In Case Anyone Reads This...

In Light of This Week

2010-01-16T13:40:00.002-06:00

Greetings everyone. This week, as you all know one of the most devastating natural disasters of our time took place. We cannot, from here, fathom the fear, pain and dispair that the people of Haiti are feeling today, and will feel tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day. Our prayers go out for them and for those on their way to lend aid. May we give generously of both our time in prayer and our finances to help.
This short video, a clip from a sermon by pastor Voddie Baucham does a good job of answering the question which I'm sure many of you are asking.

Kelly

Matt Chandler - The Rose

2009-12-22T15:07:00.005-06:00

Matt Chandler is a pastor of The Village Church in Dallas, TX. He recently had surgery to remove a brain tumor which he is now recovering from. However, he is not out of the woods yet as they couldn't remove everything and it is cancerous. So, he'll start chemo in the new year. I know he would appreciate your prayers for him and his family. Here's a clip from a conference he spoke at.

We are all like that rose, in that we are all sinful and filthy. And yet, as Matt pointed out, Christ died for us... "Christ wants the rose." The gospel is beautiful, and it's so important we get it right. May this gospel bring us to our knees in repentance and faith.

"For our sake, [God] made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor 5:21).

Merry Christmas everybody!

Kevin

Fa-la-la-la-la-law-law-law-law

2009-12-06T14:52:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, my wife and I, along with a few of our friends attended a Christmas musical at a Christian College. The whole production, the music, singing, acting, humor, and set were all fantastic. I was very much entertained. I was disappointed however in the script, and the degree by which the whole thing missed the point of Christmas… missed the point of Christ.

The story followed the people of a small town as they dealt with the arrival of a stranger. Thinking he was a fraud trying to collect the inheritance of the town doctor, the townspeople conspired to run the unwelcomed stranger out of town. When the good doctor returned home and affirmed that this was indeed his long lost brother and that he in fact was not after his money at all, everyone was reconciled and came together for a town wide Christmas celebration. At the celebration the town’s new pastor got up and spoke. He preached that we all sin against each other and so create tension, grief and broken relationships. Jesus came to teach us a better way to live, he taught us that our relationships, our hurts and our bitterness can all be turned into love for each other if we only follow Christ’s example. Nothing could be further from what the Bible teaches.

In an effort to remove all offence from his message, the writer of this musical stripped Christmas… stripped Christ of any power, reducing him to a good teacher, a good example to be followed. I wrote in a past post that, paradoxically, if we only teach God’s love then really, we are not teaching enough of it. God’s love can only be properly understood in light of God’s wrath which is upon unregenerate sinners. His love sent his son, Jesus, to the cross to die a horrible death, to take his wrath which should be upon us, so that he can forgive us our sin, and yet remain just.

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul Psalm 19:7

In a similar paradox, if you try to remove the law from your teaching you begin teaching only law. If you remove the proper teaching of God’s law, you remove the necessity to teach God’s grace. The message of the cross is robbed of its power and Christ is reduced from our wonderful savior to our wonderful example. You then slip into works righteousness as you try your darndest to live up to the standard that Jesus set for us in his perfect life.

Our condition as humans, our problem if you will, is not that we are mean and unwelcoming to each other, it’s that we are hostile and sinful toward GOD.

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Romans 8:7

Because of our sinful rebellion against a perfect and just God, his wrath is upon us.

Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life Matthew 25:46

But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars - their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death Revelation 21:8

Amazingly, God sent his son, Jesus, to live a perfect life and then to die on the cross, in our place, to take our sin and the punishment and God’s wrath for it upon himself.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. Romans 5:9

How wonderful! That is the reason for Christmas! That is why Jesus came to earth! To show us the true extent of his love for us by laying down his life to save us.

Lose the teaching of sin and you lose the teaching of love and grace. Lose the teaching of God’s law and that Christ came to fulfill it for us and you lose all hope. You are left to pull yourself up by your bootstraps, to try in vain to live a good life, to be more loving to your neighbor. If anyone who saw that musical (or a similar one) who was already feeling convicted over their sin they would be left feeling utterly helpless, because they know that they can never live up to Christ’s example. If you don’t offer the knowledge of sin you cannot offer forgiveness for it. You are teaching only law, no grace.

Merry Christmas everyone, may you have a great time of fellowship with friends and family. May you be warm, safe and well fed. May you reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, the true work of Christ, not as our example, but as our replacement. Our savior.

Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. Acts 8:22

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

Kelly

Personal note-
we recently rolled over 2000 views. Thank you so much to those of you who follow what we do here. We are continually blown away and humbled by the fact that anyone reads our posts and by the encouragement you offer us. You make it a blessing to serve in this way.

Lead Me Not

2009-11-02T19:54:00.001-06:00

I work as a fabricator and a CNC profile cutting operator in a welding shop. Things get very dirty. I have to keep said things clean. We buy boxes of rags to do said cleaning. Said rags are generally old, cut up t-shirts . Said t-shirts are sometimes worth a look because they’ll have a stupid slogan or a weird logo which can, at times, be used to make fun of someone or pull a prank on someone in the shop. I picked up one of these rags the other day. It was a red shirt with a little emoticon devil head and the phrase, “Lead me not into temptation, I can find my own way”. At first I thought, “Weird”. Then I thought, “What was the punk kid who wore this thinking?”. Then I thought, “Wait a second, this shirt is actually theologically accurate”. And then I thought, “Weird”.

I loathe the attitude with which someone would wear such a shirt and the fact that you can probably buy it at Zellers or some such department store. The thing is, as abrasive as the phrase seems at first, it’s absolutely true, we can find our own way into temptation. We don’t need any help.

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. James 1:13–15

I find this rings very true in my own life. The easiest things for me is to sin. The easiest thing for me to do is to give in to temptation. Left to my own I will choose sin every single time. What about you? Do you give in to temptation? We all do; it’s called sin. Stealing (regardless of the value), committing adultery (looking with lust and thinking lustful thoughts both count), lying, these are all sins. What about this one “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) I don’t think I have ever truly loved God with ALL of my heart, ALL of my soul, ALL of my strength and ALL of my mind. I don’t think anyone ever has. So how often does God consider that one a sin? Every minute? Every second?

The bible teaches that when we die we will go to one of two places, heaven or hell. Those who have broken God’s law, who’ve given in to temptation and sinned, will go to hell. Sounds harsh right? The bible is exceedingly clear on this subject. Does this concern you? It should, it does me. This is all very bad news. If you want the good news please read my march 4th entry called “The Gospel”. (I don’t want to rush through an explanation here)

A shirt that says “Lead me not into temptation, I can find my own way” seems kinda silly. The sad truth is that we could all rightfully wear it.

Kelly

The Glorious New Covenant!

2009-10-19T10:38:00.003-06:00

I have spent some time in 2 Corinthians and have been realizing how good it is to live in the grace of God - to live in the New Covenant. When I see my sin and my inability to live a truly righteous life, I can rest in peace knowing that Christ has paid for my sin and I stand before God justified because of Him and His work. He will present me “faultless” before God because of His righteousness imputed to me (Jude 24, 1 Cor 1:8-9). I rest knowing that I don’t have to work my way to heaven, trying to keep the law.

In 2 Cor 3, Paul says that the “letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (v 6 - the “letter” refers to the law). He then goes on to call the law the “ministry of death” and “ministry of condemnation” (v 7, 9). It seems really harsh to call God’s law a ministry of death and condemnation. That is, of course, unless we understand the reason for the law. Paul also explains that to us in Gal 3:24 where he says that, “The law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we may be justified by faith.” Or, as the good old King Jimmy puts it, “The law was our schoolmaster to bring us into Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” The law is to lead us to our need for Christ, or Savior.

How? By revealing to us our inability to keep God’s standard. When we look at God’s law and see his standards for what’s right and wrong, we see that we can’t meet them. In this way, it is a ministry of death and condemnation.

“Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” - Rom 3:19-20

The law helps us see we don’t compare to God’s holiness and that our sin is deadly serious. It should reveal our need for a Savior.

In 2 Cor 3:7, Paul talks about how this law “came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of it’s glory.” He then goes on to say,

“For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory” (v9).

The New Covenant is permanent and it brings righteousness, not condemnation. It is truly glorious. In Christ we can be forgiven and He can free us from the condemnation of the law. This is the most freeing of truths, of which I am so grateful for, and undeserving of!

If you feel the weight of the law, if you know you don’t measure up to God’s standard, if your conscience screams that you’re a sinner and in trouble, please, please… throw yourself upon the Savior and discover His mercy and grace. Christ took God’s punishment for sinners, so that we could be made free. We urge you: repent and place your faith in Jesus at once. Come out from the condemnation that your sin ensures (John 3:18) and that the law shows you, and enter God’s grace, through faith in His Son!

“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” - Paul in Rom 7:24 (to which I say a huge “AMEN!”)

For more, read here.

Unbelievable

2009-09-09T17:15:00.002-06:00

I just read this stat. Worldwide, there is around 42 MILLION abortions per year. That is just over 115,000 PER DAY... (according to the Guttmacher Institute). Can you even fathom this number? Try to.

That is astounding... that is the 9/11 death toll times 30 everyday... or Katrina (death toll) times 60 ... daily...

I can't even compute that. What a travesty. How does one even begin to address this?

My interest in this subject has been renewed. It's about time.

Kevin

Gospel-Centered Social Involvement

2009-08-13T11:59:00.005-06:00

The relationship between social justice and the Christian life comes up continually. There are those who consider themselves "social justice Christians." Clearly, the Bible has much to say about caring for widows, orphans, and the poor in general. Indeed, if our hearts do not break at the poverty of others, then something is seriously wrong. And if we do not act, then there's something equally as wrong. I have been reading in Amos, where God is angry at Israel for forsaking righteousness and justice.

In the past, I've written about why I think that sharing the gospel is the most loving thing we can do (you can read that here). There is a belief out there that the Bible does no good for the hungry or oppressed man. I wanted to write on this again, but I recently discovered an entry on another blog that I felt addressed much of what I'd say. The entry is called "10 Theses on the Centrality of the Gospel in Christian Social Involvement" and it highlights, again, why the good news that Jesus came to die on the cross (and rise again) to redeem sinners must be central in our social work.

Happy reading!

Kevin

"Preach It!"

2009-07-29T21:05:00.001-06:00

I had a very interesting experience this weekend. I play bass in an amateur bluegrass band. We were asked to play in the Sunday morning gospel portion of a summer arts festival. We’re the kind of band who only plays a couple of shows a year so every time we basically have to scrounge together enough people and practice a whole new set of songs. We all had holidays planned around this time and it was a hassle to get it together but we figured it would be a good opportunity to share the gospel, so we decided to do it. We had four songs and I agreed to do a brief presentation of the gospel. The playing went well but when I started to speak I had a brand new experience, I was heckled! First this guy out in the audience started yelling something which I couldn’t make out, then the festival organizer told me to hurry up from the side of the stage. I ignored both of them and got through it but I have to say I was quite rattled. I tried to pretend it didn’t bother me but truth be told I felt really anxious for a good part of the rest of the day. It wasn’t a lot of fun but I learned a couple of things.

I’ve been kicking around the thought that it’s very important to verbally preach (or share, if that sounds better) the gospel to people. These inklings have crept up on me slowly over the past couple of years. I grew up being a big advocate of “friendship evangelism”. Just love people and hang out with them and eventually they will ask you why you’re different and then you could explain your faith to them… or maybe they’ll just understand it by osmosis. I liked this method as it took a lot of pressure off and required minimal effort on my part. Not to mention the fact that I was just plain chicken to talk about God with people. The problem with it, in my case, is that God never came up in my conversations with unbelievers. I was good at hanging out with people and being a good friend and a good listener but I guess I must not have been different enough because nobody ever asked about “the difference” in my life.

As I read through the Bible my suspicions were confirmed. The early Christians preached the gospel at every opportunity. And they used words. “Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words” That used to be my life verse… wait, it’s not in the Bible, nor is it consistent with the overall teachings of the New Testament. The words “preaching” and “gospel” occur in the same sentence 25 times in the NT… there’s something to be learned here. Aside from these examples, there are many others which point to the importance of verbally passing on the good news of Christ.

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16 : 15 – 16

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Romans 10 : 9 – 17

The part of my hecklee experience which particularly struck me is the reason people were upset. It wasn’t the fact that we were talking instead of playing. Other musicians took the same amount of time to introduce their songs. It wasn’t my poor speaking abilities… that may have been part of it. It was the things I was saying. They didn’t like the message we were offering, even at a “gospel music morning”. The most interesting part to me is that people sang and clapped along to songs which talked about the exact same themes, our sinfulness, the consequences of our sin and Christ’s payment on our behalf on the cross. There is something about taking away all of the distractions, the music, the singing, the production, the entertainment and just plain saying it. There’s something particularly offensive about it to the unregenerate heart and something particularly powerful about it to the heart which the Holy Spirit is changing.

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1 : 18

For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 1 Corinthians 1 : 22 – 25

And so I challenge you, Christian, is your friendship evangelism working? Are you having conversations about God with people? If I asked one of your friends if they knew how to become a Christian, would they know? I have to confess, lots of my friends do not. With God’s help and grace this is something I would love to change. I believe God can use anything to bring people to himself. Think of Paul, nobody preached to him, he didn’t have any non-threatening relationships with Christians. God simply reached down and grabbed him. It is clear, however, that the verbal preaching of the gospel, Christ crucified for our sins, is God’s chosen method to bring people to repentance.

Kelly

A Testimony of a Child of God

2009-07-15T22:33:00.002-06:00

Greetings friends, I apologize for the long wait. Since we have written last, our Kevin has become a father. Kevin and Kristina became the very proud parents of Samuel William Armstrong on June 27th. The whole family is doing very well, except grandpa who has been down (but not out) with some back issues. Mickey and I also added to our family the same week. While not as good as a son, we got a puppy, she’s a bundle of fun, and mischief. I think dogs are inherently sinful, just as we humans are.

One short story before we get to the heart of this post. A couple of weeks ago now, we got a message on our machine from our friend Evie who had shared the gospel with a door to door salesman. (way to go sister) A couple of days later we got a visit from a salesman of our own. Mickey gave him a gospel tract which we chatted about for a bit. It came out in the conversation that he had had talked with a girl, Evie, about the same stuff. We thought it was so cool that a poor, unsuspecting salesman from Regina came down to Weyburn and heard the gospel twice in a couple of days. There’s a good chance he’d never heard it before, he must have been like, “Man, what is this town?!”

We have a guest appearance here on the blog this time. My beautiful wife, Mickey, became a member of our church two weeks ago. As part of the process, she wrote out her testimony and shared it on a Sunday morning. I think we had five people share that morning and all of the testimonies were incredibly encouraging. It was very refreshing to hear people who have a very clear understanding of their sin and Christ’s work on the cross on their behalf. Here is Mickey’s testimony, the testimony of a child of God.

My name is Micahlena Thiessen. I am 25 years old and as far back as I remember God has been drawing me to Himself. I grew up with a mom and dad who loved me and taught me what the Bible said about God the Creator of everything and who His Son Jesus was. I always knew that I needed to be saved but the truth of that concept has become more and more clear to me over time. I don’t know if I fully understood what being saved was when I was four and asked Jesus to come into my heart. I know that when I was ten I had an experience where I thought that Jesus had returned to take all His people to Heaven and that I had been left on earth. It was very scary and after realizing that I actually had not been left, I remember asking the Lord to forgive me over and over in my prayer to Him. Even then, I don’t know if I knew clearly what I was being saved from…I just knew I needed salvation. Since that time I have been baptized and have slowly grown in the Lord.

Throughout my teenage years it seems like I grew in faith and knowledge of the Word. God used Bible studies, youth group, and older Christian examples that He placed in my path to encourage and challenge me. Throughout college I think I forgot how important being in the Word was. Jesus says, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5b) In the past few years God allowed me to go through a time where I was not walking closely with Him. I was focusing more on life here and now instead of eternal things. Salvation and grace were things I accepted and didn’t treasure as I should have. In the past year, God has brought me back to the Word and how it is to be where I turn for everything in life. I am to go to Jesus and submit to His authority on everything that I face or come across in life. I have been brought back to the realization that I do not deserve salvation and I have never been worthy of it. In His grace and kindness, Jesus has revealed Himself to me and I am resting in His righteousness, not my own.

Over the past few years, God has allowed me to see situations and meet people where they seem to have the right answers to the questions that are asked about Christianity but when it comes down to their lifestyle they do not seem to have the Holy Spirit’s guidance and/or evidence of repentance. These things have caused me to look at myself eventually and ask whether I have repented and trusted Christ alone to save me. I can have all the right answers but if Christ is not at work in me, I am dead and not saved. I think it can be so easy, especially in our culture, to live a “Christian” life and not ever know what salvation is. It seems like there are those who live a good life claiming the Christian truths but have never known Jesus themselves or read the Bible to find out what HE says.

Another thing that God has brought me to realize was that during my teens and early twenties I didn’t think of myself as that bad of a sinner. Since then through various circumstances and situations God has brought to light the true wickedness of my heart, the selfishness that is so ready to take over. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” I have come to see more and more how desperate the human condition is and how desperate I am without Jesus. There is nothing in me that would ever be able to be good enough to take away God’s wrath for my sin. Thankfully, God has shown me His way of salvation that He has provided for all those who will trust in His Son. Jesus took my sin on Himself on the cross. God promises that by faith in Jesus, I stand in His righteousness.

There is freedom found in Christ. He is my great high priest who intercedes for me continually even as I write this. He is my righteousness. It is so good to know that I cannot earn my salvation and that Jesus has paid my debt. All that I am required to do is trust Him to be my Savior. This freedom is not a freedom to sin or do whatever I want but rather to choose obedience to the Savior instead of being enslaved to my sinful desires.

Investigative Journalism V1.0

2009-06-09T18:04:00.003-06:00

As the title of my post this month suggests, I set out a couple of weeks ago to do some investigative journalism. The problem is, I’m neither an investigator nor a journalist. I figured I’d give it a shot though.

I believe among “evangelicals” today there is a wide varieties of beliefs, concepts, conclusions, convictions, doctrines, fancies, feelings, guesses, hypotheses, impressions, inklings, interpretations, meanings, notions, opinions, perceptions, plans, purposes, reasons, senses, significances, solutions, suggestions, suspicions, teachings, theories, thoughts, understandings, views and the like. (props to thesaurus.com) It seems that if you talk to ten “evangelicals” you will get ten ideas. As we have discussed at length before, not all of them can be right. Does it bother anyone else that on the shelves of any “Christian” bookstore there will be a book that says one thing and right beside it there will be another book claiming that the first is heretical? “Evangelicalism” today seems to be saying that we can embrace both, even though they contradict one another. Another thing that makes me sick to the stomach is that any author or musician claiming to be a Christian can sell their wares in Christian bookstores, seemingly unquestioned. Are we not called to compare the things we read and listen to scripture? Or do we just assume that because it’s on a shelf beside the overpriced mug with an out of context Bible verse on it that it must be ok?

On to my investigation. We’ve kicked around the idea of asking a bunch of Christian musicians for their definition of the gospel. I decided to run with it. I went on iTunes, and found the top 50 Christian artists. My first observation was that I’m completely out of touch with the “Christian” music scene. I’d never heard of the majority of these bands. I guess they’re doing quite well for themselves. And Michael Tait is the lead singer of the newsboys? I want the bald guy back. So I created a myspace account, added all 50 bands and posed them this question: “Hi, I understand you’re a Christian artist. I was wondering, if I wanted to become a Christian, what are the most important things to know and how do I become one?” In the end I had all these responses but I didn’t really feel right about posting them for the world to see. Some of them were very weak but it’s not my intention to slander anyone here, especially with what could arguably be ill gotten information. I share Kevin’s thoughts in his post “Love of Truth”. I want to be known as someone who loves Jesus, someone who loves truth, not just as someone who hates things that are wrong. I would rather point out to you something that is beautiful truth than rail on something that is false. That being said, I believe that we are, as I mentioned before, called to compare what we take in to the scriptures. (We may, at times, mention specific names, books, etc. If we do, it will be done with prayer and humility and with the intent of defending Jesus and his good news)

“The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.” Acts 17:10-12

Paul was the celebrity preacher of his day and yet the Bereans didn’t take his words and run with them, they “examined the scriptures daily to see if these things were so”. We must do the same lest we be lead astray. In 1 Timothy, Paul again states the need for discernment.

“As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.” 1 Timothy 1:3-7
To further make this point I will get into my band responses a little. The question again was in regard to what I would need to know to become a Christian. If you go back to my first post “The Gospel” you’ll get a detailed explanation of what I believe to be the gospel. I’ll give a brief and simplified version as a benchmark. Please go back to my first post for a more thorough explanation if you have not read it.

1 – Each of us has sinned against God.

“For all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory” Romans 3:23

2 – We will all stand before a Holy God when we die and he will judge us.

“...man is destined to die once and after that to face judgment” Hebrews 9:27
3 – If we die in our sins we will not enter heaven, we will instead be sent to hell to suffer God’s just wrath for our rebellion.

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” Matthew 25:46.

4 – Jesus came to earth, fully God, fully man, lived a perfect life and at his death, took upon himself the full wrath of God as punishment for our sins. He then rose from the death three days later, as he said he would, to prove that he was God and that he has power over death.

“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” Romans 5:9

5 – In order to receive this grace we must repent of our sin, turn from it and put our faith in Jesus, not ourselves, for our salvation.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

6 – When this happens, the Holy Spirit comes into us, we are given a new spiritual heart so that we will begin to hate our sin and desire God. Out of this new heart will flow good works, which are evidence, of salvation, not a means of salvation.

“If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

If you’ve been following the discussion on Kevin’s latest post you will know that we’re ok with the idea that there are many legitimate methods of getting the gospel out. We will however, hold to our definition of said gospel and that all of these aspects must be present for it to be complete.

Let’s now go to a couple of band’s responses. I’ll do a terrible one first. I’m not going to mention the band’s name but they are among the 50 top selling “Christian” artists. Look for the elements of the gospel which we went over.

“God is real. He's freaking desperately in love with you, just like you may feel love for someone in your life - but his love is immensely greater than anything we will ever know. If you desire to feel that love - tell him, and ask him to use you for his work.”

The first time I read this I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I can’t bear to pick that apart, just compare it to the scriptures I provided (or any other scripture) and you’ll see the problems.

On to a good one. This response is from Phil Wickham. Check him out. (I know I said I wouldn’t mention names) I sent out all my question emails on the same night and I got Phil’s response first, two days before any others.

Hi Kelly,

The most important thing to know is that God so loved you, that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, into this world so that you may be saved. The Bible says that we all have sinned, and that the sentence of sin is death. Jesus paid this sentence - He died in our place that we might live forever with Him.

In the book of Romans (in the New Testament) it says that if we confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus and believe in our hearts that He is risen from the dead...then we are saved.

Call on Jesus right now and ask Him to forgive you of all of your wrongdoings (sin) and ask Him to be Lord of your life. Then start reading the Bible...start with the gospel of John which is the 4th book in the New Testament. It's very important to meet with other believers too. Find a good Bible study and a Bible teaching church and go.

I will end on that positive note. Take a look at your book shelf, at your cd collection, do the things you read and listen to line up with scripture? Sadly, I guarantee you, not all of it will. Be as the Bereans and examine the scriptures to see if these things are true. This includes Kevin and I. If what we say does not line up with scripture it is your responsibility to correct us.

Thanks for the support
Kelly

Feeding the Sheep or Amusing the Goats

2009-05-26T15:00:00.009-06:00

I want to put up an article written by Charles Spurgeon. He lived from 1834-1892. However, like Kelly said in his last entry ("175 and Still Kicking"), it seems like he could've written this today. I thought it was interesting and I welcome your thoughts. The article is called "Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats." Enjoy...

-Kevin

An evil is in the professed camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most shortsighted can hardly fail to notice it during the past few years. It has developed at an abnormal rate, even for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them.
From speaking out as the Puritans did, the church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses.
My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the church. If it is a Christian work, why did not Christ speak of it? "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). That is clear enough. So it would have been if He had added, "and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel." No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to him.
Then again, "He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers .., for the work of the ministry" (Eph. 4:11-12). Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people or because they refused? The concert has no martyr roll.
Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all his apostles. What was the attitude of the church to the world? Ye are the salt" (Matt. 5:13), not the sugar candy---something the world will spit out not swallow. Short and sharp was the utterance, "Let the dead bury their dead" (Matt. 8:22) He was in awful earnestness.
Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into his mission, he would have been more popular when they went back, because of the searching nature of His teaching. I do not hear him say, "Run after these people Peter and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick Peter, we must get the people somehow." Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them.
In vain will the Epistles be searched to find any trace of this gospel of amusement! Their message is, "Come out, keep out, keep clean out!" Anything approaching fooling is conspicuous by its absence. They had boundless confidence in the gospel and employed no other weapon.
After Peter and John were locked up for preaching, the church had a prayer meeting but they did not pray, "Lord grant unto thy servants that by a wise and discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show these people how happy we are." If they ceased not from preaching Christ, they had not time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecution, they went everywhere preaching the gospel. They turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). That is the only difference! Lord, clear the church of all the rot and rubbish the devil has imposed on her, and bring us back to apostolic methods.

Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to effect the end desired. It works havoc among young converts. Let the careless and scoffers, who thank God because the church met them halfway, speak and testify. Let the heavy laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment has been God's link in the chain of the conversion, stand up! There are none to answer. The mission of amusement produces no converts. The need of the hour for today's ministry is believing scholarship joined with earnest spirituality, the one springing from the other as fruit from the root. The need is biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire.

Taken from http://www.biblebb.com/files/spurgeon/amusement.htm

Love of Truth

2009-05-14T15:10:00.005-06:00

I just want to briefly share something our pastor said. His statement has made me think and I believe it's really good. (If you don't believe in absolute truth then this won't make any sense). He said this,

"One could hate falsehood, but not necessarily love the Truth."

I have thought a lot about this. The reason we should hate to see Scripture get twisted is because we love the truth of Scripture. It's not about any one of us being "right." It's about God's Word being correctly represented because it is true. Our love for God and the Truth of His Word should be what drives our discernment... not just a hatred for error.

Any other thoughts are welcome...

Kevin

175 and Still Kicking

2009-05-04T21:54:00.008-06:00

In this age of progress, religious opinions move at railway speed. Within the last few weeks many have made an open advance of a very special kind; we say an open advance, for we suspect that secretly they had for a long time harbored the errors which now they have avowed. And what a revelation it is! Here, one sees a "Moderate" declaring his advance to "another gospel" in the boldest terms; and there, another, highly esteemed for his supposed love of the truth, stubbing it after the subtle manner of its most malicious foes. While some of the most perverted cunningly endeavor to appear orthodox, others of a braver nature come out in their true colors, and astonish us with the glaring hue of their heresy. That which makes manifest is light; and, however much we may deplore the unwelcome discoveries of the present controversy, we ought to be thankful that they are made, for it is better for us to know where we are, and with whom we are associating.

The idea of a progressive gospel seems to have fascinated many. To us that notion is a sort of cross-breed between nonsense and blasphemy. After the gospel has been found effectual in the eternal salvation of untold multitudes, it seems rather late in the day to alter it; and, since it is the revelation of the all-wise and unchanging God, it appears somewhat audacious to attempt its improvement. When we call up before our mind's eye the gentlemen who have set themselves this presumptuous task, we feel half inclined to laugh; the case is so much like the proposal of moles to improve the light of the sun. Their gigantic intellects are to hatch out the meanings of the Infinite! We think we see them brooding over hidden truths to which they lend the aid of their superior genius to accomplish their development! Truths there are none, but only opinions; and, therefore, cultivated ministers should be left free to trample on the most cherished beliefs, to insult convictions, no matter how long experience may have matured them, and to teach anything, everything, or nothing, as their own culture, or the current of enlightened thought may direct them. He who teaches an extravagant error is a fine, generous spirit: and, therefore, to condemn his teaching is perilous, and will certainly produce an outcry against your bigotry. Where the atonement is virtually denied, it is said that a preacher is a very clever man, and exceedingly good; and, therefore, even to whisper that he is unsound is libelous: we are assured that it would be far better to honor him for his courage in scorning to be hampered by conventional expressions. Besides, it is only his way of putting it, and the radical idea is discoverable by cultured minds. As to other doctrines, they are regarded as too trivial to be worthy of controversy, the most of them being superseded by the advancement of science and other forms of progressive enlightenment.

The right to doubt is claimed clamorously, but the right to believe is not conceded. The modern gospel runs thus: "He that believes nothing and doubts everything shall be saved." Room must be provided for every form of skepticism; but, for old-fashioned faith, a manger in a stable is too commodious. Magnified greatly is the so-called "honest doubter," but the man who holds tenaciously by ancient forms of faith is among "men of culture" voted by acclamation a fool. Hence, it becomes a sacred duty of the advanced thinker to sneer at the man of the creed, a duty which is in most cases fully discharged.

Do men really believe that there is a gospel for each century? Or a religion for each fifty years? Will there be in heaven saints saved according to a score sorts of gospel? Will these agree together to sing the same song? And what will the song be? Saved on different footings, and believing different doctrines, will they enjoy eternal concord, or will heaven itself be only a new arena for disputation between varieties of faiths?

Not with this man, or that Council, or that Union, are the lovers of the old gospel at war at this present; but with the whole body of unbelief which is now attempting to borrow the Christian name, and effect a settlement within Christian territory. This spirit is in all the churches, more or less; indeed, it seems to be in the air. The prince of the power of the air is loosed in an extraordinary manner for a season, misleading even the godly, and triumphing greatly in those whose willing minds yield full assent to his deceitful teachings.

* * * (these three little stars should be in the middle but this terrible post platform seems to have bested me)

Does this sound like an accurate description of our world? Of Christianity? Of postmodernism? I believe so, however, it was written by Charles Spurgeon in the late 1800’s. Well over 100 years ago the church was facing the same things as it does today. I just recently came across these articles and was shocked. I thought the abandonment of absolute truth was a new idea. As it turns out, Spurgeon saw the same thing at the eve of the modern era. Ironically, postmodernism shares with modernism the very characteristic which it would cite as its distinguishing mark.

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done,and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said,“See, this is new”?It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.
Ecclesiastes 1:9-11

There truly is nothing new under the sun. Humanity is steeped in the same sin and problems as in any point throughout history. No new sins, and no new ideas on how to rid ourselves of sin. The answer is the same as it was 2000 years ago. No new book, no new movement, no new 12 step process, no new preacher, no new video series will fix your life. The emerging church is quickly being replaced by the missional movement. Postmodernism, which is just microwaved modernism, will fall by the wayside in the next couple of generations and the “purpose driven” movement will be an antiquated notion as soon as the Christian publishing houses can find its replacement.

Let’s quit wasting our time chasing the new Christian fad, whatever it may be, and get back to what we know to be true, what is absolutely true, what will always be true and what makes anything that opposes it false. (Not someone else’s opinion, not just another perspective, but false.) I’ll let Spurgeon tell you what that is:

“The great doctrine, the greatest of all, is this, that God, seeing men to be lost by reason of their sin, hath taken that sin of theirs and laid it upon his only begotten Son, making him to be sin for us, even him who knew no sin; and that in consequence of this transference of sin he that believeth in Christ Jesus is made just and righteous, yea, is made to be the righteousness of God in Christ. Christ was made sin that sinners might be made righteousness. That is the doctrine of the substitution of our Lord Jesus Christ on the behalf of guilty men."

Humbly-
Kelly

On a personal note: Hey, sorry this took so long to get out. I love writing these, it just takes me a long time to study for them. I just don’t want to screw it up ya know? I hope you will be quick to correct either of us if you find us writing something that is not consistent with the word of God. Thanks again for reading. We’ll try to be more diligent and timely with our entries.

Credit where it is due:
Charles Spurgeon –
“Progressive Theology” from the April 1888 issue of “The Sword and the Trowel”
“Advanced Thinkers” from the November 1871 issue of “The Sword and the Trowel”
“The Heart of the Gospel” sermon #1910 July 18th, 1886, Metropolitan TabernacleThe full versions of all works can be found at www.spurgeon.org

Understanding God's Love #1

2009-03-31T17:10:00.003-06:00

Luke 7:36-50 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If his man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

This is going to be my first post (possibly the first of many, possibly the last) on the love of God. What an overwhelming topic! There is a beautiful old hymn that talks about how it would take more than every person on earth writing with oceans of ink on a scroll stretched across the sky to write of the love of God. I am but one man. I’ll just start with one small part of one aspect of his love and see where it goes from there.

I want to address the relationship between our understanding of our sinfulness and our understanding of God’s love. How many times throughout, let’s say a month, do you hear someone mention God’s love? How many times do you hear about the fact that you are sinful and that Jesus was punished for your sin? I’m guessing for most of you, the former outweighs the later by a least ten to one. Teaching within evangelicalism in general as of late, especially in both the emergent and seeker sensitive movements, has been a move away from the doctrine of sin and toward teaching only love. I love love. I love God’s love. You can’t teach God’s love too much for my liking. Here’s the problem: when we skip over our sin and our need for a crucified savior, we rob ourselves of a true understanding of biblical love. Paradoxically, when we teach only love we don’t teach enough love.

Consider the Pharisee and he woman in the opening passage. Pharisees were religious leaders of the day. They were generally very powerful and influential. They prided themselves in their strict observance of the law. The woman, it says, was sinful, she may have even been a prostitute. The Pharisee didn’t understand that he was a sinner, that he needed to be saved, and so he showed little emotion or love for Jesus. The woman, on the other hand, understanding her wretched state, had repented and was overwhelmed with emotion as she realized how much she had been forgiven, how much God loved her.

The Bible teaches that God’s single greatest act of love for us was when he sent his son, Jesus, to earth. He chose to pour out his wrath upon his beloved only son instead of on each one of us, the deserving recipients. When you minimize sin, the weight of it, the seriousness of it, the fact that God must punish it, you minimize what Jesus did for us. You minimize the greatest act of love in history. Here are a few passages which speak to this: (italics added for emphasis)

John 13:1 It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

Romans 5:6-8 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Ephesians 1:4 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

Galatians 2:20-21 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"

1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for one another.

Titus 3:3-5 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit

Scripture is exceedingly clear on this issue. God’s love is primarily demonstrated to us in the death of Jesus Christ for our sins. If we do not understand our sinfulness, we cannot understand God’s love.

If you are not a Christian, if you haven’t given your life to Jesus – go back and read the “Gospel” post. Repent, acknowledge your sin and rebellion before God and turn from it. Throw yourself on God and ask him to forgive you. Trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus and in God’s mercy for your salvation, that your sins may be forgiven, that he might give you a new heart and that this love we speak of may be applied to you.

Christian – Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! 2 Corinthians 13:5 Are the love of God and the fruits of the spirit consistently evident in your life? Make sure, then go share the good news with the people around you.

Preacher – teach the love of God boldly. Do not short change your flock. Make them understand their sin and their need of a savior that they might catch a glimpse of the amazing love of God.

Romans 8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Humbly,
Kelly

On a personal note- Hey guys, it’s been a little while. Thanks to all of you who’ve been visiting and commenting. It’s been extremely humbling and encouraging. I’ve been getting some feedback that you’re having trouble leaving comments. Just click on the “0 comments” (the “0” could be any number) at the bottom of any post, it will show you the comments thus far as well as a box to type your own. Do not click on the little envelope picture, that’s to email the blog to your friends… unless of course that’s what you want to do. I had a great time researching for this post, I hope it has blessed and challenged you as much as it did me in preparing and writing it.

The "Love" Gospel - Part 1

2009-03-25T16:34:00.006-06:00

Lately I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the whole idea of loving others. It has come up as I have been reading my Bible and I wanted to write about it. I’ve got a lot on the brain, so I’ll spew it out over the next two entries… I’d love your feedback. This first part has to do with verbally sharing the gospel of Jesus with others. If you haven’t yet, please check out our previous blog on “The Gospel” as well, as it’ll help make sense of this.

One of the complaints about verbal witnessing is always that by verbally communicating the gospel, it removes all love from the picture… especially if using the Law (see previous entry, “the Gospel”), which seems so “in your face.” Verbal witnessing is seen as something done with anger, and no loving care at all. After all, isn’t it far more loving (and difficult) to take time to get to know someone and build into their lives and earn the right to speak to them about faith issues? Isn’t verbal witness just a cop-out approach for people who want to get an extra jewel on their heavenly crown, but don’t really love anyone?

This is a very common reaction to the topic of personal evangelism or one-to-one witnessing. It is usually the mindset of angry baptist kids who see hypocrisy in the church and are sick of it.

Most of the Christians I know today believe that the best way to spread the gospel is to love people. The motto seems to be “Enough with words, it’s time to act out the gospel.” The line (allegedly said) by St. Francis of Assissi sums it up: “preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.” This is everywhere. I believe the reasons for this are many and I do not know them all. But, much of it comes from the weariness of seeing people who seem to say the right things, but live sinful lives. We’re also all tired of seeing big name preachers turn out to be perverts and end up publicly maligning the name of Jesus. And so, the pendulum swings over to just “live lives of love.” That is the battle cry.

To be sure, Jesus calls us to love. For example, John 13:34-35 says,

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Love is a mark of Christ’s followers, most certainly. But notice how Jesus says people will know we’re “His disciples” by our love, not that all people will “know Him” by our love. People should be able to look at Christians and see the great love we have for others and realize that we are Christians. They should know who we belong to by the way we live and act. Agreed. No argument there. But that doesn’t mean they’ll know Him (more on that in part 2). I think we tend to hope that the people we show love to will put it altogether themselves at some point. But as Romans 10:14 says,

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

What does it even mean to live lives of love? What is love?

Here’s a scenario to consider (use your imagination). There is a homeless man who is really sick. He went to the doctor for tests, but thinks he’s okay. You however, have found out that he is not okay (there was a major breach in doctor-patient confidentiality). He has a terminal disease and he is going to die soon. Fortunately, you know how this man can get his hands on the cure! One day, you walk by this homeless man and he approaches you and tells you that he’s hungry. Which of the following responses is more loving?

1. Buy the man some food, have an hour long conversation, and then tell him to have a great day while walking away. Or…

2. Explain to the man the seriousness of his condition, tell him how he can find the cure and plead with him to take that cure.

Obviously, the more loving response is to warn the man about the illness he has that he is unaware of and offering the cure. Ideally, it would be great if you did both of the above. It would be best to give him food and tell him of this deadly disease that he has. But, which of the two is more urgent?

No illustration is perfect, but this helps me understand the relationship between love and verbally witnessing. Clearly explaining the gospel IS loving. Can it be done poorly? Yes. Can it be done un-lovingly? Of course. But it doesn’t have to be.

There are people all around us with all kinds of needs. However, what need do we all have that is more urgent than all other needs? The need for atonement for our sins. Our biggest problem, according to Scripture, whether we know it or not, is sin (again, please see "The Gospel" entry). The consequences for our sin is hell. This is a far more important issue than ANY other problem we have. So, I would say it's good to help people with their physical problems, but the gospel is more important! We don't know when any of us will die. That makes the gospel supremely urgent!

Now, suppose the homeless man in the illustration doesn’t want to believe you and denies that he has a problem. Suppose he doesn’t take the cure and now your relationship with him is strained. Does that mean you did the wrong thing? Does that mean you shouldn't have told him about the disease? Of course not. When Paul was stoned (Acts 14:19-23) in Lystra, did it mean he should change his approach? No. He went to the next town and “preached the gospel to that city” (Ac 14:21).

I am not saying we shouldn’t do loving acts and that we should just start angrily yelling at people to turn from sin. But is it not more loving to warn someone of their problem of sin (separation from God and facing His divine judgment) and tell them of the cure (the gospel of Christ) than it is to withhold it (for whatever reason)?

We certainly have reasons for not verbally witnessing, but I think they all boil down to fearing man. That’s what I’ve discovered it is for me. I often care more about what man thinks of me than I care about being obedient to God’s command to proclaim the gospel and make disciples. I care more about what people will think of me than I do for their own souls. So, I easily buy into arguments that say we need to spend lots of time getting to know someone before we can share the gospel. That makes me feel more comfortable, so I like it. Search the Scriptures honestly, you won’t find this anywhere.

Let me ask you this, Christian. Do you believe the Bible is true? Do you believe Jesus is the only way to God (John 14:6)? Do you believe that heaven and hell are real places, like Jesus taught (Matt 10:28)? If we really believe the gospel is true for ALL men, I believe we’ll stop making excuses for not sharing the gospel and we’ll make it a priority.

I do not say this because I have it all figured out and share with every person I pass. I am guilty of fearing man. So, this is a call for myself as well to cut the excuses and to get the message of Christ out!! I also want to add that I believe the reason we should share the gospel is, primarily, to glorify God! God is glorified when a person repents and puts their faith in Him! It is primarily about Him, not the happiness of us humans (perhaps more on that another time).

I also feel the need to add that I recognize that God is completely sovereign when it comes to salvation, so it is not our job as witnesses to convert people. The goal is to be faithful to the command to proclaim the good news and let God’s Spirit do the rest of the work.

In closing, I’d like to quote Romans 5:8, which says,

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God shows His love for us primarily through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to reconcile sinful humans to Himself! What a loving act, since we do not deserve it!

Let’s share this love with others!

Kevin

Why Blog?

2009-03-04T18:27:00.003-06:00

Great question. Kelly and I both never really saw this day coming, where we’d start a blog. I think at the root of not blogging was that we did not want to be put in the “blogging” box. We preferred the “we don’t blog” box.

It is clear that so many people are online these days and that’s where people “hang out.” We feel like we have a message that needs to be heard and so here we are with our very own blog. We are both Christians and feel an urgency to get the gospel message of Jesus Christ out! We are sick of our own hypocrisy, and we desire to be obedient to Christ who told us to spread this gospel! We’re also tired of caring what people think of us. We believe that making sure you hear the gospel is far more important than you thinking well of us. Plus, what kind of friends would we be if we kept silent on something that we believe can save one’s eternity?

This blog is just one way that we’re trying to repent of our hypocrisy and get the message of Christ OUT! Some may say that blogging is a lame way to do that because it’s not personal. Well, we’re trying to use every way possible to get this out… and this is just one way. We don’t actually know if anyone will see this, but we’re doing this just in case anyone does happen to read this (hence the title).

We’d ask you to consider our motives as you read this and other posts. We are not out to gain anything by sharing this. We are doing this because we believe with all our hearts that the gospel is true. We spread this message because we are concerned about those around us and because the Bible instructs us to spread the gospel!

We are also aware that these first couple posts are long, but we ask you to patiently read through them and hear us out!

Our main purpose in having this blog is to communicate and defend the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Communicating the Gospel

Our prayer and hope is that God will use this blog, weak as it may be, to communicate His truth to even one person who has never heard the gospel. Kelly has written out the essence of the gospel in the following blog entry. Please read it and give thought to it. We took the time to write it because we believe that it is true with all our hearts! We believe eternity is at stake here, not just life in this world. It’s worth the time to consider.

We also feel strongly that much of the “Christian” world misunderstands the gospel and so we pray that we may be able to bring clarity to those who understand it incorrectly.

Defending the Gospel

In many ways, defending the gospel is part of communicating the gospel. Why is defending the gospel necessary? Well, first of all, it is in stark contrast to what the world tells us. The world seems to say that we can believe whatever we want to believe and it’s true. In the Bible, Jesus claims to be the only way to get to God (John 14:6), which means that all other ways are wrong. This is a very exclusive claim and is rejected by most of the world. The world teaches pretty much anything but Christ’s exclusive claim. (This is perhaps another topic for another day).

What is even more appalling in our opinion, is that there are many people out there professing to be followers of Christ who have completely twisted the gospel and are teaching it falsely. And we will defend the gospel with all our might against such false teaching. The gospel is not synonymous with recycling, social justice, left or right wing politics, or eradicating poverty. Nor is it simply a prayer that a person prays at one time. It is so much greater and more glorious than any of this (as good as fighting poverty and injustice may be).

Many Christians say that we should just set aside every disagreement with each other for the sake of unity. Well, we believe that true Biblical unity is based on a correct understanding of the gospel. Tampering with the gospel is tampering with the very core of Christianity. So, we will defend it.

Our aim in defending the the truth of the Bible is found in 1 Timothy 1:3-5 where Paul tells Timothy to,

“Remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine… the aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”

Clinging to and defending sound teaching (doctrine) is a loving act. That is our desire and goal in this blog. We don’t do this because it is fun to argue and disagree. Also, the Apostle Paul said this in Gal 1:6-8,

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”

Clearly there is some seriousness to distorting the gospel.

We obviously believe that the Bible is God’s inspired Word to us. I know many people don’t believe that. But, like anything, it doesn’t matter what we believe, but rather, it matters if what we believe is true. A person can believe with all their hearts that they can fly, but it is not going to make a difference once they jump off a building and gravity kicks in. So, please consider what we say and test it. They best way to find out if the Bible is true or not is by reading it.

Comments

We highly welcome and encourage you to leave comments or questions. This is not a blog where we expect you to remain silent unless you agree with everything. We welcome disagreements and challenges from you. We will do our best to answer them or point you to other articles or audio that may be able to answer those questions better than we can. We certainly don’t claim to have all the answers, but will do our best to find the answers.

We do have a few guidelines when it comes to comments. We ask you to not be malicious, and above all, please be respectful to God. Please do not curse His name. We will not post any comments that don’t meet this criteria.

Here We Go

We will be updating this blog at least once a week, if not more. Kelly and I will write most of it and we’ll put up links to other good stuff and probably post things that some of our friends write as well!

That’s enough for now. Please be sure to check out “The Gospel” entry.

For His Glory,

Kevin and Kelly

The Gospel

2009-03-04T17:01:00.015-06:00

Hello out there. Thank you for checking out our blog… I can’t believe I have a blog. I’ve had to eat a lot of words to bring myself to this point. A lot of prayer, thought and discussion went into this idea. We trust it will be an encouragement and a challenge to you. Thank you for taking the time to read our stuff.

As Kevin pointed out in the introductory post ("Why Blog?"), the primary function of this blog is to proclaim the gospel, or good news, of Jesus Christ. We believe this to be an incredibly important and huge task. The Bible commands those of us who would claim the name of Christ to tell others. When I think about the gospel a couple of things scare me. One - that those of you who reject religion, including Christianity, have never heard the gospel. Two - that some of you who have claimed to be Christians for years have never heard and responded to the true gospel. I’m afraid that the gospel, especially in North America, has been diluted, robbed of its power, substituted for a more politically correct, less offensive social agenda. This is happening in culture and churches alike. Please take a few minutes with me to look into the all important issue of God’s good news. I’ll try to use lots of scripture as it is infinitely more powerful than my words.

First of all, the Bible declares that God is perfect and holy (which means separate and different than us). He is the Creator of the world and not like any of us. He IS justice, He IS mercy, He IS sovereign, He IS righteous, He IS good, He IS all-knowing and all powerful (just a few of His attributes). Everything exists for His glory.

The bad news is that mankind has rejected God and has chosen to live in sin (which I’ll define in a second). Adam was the first man to sin and we have all sinned since him.

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. We all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” Isaiah 64:6

“For all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory” Romans 3:23

“I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” Romans 7:18

The Bible teaches that we are all sinners. We all do things every day that go against God and his law (the 10 Commandments). Many of you will be freaking out at this point and saying that Christianity is not about laws, please stay with me. God created us, he gave us life, he loves us, knows what's best for us and so he gave us a set of moral laws to live our lives by. These laws are God’s perfect standard that we must live up to perfectly in order to be acceptable in His sight. That’s how high His standard is. The reason for this is that He is perfect and Holy, and therefore, cannot tolerate sin, which is breaking God’s law.

“God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all” 1 John 1:5.

“Everyone who makes a practice of sin also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness” 1 John 3:4

According to God’s law, lying, stealing, looking with lust, cursing God’s name and coveting are all considered sin. Have you ever lied, stolen (doesn’t matter what the value of the item is) or looked with lust? If we’re honest, then the answer is “yes.” We’ve all broken God’s law. I have and you have. The Bible tells us that we will stand before God to be judged by His perfect standard. If this is true, what will your verdict be? Innocent or guilty?

“...man is destined to die once and after that to face judgment” Hebrews 9:27

We will all be guilty in light of God's standard of perfection. The Bible also teaches about heaven and hell as very real places and the only two options for us when we leave this world. If we are guilty which way will we go? Where will you go?

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” Matthew 25:46.

“But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars - their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death” Revelation 21:8

“Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.” 1 John 3:15

Even in light of these verses, most of you will say "heaven". You probably think one of two things: 1- you do enough good to outweigh the bad or 2- you've heard the Jesus is loving and will forgive you. Let’s compare God's court room to one here on earth. You're in court and you've been found guilty of a serious crime. You say to the judge "But sir, I do good things, I give to the poor, I help old ladies across the street... I've never killed anyone." None of these pleas will be heard as they have nothing to do with the crimes you've committed. It's the same with God, the little bit of good we do will not be considered against our crimes. They are irrelevant to the sin we’ve committed. As for Jesus forgiving you, what would you think of a judge here on earth if he let a convicted criminal go (whether a murderer, a thief or whatever), saying "I forgive you."? You wouldn't think that judge was just or good, you would want him removed from his position. We’d all be outraged! Justice must be served here on earth and it will be served when me meet God face to face.

If you reject this so far, I’m sorry, the rest won't make sense either. However, if you agree that you're a sinner there is very, very good news. Jesus came to earth 2000 years ago, fully God, fully man (crazy, I know), lived a perfect life and died a horrible death. He took upon himself the punishment for the sin of the world. He then rose from the grave, showing that His sacrifice was acceptable to God.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” Romans 5:9

Let's go back to the court room. You're guilty; sentence is about to be passed when a stranger walks in and declares that he will pay the fine whatever it is. You can be let go and the good judge can be satisfied that the penalty has been paid. When you stand before God, Jesus offers to step in and extend the payment for your sin that he already paid on the cross. You can be let free to enter heaven. There are a couple of things required of you though, you must repent. That means not only confessing your sin to God and apologizing but turning from that sin, making a conscious effort not to repeat it.

“Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.” Acts 8:22

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

The other thing is to put your trust in Jesus to save you, not trusting your good works to get you into heaven but believing that Jesus' death on the cross is what makes you clean in God's sight.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

The Bible tells us that when we repent of our sin and place our faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit will come and dwell in us, making us new. He will be the One changing our hearts so that we’ll begin to hate our sin more and love the God we once ignored and cursed.

“If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

If you do feel convicted, cry out to God that He would save you from your sin. Ask Him to grant you the gift of faith. Pick up your Bible, read it and obey it!

I’m going to stop there. You may have many questions. You might be offended. You might think I have much more to explain. We do have many more things to talk about but we believe this to be the basic and underlying message of the entire Bible. We believe this is the first step, the starting point for Christians. Christianity is about Christ dying on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, for HIS glory. The appropriate, saving response to this is repentance and faith in Christ! It is the foundation and core of Christianity.

“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…”

1 Corinthians 15:3-4

In summary, God is the perfect Creator. He created man, but man rebelled against God and His laws (sinned). We have all continued in this rebellion today and are all guilty of sinning against God. Our just and deserved penalty is hell, however, God sent Jesus to earth. He lived a perfect life and didn’t deserve death, but on the cross, God poured out His wrath for sin against His own perfect Son. Jesus then rose from the dead in victory over death and sin! As a result, the punishment for sin has been paid for all those who believe in Him and repent of their sin! God’s call is to repent and place your faith in Jesus! The matter is urgent and worth thinking about because nobody is guaranteed another minute on earth! What a loving God that He would make a way for us to be reconciled to Him, despite our willful disobedience!

If your still unsure, try the good person test… www.whatifcard.com.

-Kelly