00.000+10:00

continued -

It is so very easy to profess to be Christians, attending church, the mid-week Bible studies; even being very vocal in prayer, and the affairs of the church, and at the same timer being neither a Christian, or, if one, having neither heart nor life.

Such people are formalists. Their Christianity is a farce, because it is only form.

Strangely enough the voices of such are often the loudest; their “Christianity” consisting of talk and profession. They know all the information of the Gospel, they even profess to delight in doctrinal matters, displaying their expertise as a sign that they are “good Christians”.

Their pride in the "soundness" of their own views, is one of the prominent things about them. The "ignorance" towards anyone who disagrees with them is legend.

They might even be correct in their assertions, but this is as far as they get! If it were possible to put their inner lives under the microscope, all the “godliness”, that they express in words would be missing in the form of deeds.

The fruits of saving grace, such as transparent truthfulness, genuine, sacrificial love for God’s people, humility, honesty, forgiveness, kindness, gentleness, lack of guile, benevolence, and mercy are conspicuous by their absence.

The claim that they are Christians, is denied by the lack of substance. The missing substance is the fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit, fruit exhibited in love, which Jesus said is the proof that we are His disciples.

Can we wonder why so many churches are floundering when, sadly, such formalists are often seen as the mainstay of the local church. holding to positions of control. As Paul observed, "A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical".

In Paul’s day a person could be a direct descendant of Abraham, born into one of the tribes. If a male, he could have undergone the rite of circumcision on the traditional eighth day. As he grew up he could have faithfully kept the observance of all the feasts.

The religious observances in the temple always saw him in attendance. But in God's sight he was not a Jew! Because he had no heart for God.

This “heart” of which I’m speaking is what Jonathan Edwards called “religious affections” in Christians is a work of the Holy Spirit, not something artificially and deliberately generated.

Many are carefully diligent about their outward profession. As a member of a church, they carefully adhere to its traditions, are baptized, never missing the regular services, and the Lord's Supper--and yet in God's sight, may not be a Christian at all, still heading for a lost eternity.

Our Lord Jesus Christ speaking of the Jews of His day in Matthew 15:8-9, says, "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men" .

So much of what we do, and teach, today are the traditions, practices, and rules of men, often with appropriate proof texts added where necessary, to give them weight.

Jesus repeatedly denounced the formalism and hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, and warned His disciples against it.

In Matthew 23:13, Jesus warns, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!" Such warnings He gave eight times, in a very short space of time.

But even with the warnings, our Lord held out an open door for repentance; and He does the same for His church today!

Formalism in the practice of God’s people, from a spiritual point of view, is much like cancer is to our body. It is pernicious, very subtle, until it takes hold, and finally destroys “heart”, leaving proud, careful, but dead, religiosity. The virus by which it is spawned is human tradition!

In the eyes of a person looking on, not understanding formalism, all may seem healthy and well, and even draw accolades. The formalist will have plenty of religious activity, but as immense in quantity as their activity may be, it will be accompanied with little, or zero quality.

The Lord Jesus Christ, who sees into the very heart of all men, knows the true situation. In His sight formalism is not a true relationship with Him at all.

The testimony of Scripture gives a clear warning to all of we who profess to be Christians. If we understand sin, we will dread the sin of formalism.

Again I would quote J.C. Ryle, who well understood how perniciously evil formalism is when he said, "Formalism may take your hand with a smile, and look like a brother, while sin comes against us with drawn sword, and strikes at us like an enemy. But both have one end in view. Both want to ruin our souls; and of the two, formalism is the one most likely to do it. If we love life, let us beware of formalism in religion. Nothing is "so common." It is one of the great family diseases of the whole race of mankind. It is born with us, grows with us, and is never completely cast out of us till we die. It meets us in church, it meets us among the rich, and it meets us among the poor. It meets us among educated people, and it meets us among the uneducated."

This initial infection of this malignancy often emanates from a leadership which wants a tidy, controlled ship, over which they have sole steering rights. From thence it spreads to the spreads to those in the pews.

The result? The third Person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit of God is relegated to the back rooms of our minds and heart.

Again, I am in hearty agreement with J.C.Ryle, who says, “The person who thinks that there is no formalism in his church, is a very blind and ignorant person. If you love life, beware of formalism. Nothing is "so dangerous" to a man's own soul. Familiarity with the form of religion, while we neglect its reality, has a fearfully deadening effect on the conscience. It brings up by degrees a thick crust of insensibility over the whole inner man.”

I reiterate Ryle’s very wise words : “The person who thinks that there is no formalism in his church, is a very blind and ignorant person.”

I was rather shaken when someone shared with me the following words of an unbelieving observer of Christianity:

"Christianity has dared to lower its ideals before the challenge of human greed, war-madness, and the lust for power; but the religion of Jesus stands as the unsullied and transcendent spiritual summons, calling to the best there is in man to rise above all these legacies of animal (development) and, by grace, attain the moral heights of true human destiny.

Christianity is threatened by slow death from formalism, over-organization, intellectualism, and other non-spiritual trends. The modern Christian church is not such a brotherhood of dynamic believers as Jesus commissioned continuously to effect the spiritual transformation of successive generations of mankind."

Are we so patently out of touch with God's Spirit and Scripture that an unbeliever has such a clear eye when it comes to discerning the problems faced by the institutional church of today?

The world is looking on and sees what is happening! When will we have the blinkers removed from the eyes of our mind and heart?

Oh God! Cause us to take our proud narcissistic eyes off ourselves, and our ego centered plans, bring your people to their knees in genuine repentance, and those who are nothing more than pretenders, to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ!

A MALIGNANT DISEASE Part 2

2010-08-16T06:54:00.000+10:00

continued from last post:

Any group of people, habitually committed to formalistic function will eventually place more importance on formal structures, forms and procedures than on what the group represents.

This evil effectively cuts the third person of the Godhead out of the life of those who claim to be God’s people.

Paul was caused to clearly see that formalism would, at some time, cause greater problems for the church, as we can see from his warning in 2 Timothy 3:5 that a time would come when even God’s own people would have "... a form of godliness but denying its power."

Is not this the situation we find ourselves in today? Is it not true that the church at large, has a such a commitment to traditional form, that instead of evidence of true godliness, "a form of godliness" only, exists?

Even though the numbers are rapidly falling, large numbers of people attend church, read their Bibles, pray, preach, teach, with very little evidence, if any, of real godliness evidenced by their life.

In his letter to the Romans, in 2:28-29, we find Paul dealing with this very issue, when he wrote, "A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical."……...". No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God."

In the context of this article we could paraphrase Paul’s words: “Holding to an outward form or profession does not make Christians.”

Saying one is a Christian, or practicing outward expressions of Christianity doesn’t make one a Christian. A person is only a Christian if they are truly, and radically, changed, and being changed inwardly.

Continual changed towards God, continual changed towards our fellow believers, continual changed towards a lost world. A long time ago, I came to the conclusion that there is no settled place of “having made it” in the genuine Christian life.

Another instance of Paul’s concern on this matter was in his letter to the Colossian Christians, in Col.2:8, See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

We could go on ad infinitum about how the traditions of men has thrust the church into formalism.

More than a century ago, in the late 1800’s, J.C.Ryle, said, “Never since the Lord Jesus Christ left the earth, was there so much formalism and false profession as there is in the present day. Now, more than ever, we ought to examine ourselves, and search our religion, that we may know what sort it really is.”

If that was the case more than 100 years ago, we would be extremely naïve about the state of the church, to deny that his words apply, at least equally, to today.

We would be dishonest not to admit that, as we have developed in knowledge, wealth, and capabilities of science and technology, we have become satisfied with our prowess in these things and so proud and sure of our ability to organise and control, that we have rationalized, into powerless obscurity, the work of God’s Spirit amongst His people.

We merely give lip service to the concept of the Body of Christ, as Paul speaks of it. We need to ask ourselves the question: Is our Christianity a thing of form or a thing of heart?

That’s the point being raised by Paul in the passage we read from in Romans 2:28-29.

God lays down some profound thoughts and principles as He speaks through His Apostle: "A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God".

Firstly, mere formal religious practice is not true Christianity, whether the way we practice our faith is old or modern, whether home church, organic church, new or old.

Mere formal practice of one’s Christian faith is not true Christianity in God's sight.

Secondly we see that the heart is the seat of true relationship with God, therefore the true Christian is a Christian in heart, a fact which is revealed in whole of life practice, not in knowledge, position, or profession.

Thirdly, true Christianity can never expect to be popular or peaceful. True Christianity can expect praise from God, but seldom the praise of man.

Even as far back as 1658, a Puritan by the name of Thomas Hall, speaking on 2 Timothy 3:5, said, "Formalism, formalism. Formalism is the great sin of this day, under which the whole country groans. There is less life; more profession, but less holiness."

In 1658, he was describing our day perfectly, if his comment was valid for his day, it is certainly true of ours! Now, more than 300 years later, there is more light than ever, and less life, certainly more profession and less practical outworking of functional ministry of every person claiming to be Christian!

When a person is a Christian in name only, in outward things only, and not in heart and mind, in profession and practice only, his attendance to outward practice of Christianity is a mere matter of habitual form, or fashion, or custom, without heart, and with little influence on their own life, much less on someone who is a disciple. Such a person has a "formalistic religion", not a living faith.

This is what Paul told Timothy would be the case; people possessing, indeed, the "form," or outward show of Christianity, but not possessing substance or "power of the genuine article".

We could use the modern example of the thousands of people who regularly attend public worship services, attend the Lord's Table, but know nothing of true heartfelt Christianity.

People who have no idea of a deep, personal involvement with the Scriptures, and as a result, have no great pleasure and joy in reading them, nor do passages of Scripture bring challenge and angst about the aspects of life that are necessary signs in their lives of the working of the Spirit of God.

In the daily outworking of their lives, they have no idea what it means to separate themselves from worldliness without negating their love for others and opportunities to make disciples, nor are they really interested in such matters.

Formalists often take great pride in holding to a Confession of Faith, but in practice care little or nothing about the distinctive doctrines expressed in it.

As far as what is today called, "attending church", "worship", etc., is concerned, as long as many, maybe most, have fulfilled the outward form of attending church services, doing their allocated tasks, they are basically indifferent to what they hear preached, and leave the church meeting focused on their activities for the rest of the day.

Imagine, if at the end of such a day, if you could make yourself invisible and remain in the presence of the average attendee at church services, for weeks on end, what do you think you would observe?

Would you have reason to believe that the meeting they attended, the message they heard, was meaningful in any way?

Indeed, would your observations give you cause to think they were any different from the unbelievers who surround them?

to be continued

A MALIGNANT DISEASE.

2010-08-12T10:19:00.000+10:00

One of the advantages of being retired is to realise the amount of time wasted in times gone by. Mind you, one can also get more of those little things done which were always put on hold because of being too busy. I’ve found retirement has been advantageous because there is more time to think about things we were always too busy to think about.

During my years as a pastor, my waking hours, and sometimes the hours when I was supposed to be sleeping, were absorbed with my work, especially sermon preparation, and writing weekly printed studies, preparing material for the church bulletin. Twelve hour days were common.

Personal matters, and many needy others, received little attention.

One thing that stands out to me like a beacon is the fact that pastor’s wives are, without doubt, greater heroes than their husbands could ever be. My precious wife was much neglected during a large part of my ministry.

I’m not telling you this because I feel a need for confession of such, but to illustrate a terrible malaise, a sickness, which has invaded everything which calls itself “Christianity” in today’s world. Very few, if any, escape this affliction, both pastors and their beloved congregations.

This disease is so insidious, that we don’t realize we are afflicted; and yet it leads, not only to the malfunction of the individual, but of whole church bodies.

In my case, as with most pastors, my total absorption in the traditional forms of ministry masked the symptoms, as does life’s involvements of the other members of Christ’s Body, for whom a combination of formalities is often involved; work, family, entertainment, hobbies, the positions we are entrusted with in the running of the church, other voluntary church work, etc., etc.

I want to share some thoughts about the extremely serious issue of this disease in the church family.

The words of Chrysostom, apply to what Paul said, and are as true today as ever,

Just as the fountains, though none may draw from them, still flow on; and the rivers, though none drink of them, still run; so must we do all on our part in speaking, though none give heed to us.

At the outset, I must declare my love for the church of Jesus Christ, of which all genuine followers of Christ are a part. We are His betrothed, His Bride to be.

Having made that declaration, I'm asking you to please be careful of how you read what I am about to write, simply because it is far too easy to have the attitude expressed in the following poem, of which I am unaware of whence it came:

PREACH A SERMON, PREACHER

Preach a sermon preacher, make it short and sweet,
Our stomachs strike at 12 o'clock a hungering to eat.

Preach a sermon preacher, with words both smooth and fair,
For psychology we are thirsting, for scripture we don't care.

Preach a sermon preacher, punctuate it with jokes,
Fill it with your yarns and tales and entertain us folks.

Preach a sermon preacher, we care not what you say;
As long as you leave us alone and fire the other way.

Preach a sermon preacher, but don't get too specific;
As long as you will generalize we think you are terrific.

Preach a sermon preacher, make it good and plain;
But don't you dare get close enough to call sin by its name.

Preach a sermon preacher, preach it round or flat;
We love to play at hide and seek and guess just where you're at.

Preach a sermon preacher, make it what we like to hear;
We'll pat you on your spineless back, while you scratch our itching ear.

In 2 Tim. 3:1-5 the apostle Paul warned Timothy, about the sickness of which I write. It was already becoming common in his day, but would become more virulent as the age of grace, in which we live, progresses:

In teaching Timothy about this malaise, Paul told the young pastor what symptoms to look for.

In v.5 Paul indicates how the disease will finally manifest itself: “They will hold to an outward form of godliness but deny its power.”

There is no doubt that the visible church is being devastated by this insidious disease. Its more obvious manifestation is in what would best be called “formalism”, which is rooted in much of what is accepted church practice.

My concern in this regard began more than thirty years ago, when I was an elder of a denominational church .

We were blessed to have two consecutive pastors, who were used of God to encourage my wife and I to enter full time pastoral ministry. I had found two brethren who shared my concerns. Interestingly, one was an Arminian who had little love for reformation doctrine, and the other, like myself, was thoroughly convinced in regard to the doctrines of grace, but, we three, held a common love and concern for the Church of Jesus Christ.

They were both the gentlest, unassuming, humble men.

Uppermost, in our many discussions, was that many of the central concepts and practices associated with what we call 'church' are not rooted in the New Testament, but in ideas and habits that formed after the apostolic times.

We found mutual agreement on four crucial points of church history portrayed by Jon Zens:

1. The church portrayed in the New Testament was a dynamic organism, a living body with every member a functioning part. From somewhere around 150 years after the establishment of the church, the church gradually became, increasingly, more and more governed by an established hierarchy, even though that hierarchy was unofficial. The church became institutionalised.
2. The early N.T. church was marked by the ministry of every believer, under the leadership of a plurality of elders. The building up of, and the meeting of needs of the church, was accomplished through the spiritual gifts of everyone who were the local church. People didn’t go to church, they were the church.
After the early years of the apostles, the church became more and more under the control of people claiming to be called to particular church offices. This had the catastrophic effect of separating the so-called 'laity' from the so-called “clergy”. This negated, the significant, and essential ministry of the average church member, leaving it in the hands of a so-called ‘clergy’ class.
3. Most of the first 150 years of the church were characterized by periods of intense difficulty and persecution . Indeed the church was a suffering body, and yet, under these conditions it flourished.
The time of Constantine changed all that and the church became formalised, favored and ultimately sanctioned and protected as the official religion of the Roman state. Because preachers did not teach otherwise by example and precept, the church became, as a rule, an institution at ease, which it continues to be to this day.
4. During the first 150 years the New Testament church was perceived as a real threat to the ungodly political and religious structures and powers of the day. Believers had no official protection and depended on the Holy Spirit to hold them together, to lead them in ministry and to protect them.
After Constantine’s intervention and sanction, the church became a very powerful institution, along with its many rules, rites and offices which had a specific design. That design was not so that the Lord of the church would be glorified, but to ensure an unassailable faithfulness to the institution, and an apparent visible unity among its adherents.
This was the beginning of the malignant cancer of formalism which affects most churches of today.

Formalism is the scrupulous adherence to prescribed or habitual outward forms.

to be continued

Christian Idolaters? Never!

2010-07-26T10:59:00.000+10:00

Most people who claim to be Christian would be offended if it were suggested that they had some idols in their lives, and yet, it is clear by the responses when challenged on some matters that the truth of the matter is that many Christians DO have idols.

Idolatry is focusing our attention and affection on someTHING, or someONE, less significant and important than Almighty God, as He is revealed in Jesus Christ.

Creating difficulty for us in identifying idols is the fact that, probably the majority of our idols are things, or people, who, in itself or themselves, are good. They become idols in our lives simply because we hold them to a higher degree of order than we hold the Lord Jesus Christ.

More often than not we are unaware that we do so, but in our lack of awareness, we allow, or cause these other things to take the place of Jesus Christ, and to give significance to our lives.

It’s half a century since I came to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, almost the whole of that time fully involved in some ministry in traditional evangelicalism. It was only during the last twenty years, or so, of that time that I began to really see the idolatry, which has become so common, that it is regarded as the "normal Christianity” of which I was a part. I would never have admitted it at the time, but I came to see my own practice of this idolatry.

The idolizing of so-called church “offices”, such as bishop, priest, minister, pastor, deacon, is common amongst those who seek to attain such “high positions”. Congregations idolize those who bear such “official” titles, without being aware that they have elevated them above the Lord of the Church, Jesus Christ. Many people follow a leader around, as he/she changes location. I’ve known some who left employment, uprooted families, so they could sit in the new congregation, and listen to their idol.

The functions of what is commonly understood as church, such as “attending services” and “meetings”, “going to worship”, are often held in higher esteem than Jesus, as they take first place over personal responsibilities to minister to family, friends and neighbors. A pastor severely chastised a member of a congregation because they had arrived at the church as the service ended. They had attended to a road accident, and, by the time they were satisfied the victims were safe and attended to by ambulance, had stayed with them. The pastor expected they should have placed attendance before ministry.

The bound, printed pages of the Bible is idolized as a holy icon that, no matter how torn and worn, can never be thrown into the garbage bin. A relation of mine has a thigh high stack of tattered Bibles from years of family use. I was asked what ought to be done with them. My suggestion to put them in the bin met with a shocked, “Throw God’s word into the bin?”

Bricks and mortar, timber and iron, shaped into meeting halls, are idolized, as they are entered into, by people speaking in hushed tones, and the sound of laughter and joy echoing of the walls is regarded as sacrilegious.

I recently read that John Calvin once said, “Our hearts are idol making factories”, which turns out to be fact as many Christians idolize their theological position, willing to destroy fellowship with any Christian who has a different viewpoint. Denominational preferences are idolized as the familial relationship every believer has with Christ Jesus is held to ransom.

The idolizing of ones self is so very evident as self appointed spiritual police point out the sins and vagaries of another believer, with no desire to “restore such a one in a spirit of humility",lest they too, in the very act, are tempted. They do so without ever recognizing that, in the act of pointing, they have three fingers pointing to themselves.

Oh! I forgot! We only point out another’s sin because we love them! Don't we?

Pull the other leg. It might yodel!

ARE THERE COUNTERFIET CHRISTIANS?

2010-06-24T14:02:00.000+10:00

Just read two articles. The first by Dave Black , entitled “Rhino Evangelism”, and then Arthur Sido ,asking the question, “Is it possible to have your soteriology right but still not understand the Gospel?”

Interestingly for me, they touch on one issue, on which I am thoroughly convinced, affecting the life of evangelical Christianity; pseudo Christians, or fake Christians.

I am NOT saying that all, who fit the situation Dave and Arthur are writing about are false. I AM saying that I’m convinced that there are people, maybe many, who have all the intellectual knowledge and training available to Christians , can speak the language of Systematic Theology, convincingly converse, and live with the appearance a being genuine Christian.

A Jewish woman became a member of a Baptist Church in the U.S., professing to be a Christian, was accepted as such and functioned in that church for, as I understand it, two years. She finally admitted she was actually an atheist who had infiltrated the church for her own purposes.

It has been my own experience to spend several years with so-called Christians who were the product of the “Rhino Evangelism” of which Dave speaks. Having undergone training from which they developed an amazing knowledge of systematic theology, etc., they certainly, genuinely believed they were Christians, but proved to be otherwise.

How do I know they were not what the professed?

By their own, later, confession and testimony!

One such person, I have written about previously who was a deacon for twenty-six years, the church secretary for most of those years, led a boys club for most of that time, as well as filling the pastor’s shoes when he was absent. He knew the doctrines of salvation very well!

He came to me one Monday morning, and with tears streaming down his face said, “John! I am not Christian! I have fooled myself and deceived the church!”

I saw that man respond to the Holy Spirit in a truly life changing manner. He stood before the church the next Sunday and tearfully told his story to a shocked church.

This was God’s doing!

During my long life, sadly, I have seen this kind of thing repeated far more times than I would care to enumerate.

There can be no doubt that there are sincere, good living people, many led to where they are by the leadership of the church to which they belong, who are in fact deceived into believing they are saved.

It would be quite in order to ask whether there are such pseudo Christians in leadership.

In my opinion, far more than we may realize.

Have you ever asked those whom you hold in high esteem as leaders, elders, pastors, deacons to explain to you why they can claim to be disciples of Jesus Christ?

Why not?

Have you accepted the lie that, because they have academic qualifications and knowledge that they are more spiritual, more holy, more important in God’s scheme of things, that they are beyond question?

Maybe that’s why evangelicalism is falling apart at the seams.

Matthew Mead (1629-1699) wrote a book entitled “The Almost Christian Discovered” in which he proposes some of the following points:

- A man may have much knowledge—and yet be but almost a Christian
- A man may have a high profession of religion, be much in external duties of
godliness—and yet be but almost a Christian
- A man may go far in opposing his sin—and yet be but almost a Christian
- A man may hate sin—and yet be but almost a Christian
- A man may make great vows and promises, strong purposes and resolutions against
sin—and yet be but an almost Christian
- A man may maintain a strife and combat against sin—and yet be but almost a
Christian
- A man may be a member of a Christian church—and yet be but almost a Christian
- A man may have great hopes of heaven—and yet be but almost a Christian
- A man may be under visible changes—and yet be but almost a Christian
- A man may be very zealous in matters of religion—and yet be but almost a Christian
- A man may be much in prayer—and yet be but almost a Christian
- A man may suffer for Christ—and yet be but almost a Christian
- A man may have faith—and yet be but almost a Christian
- A man may have a love to the people of God—and yet be but almost a Christian
- A man may obey the commands of God—and yet be but almost a Christian
- A man may do all the external duties and worship which a true Christian can—and
yet be but almost a Christian.

I don't like the term "almost Christian". We are either saved or lost, Christian or non-Christian, but Mead points out a common problem of today:

Mead says this "almost Christian" is a proud person who sees in himself a righteous beauty, but cannot see his deformity. He sees his abilities—but not his spots. He sees his seeming righteousness—but not his real wretchedness.

"And He Gave Gifts to Men"

2010-05-25T06:40:00.000+10:00

Two very worthwhile blog comments, which cause me to rejoice and thank God. They are from two much younger men than I who give me cause to be encouraged about the future of those they lead.

Alan Knox:

I grew up in the deep South in the 70’s and 80’s. We grew up going to church where ordained ministers would hold services on Sundays. Perhaps it was only me, but I saw this as holy men performing holy services on holy days in holy places.

As I’ve continued to study Scripture, I see that my understanding while I was growing up is much closer to the Old Testament than to the New Testament. But, what’s the problem with that? The Old Testament is Scripture too, right?

Yes, but when it comes to things like the temple, the priesthood, the sacrifices, the Sabbath, and other aspects of life as the people of God in the New Testament, the New Testament tells us that these things are shadows of reality, and not reality themselves.

In other words, these things were all intended to point to something else, something bigger, something better. In fact, all of these things point forward to Christ, who fulfilled the whole law and became the better temple, high priest, sacrifice, and Sabbath.

Given my background, it is easy to switch back to thinking that there are holy days on which holy men do holy things in holy places. But, when this begins to cloud my understanding, I live in the shadows and not the reality of Christ. In Christ, all of God’s children are holy people; every day is a holy day; all opportunities to serve are holy offerings; and any place we are is a holy place, because we are the temple in which God dwells.

When do we live in the shadows? When we find ourselves asking questions like these: Should you do that on Sunday? Is there an ordained minister available to do that? Should they be doing that in the church [building]? Why is that person preaching [or teaching, or baptizing, or serving the Lord's Supper]?

These questions indicate a shift back into the shadowy thinking of the Old Testament. Today, in Christ, we have the realities available to us; we do not need the shadows.

Eric Carpenter:

"I Know What the Bible Says, But..."
I'll never forget the time I heard someone say, "I know what the bible says, but..."

A few years ago, while I was attending seminary, I had the opportunity to preach for a church whose pastor was on vacation. I arrived at the building on Sunday morning and was greeted by some very nice folks. As was expected, I was given about 30 minutes to speak to them. Everything was fine.

After the service, one of the deacons and his wife took me out for lunch. We had a good conversation, the food was good, and (bonus) he picked up the bill.

Despite all this, what really sticks out for me is what he said at one point during the meal. We were talking about their church and, specifically, their deacons. He told me that they have ladies serving as deacons. Then he said, "I know what the bible says, but..." He then went on to justify ladies serving as deacons based on pragmatic reasons.

My point in this post is NOT to debate whether or not women should serve as deacons. I know there is a lot involved in that discussion.

Rather, my point is that this man, who I'm sure has good intentions, based his view on women deacons on pragmatics. He actually believes that their church is violating scripture but that this is somehow acceptable because it works.

It is easy to fault this man. Instead of doing that, let's take a hard look at our own lives. How often do we say we believe one thing but then live another way? How many times do we believe the bible says one thing, but then turn around and do the opposite? How many times do we do things just because "they work"?

Most Christians say they believe the bible. Most say they believe the bible is our final authority. We all say these things. But do we really believe it?

If we dare, let's take a hard look at our lives to see where we are in reality saying, "I know what the bible says, but..."

I Was There!

2010-05-17T07:40:00.000+10:00

Why did I write the previous post? Because I personally know that of which I'm writing!

There's an old saying,

"It takes one to know one!"

Becoming a follower of Christ when quite young,I am now ashamed to say that I spent a large part of my life in the guise of a Pharisee.

About the only thing I didn't do was to fast twice a week.

Appearances were so very important, but that which was visible didn't reflect the internal realities and the sheer effort of being seen to be what others expected of me.

Although I proudly declared that Christ was my all sufficiency, my striving was for the approval of those who were in leadership, both at a local church level and denominational.

If you are wondering: I was zealous for my faith. When I was appointed to the leadership of the church I preached the Scriptures according to my theological persuasions. Praying was extremely important and I learned to pray the flowery, pious, long winded prayers which some of my older brethren could pray. A low income, a wife and five children didn't conspire to allow a proper tithe, a fact which burdened my Pharisaical heart with guilt. The appearance of moral perfection was paramount, to which my dear children could attest. The effort my wife and I put into church attendance was extreme, and how we revelled in the applause of those who knew the long trip we made every Sunday. I was as orthodox an evangelical as one could be.

Oh! How God would be impressed!

I soon discovered otherwise.

So Many Questions.

2010-05-13T07:16:00.000+10:00

I cannot help but wonder whether many orthodox evangelicals simply see empty words, which have no real significance, when reading the words of Jesus, the Head of the Church. As the King of kings, He is speaking to His subjects. As the Shepherd of the sheep, He is speaking to His flock, as the Head of His household, He is speaking to the other members of the household, His brethren, all of which appellations evangelicals claim.

I wonder why this is, when all orthodox evangelicals declare, quite emphatically, that the Scriptures are God’s word to His people, His instructions for living a life pleasing to Him, a life in right relationship with Himself and the rest of His family, yet decide that He doesn’t mean what He says and that He needs to be interpreted by them, or that His words don’t apply to them?

Arminian or Calvinist will agree that the recorded words of Jesus are the words of
He who said,

"I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent
me commanded me what to say and how to say it"

When Jesus was baptized, one of the rare recorded occasions when the voice of the Almighty God was heard, He said,

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; LISTEN TO HIM.”

Then why are we not listening to Him, and taking serious notice of Him when He gave the warning to His disciples,

"Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees"?

Notice that Jesus “gave the warning to His disciples”. It was to His followers, His disciples, which evangelicals claim to be, to which He gave this warning. His disciples, or followers, and in our context, genuine Christians, are the people with whom He had, the closest of relationships, who walked with Him, lived in relationship with Him, ate with Him, endured hardship with Him, and whom, except one, had been faithful in that relationship.

And yet; it seems that there are among us, many, maybe a majority, and even those in the “high places” of Christian learning, who think they are above such warnings.

Why is it that we can become so proud that we consider ourselves to have reached such a pinnacle of proud religiosity that we can forget that there are absolutely none so spiritually strong and mature, so sanctified, that he/she cannot fall?

Why can we not see that even though the Holy Spirit of God has drawn us into a right relationship with the Father, through the finished work of Christ, and that, even though we are justified by the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, sanctified by His Holy Spirit, we have NOT become infallible, unable to fail, simply because we are the still flesh and blood we always were, still in the body, into which life was breathed, and still facing the same temptation as always, and still weak and liable to the same failures in our understanding of Biblical truth, function in our own lives, and in the group of believers with whom we fellowship.

Who is so bold as to say they are stronger than those heroes of the faith who stumbled through their walk, such as Peter did? I certainly will not put up my hand to that!

Again, I cannot help but wonder whether our blindness is because we have become Pharisees , who, it seems, were the original blueprints of much of what is regarded as being a good evangelical church member?

The Pharisees knew their Bibles; were disciplined in prayer; fasted twice a week; gave about a third of their income to their church; were moral (very moral); many had been martyred for their faith; they attended ‘church’ regularly; they were evangelical/orthodox; and evangelistic, they were very careful about how spiritual they appeared, piously defending, very vigorously, their own righteousness.

They do seem familiar! I wonder why?

VALERIE

2010-03-22T06:13:00.000+10:00

The pharmacist gave me my prescription to sign. Automatically I asked what the date was. She told me. My response was to thank her and to comment that I should have remembered the date because it was Valerie's and my fourty-ninth wedding anniversary.

No! I hadn't forgotten. Asking the date was a habit which had developed over the years.

The pharmacists response was

WOW!! That's a long time!

Funny thing is, the measure of longevity can be very subjective, depending from whence one views time.

When that gorgeous vision in the photo looked into my eyes as we shared our vows, the years ahead seemed to promise an unending time in which to enjoy each other.

From the age of seventy, from which I now view time, it seems that our time together has been so very short.

At any rate, I don't want to philosophize, but simply celebrate the time we've had together, the great times, the difficult times, the blessing that God gave me in this precious bride.

A Paradoxical Situation

2010-02-14T17:56:00.000+10:00

When reading the different Christian blog sites we are confronted with the writings of a multitude of people, both bloggers and the responders, expressing their own thoughts, and often an accumulation of the thoughts of their teachers, the authors they read, as well as their understanding of the Biblical texts.
The question must be asked,

How do we know whether the words written are from the mind of a false teacher, or a faithful one?

In Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 7, Jesus was teaching the crowds. One of His teachings was how to know the true from the false, but He warned them that things were not always what they seemed. In verse 15 He tells them that there are “ravenous wolves” amongst those who are His sheep. These wolves actually appear to be sheep, apparently pious, sincere, truthful, and with the best interests of His sheep at heart.

It is not necessarily so!

So He tells them, in v. 16, that

You will recognize them by their fruits

.
He then uses a very reasonable analogy, which He presents in question form,

Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

Of course the very reasonable response to His very reasonable question, must be a resounding

No!

Reason, based upon evidence must be involved in forming these opinions,

So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit

.
So Jesus identified what we ought to look for, a mark of distinction.
Without this mark, we would find ourselves having a question mark hanging over all who express an opinion, whether as a teacher, a blogger, or a responder to a blog.
It is important that those we ascertain those who are trustworthy, and faithful sisters and brothers. Christ’s advice encourages us to form our opinion, or make value judgments, of the words coming from the mouths or keyboards, as to whether the authors are uttering, or writing falsehood. According to Jesus words, we are to make that assessment based upon their fruits.
What kind of fruit is being displayed when I read statements, directed towards a sister or brother, which are void of any evidence of grace?
Seems to me that such words as comparing a brother with “human excrement”, or claiming that a brother has written, or spoken heresy (with the juvenile disclaimer that the brother is not charged with being a heretic), or a sister or brother is “stupid” for what they write, are rather the expressions one would find coming from an unredeemed, pagan mind rather than Christian.
G.K.Chesterton was describing this paradoxical situation of Christians who don’t evidence grace, when he said,

It is not bigotry to be certain we are right; but it is bigotry to be unable to imagine how we might possibly have gone wrong

.
True generosity of spirit towards those who think differently to us only comes as we are abundantly aware of our own unmerited receipt of, and continuing need for God’s grace.
Paul described the fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit to look for in the lives of all followers of Christ, such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Theological education and knowledge, or conviction, will never convince anyone if not accompanied by a humble awareness of one's own propensity to be pridefully wrong.
Is it only I who cannot see the evidence of grace in the kind of statements I’ve mentioned?

WHO DESIGNED YOUR CLOTHES?

2010-02-03T07:17:00.000+10:00

Thanks Lionel for the inspiration!

Reading several blogs recently, which I won't link to for reasons which will be obvious, I am made vividly aware of the dangers of allowing ANYTHING to be added to the utter completeness of what God has done for sinners like me in the establishment and inaugurating His New Covenant, by the finished work of the Lord,Jesus Christ.

It is reported that one man made a substantial donation with the hope that his gift will make him more visible to God. Another argues that those who don't teach tithing are close to being heretics. Another argues that some believers are more important to God than others.

What do these people imagine the Lord of Glory is impressed by? Do they really believe that Christ's work was imperfect and has to be completed by their meager efforts? Does He have favorites amongst His own?

I must confess that I have nothing which I can add to the great design of the "clothes" I now wear, will wear until eternity, before my Savior God.

Nikolaus L. von Zinzendorf understood it well:

JESUS THY BLOOD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS
MY BEAUTY ARE,MY GLORIOUS DRESS;
’Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.

Bold shall I stand in Thy great day;
For who aught to my charge shall lay?
Fully absolved through these I am
From sin and fear, from guilt and shame.

The holy, meek, unspotted Lamb,
Who from the Father’s bosom came,
Who died for me, e’en me to atone,
Now for my Lord and God I own.

Lord, I believe Thy precious blood,
Which, at the mercy seat of God,
Forever doth for sinners plead,
For me, e’en for my soul, was shed.

Lord, I believe were sinners more
Than sands upon the ocean shore,
Thou hast for all a ransom paid,
For all a full atonement made.

When from the dust of death I rise
To claim my mansion in the skies,
Ev’n then this shall be all my plea,
Jesus hath lived, hath died, for me.

- Nikolaus L. von Zinzendorf, 1739

Joy and Sadness

2009-12-26T16:51:00.000+10:00

The current holiday season is always one of mixed emotions for us. It’s such a joyous time as we think about the most important part, the Incarnation and what that means for the brethren in Christ. Then there is the hugs and kisses with family who gravitate to our home, and the special once-every-twelve-months hours spent with children, their spouses, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Then the emotions of the experience swings the other way; they begin to leave for their several homes, 2000, 1400 kilometres away, then 250, and thankfully, one only 80 kilometres. All but the latter, a single daughter, whom we see regularly, we hug and kiss on an annual basis, because we are now not able to travel to them. How precious those hugs and kisses are, they have to last twelve months!

This time was extra special, because they very carefully sprang a belated, surprise 70th birthday celebration, something which I had sternly told them not to do. Of course, like children everywhere, they had a well-reasoned excuse for their disobedience, “You didn’t forbid it for four months later!”

Two sons and their wives, who are unable to be with us for Christmas, made the effort to join in this forbidden celebration.

I thank God for such earthly exhibition of love and gratitude.

Even more so, I thank God for His majestic exhibition of love towards this most undeserving creature, and that my wife and children, with me above, have also received of that heavenly love, “by grace through faith”, and celebrate with us. I pray that will be true for our grandchildren, as well as our great-grandchildren with Valerie and I in the photo above.

CELEBRATION!

2009-12-04T05:39:00.000+10:00

We celebrated! We couldn’t help ourselves when our poinciana tree bloomed in such an amazingly magnificent manner, as the picture shows. Forgive the superlatives, but it was stupendously beautiful. We both said we had never seen a poinciana flower so magnificently before. We are biased! It is OUR tree, which we planted six years ago. And look at it now.

We who are followers of Christ get excited every Christmas season, and we celebrate with all kinds of traditional and non-traditional ways. Some of us seem to forget that, here in Queensland, we live in a hot climate. Consequently our traditions rule our behavior and we celebrate the same way our brethren do in the colder parts of the world, with many eating sumptuous hot meals in celebration!

I’d rather cold meats and salads any day! Everyone to his/her own liking!

We also give gifts, which I trust,help to remind us of the greatest Gift of all, the Almighty Creator, God incarnate (becoming man) as the promised Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

What an amazingly stupendous and magnificent act of love and grace. There are no superlative sufficient to describe the wonder of it! Mind boggling in both its complexity and its simplicity, especially when we understand God's intent.

As with every Christmas, this year I cannot help but wonder why those claiming to be followers of Jesus Christ,don’t celebrate the fact that Christmas has far greater implications: This incarnation event had far more purpose than simply a stunningly amazing entrance into the world. It's powerful purpose was for Jesus Christ to live the life we cannot live, AND to shed His life blood until death overtook Him, to satisfy His own justice,revealing the indescribable love and mercy that our God has towards all who would receive Him in repentance and faith,.

But death could not hold Him. On the first day of the week He defeated death and hell. It was on this day that His earthly work was finished. He had sealed His place as our New Covenant Savior, brother and friend. His resurrection was the guarantee of resurrection to all who are His, and for whom death has no fear.

Why don't those claiming to be followers of Jesus Christ, celebrate every first day of the week, Resurrection Day? It was on this day that His earthly work was finished. He had hung on a cross to pay for my sin and all who would receive Him in repentance and faith.

Let’s think beyond the tradition, the emotion and warm feelings about a baby in a manger, and think about whom this baby is, and why He came to this earth in the miraculous way He did, and why EVERY day of the week is a day for reflection, rejoicing, and celebration.

Is our relationship with the King of Kings, which He paid for, worth only Christmas and Easter, two days a year of happiness and joyous celebration? Why do we separate the two as if there is no connection between them?

I give thanks to our heavenly Father for His provision and blessings during this past year, and, with you celebrate!

Have a happy, and reflective Christmas!

ANOTHER ROAD?

2009-11-16T07:02:00.000+10:00

Recently, in a local newspaper, was an article explaining the angst being caused in surrounding homes by the ultra-loud music (noise) coming from some large groups calling themselves "churches".

One church representative said,

There are definitely a significant number of our churches that use modern, contemporary music. This is one of the reasons we are growing through attracting young people

So the appeal of the church is to be to the senses, not to the heart and mind? Another gospel?

Reading this brings to mind the words of another leader who said,

Much of the gospel being proclaimed today has become a caricature of the biblical message, exaggerating certain parts and greatly diminishing (or eliminating) others. There has been a tragic shift from a God-centered message of grace to make the gospel a man-centered human endeavor. God is often made to be an anemic old grandfather begging his children to come back to himself with no ability on his own to gather them. Or he is presented as the great Santa Clause with a bag of goodies to get people to acknowledge him. The truth of the mighty power of the Word of God with the effectual working of the Holy Spirit to raise the dead is lost in a quagmire of humanistic methods and enticements.

Jesus plainly says, No one can come to me, except the Father who has sent me draw him. The ‘outer’ work of the gospel is the proclamation - the preaching of Christ and his saving grace, but the inner work must be the enlightening enlivening power of the Holy Spirit through which the Father draws men to his son.

Seems as though there is a growing tendency to believe that there are many roads to our eternal Father, with those paved with ease and that which excites,

the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions

, being the most travelled.

There seems to be a common blindness today which causes folk to not be able to read the large road sign which says the alternate routes are NOT FROM THE FATHER BUT IS OF THE WORLD.

A Fifth Column?

2009-11-01T10:50:00.000+10:00

Seems like centuries ago now, but when I first came into the ranks of those seeking to serve churches as a pastor, I came with high ideals regarding that person.

Naive? Yes! I wouldn't have thought so then.

Idealistic? Yes! Still so!

Realistic? No! Long way off!

My first pastors conference started to sort out my naïveté and my view of reality!

I can't help but commend Dave Black on his honesty about himself,and his awareness of his own weakness and struggles, a very rare quality, indeed!

Then I came across this quote by J.C. Philpot from a sermon preached at North Street Chapel, Stamford, on March 6,1859:

I have ever found myself to be my greatest enemy. I never had a foe that troubled me so much as my own heart; nor has any one ever wrought me half the mischief or given me half the plague that I have felt and known within. And it is a daily sense of this which makes me dread myself more than anybody that walks upon the face of the earth!
Keep a watchful eye upon every inward foe; and if you fight, fight against the enemy that lurks and works in your own breast!

I wonder what gives me the impression that not too many in leadership today would agree with Mr. Philpot?

Why do I get the feeling that Pogo was right when he said,

“I've found the enemy and he is us.”

Have You Ever Wondered?

2009-10-19T06:55:00.000+10:00

Have you ever wondered about Peter’s motives when he sought to prevent Jesus predicted suffering? Jesus rebuke makes me wonder,

You do not have in mind the things of God but the things of man

(Mark 8:33).

We can conjecture, and come to some logical conclusions, but are we right, or, more to the point: What do we learn from that moment in time?

Peter’s reasons are reflected in the other disciples’ actions in the ensuing couple of chapters. In Mark 9:33-34, we find the disciples had been disputing about who was the greatest,

Then they came to Capernaum. While Jesus was at home, he asked the disciples, ‘What were you arguing about on the road?’ But they kept silent, for on the road they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.

Then, in 10: 35-37 we see the heart of the matter, which is displayed so eloquently in much of the traditional church scene today; with ignorant temerity, induced by an over inflated opinion of their own importance, James and John asked Jesus to place them in a position of great honour.

Again, illustrating what we see commonly happening across the churches today, the other ten disciples get themselves involved in these ugly proceedings. We find them showing great concern that Zebedee’s two sons may be placed in a position which will have negative impact on their own selfish aspirations.

Notice the way the ten, after hearing Jesus initial response, try to squirm out of their implication in this farce, as they turn His attention to James and John ( v.41 ), but, Jesus continues in a way that must have been a solid blow to their regal ambitions for prominence amongst followers of Christ.

Their cherished desire , and strong drive, to be recognized as successful and influential, is rebuffed by Jesus, who compared their behaviour with the way the Roman political overlords functioned. He likened them to the very people who oppressed the Jews, who took advantage of them, and who would put Jesus to death in the very near future,

You know that those who are recognized as rulers among the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors act like tyrants over them.

The sinful nature of man was made very evident amongst the Roman political traders in power and oppression, and here were the disciples actually imitating them!

Can you tell me that the same attitude isn’t common amongst Christians today, amongst leaders who clamour for recognition, who love titles, and bask in the supposed glory of being seen as the top dog in the pack, often reminding congregations of their “authority”?

Jesus repudiated and reversed this Adamic human behaviour. To be a leader amongst the people of God is to eschew the enterprising, dominant spirit of religious political power. To be a leader in the family of God is to shun the obnoxious control and subjugation of people for narcissistic glory, the manipulation of congregations for ones own career ambitions. To be a discipler of disciples is to be a truly sacrificial servant and lover of others, who puts the interests of others before ones own.

This is what Jesus modeled, as the mark of greatness! He did so by His own life, teaching, death and resurrection.

Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many

(10:45).

Surely that must make those who have a penchant for regularly reminding congregations of their “authority” and “office” to think ?

Maybe I’m living on another planet!

Disciples or Converts

2009-10-06T10:18:00.000+10:00

Well, Paul, I have tried to keep it short, and failed.

For those who don't know me, I have been in that part of the institutional church, which is proud to call itself evangelical, for most of my adult life which has now reached its Biblically allotted span. During those many years, more than fifty, apart from John 3:16, Matthew 28:19-20 would be the most quoted Scripture in the sermons I have listened to.

Sadly, most of the sermons, in which that passage was quoted, were designed to press members of the congregation to “evangelize” unbelievers, by inducing in them a sense of guilt for not doing so.

That verse of Scripture was also prominent during my college days.

In both church and college, we were never told explicitly, but implicitly left with the impression, that maybe, we were not even Christians if we didn’t evangelise, or, at the very least, we were bad Christians who were letting our Master down.

How on earth did we get that idea from Matthew 28: 19-20?

Jesus explicitly charged his followers to make disciples of all nations . He also exhorted them to teach those who became disciples under their ministry,and to observe all that I have commanded you”.

The church has managed to twist make disciples , into preaching a message, or using a gospel centered program coupled with some good, persuasive rhetoric (salesmanship) about what “Christians believe” and the horrible consequences for those not believing, hopefully finishing up with the dubious privilege of helping a, now guilt laden, person admitting to being “sinner” who must be penitent and pray a special prayer, which God must take notice of.

Did this Great Commission of Jesus mean that those who were His disciples were to do something He never did?

Disciple-making most certainly includes the precious message of the Gospel, without doubt, but if we look at the disciple making methods of Jesus we can see that it is about more about gaining the trust of the disciple, about demonstration of what it means to be a disciple, in which teaching the Good News of the Gospel, and its practical outworking, or the fruit, in the life of the disciple-maker is a major part; and, over a long period of time.

There can be no doubt that, as Jesus demonstrated, disciple making it is not about filling the disciples head with information, but much more to do with life transformation, beginning on the inside. It was about leaving of the old life governed by a heart of stone, and emerging into new life with a soft, malleable heart open to the shaping power of the Holy Spirit. That is what Paul was talking about in Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.Its a metamorphosis.

The making of a disciple is a long term process which can only come to fruition within a relationship between two people, the disciple and the disciple-maker. The disciple-maker will exhibit to the disciple, a strong commitment of spending one-to-one quality time, however long it takes, maybe three to four years, to bring the disciple to such a level of spiritual maturity in Christ, that the disciple will begin to make disciples.

Being obedient to the command of Christ to make disciples, IS NOT DONE by what we popularly call “evangelism”, which actually, in many cases, militates AGAINST making disciples!

Now you might respond by saying, “What about the Holy Spirit in all of this?”

My response to that is: We have effectively, and methodically programmed the Holy Spirit out of the equation by using schemes and programs to get instant results. Our egos require us to present a record of achievement, which we call “souls won for Christ”, but which are no more than the proud notches on the gun of the gunfighters in popular Western fiction.

What we have achieved through this is only an apparent success, a hollow victory measured by numbers, but history proves the lie of these numbers by the rate of attrition, which, by all accounts, has dramatically increased.

All we have succeeded in doing is compromise and undermine the true God honoring, Holy Spirit motivated ministry of making disciples of ordinary Christian brethren whom we denigrate by calling them "laity".

I will repeat what I wrote earlier, making disciples is about two people walking together, the one demonstrating the love of Christ, by expending their life on the other in word and deed. It’s about one member of God's special family of adoptees, who desires to share the love of that family and their Father, with another human being.

Making disciples is NOT about one of the most sickening concepts I know, when it is applied to the spiritual life, programs which teach that successful evangelism is available to all who will use “replicable,transferable methods”!

To do what? To get a “prospect” to become a "believer" by giving intellectual assent to some potted speil presented by a well trained salesman. What a miserably low view of true disciple making!

James tells us very clearly that the devil is a believer (James 2:9). So, what does that tell us about simply making converts, "believers" who intellectually assent to some information we give them? Are we telling them that they have joined the illustrious company of demons?

Such an intellectually persuaded convert becomes dependent on the person who offered them the Bible flavored bill of goods they accepted, which dependence is then transferred to the leadership (pastor) of the group to whom the persuader belongs. The convert also has a sense of “owing” the person for throwing them, what they have been told is, their lifeline.

On the other hand the true disciple, is powerfully moved in heart and mind, by the Holy Spirit, NOT by the disciple-maker, to follow the One revealed in the life of the disciple-maker, by the love they see demonstrated (John 13:35). The disciple maker, in their every-day contact, gives testimony, to the disciple about the life changing work of Christ who has made him who he is. Taught and moved by the Holy Spirit, the disciple understands the characteristics displayed in the disciple-maker, which are a reflection of his Master, as such characteristics are revealed as genuine in the disciple-makers life. The disciple-maker is living proof of the reality of his/her words.

Spending much quality time with the disciple-maker, the disciple sees that the disciple-maker’s life is not ruled by legal requirements, but that some inner power has caused him/her, whilst remaining completely, feet firmly planted on earth, human, to be honest about their inadequacies and faults and struggles, yet without fear of reprisal from the One in whom they have implicit trust. The disciple clearly sees that the disciple-maker has complete confidence in his/her adoptive Father who will never leave or forsake His child. In the very likely event of the disciple-maker failing, the disciple will see that the disciple-maker has such confidence in the Father that he/she will get up, deal with the failure and run back home to the Father.

The Holy Spirit applies that evidence in the life of the disciple.

To cut a long story short, I became an elder (pastor) in a denomination well known for its emphasis on evangelising. As a young man I believed the spiels and pep talks which came from the denominational leaders and pulpits, and was willingly, and enthusiastically trained in program after program, each one supposedly better than the other. I became proficient in using these programmes, as I had when a successful secular salesman for a brief period.

I was so pleased, and even proud, that many I spoke with became convinced converts, and took part in classes about baptism and membership, just like the many who sat, like silent zombies, in the pews, closing their eyes when appropriate, standing and opening their mouths likewise, and dutifully and patiently doing what they had been taught that good Christians do, injecting their money into the church offering and quietly allowing the preacher to assuage his conscience by doing what he is paid to do.

Which brings me to who is commanded to “Make disciples”.

Does Jesus command only apply to those in leadership positions, and, so-called special “office”? If so: How can that command be obeyed according to the description I have given of spending much quality time with a disciple over, what can amount to several years?

The answer is quite simple! It cannot, and is not done!

Church leaders, pastors, if you like, are able to easily disciple one or two disciples.

What about the huge numbers of people who have not heard the Gospel?

Most genuine followers of Christ would be very comfortable being labeled as a disciple of Christ, one who sits at the feet of their Master, an apprentice, if you like.

Jesus’ command to “make disciples” was given to such disciples.

According to Paul, when speaking to the church at Ephesus, the elders’ (pastors’) proper task is to, “…equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,…”.

In other words, the elders’ task is to teach disciples of Christ, followers of Christ, to be disciple-makers, NOT to be faithful followers of an elder, a pastor, a pope, a bishop, any other title holder, nor the of denominational propaganda, or even the systematic theology they favor.

I think Paul understood one of the more important principles which is missing from almost all of the institutional church scene, and that is the understanding that IT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO TEACH A DISCIPLE-MAKER THAN TO MAKE A DISCIPLE.

That’s why he told the Ephesians that those He appointed as leaders were to equip the saints for the work of ministry NOT jealously protect, what they regard, as THEIR ministry, as is commonly done.

Indeed, they were to multiply themselves, releasing as many as possible into ministry.

Before you jump up and down and yell, “Heresy!”, think about it.

Making disciple-makers is about multiplying ones own ministry. Every disciple of Christ, after two or three years spent with a mature disciple-maker, ought to now be as mature as their teacher, they ought to be a disciple-maker.

Now do the math and see what would happen if, led by the Holy Spirit, that was repeated by these two, and the next four, the next eight, the next sixteen, etc.

There may be individuals who have the gifting and ability to expend their lives on more than two or three. Jesus expended His life with the twelve, and He never preached guilt inducing messages, nor did He stand on a box in the street preaching fire and brimstone, nor did He stand in a pulpit reminding His congregation of His authority over them, but He did spend quality time with the twelve, demonstrating what it means to glorify God with ones life and even ones death. When He did speak about the law it was not to assert its authority but to show that there can be no perfect keeping of the law this side of the grave, no matter how religious a person may be, and that true right standing before God can only be found in Him and His finished work, and to ensure that His followers understood that love is the fulfillment of the law.

Conversion is about accepting some information given over a short period of time. It’s about good salesmen bagging their prospect.

Making disciples is about commitment to Jesus’ command to “make disciples” by long term commitment to individuals, who, in turn obey the command,” make disciples”, who, also, in turn obey the command, “make disciples.

No! As a maker of disciples you’ll never be recognized as one who climbed the ladder of, so-called, “success”, or as a well known evangelist, or as an erudite speaker, or proudly wear the title of “Pastor” of a large church or denomination, but, you will receive the commendation of the only One entitled to say,”Well done good and faithful servant,. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”

Civilized??

2009-09-27T11:41:00.000+10:00

“Of Mature age” is how people of my vintage are described in this country. Probably true where you live. In this age of easy communication it doesn’t take long for terms, such as that, to spread.

But I wonder whether the inclusion of the word “mature” is always appropriate when we see the way many of we “older” folk express our thoughts on matters about which we differ.

Maybe the rudeness and arrogance of many of the younger ones can be put down to the behavior of their elders? The lack of practical example, the failure to nurture because of "busy-ness"?

There are so many points we could throw into a discussion about this, but I think my blogging friend Paul at VTBottomline has brought a very important one to the fore in his article entitled “FACTS ABOUT CIVILITY”.

Reading Paul’s definition of civility raises some very obvious questions when applied to, possibly a majority of, what has become known as “Christianity”.

CIVILITY-----A Definition.

Courteous behavior...
Politeness...
A courteous act...

CIVILITY is connected to-----Civilization.
An advanced development of society.

Civilized.
Having advanced in cultural or social
behaviors.

Synonyms-----Respectfully, graciousness.

Antonyms-----Rudely, disrespect.

Courteous behavior, politeness ? An ADVANCED development of society? Civilized, respectful, gracious?

Now, we could easily dismiss what he says as the rambling of another old feller, like me, but, Paul’s right, and if claims to be a follower of Christ are genuine, as we read what he goes on to write, we would ask ourselves some very hard questions about how we respond to people who disagree with us, or have a different point of view, or………Well you read what he says:

UNFORTUNATELY----Lack of civility can be seen as....

RACISM...A belief that race is
the primary determinant of human capacities and traits.

MISOGYNY...Hatred of women.

MISANTHROPY...Hatred of men.

ANTI-SEMITISM...Hatred of
the Jews.

Paul certainly puts his finger on a few of the appropriated character traits, of many who claim the name of Christian, and as he rightly points out:

All this depends on the heart of the one who is being rude [And we can't know that always.] and on the race or gender of the one who is the object of the rudeness or incivility.

Incivility is NOT appropriate or proper for our society and is certainly out of bounds for a true Christian.

INCIVILITY---in our culture is rampant but not surprisingly so since group or accepted guidelines for personal behavior are boundaries that people who see others to be of value and worth are willing to impose on themselves for the good of all. Our society is now emphasizing the individual to the exclusion of others with little respect for the sacredness of life that should begin before the birth experience. That disrespect for the sacredness of life is slowly permeating the entire fabric of our society.

How I like Paul’s next words as he comes to the crux of the matter, for those claiming to be Christian:

CHRISTIAN CIVILITY---is because of the rule of Christ in our lives, however, and is NOT to be taken from or borrowed from our culture.

Our civility comes from truly loving others as we are loved "in Christ" and that includes loving even our enemies. (my emphasis)

Surely, if you and I really are what we claim we would have no negative comment about Paul’s

THREE FINAL FACTS ABOUT CIVILITY

One--It is not optional for the believer.

Two--It is not our goal. Loving Him in return is our goal and that is what is mirrored in our love for others for good or bad.

Three--It would make for a better society any time we're willing to embrace it.

Remember! Paul’s not speaking about religion, or doctrine, or theology, but simple, plain, indwelling Holy Spirit induced relational behavior expected of followers of Christ.

Of course, as Christians we have no trouble claiming 1 John 4:14 as applicable to ourselves, So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

Can we honestly claim these words to be true of us if our LACK of civility towards others indicates otherwise?

Laurel Wreath or Paper Bag?

2009-09-21T07:51:00.000+10:00

Once one reaches that time of life when three-score years and ten are past tense, and there are days when one cannot get much more physical than eating and keeping oneself clean (thankfully not too many days like that), it’s during those times thinking and praying are the major exercises available.

During such times reading some of the really good blogs becomes a much anticipated part of the process.

Brother Dave Black’s pages are perfect for such times because they often remind me of the struggles we experienced as a family, and I as the bread winner, regarding the abandoning of the life we knew and entering into a lifetime committed to the preaching and teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

One such entry on Dave’s blog on Sunday September 20, he comments regarding some for whom “Christianity is a faith to be admired or else merely a subject to be studied objectively and historically -- nothing more.”

Writing in the context of some theology students our brother says, “For them the New Testament was nothing more than an analyzable datum of linguistic and historical investigation. For all their audacious ideas, they had no courage to follow the teachings of the One they claimed to have studied so thoroughly. What is true of university students is no less true of the modern church-goer. It really boils down to courage. Do we have the guts to give ourselves to something as costly as genuine Christianity?”

Note that sentence,” What is true of university students is no less true of the modern church-goer.”

How sad! How true!

But I’m drawn back to the comment made the day before the above-mentioned contribution on Dave’s blog, when he draws attention to an article on Henry Neufeld’s blog regarding our propensity to have “concept idols”.

Dave quotes Henry thus: “What's even more dangerous is that once we have made that "concept idol" we become less and less capable of hearing the very proper challenges to our idol and the pedestal on which we have placed it. We hear the challenges to the idols of others. Egalitarians, such as myself, can quite clearly see the dangers of patriarchy and hear clearly when its place on the pedestal is challenged. "Tear down that idol!" we shout!”

How right Dave is when he says, “.. it is sometimes necessary to remove the laurel wreaths around our heads and replace them with paper bags. Our convictions on rightness and wrongness are often ridiculously absurd.”

Just as absurd as are the “concept idols” which stand tall in most groups of Christians, where the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work, despite protestations, is at least secondary.

Read these men , and others such as Alan Knox, and have your “concept idols” challenged, if you dare..

A Little Too Familiar

2009-09-05T10:00:00.000+10:00

I’m very sorry,but, living on the other side of the world, I haven’t a clue who Gary North is, but I like what he is reported to have written in Reality Check, August 18, 2009
Apparently, to quote Mr. North, “The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has begun the most revolutionary experiment in the history of education, stretching all the way back to the pharaohs. It now gives away its curriculum to anyone smart enough to learn it. It has posted its curriculum on-line for free.”

As the article proceeds the author, under the heading, “The Nature of this Revolutionary Experiment”, goes on to say, “For as long as there have been priesthoods, there has been formal classroom education.
The Egyptian priests had classrooms, lectures, and students taking notes.
The Jews had schools where bright young men came to learn the Hebrew texts and memorize the oral tradition, which began being written down in the second century A.D. This oral tradition was written down centuries later: the Mishnah and the Talmud.
The Classical Greeks had academies. Plato and Aristotle taught young men the rudiments of philosophy.
The Greeks also had medical schools.
These programs were closed to most outsiders. A student had to be accepted. He also had to pay. In most cases, the information was secret.

He then goes on to say that the student was bound by an oath of secrecy. In the case of the above medical students, the Hippocratic Oath, which, apart from being sworn in the name of pagan entities, included the following words,
“To hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parents and to live my life in partnership with him, and if he is in need of money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as equal to my brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art -- if they desire to learn it -- without fee and covenant; to give a share of precepts and oral instruction and all the other learning to my sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have signed the covenant and have taken an oath according to the medical law, but no one else.”

I couldn't help but think how familiar it sounds as North rightly asserts that “the training created a medical guild”, which, “functioned as an oligopoly. It kept prices high by restricting access to the training.
This is what the college diploma has always done. It has created a guild that restricts entry by non-certified people. This keeps wages high.
To obtain the diploma, a person must pay money to the trainers. The trainers are located at one center or special regional centers. Journeying to the center adds costs. Quitting a full-time job back home also adds to the expense. Forcing students to attend pre-requisites adds to the cost. Everything is done to screen access to the knowledge.
So, the knowledge does not spread. This is the crucial function of the academic screening system, especially for practical knowledge: healing people and building things.
“For the first time in the history of man, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has opened the gates to all comers. It has said, "You won't get certified by us, but you can get the classroom knowledge. If you are smart enough to teach yourself, you will have the knowledge."
MIT has now removed the most important layers of bureaucracy: the layers associated with classroom instruction.
1. The fee to obtain the training
2. The cost of journeying to a training center
3. The pre-requisite system
4. The cost of quitting your job
This has de-mystified the entire guild procedure. It says this: "If you are smart enough, you can master the initial content."
This opens the door for the revival of the local apprenticeship system. Here is where a student masters the non-textbook basics of a field, which are at least as important as the textbook content.

Think about it! Isn't the "guild system" what we have in the traditional church
scene today, with a few holding the "secrets" and passing on just enough information to keep people dependent on them?

The local church is the theological college of Scripture, the elders the academic staff, those they disciple, their apprentices. With the tutelage of the elders (who ought not be elders unless demonstrating, wisdom , knowledge of the Scriptures and character, all of which has grown from long experience as a follower of Christ), both the text book and the non-text book aspects can be taught, without the top heavy, expensive bureaucracies we have inherited from secularism.

A FOOL AND HIS .........

2009-08-17T17:00:00.000+10:00

Blogging can be an amazing way of bridging the gap between people living in any part of the world, but being a very public medium it also reveals much about the character of the one blogging, but, more often than not, it reveals much, much more about the character of the ones commenting about an article the blogger submits.

Today, as I read the comments on this blog, a word kept making itself obvious to me, and as I thought about why this was so it became clear that there are some who seem to have such a high opinion of themselves that no one could possibly teach them anything of worth. To define such a person one would have to use the word “fool”.

Actually, the wisest man who ever lived had something to say about such people in Proverbs 12:15, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, hut he who listens to advice is wise.” , and then again in 18:2, he said, “A fool has no delight in understanding, but only that his heart may lay itself bare.”

Of course being the wise man he was, King Solomon was entitled to say much more, because he understood that fools not only don’t understand what they are doing, their ignorance towards wisdom compounds the matter, so he advised, “Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words” (23:9).

It’s not the matter of ignorance which is the problem because the attaining of knowledge can cure simple ignorance. A fool cannot be cured because he not only has a problem with matters of truth, but, although he thinks he has a good grasp of, what he would call more important matters of truth, he simply cannot understand the simple, elementary matters of truth.

There is one other thing which really marks such a one as a fool. He will always use words which indicate hostility, or even anger. Ridicule is another mark.

Such a person has, what I call a columnar mind: Everyone is categorized by column, far left, left, centre, or mainstream, right, and far right, or some such system. The interesting thing is that the fool is the only one who knows which column he fits in, but, at least he thinks it is the right one.

One thing is certain, no one else is in the same column as the one he fits in, because he simply has to act emotionally to what everyone else says.

Must be lonely in that column. Maybe that’s why he makes such a fool of himself, he wants to get out!

None So Blind.....

2009-08-13T10:14:00.000+10:00

More and more I'm becoming aware of the way the church, generally speaking, is becoming deformed by what appear to be invisible forces. Mind you, I said, "appear to be invisible"!

As a young man I worked on a farm where hormone sprays were used to control weeds. A day or two after the spray was applied the weeds would begin to take on a deformed appearance. Unless one was informed about what was happening, the behavior of the plants would be extremely puzzling.

To a person who had never previously seen the plant, it would not draw a second glance.

A similar thing is happening in the church. One would have to have no knowledge of what the church is supposed to be, be very naive, have a vested interest, or an agenda, to not see what is happening.

At this point I'm reminded of the old saying, "There are none so blind as those who will not see", because, one thing, which is very obvious to those who will see is that:

1. God's people are being manipulated from the pulpit from which they swallow whatever is spoken as if it came from the very mouth of God. Now that's all very well if one has no brain, or recognition that the one making the pronouncements is a member of the very fallible human race.

Thankfully we do have a brain, which our Designer expects us to use, wisely and logically, to check out for ourselves whether these things are so. That's why the Bereans were commended (in Acts 17:11) for what they did.

One of the things that caused me great concern when attending conferences, both overseas and at home, was the very apparent lack of personal views of Scripture based on personal Bible Study. When overseas, I asked many people, in a very large church, what they believed about certain things; the answer was ALWAYS the same, "The pastor says....".

2. A practice which is rapidly being more and more used against fellow believers who may have ,even small, differences of opinion, is what is erroneously being called "church discipline". There is an insidious side to this which is becoming more evident as time goes by; this so-called discipline is being expedited behind closed doors, often without the church members knowing what is happening, and often, without the one being disciplined being able to defend themselves, or express their side of the matter.

There is another aspect of this, so-called, church discipline, where the leader (I cannot bring myself to call him pastor) simply ignores the person being disciplined, avoiding eye contact with, refusing to speak to, communicate with the one who has raised his ire.

All of this could be expected in a non-Christian environment, but NEVER in a congregation of God's people.

As well as these most important matters there is the matter of church leaders using the offerings of the congregation for their own benefit, purportedly to further their "education", but more often than not to massage their ego, excuse going on junkets, the main purpose of which is to make contacts and get opportunities for the furtherance of their "careers" (such as invitations to bigger and better pastures), and as a consequence, their incomes.

Now, if they have ambitious agendas, and aspirations of notoriety, that's between them and God, but to use congregational resources to further those agendas and aspirations, is downright immoral and dishonest.

3. Connected to the above No.1 is the naive assumption that, because a man receives a "call" from a church, he is to be trusted implicitly in regard to everything, and that everything he says and does is God's explicit will and plan for that church.

Of course, like the next point, the "called man" will make sure he, quite often, makes mention of this so-called, "fact".

4. He will also preach fairly regularly, or often mention, that he is the one who has "authority" in the church, with the implication that to question him is to question God.

He is well practiced in showing his displeasure if challenged, or questioned, on any matter, whether Biblical or not, and always with the inference that to question him is the near equivalent to questioning God.

5. Closely related to No.4 is the indignant proposal that anyone else who throws doubts on his pronouncements about Scripture is also questioning God; thus an Arminian, or Calvinist, whatever the case may be, cannot be a faithful believer and must be carefully avoided.

6. The threat of church discipline (interpreted: pastor discipline) is carefully made clear to any who want answers to questions.

7. There is the adamant assertion that the leadership (because they have the "call") are never the problem in a church, because deacons and elders are of such spiritual calibre that they have the mind of God and always have the church's best interests at heart. It is a forgone conclusion that they can never make mistakes about such things.

8. There will be the careful cultivation of the thought that leaders cannot be more concerned about their career, aspirations for fame as preachers, or other personal issues than they are for the cause of Christ and His Church. After all church leaders are unselfish creatures who are immunized against "all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life", and proud to be such!

The more I think about it, the more I think about hormone spray affected plants! Or should I say "weeds"?

A Personal Confession, A Public Challenge

2009-08-10T11:50:00.000+10:00

How I long to see more young men such as this

IF ONLY

2009-08-04T07:34:00.000+10:00

Have you ever said,"If only......"? When, as a child I used the term, my grandmother used to say, "If only the dog hadn't stopped to soak the post he would have coaught the rabbit!"

Well! She's not here and I'm going to have one of those "if only moments".

If only we could start life from the other end, especially those of us who believe we are called of God to lead His people. The zeal and ambition, the worldly approach to "succeeding" which fills the hearts of most younger leaders, and accompanies every conference I've ever attended, even though they are well camouflaged with "spirituality", would be redundant, and the lessons we WILL learn with age, could be passed on.

At seventy years of age, I realise that I have lived the normal allotted life span, and that every second, minute, or year afterwards is a bonus, so, before it's too late, I sometimes feel like shaking the young church leaders I know to see if I could wake them up out of the idealized, almost zombie-like, religious state they seem to have been hypnotized into.

The certainty revealed as they tell the congregations that the answer is in having the right theology, or "we must preach doctrine,doctrine, doctrine". Others will disagree: "the answer is in preaching right through every book, verse by verse" (one young fellow I know is in his third year preaching through Marks Gospel), and the list of formulas and recipes for "success" is endless, as is the conferences.

Dave Black, is revealing , not only that that the years are creeping by, but the truth of what I've just written. He says:

"I must confess that in my own life, I have not been immune to failures as a man, a husband, and a father. What a terribly negative thing to say on a blog that is supposed to encourage its readers! But I want to make it perfectly clear that I do not consider myself to have arrived when it comes to the task of living the Christian life. While it may sound odd to you, I spent the great majority of my adult life being a good church-goer and pursuing all the advantages and comforts of evangelical scholarship in an atmosphere of shortcuts, easy formulas, and rules that simply could not hold up for the long haul. Today I have no "easy answers" that will clear up the issues either in your life or mine. I do know one thing, however. If you want to sort out the priority issues in your life, do not wait for a severe mercy from the hand of God, as I did. The central secret that determines the outcome is the choice to yield one's life to Jesus and to His humble service. With regret I look back on the wasted years of my life as a "good evangelical." I am always quite sympathetic to young people who visit me and reveal a similar sense of futility. My message to them is, "Do not wait as long as I did to become available for sacrificial service in the kingdom. The life that I've discovered to be far more important than my career is the beauty that reflects the humble Christ and His power to make people into whole human beings." I've learned the lesson of Helen Keller: "Life is an exciting business and most exciting when lived for others."

I started out my ministry as a scholar. I'm finishing it as a servant. With the passage of years, I've learned to own up to my failings as a "good evangelical." I would never have sought out any of those failures, those sins of omission, but having failed, I consider the resulting lessons priceless.

As for me and my house, the buck stops "here," not with Becky or anyone else. Jesus is not calling me to the "good life" of American churchianity. The smallest acts of humility and beneficence are to be imitations of the condescension that brought Christ from highest heaven to the obedience of the cross. That is what will always attract to the life of the apostle Paul the longing eyes of Christians -- the power of the Holy Spirit energizing his every thought and action, the love and light of God spilling out into the hearts of others, the willingness to do for other people with genuine unselfishness. Above all, there was his divine mission to preach Christ despite the bitter hatred of his enemies. He lived -- and died -- with the knowledge that he would have to give an account at the judgment seat of Christ, and his heart was renewed through every discouragement and shortcoming by the vision of the crown of life that the Lord would place on his head, if he proved faithful to the end."

OH! Dave! How familiar that sounds!

WILL WE EVER LEARN?

2009-07-22T09:50:00.000+10:00

When ill health forced us to retire I had time to do a post mortem on the years of preaching and teaching, which had so swiftly become history.

Ephesians 4:11ff became an intrusion into my thinking, because it constantly raised the real consideration of questions, which for a large part of those years, the busy-ness of “ministry” in the traditions of my development and training, didn’t allow.

I had no doubt in my heart and mind that I had a strong calling as a “pastor and teacher’. How could I, when my pastor and the membership of the congregation to which I belonged affirmed that inner persuasion.

But had I actually equipped “ the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ”?

Were they “ no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love” , as a result of the Holy Spirit taking the theology, doctrine and example in which I had been trained, and to which I had faithfully adhered, and causing it to become life and function in the congregation?

Do they really “ walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.”?

If the evidence, which is clearly available for us all to see, especially as we read the writings of cyberspace, then the answers to those questions in the majority of situations is rather dismal. As a result, if my years have produced the same kind of evidence, which we see in that of most “ministries”, then it has been a dismal failure.

Can we really say that, apart from the individual exceptions, the confessing members of congregations have, " in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. "?

Isn’t what Paul is speaking about not, even remotely, connected with any denomination, theological “ism”, or elite group of Christians, but is, in reality, a ministry to all believers?

Why can we not see the dangers inherent in the, almost universal, tradition based, party line approach to Christianity, can we not see that much of such teaching has evolved into the sort of false teaching Paul writes about to the Christians of Colossae in 2:6-20?

And we continue to develop new party thinking, which is developing new traditions, which are becoming central to the existence of such groups. When will we ever learn?

Paul identifies four major problems touching the life of the Christians in Colossae, each of which have a large bearing on the Christianism of today.

The false teaching infiltrating the Colossian believers was tradition based philosophy. The traditions were identified by Paul as having their source in that which was merely human, but even worse, the powers of evil.

Such teaching actually undermines the central position of Christ to the Christian faith by consistently drawing God’s people to focus on something other than Christ, such as a particular adherence to anything other than Christ, denomination, doctrinal position, confession, church covenant, and the list goes on.

It is NOT in some such distinctive that we find our development as a believer, but IN Christ, “For IN Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and IN Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority”( 2:9,10).

Attached to these philosophies is the monstrous ogre inherent in all false teaching about which Paul wants the Colossians to be aware, legalism. For the follower of Christ, who has their reality in Christ (2:16,17), legalism has NO place but a dim dark memory of past horror, struggle and hard effort.

Hidden amongst the mire of the forgoing is often found the obscure and irrational forms of mysticism, where visions and angels etc., etc. (2:18,19) , are put forward as a means by which to know God, which shifts the focus from the ONLY way to know God, relationship with the ONLY HEAD of the family of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. .
As if the believing recipients of his letter were those of this century, Paul shows that accompanying all of this false teaching was the doctrine of rigorous self-denial and active self-restraint through full renunciation of worldly pleasures which was purported to lead one to achieve a high spiritual state. This is the doctrine of asceticism, which Paul says, even though having “the appearance of wisdom”, Paul maintains are of “no value against fleshly indulgence. “

Look at what is being emphasised in sermons,in cyberspace, books etc! Will we ever learn?

Maybe someone has as the more recent entry in Paul Burlensons blog seems to show.

Display of Religionism

2009-07-08T10:12:00.000+10:00

I recently read an article from Time Magazine on the net about a court case in Iowa's Black Hawk County Courthouse, where the court was asked to answer the question, What is a Christian? It was all about a $75,000 will.

I don’t know when it was written, but the date of the case suggests that it was sometime about 1949-50.

The will of a prominent Methodist layman, who died in 1939, directed that the income from $75,000 of his estate should be distributed "to persons who believe in the fundamental principles of the Christian religion and in the Bible and who are endeavouring to promulgate same." His wife died in 1949, ten nephews and nieces sued to break the will. Their argument: "There is no common agreement as to what constitutes the fundamental principles of Christianity."

As I read the article I was forced to think of the antagonism displayed between those who call themselves evangelical Christians, who comment on a SBC pastor’s very thoughtful, and carefully written blog.

Some commenters have the amazing ability to turn the subject of an article into a chase after a red herring.

The ascerbic nature of some of the comments of others, the insults and acid sarcasm, towards the pastor and other commenters, are a wonder to behold and cause me to unfavourably compare them with the courteous debates and comments I read and hear from those who vehemently declare they are not Christians.

Many of those commenting on the SBC pastor’s blog seem to have received, or developed a gospel with so many add-ons, it bears no resemblance to the genuine Gospel.

They don’t seem to believe Paul’s words to the church at Ephesus, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast”.

Some appear to believe that their particular add-ons must be included for one to be a genuine Christian: Grace plus;a declaration of Arminianism, Calvinism, egalitarianism, complimentarianism, legalism, liberalism, perfectionism and any other ism which strikes their fancy, but which turns the results of God’s work in the heart and mind of a human being into nothing more than another belief system or philosophy, religionism. With some there is a strong implication that if you don’t believe, exactly, what “I believe I don’t accept you, and I’ll have your guts for garters if you disagree with me!”

Many equate a personal ism, or opinion, whether derived from the teaching they have received, or from their own assumptions, or those of others, into words equivalent to Holy writ, and have not the slightest respect for those who trust in the same person and finished work of Jesus Christ, but think differently about a non-salvation issue.

Thankfully there are those who exhibit grace and the humility of accepting the possibility that they could be mistaken and will consider other opinions.

Fifty years ago, when I began to teach and preach, I was one of those, so sure of myself and the historical and traditional position in which I still stand. During the intervening years, as I read the Scriptures, I began to understand some things differently, nuances which I had missed, and which some great men of God had also missed, and others hadn’t. The historical gurus from which much of my information came had to be tested by the Scriptures.

At seventy years of age I’m finding that there are still adjustments being made to my understanding, and I’m surprised that some long held assumptions must be changed.

There are Galatians and Galatians, just different laws, circumcision and the ones mentioned above.

One thing I do know, I am still a sinner saved by the grace of God, through His gift of faith in the person and finished work of Jesus Christ, who is my Advocate with the Father. I know that no ism changes that position for me or any brother or sister who stands on that same blood bought ground.

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

I don't want to nullify the grace of God anymore, for if righteousness comes through the addition of isms, then Christ died needlessly.

A Father Who Cares

2009-06-11T06:42:00.000+10:00

We seem to live in a day when those who claim to be Christian, especially those who are in leadership, often practice a kind of one-up-man-ship when preaching, speaking publicly, or simply giving testimony about the way God has proven Himself in their lives. More often than not a fair amount of poetic licence slips into their conversation.

I've just read a testimony which tugs at my heart because of the profound message it declares, and yet expresses the certainty of a man who KNOWS our Father God,and, as a result has no need to guild the lily.

You ought to go there and read it: http://mightyfowl.blogspot.com/

His words have inspired me to share something along similar lines.

My wife and I had five very young children when we decided we couldn't delay attending college any longer. I was ministering quite extensively and felt the need to leave secular work and study more. We sold all but the bare essentials of our belongings to afford the fees incurred for accomodation and tuition, which swallowed all of which we received. We had no income, very small savings, but were confident that God would supply our needs. That He did!

A small example of the Father's interest in His people:

Semester break was coming soon when I had promised to work at a non-denominational overseas mission headquarters, building a large room to hold their literature.

Two days before we were due to drive south we had two twenty cent coins in our pocket. We needed money for petrol (three hundred miles worth), to contribute to the food supply, as well as the incidentals that come with children ranging in age from 6 to 13. We had calculated that we needed $200 for the three weeks (it WAS a long time ago).

The next day we still had two twenty cent pieces to last us three weeks. I decided to phone the mission and tell them we couldn't come. That call cost exactly half of our worldly wealth. The disappointment at the mission was palpable.

After hanging up, with a heavy heart, I started to walk back to our quarters when I came under the strongest of compulsions to reverse my decision. I simply could not resist, and went back to the phone using our last twenty cents for the call.

I told my wife what I had done, and, being the woman she is, she said,"Oh! I knew you would!"

Lunch time came and went. It was time to get the mail. We received a letter from my sister, who with her husband and children were on a mission station on Mornington Island 4000 miles away. The letter contained a cheque for $60 : "We felt you could use this."

A little later one of the college staff came to us and said, "Our daughter asked us to give this money to whom ever we believe ought to have it." Another $120!

To cut a long story short; we left college the next morning with $205 in our pocket. Zero to 205 in a little over 24 hours!

The smallest need doesn't escape our Father's attention, as we found when we went into our first full time pastorate. Shake as you might, we still didn't jingle from what we had in our pocket. We were poor, in earthly terms, but we have a wealthy Father who does care.

As most families do, we needed to go to the supermarket. Mum wanted a pumpkin, but we simply could not afford it. As we arrived at our house, there sitting on the back step, resplendent in all its green glory, was beautiful pumpkin.

Thanks Bob, for reminding me that it is often in the simple things in which God reveals Himself and not necessarily in theological profundity.

To Him belongs the glory!

THE TERMITES ARE IN

2009-06-04T16:47:00.000+10:00

A recent Australian T.V. programme told about the dangers faced when building homes of timber. The host was holding a piece of painted timber about 4” x 3” by four feet in length. It was painted with a very glossy paint and appeared solid and strong.
Suddenly, the host gently squeezed the piece of timber, which crumbled in his hand, falling in pieces onto the floor. The only thing holding to the original form of the timber was the thick coat of paint, which was easily crushed.

I was reminded of what we generally understand as “church”. Something quite different from the Church which Jesus promised He will build which would be a living breathing entity with an eternal warranty.

It would be a very brave, foolish, or ignorant person who would state that the entity we understand as the institution called “church” was any more substantial than the piece of wood held in the hand of the T.V. host; shiny and brash, believing it is strong, when, in fact, it is riddled with termites!

During the last fifty years or so, I have heard most of the reasons (read excuses) why the “church” doesn’t reflect the Church which Jesus is building (apart from what is going on in the “church”), and I’ve heard some very creative ones, such as infiltration by spies from other denominations, fifth columnist liberals who sneak in, etc., etc.. Of course we must not forget the secularism revealed on T.V. is also a strong force to contend with, as well as many other of these myriad “enemies” who are damaging the “church”.

Then there are the “clergy” who say the downturn is God’s chastisement upon the “church”.

More recently, of course, modernism and post modernism also join some of the more recent “enemies”, along with charismaticism, the emerging church, the home church movement, and those of which no one has yet heard.

For goodness sake! Someone has to carry the can!

Well! My own observations cause me to join with Pogo, who once said,”… we have met the enemy, and he is us!” The enemy isn’t coming from outside!

The most dangerous enemy of the Church today is the “church”!

I remember hearing a Christian leader from the USA, when speaking about one of the major hurdles to personal evangelism, say, “The problem is that many unbelievers DO know a Christian!”. I would say it a little differently, “The problem is that many unbelievers DO know someone who claims to be a Christian!”

The “church” commonly recognized in any given community is the biggest threat to Christianity today because of what they have become, simply one of a number of the religions, whose most urgent interest is representing their own agendas, maintaining the status quo, self assured of their importance!

Astronomical amounts of money are tied up in property, as well as investments, ownership of insurance companies, etc.

Yet each one claims to represent Jesus Christ, who had nothing but the clothes on His back.

There can be no doubt that the “church” is declining at an accelerating rate, despite the increasing efforts to stem the decline.

Is it possible that Jesus was a little ambitious when He said, ”I will build My Church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it”?

In a time when gigantic failures are common: Is it possible that the Son of God is the biggest failure ever known? NO!!

Have we ever faced the possibility that since Constantine we have been wrong about the Church which Jesus promised to build, and that He was not speaking about the “church” of Constantines and our sinful, proud imaginings?

Can we even begin to think that maybe He IS building His Church, a Church which the religionist cannot recognize, and is steadily being built all over the world, and that the gates of Hell, indeed, will not, cannot, prevail against it?

Will it ever occur to the religionists that the true Church is not the result of human endeavour, of great programmes, of good secular management skills, of mere resolutions made at annual conventions and assemblies, joined to carefully planned cosmetics of princely buildings, and great orators, of backsides on seats listening to guilt inducing words, who practice token benevolence, and attending meetings, and obeying laws, rules and impositions?

When will we learn that the Church is about a people of Gods own choosing , every one of them “A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY (1 Peter 2:9-10), and that all have a living, real relationship with God, who revealed Himself in the life and work of Lord Jesus Christ, a relationship which all genuine followers of Christ share; a relationship which is a gift from God who, “…being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them”.

Another Reason Why I Blog

2009-05-31T07:44:00.000+10:00

In the spirit of M’Cheynes words mentioned in the last couple of posts, I hope to continue to think about why I began to blog.

At this time I can think of no better way of saying what I want to say than (with some editing) to quote Søren Kierkegaard from the compilation of his writings by Charles E. Moore entitled “Provocations”. Whilst no supporter of Kierkegaards existentialism, I have often found his view of reality very close to the truth, which is why I quote him here:

In a short comment entitled “Undercover Clergy” Kierkegaard tells the story of a conversation occurring from the visit of a pastor to member of the community in which he lives, whom we’ll name “Bill”.

Lest readers mistake my intent: THIS IS NOT ABOUT DRINKING ALCOHOL!

Bill is quite surprised by the pastors appearance, and exclaims, “Pastor! What in the world are you doing in our neighborhood?”

The pastor’s response is to require some refreshment, “How about a glass of schnapps to open the meal and the heart. (Drinks a schnapps.) Well, to be brief, I am here on behalf of the Temperance Society.

Bill is not a slow thinker, “I see why you had to have a glass of schnapps, for if you had not asked for one, I certainly would not have offered it”.

Of course the pastor needs to explain, “I have by no means joined the Temperance Society. Anything but! I will drink a second glass in honor of the Temperance Society. I always drink a second glass in honor of the Temperance Society. (They clink their glasses, both drink and say: Long live the Temperance Society!)
Now to the business at hand. You see, it is well known that I have an extraordinary speaking ability. The Temperance Society became aware of my talents and in the interest of the Society it decided not to let them go to waste. To put it briefly, I have been called and installed as “Pastor” to the Temperance Society. That I do not fully subscribe to the Temperance Society’s explicit aims is understood. Yet, the Temperance Society Board is of the opinion, 'What does it matter if the pastor drinks a schnapps or two? What does it matter as long as by using his gifts he is able to win scores of members for the Society?'”

Bill is very understanding, “Even the strictest teetotaller knows that every such glass of schnapps for the pastor is well utilized, presupposing that you do get members for the Society".

The pastor is quite pleased, “I, of course, am completely convinced it is right, and if I had not already done it I would drink another schnapps in honor of the Temperance Society. To go on with my story, I have made an agreement with the Society, whose activity involves diet, that I have my diet: four schnapps every day, two glasses of punch, and an extra glass for every one who signs up as a member. It all goes on the expense account. Just as I believe they are satisfied with me, so I am also satisfied with it. I really don’t want to make any alteration or to leave. I even grieve to think of leaving a congregation which I love and esteem and which loves and esteems me in return”.

The rejoinder from Bill comes quickly,“You have become a “pastor” and somebody of influence in this world. Maybe you can tell me one more thing. I have often imaged myself as a pastor. It must be easy to stand and preach the very opposite of what you are doing – after all, you certainly cannot feel what you are saying”.

The pastor asks, “Why do you say that? I can assure you – and every one of my many listeners is able to testify – that I sometimes am so moved that I can scarcely talk. In the first place, I think of the four schnapps, the two glasses of punch, an extra glass, and also the fact that I am successful in the world and have a good living – isn’t that moving! Next I think of my useful and beneficial activity. While I stand there speaking I look at the people I am talking to and can read their eyes: there sits one who as sure as my name is Pastor H. will go right out of this meeting and sign up as a member. I can get so emotional over this that I sometimes start to cry, and this has such a powerful effect that I can see on his neighbor’s face that he is going to do the same. Now,if that isn’t moving then I don’t know what is. If I were a saint do you think I would be able to produce such an effect? The people would quickly lose interest. Am I right?”

Bill is a little puzzled, “Perhaps. But isn’t it untrue to call yourself a pastor?”

The pastor is well able to defend himself, “Not at all. If a person can proclaim the teaching that we should not aspire after earthly honor, esteem, wealth – if a person can proclaim this in such a way that he convinces people to live their lives accordingly, does it make any difference if he himself does just the opposite? Or isn’t this the best proof of his extraordinary talent for speaking, of his being truly a great orator, the fact that although he doesn’t exactly do what he preaches he still has such an enormous influence?”

This answer doesn’t satisfy Bill, “But doesn’t it ever happen that people complain that you are not a member? Don’t you get reproached for it?”

The pastor’s confidence in himself elicits a quick response, “Yes, of course, but I dismiss it. I explain it as a conflict of personalities, of style. Anyway, it is my job to preach, and one should stick to the subject of what I am teaching. That slays them.”

Why Do I Blog?

2009-05-13T08:01:00.000+10:00

The quote from the words of Robert Murray M’Cheyne in my last blog were prompted because his words reminded me to some degree of my own situation, and to why I began to blog. As I’ve explained previously, retirement was necessary because of ill health.

The truth is that, many times, I have felt much as he did as he expressed himself, "Today missed some fine opportunities of speaking a word for Christ.”

Half a lifetime ago I also realised the truth of what he says next, also applied to me, even though, prior to this time, I would have vigorously denied the fact, “The Lord saw I would have spoken as much for my own honour as His, and therefore shut my mouth.”

At about the same time as gatherings with preachers in the denominational scene became more frequent, I began to see that many have contracted that same sickness, and had, through educating their congregations, literally become gurus. Travelling to the USA, and perusing the internet, raised the same awareness.

M’Cheynes words became more relevant,” I see a man cannot be a faithful minister, until he preaches Christ for Christ’s sake – until he gives up striving to attract people to himself, and seeks only to attract them to Christ. Lord, give me this!”

When one comes to this part of life’s journey, especially when the health issues create a place of few options for further activity, retirement leaves plenty of time for quiet introspection, revue, and some regret.

As I thought, and prayed, and talked with my wife, I began to see that the “for a season” part of M’Cheynes words also applied to me, hence the blog name Caesura (a pause prior to an emphasis). I’m not too sure about the length of the pause, and maybe, at my age, when the emphasis comes it will be the fanfare accompanying the returning Lord. He knows!

The latter ten years of full time ministry was a new church plant, which began with one man asking for Bible study, which we had in our home, and it grew to be too large for our home. That’s when we made a big mistake (that’s another story).

When it became necessary to retire I became interested to see more of what was happening around the world, and found that, like myself, there were some who had serious thoughts about the shape of what we have traditionally understood as “church”. I began to comment on a couple of sites where my itch was truly scratched.

Much as Alan commented, my first inclination was that maybe I could learn. As I have previously mentioned, age had brought home the reality that even after a lifetime in the church scene, as a novice pastor, and even later, after passing, so-called, middle age and on into the last straight to three score years and ten, the knowledge I had accumulated was infinitesimal in God’s scheme of things. That is true in every Christian life, whatever station in life we occupy.

Joel’s comment also touched on something relevant to my blogging that has come about through reading the blog sites of Christians, and is encompassed in M’Cheynes words, something which brings much grief to my heart and mind; the insistence on legalism, rules/performance oriented forms of Christianity being displayed by some blogs, sermons, and comments. So many Christians, preachers included, are inflicted with “prisoner syndrome”; they don’t know how to live free of bondage.

It’s that very issue which tweaked my interest to delve more into the thoughts of Paul, who commented on my previous article. He, also, obviously understood what grace means. Interestingly, his thoughts concur with my own .

Preaching and teaching from the age of seventeen amongst younger people, then as an elder, then full time pastor, was not something I chose. That course of life came about because of intense inner compulsion to which I had no real choice but to succumb. Only then did I have true peace of mind.

I am still thrilled to have, so long ago, entered this journey in life in the way I would have chosen, if I could have done so. After fifteen years, or so, in the local Body of Christ, it was they who recognised the gifting of God, the pastor affirmed their judgment, and my wife and I both had a strong sense of call.

I believed then, and do so now, that the gifts of God are given to every member of His Family, for the benefit of the whole not the individual. No leader can claim to be any more important than any other member of His people.

Because of my health, I find it difficult to attack the keyboard some times, and, as a result am not a consistent blogger, but maybe I am still able to be used. After all, He hasn’t sacked me.

How should I write? What ought I say? They are questions I have tried to answer. At this time I will continue to just respond to the promptings I have, without any particular agenda other than to be used, I trust, for the glory of my Pastor, the Lord Jesus Christ.

When I meet up with him, I hope M’Cheyne will not be too cross with me for tampering with his words in the context of this blog, “I see a man cannot be a faithful blogger, until he blogs for Christ’s sake – until he gives up striving to attract people to himself, and his opinions, and seeks only to attract them to Christ. Lord, give me this!”

2009-05-08T17:01:00.000+10:00

Do you ever wonder about why you do what you do? Why do you minister? Why, as a Christian, do you have a blog?

I've asked myself these questions many times, and almost ceased the small amount of blogging I do achieve.

Robert Murray M’Cheyne, on the 8th July,1836, wrote in his diary, "Since Tuesday have been laid up with illness. Set by once more for a season to feel my unprofitableness and cure my pride. When shall this self-choosing temper be healed? ‘Lord, I will preach, run, visit, wrestle,’ said I.

‘No, thou shalt lie in thy bed and suffer,’ said the Lord.

"Today missed some fine opportunities of speaking a word for Christ. The Lord saw I would have spoken as much for my own honor as His, and therefore shut my mouth. I see a man cannot be a faithful minister, until he preaches Christ for Christ’s sake – until he gives up striving to attract people to himself, and seeks only to attract them to Christ. Lord, give me this!”

Why am I blogging? Why are you? Are my opinions and yours so important or profound?

Abraham! Wake Up!

2009-05-04T07:12:00.000+10:00

“Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS”.

As I read the discussions on many of the blog sites of Christians (??) I have to wonder what they will say to Abraham when they meet up with him.

On the basis of the evidence I read, I would think they will say something like this:

“Abraham, I cannot accept you as a brother in God’s Family, as I can clearly see a reason to refuse to fellowship with you.

You have not come into membership of our branch of Christianism. You haven’t added your signature to our Confession. You haven’t made it clear which Five Points you agree with, nor your end time beliefs. What about communion? Do you use one cup or thimbles, wafers or bread? Is it only for the congregation you belong to, or for all believers, or just for the brand you belong to? Most importantly, in regard to this matter, who administers communion?

And, Abraham, we don’t know your position on tongues and other gifts, the authority of one who baptizes and so on.

Somehow, I think Abraham would join Paul in the questions he asked of the Galatians, “…did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

I wonder, if addressing the situation today, whether the Holy Spirit would inspire Paul to use a different word for that which we translate as “foolish”(Gal.3:1) Maybe the word moros (from which we get our word moron, indicating a heart and character deficiency) instead of anoetos ( a senseless, lack of understanding), could be more appropriate.

Well? Can you blame me for wondering?

A Sweet Savour is in the Air

2009-04-17T16:03:00.000+10:00

I've been reading a blog lately where the author is seeking to point out some serious inconsistencies with the behaviour of a certain denominational body which would declare loudly that it was insistent upon being Biblical. I have long personal experience with the parallel body in this country, and find it rather incongruous that either body should profess adherence to Biblical principles and behave as they do.

One thing is becoming abundantly clear, even apart from the miserable testimony embedded in the comments made to the author of that blog: Neither that individual brand name, or any other denominational group of human beings have the mind of God for today, no matter how "churchy" they claim or appear to be.

It has been my privilege, over many years, to know some who showd every evidence that they were extraordinary disciples of Christ, who, believing that the brand name "church" to which they belonged was open to the mind of God, had risked everything, earthly security, reputation, and relationships. They guarded and prayed for the denomination, only to see it changing into an organisation of men who were more concerned for their own religious political agenda and preferences.

Some of those dear saints, now shake their heads and wonder what they have been doing because they can see that the denominational brand, which they identified with, has become a picture of Old Testament Israel. What may have had a glimmer of the light of truth in it, a sense of heart beating with life, has now become a rigid institutional structure growing out of fleshly minds. A strange thing, a creature which secretes a fast-setting rock-hard protective substance around itself, and calls itself "church" exists, but is not even aware that it is now so rigidly human that it does not represent the mind of God, and, indeed, cannot!

I don't know in what shape or form it will happen, but, I do know something new is happening. Sadly, as has always been the case historically, the fleshly mind is again declaring its sovereignty, within orthodox evangelicalism as well as movements outside of it. Without doubt many are being deceived into following new gurus and self styled leaders, who lead new movements which claim to be the genuine article and have God's hand upon them.

Most of the movements will follow the same course as they have always done and quietly die, some will, because of their leaders fanciful ideas, noisily flop about like a fish out of water, exhibiting much activity, but going no where.

Amongst it all, a new reformation is taking place, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

Wise followers of Christ will patiently watch and pray, and not be deceived if, as we observe present events, we read the mind of God as revealed in Jesus Christ and the Apostles doctrine, which leads away from the institutionalized worldliness of paganized, ritualistic religion and into a new and fresh life energized by the truth which can only be found by those who truly are disciples of Christ, rather than members of an organization with religious leanings.

Just Another Book? No!

2009-04-05T05:45:00.000+10:00

Dave Black has recently authored another book which is now being published. It's title is "The Jesus Paradigm".

Alan Knox of "The Assembling of the Church" reports the publisher, Henry Neufeld: " The fact is that this book hit the spot for me. Now “hit the spot” is an expression we use to refer to comfort. After a good meal, we might say, “That really hit the spot.” But there’s another kind of spot-the one you find in the center of a target. You know, that big red circle surround by all those concentric rings. The arrow of conviction hit the spot."

Well, the small quote from the first chapter "hit the spot", or more accurately "scratched the itch" for me. So satisfying was that "scratch", that I must buy the book.

Whilst reading that quote I couldn't help but have, at least fifty years of comments, which were either directed towards me, or made in my hearing, come flooding into my memory. So much in such a small quote!

I know that it is claimed that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but I couldn't help but apply the memories to the sentences and phrases in thatquote.

If any of the reality based, imagined comments, which I've placed in parentheses, negatively prods a nerve, remember, I don't know you, so it's not directed at you.

I couldn't help myself (maybe I'm just a grumpy old man):)

Dave said, "I write in my first chapter:

"What might this kingdom-focused church of the twenty-first century look like? (Dave, you can't mean that it won't be backsides-on-seats focussed. What about the budget, the building fund ?) It will be a serving church. (Don't you know that the church is there to serve ME! "I'm no man's servant!") Its organizational structure will be simple, unencumbered by bureaucrats and bureaucracies. (No pyramid of "authority"? Someone has to tell them what to do. "After all they are only sheep") Its financial priorities will reflect a commitment to missions, local and global. (I'm suspicious of that statement. I think you mean much more than sending money; something like personal involvement! Oh! Come off it! I don't have the time!) Capital expenditures will be reduced and the savings earmarked for discipleship. (Owning real estate proves we are succesful. The community takes notice.) Most jobs that are currently salaried positions will be filled by volunteer help or eliminated. (Dave, you can't mean that you expect us to trust, and have faith, in a faithful God instead of the ability of leadership to get the congregation to put more in the plate) Denominations will make drastic reductions in funds spent on publications that are a waste of the church's money (bulletins, glossy magazines, and Sunday School quarterlies – the Bible will be used instead). (What a joke; using the Bible instead of official denominational/theological system publications? How will we teach them what they must believe?) Church buildings will be used for primary and secondary Christian education. ( Dave. Don't you know the high status a large edifice bestows on us? It's the holy place!) Believers will gladly work transdenominationally and cooperatively, especially at the local level. (What? Work with our competitors? They might even steal our sheep) The church will proclaim the Good News of the Gospel as its first priority while not neglecting the cultural mandate. (You're joking. There's no financial return in that. We might have to let one of the staff go!) A full-fledged lay ministry will replace clericalism. (Now you're going too far. The pastor is the one who knows the truth. Who knows what lay people would do/teach?) Individual believers will be expected to assume specialized ministries according to their giftedness. (Dave. I thought you were a teacher.Didn't you know there is no such thing? Giftedness only belongs to the leadership! ) Churches will provide regular lay training and build voluntary programs of education into their structures. (That's terrible! Are you saying that we would need to think for ourselves?) Worship will no longer be confined to a single time or place. (Heresy!!) Preoccupation with church buildings will be seen for what it is – idolatry. (We have to have the nicest building, the most comfortable seats, otherwise people won't come and get saved) The church will no longer cling to its prerogatives but take the form of a servant. (You mean that we need to have a similar attitude as Jesus? Never! We might get dirty feet like Him, and reap the displeasure of some.) It will refuse any longer to shun the secular. (But, our fortress is so secure. We need to remain apart from the secular world so we can be pure and holy and unstained.) Trained pastors will become humble asistants to the "ministers" - every member. ( Now, Dave, that is going too far. Didn't you know that pastors are the "boss", the CEO? They're not menials!) Disciples will take the going forth as seriously as they do gathering (Surely you can't mean that we would minister to our neigbors, and the other unsavoury people around us. I mean, they're so worldly!) New believers will be asked to specify a regular community involvement (neighborhood council, PTA, volunteer library staff, nursing home visitation, etc.) in addition to their commitment to a ministry in the church." (You can't mean that the religious act we produce at church meetings ought to have practical outcomes).

If that small excerpt is any sign of what the rest of the book contains, it will be hated by the religious, and move the hearts of those who are truly what they claim to be, followers of Christ!

In The Hands of the Potter

2009-02-17T08:35:00.000+10:00

Reading Dave Black's blog this morning, and again simply revelling in the power of the Holy Spirit, to take a man, who from a fleshly point of view "deserves" accolades, and recognition, and cause him to be a true disciple of Christ. That's what has attracted me to read his blog.

He has learned one of the greatest lessons a Christian can learn. Here is a part of one comment he makes :

"I've been amazed by the number of questions and comments about the church that come up time and again in my discussions with students. Several have realized that becoming the senior pastor of a large church is no longer a goal for them. Whenever I reevaluate my own commitment to Jesus, I am reminded that size and recognition are not important; only faithfulness is. Into my life have come ministries that are insignificant by the world's standards but are part of a long chain of opportunities to serve the Lord with special people who are unsung and unnoticed. I do not feel pressured in the least to be part of a mega-movement or a mega-church or a mega-mission or a mega-anything for that matter. I believe that one is truly wealthy when one is free from these kinds of Spirit-quenching pursuits."

Being recognised as a "somebody" in the wider "Christian" world, is, without doubt, part of the agenda of a large number of people in ministry. It is an evil "seed" which seems to often take root in the hearts and minds of those who are deemed to be pastors, elders, deacons, and many others.

I have had grown men (a couple of them "pastors, as well as deacons), and women, say to me that they are upset because they are not being "appreciated", or "recognised" for all their efforts, or, for the number of "converts" they have made (which makes one fear for the genuineness of the "converts").

"But Jesus called them to Himself and said, 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

When a person begins their ministry with the ambition to be another Wesley, Spurgeon, or Whitfield, he has already negated his calling to be the man God wants him to be.

When a leader's imagination is filled with visions of large congregations, a reputation so grand as to elicit invitations to speak hither and yon, he has already sown the seeds of his own failure as a servant.

The One whom he is supposed to serve, was Himself, a servant, who shunned the limelight, who sought no fame, had no wealth, whose oratorical powers are never mentioned in Scripture, who only did what His Father desired. As the Son of God, the God Man, He had no grand plans for Himself.

And again, Dave wrote:

"Some years ago, on a trip to Israel, I was taken to a pottery shop in the city of Hebron. I stood in amazement as the potter shaped and spun clay into magnificent pots and pitchers. Suddenly he stopped his work. Taking a clay pot he had just finished shaping, he pushed it back into a clump and tossed it away. I was aghast. The pot looked fine to me. Perfect, in fact. But the potter's eyes had caught some tiny defect, and the pot had to be completely remolded.All of us are like clay pots in the hands of the Potter.

I like to think of our upcoming seminar on ecclesiology (Alan Knox will be the speaker) as an affirmation of our willingness to allow God to do His "beautifying" work in our lives. I know that's true for me. I am ready to reaffirm before God that I am willing to allow Him to shape my thinking about His Bride. Such shaping means learning from failures and mistakes. It means asking God to uncover those unbiblical presuppositions that lie beneath the surface of my consciousness. It means releasing my agenda and giving it to Him for His resolution. I believe that God has purposes for my church -- and yours -- that He has not yet unfolded. Cooperation with the Divine Potter means risk and potential failure. I'm sure it will mean of lot of difficult decisions. Friends, let's not settle for the status quo. Let's keep on growing into maturity. Let's sharpen and expand our thinking. Let's learn new insights from the Old Book. Let's ask good questions that pave the way for further dialog. Let's allow ourselves to be remolded and reshaped. I think that is vastly preferable to being tossed back into the clay pile, don't you? But even if that is what God has to do with me, I am willing!"

Now! There's a man who will "hear" God's voice.

Seven years ago, I attended a conference in the North of the USA. Like many I have attended in this country, I realised that I was amongst those who had a human oriented presupposition of what God's precious bride should be, and an agenda to match.

That realisation is embodied in the importance of these words from the above quote: "I am ready to reaffirm before God that I am willing to allow Him to shape my thinking about His Bride. Such shaping means learning from failures and mistakes. It means asking God to uncover those unbiblical presuppositions that lie beneath the surface of my consciousness. It means releasing my agenda and giving it to Him for His resolution."

All I can say is "AMEN!"

Are You Journeying to the Wrong Destination?

2009-01-03T12:39:00.000+10:00

What if, assuming you are a follower of Christ, after all the years you've spent faithfully attending church meetings, listening to sermons, studying the Scriptures with presuppositions which come from a particular theological position, that you find you have been going in the wrong direction, and that you are actually farther from where you actually ought to have been going?

Are you actually getting closer to where you should be? If you think you are getting closer to your destination, why do you so think? Indeed, where, or what, is your destination?

As I think of the lives of the people I've known and ministered to for half a century, I'm aware that most only thought they knew what, or where, their destination was. I'm certain that many assumed that if they attained to the lofty heights of some church “office” such as “pastor” or “deacon”, or “elder” they were closer to their destination, whatever that may be.

Isn't it strange how easy it is to board a train, bus, or some other mode of transport, with the most sincere belief that the journey's end will result in being whre you wanted to be? Yet, many have told how they set out on such a journey only to find they had been given misinformation, not only about the destination, but about the journey.

Asking most evangelicals about there destination would almost always elicit the reply that heaven was where they were headed. Death is inevitable, and for those who die in a saving relationship with God through the finished work of Christ, heaven is where it's at.

Heaven is for dead Christians!

What is the destination for living followers of Christ?

What did Jesus say about that? What did the apostles say?

Did they speak about regular attendance at meetings at which one person monologued?

Did they speak of silent masses sitting on their posteriors, nodding their heads in agreement at the pontifications coming from a guru whom many call “pastor”? Did they ever say that “making a decision for Christ” was arriving at the destination, or adhering to a theological system,or slavishly following rules and regulations, or any number of other things we might add?

The destination for living followers of Christ is a far cry from what we have been led to assume, or accept.

Thankfully, many thinking followers of Christ are asking the questions and adjusting their journey to the schedule set down by the Shepherd of the Sheep, and His apostles.

The Fig Tree

2008-12-28T07:24:00.000+10:00

Just over five years ago, when my wife and I retired to where we now live, we did what many people do when moving. We took cuttings from some of our plants. One such cutting was of a fig tree, which was already flourishing in a pot.

It was duly planted, and nurtured and is now about nine or ten feet high.

A couple of months ago we were on the back patio enjoying a cup of coffee, and observing the back garden. Looking at the fig tree, I said to my wife,”If that tree doesn't bear fruit this season I will chop it down!”

Two weeks ago, we were repeating our mid-morning ritual with a cup of coffee. What do you think we saw? Figs!

Hidden amongst the lush green leaves were some beautiful, fat figs.

I suppose I could be excused for being reminded me of the occasion of Jesus cursing the fig tree:

“Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, 'No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you'. And at once the fig tree withered”.

As we talked about it, we remembered the context in which this event happened. Jesus had entered the city to much excitement from the population. It seems from the record that, having traversed through the excited populace, His first stop was at the temple, the use of which reminds me of the edifices which are usually called “churches” today.

Here Jesus found some very religious people who regarded themselves as the spiritual leaders, even the elite, of the day. They were using this building, which was supposed to be for the worship of God, for all kinds of purposes. It had become a place for satisfying greed, for the selling of goods and livestock, and, there is no doubt that the religious leaders were doing well.

Jesus was rightfully indignant regarding the charade confronting Him. He literally created havoc as He disrupted the cosy arrangements between the businessmen and the religious leaders. Can you imagine the scene as He tipped their precious money-changing tables over, the contents spilling on the floor to get trodden into the animal manure? The indignant religious leaders were seeing their cut of the profits disappearing, and, to make matters worse, their leadership and authority were being brought into question. Their prestige, high standing, and importance, were shown to be like the stinking mess on the floor.

They were all show, and no genuine fruit!

The religious leaders were great salesmen, but what they were selling was mainly self oriented, to be well regarded, housed well, financially comfortable, well dressed and well fed. Just as importantly they worked hard at convincing the religious adherents that they were extremely important as a means by which God communicated with them.

These fellows made themselves publicly prominent. Can you imagine what they would have done with today's media. Although; we probably don't have to imagine. Do we? It does seem rather familiar! I wonder why?

It was after this that Jesus observed the fig tree. Beautifully resplendent with leaves. What a glorious site!

But, wait! There is something about this fig tree of the eating kind. Fig trees really do put on a great show of beautiful leaves, but on a healthy, productive fig tree we will find, almost hidden amongst the leaves, the fruit. Some actually begin to show fruit even before the leaves appear.

The variety we have in our back yard is the former.

Jesus wanted His followers to realise that religious behaviour, religious show, attendance at religious meetings, even praying and reading the Scriptures does not ensure that a person is pleasing to Him.

This tree was a great example: It looked so lush and beautiful dressed in it's God given finery. It made a great display. It said,”Look at me!” But it wasn't saying, “Look at the fruit I'm bearing because of what the Grower has given me”. This tree was saying, “Look at ME! Aren't I glorious in all my finery! I've put so much effort into looking good.”

In Jesus' day, a traveller was legally able to pick the fruit of any tree growing by the road. The fruitless fig tree was representative of everything the religion of the temple and the Pharisees displayed to the world; an exercise in futile self interest; a disgusting display of meaningless, fruitless religion, which denied all that the prophets had foretold, and scorned the Messiah.

Is your purpose in life to display your religious finery and to practice meaningless rote rituals of attendance at meetings, clearing your conscience by partaking in the Lord's Snack, listening to sermon after sermon, attending Bible Studies?

It sure looks good!

But, with all our religious activity and busy-ness, are we, being built up as a part, “of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Surely three or four years of being discipled, nurtured and taught, ought to be sufficient to bring us to a level of maturity which will enable individual Christians, as a part of the Body of Christ, and as individual parts working properly, to be used to cause the growth of the Body for the building up of itself in love.

The fig tree wasn't cursed because it had no fruit, it was cursed because of its hypocrisy. It acted a part. It pretended to be what it wasn't. It was all show and no substance.

How many hungry "travellers" have had to go on their way hungry because we are like that fig tree?

THIS CHRISTMAS

2008-12-11T08:45:00.000+10:00

This Christmas I am reminded of the foment going on in that section of the population of the world, which labels itself “Christian”, much of which represents what amounts to nothing more than a “product” of the production line of the religious enterprise of Christianism .

As I read the newspapers, watch the TV, listen to the radio, and speak with people, I am astounded at the diversity of understanding amongst many of those who bear the Christian trademark. The “product” they represent would never get past the quality control of any manufacturer, no matter how lacking in rigour.

One matter which comes to mind is revealed by Pauls statement to the Roman Christians, "The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more" (Romans 5:20).

The Mosaic institutions, the Law of which Paul speaks including the Ten Commandments, were institued because of sin. The result was that a spotlight was shone upon sin, the common attribute of every member of humanity. The introduction of the Mosaic institutions, was designed to highlight the prevalence of sin. Without the law sin wasn't an issue.That's what Paul understood when he said, “...I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died ” (Rom.7:9), and that is the result for all humanity; the law reveals all as spiritually dead towards God.

The Apostle then says, “..where sin increased (abounded),” where the light of the law showed how wide spread and abundant the fact of sin was , “grace abounded all the more”.

An amazing word is used here. It's the only time it is used in the New Testament. It's the word which has been translated as “abounded” in this verse. There is no English word, of which I'm aware, which can replace the Greek word which Paul used. To understand what he is saying we would have to say that grace super-abounded, abundance upon abundance.

That's why, for a genuine follower of Christ, Christmas is the celebration by a sinner, who, through God's gift of faith in the person, and finished work, of Jesus Christ, has received the super-abundant gift of grace; the unearned, undeserved gift of God's Riches At Christ's Expense.

That's why the Bethlehem event is precious to genuine followers of Christ, and an occasion to be remembered and celebrated.

That which masquerades as Christian, the world of Christianism, it seems has tunnel vision which ignores sin. There is a constant emphasis on what I consider is a perversion of grace, a grace which winks at sin, a grace which is the gift of a loving, chubby cheeked, gray haired old fellow called “god”, who smilingly lavishes this “grace” upon a people who have no concept of their sinfulness, or the gravity of sin before the holiness of the Almighty God.

God's grace is no ordinary grace, such as the benevolnce and leniency of one human to another. When we speak of God's grace we are speaking about grace which not only offers judicial mercy and forgiveness from the consequences of God's just laws, but a grace which opens a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, in fact SAVING GRACE.

God's gift of saving grace, revealed through the very same Jesus Christ, who lay in that manger in Bethlehem, is nothing apart from sin!

How can the kindness and compassion of mercy be understood as a gift of saving grace if the hard , legal requirements of God's justice are not understood?

How can teaching about God's pardon and the absolution of His forgiveness as a consequence of saving grace be understood apart from the cold facts of deserved, and just, condemnation and retribution of God's law?

To talk about grace without understanding this is a meaningless nonsense.

The first Advent, which we celebrate at Christmas; God coming to earth in human form (God incarnate), was necessary because of the insidious disease of sin which infects ALL human beings. It was the earthly beginning of thirty three years of the sinless life of the perfect Man , who lived the perfect sinless life, which made Him the only being eligible to be the sacrifice God's law required as a satisfaction of His justice.

God's law declared all human beings as guilty. The work of Jesus Christ satisfied the requirements of God's law for all who trust in His person and finished work, who come to Him, recognising they are guilty before, and justly condemned by, God's law, and who, desiring to turn away from the behaviour and tendencies which sin works in their lives, seek His mercy.

It is meaningless, if not impossible, to understand or teach God's gift of saving grace, without understanding and declaring the absolute need of such grace, which the law points out!

As Paul told the Roman Christians, “For the wages of sin is death (separation from God), but the free gift of God is eternal life (with God) in Christ Jesus our Lord. “

Many in Christianism moan about the “Xmas” abreviation as being Christless, but they have no qualms about speaking/writing about God's saving grace apart from man's sinful need !!

This Christmas, as always, I, and mine, will be reminded of our sinful need, as we are reminded of God's great grace in Jesus Christ, and we will praise His name and rejoice in the freedom He has bought for us..

2008-11-19T09:03:00.000+10:00

AN EXTRAORDINARY PERSON.

Occasionally, in life, we meet an extraordinary person. Quite often they are extraordinary for the wrong reasons.

I know such an extraordinary person who today, reached her seventieth birthday. She is extraordinary for all the right reasons.

Travelling in a bus to Brisbane, I looked into the large mirror which facilitated the driver's supervision of his passengers, I saw this person, whom, at that time, I had no idea was so extraordinary. She saw me looking at her, and with a slight toss of her head, moved out of my sight to another seat.

I had to wait two years before I met that person.

That was one half century ago!

At that time it was my privilege to lead a youth group in a small country district, which had an unusual name. The Risk. A young man and I were visiting homes recruiting other young people to the group.

He suggested we go to the home of his cousin and invite her to join. He knocked on the door of his aunt's house. She appeared at the door, but my eyes were drawn to a person sitting at the kitchen table.

There she was! The person I saw on the bus!

My composure was shattered. I mumbled something, about why we had come, to the figure in the doorway, but my attention was fixed on the vision sitting at the table. Seeing her affected me in exactly the same way as it had two years before.

I really can't remember how it happened, but she agreed to allow me to take her, with the other young people, to our next meeting.

I'm not sure how the meeting went, but I had a fixed intention, that I would ask her out. I carefully planned dropping the others off before taking her home.

I asked, “Would you care to go to the pictures with me on Saturday night?”

The smile said it all! “Yes!”

I think I carried the car home that evening! The following week seemed to be much longer than normal.

Three months later, I was certain that I didn't want to spend my life with anyone else but her. In a most unlikely place, a stony track leading into a State Forest, I looked at the beauty before me, and asked her to marry me.

She blushed, and coyly replied,”Yes!”

Her name was like the soft touch of the hands I still love to hold!

Valerie! She is everything the name means, of Latin origin, it means " healthy and strong" .

In the time I've known her, I've come to know the extraordinary woman, my wife, who bears this name, has far more to her than the name implies.

She is all, and much more, than any man could desire to have as his wife, partner and friend.

The wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon, once said , "If you can find a truly good wife, she is worth more than precious gems! “

I believe that God led me to find that good wife. I truly mean that!

King Solomon said that, “Her husband can trust her, and she will richly satisfy his needs. .She is energetic, a hard worker, and watches for bargains. She works far into the night! She sews for the poor, and generously gives to the needy. . .She is a woman of strength and dignity, and has no fear of old age. When she speaks, her words are wise, and kindness is the rule for everything she says. She watches carefully all that goes on throughout her household, and is never lazy. Her children stand and bless her; so does her husband. He praises her with these words; 'There are many fine women in the world, but you are the best of them all!' .

Many times I have told her those very words, and I say them again, “Valerie! There are many fine women in the world, but you are the best of them all !”

I want to justify my words:

Valerie married an ambitious young farmer, who owned a car, and nothing else, whose ambition blinded him to reality. I had a dream for our future, a picture perfect property, and was prepared to do the hard graft to obtain it.

This extraordinary woman adjusted her life to suit, working alongside me, working as no woman ought to be required to work, whilst raising a family and seeking to meet the requirements of my ambitions, at great cost to herself. All the while maintaining her gentle humility and loving quietness of spirit.

Because of my stupid ambitions which required hard work and long hours I gave myself, I ended up in hospital. Valerie shouldered the full brunt of caring for a young family, milking a herd of cows, feeding pigs and everything else which goes with that.

Most of this time we were involved in seeking to practice our Christian faith, during which time we both sensed that we ought to go into the full time ministry of the church, which we eventually did.

Valerie was recognised as extraordinary by those who came to know and love her. So many told me that they had never known such an accepting, non-judgemental, loving minister's wife. They recognised that she had great gifting in hospitality, and loving people for who they are, without expectations of conforming to some artificial pretense, as is often the case.

During those years it was our misfortune to have some malcontents amongst us who wanted to remove us. All their efforts using legitimate means didn't work, so false accusations were made. Like many of such, there was no way of proving them false, so we left. Our lives were turned upside down. We were shattered.

Two years ensued in which ,I later realised ,I entered into deep depression. I have very little recollection of those two years, but I did fail my wife seriously.

You ought, by now, to be understanding why I call her extraordinary, she stuck by me, and supported me out of the pit I had allowed myself to fall into.

Soon afterwards through a most amazing process, which only our Sovereign God could organise, we met one person after another who wanted to grow in their Christian lives. An independent church was born adhering to the historic Christian Faith.

We had almost ten years of happy memories with those dear folk, until our age and health dictated we leave. My extraordinary wife was again able to function ij the loving, compassionate, caring way which expresses the love of Christ.

We left there with the love and good wishes of those very dear people, whom we still love, who still continue to function as a church.

That was five years ago, when we came to Bribie Island to retire.

Valerie is still the same extraordinary wife she has always been. There is no man, including me, on the face of this earth, who deserves to have her as his wife.

I am so very proud of her! I am the most blessed of all men!

Isn't Salvation By Grace?

2008-11-09T09:48:00.000+10:00

It is clear that there are many members of the Body of Christ who are having an increasingly heavy and uncomfortable yoke placed on their shoulder, most of which is the baggage of traditions and and teachings which are often personal opinion rather than what Scripture reveals.

For quite a long time I have sensed a compulsion to read Matthew 5, over and over again. I'm writing this because of that sense of compulsion.

Matthew's Gospel has been in the minds of others as well, such as (the most recent at The Assembling of the Church , and at A Better Covenant ).

The picture I see at the beginning of Matthew 5 is a very big crowd of people in the general vicinity of Jesus, but closer to Him are the disciples. This is the scene in which Jesus teaches, what have been called, The Beatitudes.

Many, if not most, of those gathered near Jesus would have, at least heard of, with possibly most, actually hearing, knowing and trusting, the teaching of the leaders of the prevailing religion of the day .

What Jesus was saying in the Beatitudes was not to declare an ideal to labour under with much personal effort, but the very opposite of the legalistic, performance oriented, example set by the practitioners of the prevailing religion of the day.

What Jesus then tells His listeners, which accords with His call to repentance, is that one is blessed if marked by characteristics such as , having a realistically humble understanding of oneself as a sinner having no inherent righteousness of our own, having genuine sorrow leading to repentance regarding sin (2Cor 7:10), having an attitude of meekness, patient forbearance under difficulties instead of being reactive when goaded, and so on. He intimates that living in this way will cause real personal difficulties, never-the-less, the rewards are great.

As Jesus continues, He uses two very stark, and irrefutable examples of how powerful these characteristics are: they are like salt, which once applied cannot be reversed; and light, which, when allowed to shine cannot be negated by darkness.

The Old Covenant Law, given to Israel, were professed as a religious code by the religious of Jesus day, especially the leaders who were extremely proud of their external adherence to it, and very concerned about this upstart who seemed to be upstaging them. Jesus sought to allay their fears by declaring that He hadn't come to destroy that law, but to fulfill it.

Even as Jesus is seeking to put religions minds at rest, they have no idea of where He is going with this. He told them that nothing of these laws will cease to exist until “everything has been accomplished”. The accompishment of the “everything” Jesus mentioned is the same as His earlier declaration that He came “to fulfil” the law.

In the face of deep dyed self-righteous thinking and behaviour, Jesus fires a missile, “....unless your righteousness SURPASSES that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Can you imagine the indignant gasps of those who followed codes and rules to the nth degree, as well as those who thought their leaders were the epitomy of what God required of them? “How can we function in a way that outperforms the righteous practices of our religious leaders?”

What about the religious leaders response? What did they, who were so certain of their performance, think about Jesus words? Do you think their response might have been similar to another man, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” (Luke 18:21)

Many of these religious people were like so many today, who fail to realise that their religious leaders are tarred with the same brush as themselves. Many of those hearing Jesus' words were like many people today who hang on every word that comes from their religious leaders, who jump when told to jump, and then fall into great guilt when they can't perform as demanded!

Now! They are hearing Jesus raise the bar to impossible levels!

Jesus summarises the law, using examples, commenting on the teaching of, and the approach of, the religionists had towards it, “you have heard..., BUT I SAY”.

He is confronting them with the fact of that His own authority is greater than theirs. The affront of this fellow! Who is He to speak thus to these people, who, even today, believe that they have the last word on matters of faith and practice, and Jesus says, “No! I do!”

The shock of what He said must have been profound in such company. What Jesus had done was to confront His listeners with the utter impossiblity of any human being keeping God's laws in such a way that they are not a personal offence to the righteousness of God. He had made it plain that even an attitude of heart and mind in which law breaking was entertained, was no different to actual deed!

What a great dilemma for religious people who have been legalists for many years, possibly a lifetime. Jesus was confronting the very counterpart of much of what we see today, ”Here we are, attending church every Sunday and all the announced meetings, doing devotions at the right time every day, praying long prayers, even quoting Scripture. We don't drink, don't swear or curse, we avoid the riff-raff, we won't allow ourselves be seen in the company of those frowned upon by the church leaders. We consciensciously avoid those who are of beliefs different to ours. We read the right books, watch the right movies, and shudder every time an unbeliever acts like an unbeliever, not to mention when an unbeliever does the same. We have subscribed to the heavenly insurance policy which was presented to us, and we have been paying our prescribed performance dues year in and year out, even trying to improve our payments. Now this fellow is trying to tell us that all of our effort and good work ,to please God, is worthless!”

Then as if to heavily emphasise what He has been saying, He says, “ Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

“As perfect as God?”

“Absolutely,yes!”

“Then who is equal to that task?”

Only the One whose words they are listening to, the Lord Jesus Christ! During His perfect life He fulfilled EVERYTHING the law required. He did it on behalf of all who come to Him in repentance and faith. And as His cry on the cross declared for all to hear, He ACCOMPLISHED everything of what He came to do,. That's exactly what He was saying,“It is finished” (John 19:30), “It is accomplished, paid in full”.

Knowing that the Pharisees of today, who sail under a Christian flag, stand up, and say, "It is necessary to observe the Law of Moses, and do all these things to prove yourself to God. He needs your performance of duties to seal the deal."

There was a lot of arguing as the Senior Pastors, Junior Pastors and their Yes Men looked in to the matter, and Peter stood up and rebuked his opponents,"Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are."(15:10)

Why do these leaders risk the displeasure of God by attempting to impose upon His people, whom He has called to Himself, rites, rules, and laws which simply weigh them down with misery? Why do they belittle the work of our Saviour by preaching the guilt and misery of Judaizers?

God provided His sacrificial Lamb as a perfect, unblemished sacrifice, by which He is propitiated regarding their sinfulness.

Why insult His great free gift of saving grace upon those who receive it?

Why attempt to shackle God's people to the religious idol of a denomination, system, building, or leader to fulfill requirements which, in effect, shut these precious brethren away from the joy of God's acceptance of them in His Son?

This is the “yoke of slavery (bondage)” of which Paul speaks.

Those who claim to be these elder brethren are the prodigal son's brother spoken about by Tim Keller in The Prodigal God:

“We see that the elder brother ”became angry.” All of his words are dripping with resentment. The first sign you have an elder brother spirit is that when your life doesn't go as you want, you aren't just sorrowful but deeply angry and bitter. Elder brothers believe that if they live a good life they should get a good life, that God owes them a smooth road if they try to live up to standards.
"What happens, then, if you are an elder brother and things go wrong in your life? If you feel you have been living up to your moral standards, you will be furious with God. You don't deserve this, you will think, after how hard you've worked to be a decent person!...Elder brothers' inability to handle suffering arises from the fact that their moral observance is results-oriented. The good life is lived not for delight in good deeds themselves, but as calculated ways to control their environment.

The yoke of the elder brother generally represents slavery, heavy bondage, affliction, punishment, oppressive and burdensome ceremonies, as was true of the situation in which the Galatian believers found themselves. Judaizers were seeking to add the yoke of slavery to the consciences of God's people, a yoke by the way, which, in their ignorance, they apply to themselves, often reaping the whirlwind as a result..

As Jesus said, They tie up burdens that are heavy and unbearable and lay them on people's shoulders, but they refuse to lift a finger to remove them. They do all their actions to be seen by people. They increase the size of their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. They love to have the places of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, to be greeted in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by people.
There is a yoke which we can wear, which Jesus desribes in Mt 11:29,30, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

The Lord Jesus Christ was determined to accept all who would come to Him without rites, rules, and authoritarian leadership, all of which He had shown were now abolished through His own perfection, and final sacrifice.

Whether a leader or not it is an affront to our Sovereign God when anyone seeks to add performance (a yoke of slavery) to the finished work of Christ, such additions are what Isaiah called “filthy rags” (stinking menstrual clothes).

DOES THE BEHAVIOR MATCH THE NAME?

2008-10-25T20:20:00.000+10:00

A seminar on evangelism was being addressed by well known, very experienced leader and preacher from the USA, whose intense focus on training people in evangelism exceded almost anyone else I am aware of.

He spoke with an enthusiasm which is often not seen. It wasn't that apparent enthusiasm which comes from inexperience, and often seen in many a young preacher, like an excited yappy puppy with far too much energy. No! It was an enthusiasm which came from much experience in seeing the fruit of his endeavors.

He came to a point in his talk where he addressed the issue of what causes evangelism to be more difficult than it ought to be. It wasn't the evil one, it wasn't that the unbeliever was ignorant of Christian things.

The biggest hurdle to overcome was the fact that the unbeliever DID know a Christian or Christians!

Many times I had heard the comment, “No! I don't want to talk about those things. My experience with Christians (often very specific comments) has been enough to make me not want to be one.”

Alan Knox has been talking about the Truly Local Church and there is some discussion regarding how such a group should meet in the local area, such as in a home.

I have been reminded of what another great old servant of Christ , who is deceased, Dr.David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who has written a book “Studies on the Sermon on the Mount”, which has a large bearing upon our attitude in meeting in our homes which are generally surrounded by unbelievers.

He describes the Sermon on the Mount thus: "The Sermon on the Mount is a description of character and not a code of ethics or of morals. It is not to be regarded as a law- a kind of new ‘Ten Commandments’ or set of rules and regulations which are to be carried out by us-but rather as a description of what we Christians are meant to be" .

He declares that we, “constantly have to remind ourselves of the Beatitudes”

How I wish I had taken that advice as a young elder,pastor,teacher! Even if I had heard it, like many other bright young folk, I probably would have thought it the simple ramblings of a fellow past his use-by-date!

From where I sit today his words have so much wisdom in them!

We need to be reminded that, regardless of our educational qualifications, our knowledge, our enthusiasm, zeal and bold confidence, we are to “remind myself daily that I am to be poor in spirit, merciful,meek, a peacemaker, pure in heart, and so on”.

He goes on to say, “In everything I do and say, I am to be like the man I see in the beatitudes”

All who knew the Godly author would say he reflected the very spirit of the Beatitudes, and that he knew what he was talking about.

You see, he lived what he taught, “But, not only are we to remind ourselves of the Beatitudes, we are to live accordingly. What does this mean? It means we are to avoid everything that is opposed to this character, we are to be entirely unlike the world. It is a tragic thing to me that so many Christians, because they do not want to be different, or to suffer persecution, seem to be living as near as they can to the world. But this is a contradiction in terms. There is no mean between light and darkness; it is either the one or the other, and there is no communion between. Either it is light or it is not.........”.

In response to a comment on Alan's blog regarding complaints from neighbours, I said, “ I would complain on behalf of the community, if, as we have witnessed, a group seemed to believe it had a divine right to fill the street with cars, assume that "worship" must be accompanied by as much noise as they pleased, allowing children to run riot while the parents met.

I have strong convictions that local congregation meetings in homes ARE the right way to go, but, as members of a secular community we must bend over backwards to show love and consideration towards them (unbelievers).” “ ........over a period of 10 years of no complaints, that regardless of the make-up of the community, respect for others, good manners and moderation in all behavior are well regarded. “

During those ten years God drew many into His Kingdom , and some wonderful testimonies of His gracious working in the lives of older believers, mine included, have been shared.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, “The world is becoming more rude; rougher,uglier,louder. I think we all agree with that.” But it is clear that what passes for Christianity is also becoming more rude; rougher, uglier and louder and the world around us are not slow to notice.

As our author suggests, it is far too easy to say,”I'm a follower of Christ” , loudly proclaiming the benefits, and in the same heartbeat be rude and inconsiderate of those around us.

“We are to be humble, peaceable, peacemaking in all our talk and behaviour, and especially in our reactions to the behaviours of other persons. I believe that the individual Christian is having a greater opportunity today than he has had for many a century, owing to the whole state of the world and of society. I believe that people are watching us very closely because we claim to be Christian; and they are watching our reactions to people and to the things they say and do to us. Do we flare up? The non-Christian does; the Christian should not. He is like the man in the Beatitudes, so he reacts differently. And when confronted with world events, with wars and rumours of wars, with calamities, pestilences and all these other things, he is not overanxious, troubled and irritable. The world is; the Christian is not. He is essentially different.”

Far too many claiming to be Christians are mimicing, and emulating the ways of a lost world.

Two of Jesus illustrations of the life He initiated were salt and light.

Salt doesn't mimic the food in which it is placed, it enhances and, sometimes makes the food vastly more pleasant.

The same with light, it doesn't emulate darkness, it disperses darkness, and yet we have those who claim to be Christians who think that they have a mandate to inconvenience the neighbors in their area with the clutter of cars, unruly behavior of their children and the noise of their singing. Many seem to have found a verse of Scripture which says that God is deaf.

Our God is much more interested in the state of our heart, which is reflected in the character revealed in our daily lives. Jesus said, ^“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matt.5:16)

The genuine Christian never draws attention to himself. Genuine poverty of spirit means that self has last call on our plans, desires,and inclinations, that our first concern is to reflect the Christ who denied Himself for us, before a lost community, seeking to serve them, not antagonise them, to love them, not disregard them.

At the same time we must have great sorrow in our hearts for the lost, not despise them. They are lost, and don't know it. We must have concern for them, not ourselves. We must have compassion for them, not contempt.

It is so very true that the reason some don't want to hear about the saving work of Jesus, is because the DO know one or more, who claim to be Christian, who are loud, bombastic, inconsiderate of others, arrogant about their spirituality, who love to display their great learning!

I have known very quiet people who, some claimed Christians deride as simpletons and dumb mice, yet make such an impact for the Kingdom of God that they leave those who know utterly amazed at the fruit of their, almost underground, ministry of God's grace in Jesus Christ.

I am reminded of a story told about Alexander the Great. The great soldier had sent out a conscription party. One young man had hidden in a cave to escape conscription. He was brought before Alexander, who demanded to know his name. The young man whispered tentatively,

“A -a-a lexander.”

Alexander the Great drew himself up to his full stature and exploded, “WHAT!!”

The young man again said, “A -a lexander, sir”

Alexander the Great, in full voice, said, “Young man! Change your ways, or change your name!”

Our Commander in Chief says, “Christian! Change your ways, or change your name!”

IT SEEMS TO ME!

2008-09-18T08:02:00.000+10:00

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, , in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22)

It seems to me that God is doing something new amongst His people of today. From the evidence of testimony as well as statistical evidence, we can see a heartfelt realisation amongst an enormous number of those claiming to belong to Christ, that the Christianism which has slowly developed since the days of Pentecost, and which we've been practicing for many decades, is a mere, but very dim, shadow of the “building” Scripture reveals, one which is a “temple of the Lord.....a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (see above).

There is a stark realisation amongst this multitude that something is wrong, right across the board. So very many of those beloved of the Father have been disenfranchised of their Family privileges and denied their seat at the Family table where ALL must be recognized as priests unto the King.

The Family members read the Scriptures and their hearts leap with the Spirit's ministry to them; they want to share what they have learned, and bring it under the scrutiny of their Family peers. This is not possible! Why? Because there are many who have delegated to themselves a position in the Family as the magisterium (the official, and only interpreters of Scripture). They exercise the authority of CEO or OIC, the arbiter of what may be believed, who may minister and in what way, and to whom. They often also assume the legal positions of both judge and jury to try Family members as to whether they are fit to belong to the Family.

Many members of the Family are realizing that they are being deprived of the heritage that God, the Family Father, has bestowed upon them and they yearn to be free, under the scrutiny of the Family, to serve one another, and the community amongst whom they live, as, by His Holy Spirit, the Father inspires and leads them.

But, like many of similar historic movements of God there is a tendency, amongst a few, to swing the pendelum too far in the other direction, instead of finding that place of equilibrium.

So, it seems to me, that there are many, who realise that belonging to the Father's Family is about relationships and “one anothering”, but who have overlooked the one fact that decides whether or not they actually belong to the Family, their relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

I can only write about what I read (in books, on blogs, web sites etc.), and listen to (ditto), but there seems to be an excess of stuff which apparently forgets, if ever it was known, that membership in the Family of God, is utterly dependent on what our Sovereign God does, by His Spirit, in which He lavishes sinners with undeserved, unearned righteous merit (grace) through His gift of faith in the life and finished work of Jesus Christ.

It seems to me that there is a dearth of information which declares that, with all the humanly generated will in the world, all the altruism, all the good will, all the effort, all the service, all the warmth, all the hugs and kisses, there is no Family of God apart from a genuine, God wrought, saving relationship through and with Jesus Christ.

As Paul was inspired to write in our opening passage, “... Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone...”, and that it is ONLY IN that relationship “.... the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,...”.

The “building” and “a holy temple” of which Paul writes is the Family of God, and as Paul describes, it has a foundation “...the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,...”

“So what?”, you may ask.

Well! There can be no foundation laid for a building without the cornerstone, or its equivalent. The cornerstone, or its equivalent, is the pivital point about which the building develops.

There is no equivalent regarding the “spiritual building” of which the Lord Jesus Christ, is “the cornerstone” of salvation. He is the only datum point from which this “building” is able to develop. It is only in Him that the relationships, which are essential to being the ekklesia, the Family of God, develop and developing. Without Jesus Christ, and the gift of genuine faith in His life and finished work, there is no relationship with God, and as a result there is no relationship with the Family of God!

Any gathering of people, being built without that relationship, in the spiritual sense, can only be, at best, mutual admiration society, a childish pretense, and at worst, a grave deception, a human centered Platonic exercise in futility, a mere shadow of the true, with spiritual failure and disappointment guaranteed, and like many issues of moral and ethical import in this rationalistic age, which feel good, is enjoyable and has apparent value.

The centrality of the Lord Jesus Christ in the life and function of any group of people, will be markedly different from those in the previous paragraph.

For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. (Colossians 2:9-12)

2008-08-03T09:58:00.000+10:00

I thought I would share another letter I have recently sent to a Christian couple we love and seek to serve. It highlights a problem which is becoming more and more evident.

Interestingly, during the great historic periods of revival, the same issue, which I’m attempting to address in the letter, became very evident amongst those who claimed orthodoxy. Thankfully God takes no notice of those who seem very adept at casting stones at those who have been moved by Him to shake up the status quo. As a result, we can now read of the amazing works of God during those days.

We ought always to keep Gamaliel’s advice in mind, “Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

Dear Brother and Sister ABCD,

There was a criminal man named Jack, who bore the same name as yourself, ABDC, who spent most of his life in a constant battle with the law. It also happened that I attended school with fellow named Bruce, who also shared your name, ABCD, but who was a spiteful little twerp and seemed to enjoy causing trouble, even if it meant creating a falsehood to achieve his ends.

For me, as a Christian, to judge all, who share the name ABCD, by these two, would be completely unjust and out of character for anyone who was a true disciple of Christ.

Think how offensive it would be to my friend, and brother in Christ, Charley ABCD, if, not knowing him I had formed the opinion from the evidence of the two ABCDs mentioned above that , “All ABCDs are simply no good. They are crooks and trouble-makers.”

That’s exactly how offensive it is to our Lord when we judge any group of people, of whom we have no intimate knowledge, and paint them ALL, some who are our genuine brethren, as well as His brethren, with the same broad brush. Mostly this is done on the basis of what someone else said about them.

If my wife and I had taken notice of what was said about Charley and his wife, who happen to have the name ABCD, they would not be invited into our home, and we would not want to be seen in their company. Also, if we had not accepted them, taking no notice of the prejudice of what others were saying, we would be deprived of their friendship and fellowship.

No matter where information comes from, it is simply NOT a true statement to say that ABCDs are no good. The same applies with the different groups who claim to be Christian, for instance, a relatively new expression of Christianity. “The Newies”, who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, and believe the orthodox evangelical understanding of salvation. It is simply NOT correct to say that, "all Newies are not what they claim" (that’s also certainly true of many orthodox evangelicals and denominationalists, etc.), nor is it correct to say that “Newies” are leading people into an heretical religion (that’s also certainly true of many orthodox evangelicals and denominationalists, etc.), or to make similar blanket, criticism or derogatory statements.

Do you personally KNOW any so-called “Newies”? I do! I think they are mistaken in some things, but the ones I know, ARE my brethren in Christ, trusting in the same finished work of the same Jesus Christ, as you and I are, AND disagreeing vehemently with the works oriented doctrines of the heretical religion. Have you read their writings, widely enough to personally know, what they are teaching, and that the label you have given them fits of them ALL? I have, and I know that, in general, it doesn’t.

If I was really looking for things to criticize, I could find one or two things which I would question, or say differently, but there is no heresy there, and they certainly disagree with the heretical religion you have concerns about.

It’s very enlightening to discover that some of the “Newies” are, doctrinally, very orthodox evangelical Christians; some even holding to one or another of the famous orthodox evangelical statements of faith. A few have leadership which has relinquished the dubious trappings of ordination to simply be part of the Body of Christ, and who preach a Christ honoring, God glorifying Gospel message and show no fear in speaking up against the perversions of the faith.

If I wanted to give myself a label other than a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ (and I don’t), I wouldn’t be ashamed to wear the tag, “Newie”, as an honorable one, and I would preach and teach the very same Christ centered message as I always have.

I will not allow another person, no matter how judgmental, or clerical, or religiously acceptable, to cloud my discernment according to the Scriptures, or my spiritual integrity, no matter how well thought of they are
( Brother and Sister ABCD! Some of your critics were well placed in “spiritual” circles).

As with any teaching from Scripture I hear or read, so too with my assessment of people, I intend to be a Berean, and search out the truth for myself.

During the 2nd World War there was a slogan which simply said, “Loose Lips, Sinks Ships”. It was a warning that unwise conversation and ignorant gossip could give the enemy an edge against the allies, and cause the death of many.

Amongst Christians, Loose Lips Ruin Lives, and often wound those for whom Christ died, causing them to fear any more contact with Christians! My wife and I have felt the uninformed dagger of gossip and know the consequences.

The enemy rejoices as he sees the wounds and separation caused by such uncaring, unloving, un-Christ-like behavior.

I'm sure you would agree with James when he said,"If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless", "The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell."

We wouldn't trust the words of a blasphemer, or those who consistently spout obscenities. How then can we act the part of one who would attack the good name and reputation of another, often with the malicious intent of turning others from them. Slander has a way of rebounding on the slanderer, no matter how we try to religiously legitimize it.

Your Brother in Christ,
Aussiejohn.

When will we learn!

2008-06-26T16:49:00.000+10:00

The following words were written to a dear brother regarding a magazine from a "ministry" which sees its role as a spiritual policeman. The Gospel message and the centrality of Christ is missing:

I am disappointed by consistent fear mongering and generalizations, but more
so comments which equate the visible churches, which are spoken about, with
the ekklesia (the Church of Jesus Christ). To say that "the church" is
becoming apostate is to fail to discern the difference between those who are
effectually called to be God's children, the ekklesia, the assembly of God's
people, and the man made institution which we have habitually called "the
church". This is an indication of what I've often spoken, and written
about and the mistake many make when they accept the whole of a theological
position without question (Acts 17:11).

I have not changed my stance at all. I believe the Doctrines of Grace, the soteriology
declared by the Reformers, but I do not accept their ecclesiology (doctrine
of the church), which remains, essentially, Roman Catholic.

We have to seriously ask ourselves whether our Lord Jesus was given to
telling lies! I think not!!

Jesus said to Peter,".... I will build My church; and the gates of Hades
will not overpower it. " We have two choices, we either believe Him or we
believe something else. It is not only my choice, but my conviction that
His words are true.

The congregation, or assembly, of believers in the finished work of Jesus
Christ is alive and well, it is small, as Jesus Himself indicated in Matthew
7:14, and Luke 6:46.

If the idea that the visible church is the entity which Jesus said He would
build was even partially true, then the the Lord Jesus, the One in whom I
have trusted my eternal destiny, is a failure. Can that be true?

Absolutely NOT!!

The institution we call "church" IS falling apart, like all man-made
institutions will, because they are imperfect .

Jesus is not only the builder of His congregation; He is the foundational Chief Corner stone (Eph.2:20; 1 Peter 2:6-7). The entity He is building is "A CHOSEN RACE, A royal
PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you
may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into
His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE
PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY."
(1 Pet.2: 9-10)

Jesus is building a "spiritual house" (1 Pet.2:5). He IS NOT building with
flesh and blood!

The mess of the institution we have traditionally called "church" will
continue to be a mess whilst is is controlled by imperfect people. It was
the same in Biblical times, the New Testament is clear proof of that. Most of which
was written to deal with similar mess. It will remain that way until the Lord's
return.

Let's get on with the task to which all genuine Christians have been called,
to "make disciples (not converts) baptizing them in the name of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I
commanded you" (Matt. 28:19). After all, those "whom He predestined, He
also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He
justified, He also glorified" (Rom.8:30). They are the "living stones" (I
Pet.2:5) which are the substance of His congregation.

Let those who want to play "church" promote their power struggles, tell
their lies, massage their monstrous egos, and build their edifices, whether
organizations or self proclaimed ministries.

Our task is to share the Gospel with all who will listen, "for WHOEVER WILL
CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED. How then will they call on Him
in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have
not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach
unless they are sent? Just as it is written, HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF
THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!

I know this is almost a sermon, but the tendency to see what we perceive as
the sins of others without gracious, and gentle attempts to deal with them
according to Galatians 6:1ff , is very wrong. We forget, at our peril the
warning Paul gave to the Galatians in 6:3-4, "For if anyone thinks he is
something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each one must examine
his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself
alone, and not in regard to another." Of course Paul realizes that no
spiritual person cannot elevate themselves by their assessment of others.

We are never exhorted to use a sledge hammer approach. Paul warns against in Gal. 6:12-13 .

I prefer to take for myself Paul's testimony in v.14, " But may it never be
that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through
which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." .

2008-05-21T08:19:00.000+10:00

THE CONGREGATION OF GOD…..

Is human beings, people who have been called by the Holy Spirit into a family relationship with God the Father; a relationship created by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and embraced through the unearned gift of saving faith in His finished work.

Is recognized only by that initial relationship with God the Father and the common relationship which result with others who are called, all having only one recognized Head, the Lord, Jesus Christ. .

Can never be initially recognized by common institutional, organizational membership.

Is led by those who have, over a period of years, gradually been recognized by the others in whom they are in relationship, by virtue of their exhibiting the Scriptural gifts and qualifications of leadership.

Is where each individual, whether male or female, is understood to have personal and spiritual worth as a brother or sister in family under the headship of the one Father, and able to contribute according to the gifts and qualifications, which each one called inevitably has, of membership in that family;

Is where each member of the family is understood to be traveling a road of many twists and turns, which is common to all, with difficult obstacles, some of which, depending on the individual needs, all will need help to traverse, no matter how long since the journey began.

Is, because they are family, able to worship God by the way they live, work, play, study their common faith, share, sing and pray in Christ centered, Spirit endowed unity, regardless of differences.

Is a family who is more concerned about making disciples of others who are encouraged to form new families, rather than the original family getting larger and enriching themselves with real estate, buildings and comforts.

Is a spiritual family where it is normal for conversations to center on family matters which are for the mutual building up of each other towards spiritual maturity.

Is a family which continually devotes themselves to the teaching of the apostles, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to times of prayer, expecting God to work amongst them and those for whom they pray.

Is a family which shows the wider community that they are disciples, by their love for one another, and proves for all to witness, the Scriptural truth that because God loves them, they cannot help but love, reaching out in humility, mercy and grace, and without favor, to the non-family people around them, reflecting the Christ to whom they belong.

My Family, God's People

2008-04-07T07:06:00.000+10:00

I make no apologies for linking to Alan Knox again! I believe that God has given this young man a desire to understand God's people from a Biblical perspective, rather than a man oriented traditional one, which has been given a Biblical label. It seems that he not only writes and speaks about it, but is committed to live what he discovers in the Scriptures. For one in leadership, that IS different!

There a many good messages to download, and from which we may learn. Many are loaded with proof texts to prove a preconceived premise. Not many are truly Biblical; expressing the truths expressed in Scripture in a manner which demonstrates the speakers love for the truth and how it affects God's people.

I am greatly encouraged, by a talk Alan was asked to give at the seminary where he works and studies. I am encouraged that, in the time I have left in this world, we will see a true Biblical expression of the family of God.

Do yourself and your brethren a great service, listen to it and share it.

In the same context Alan has written a short blog entry, which you ought to read.

The following words, which I was constrained to place here, are my response to that blog:

Hear! Hear! How very true!

As I've written elsewhere, I became convinced from Scripture, of the ecclesiastical issues you write about, some thirty years ago. There were books being written by people who were beginning to be given a glimpse of that of which we now speak, which encouraged me to follow my convictions.

But, I,like the majority of us,allowed my convictions to be prejudiced, even though claiming to be followers of Christ alone, constrained by the Scriptures alone,we were really followers of Wesley, Calvin, etc., etc; and that mainly through the pressures of institutional mores established by conventions,synods,confessions,seminaries and colleges, etc.

According to John's Epistles, the congregation of God is comprised of people who have a vertical relationship with God, through the new birth, from which is established a horizontal relationship with all other members of His family.

My concern is that my brethren don't allow themselves to be prejudiced, as I was, by persuasive arguments made by those, who because of fame, command of rhetoric, charisma, or the security of being in league with well known leaders, or the financial security of their paid leadership positions.

There are far too many of us who have idols we want to emulate; men whom God used in their own historical time slots, and current leaders who have fine oratorical skills, great "presence", large congregations, which, by the way, have nothing to do with being a disciple maker.

Most leaders I have been closely acquainted with would fit the "prejudiced" description, and teach the congregations they are entrusted with, to be the same acquiescent clones.