Armchair Quarterback

I recently read a popular Christian book about spirituality from a non-Christian perspective. I didn’t care for it too much, and I decided to list the reasons why so that I could potentially tell others why the book was bad. But as I wrote I found that many of the reasons that I listed were actually a direct reflection upon me and my own walk with the Lord. I saw what the author was trying to do, which was provide another perspective for those curious about Christianity. He did it in his own way, and though I don’t agree with its presentation, my thoughts went to Romans 14:4,

“Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he
stands or falls; and stand he will, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”

It is enough that I proclaim the gospel as given in the Holy Scriptures, with no addendum, and with no excuses. It is the perfect Word of God. And it is the same Word that was with us from the beginning, and it is the same Word that today is reaching to the farthest places of the earth, piercing hearts, and bringing repentant men and women to Jesus.

But then the Lord turned the mirror back toward me.

If I disagreed with this book so much, where was my book? If I believed that God had given me insight then why haven’t I shared it on such a high level as this book? In reality, I was nothing but an armchair quarterback to this author’s pro bowl performance (so to speak).

The challenge for me and for all of us who see a need within the Body is go forth boldly and proclaim the Word of the Lord, both by our words and our deeds. That’s it. That is what it all boils down to. There will always be things we disagree with, and there will always be chances for us to learn. Let’s all pray that the Lord would use us to shape our world and bring the lost to Him.

True Freedom In Chist

There are some Christians who equate the Freedom that we have in Christ with the idea of “having no rules”. I heard a sermon on Sunday that expressed that we are free from rules, and that we should do all we can to experience the joy and the fullness of living in Christ without rules. But does freedom from sin really mean that there are no rules for the believer?

In truth, part of the wonder of being a child of God is that we are free in Him. God does fill us with His grace and love and mercy. But biblical freedom is something different than the experiential freedom that some teach today. And it is important to draw this distinction between true freedom and experience, even at the risk of sounding legalistic, because I believe one side will draw you closer and deepen your relationship with Christ, and the other will turn your focus inward and pull you away from what Christ has in store for you.

True freedom in Christ is the freedom to obey His commands and follow in His footsteps. Before we were adopted as sons of the Living God we were slaves to our own sin. Worse yet, we were dead in these sins and separated from God. But because of His unfathomable grace Jesus broke those chains of bondage. He paid the price that was put upon our heads because of sin, and he regenerated our spirits and made us new. Our God actually resides in us in the form of the Holy Spirit, and is constantly watching, constantly guiding us as we live our lives.

The goal of His guidance is to make us more like Himself by nudging us to seek a lasting, meaningful, and real relationship with Him. Our God knows us and wants to be known by us. Because of Christ’s death on the cross all links to our former ways of living have been broken and we have been freed from spiritual death forever. We are free from the components of the law, and best of all we are washed and are now worthy (by proxy) to stand in the presence of God Himself.

Freedom is not in the clothes your wear or the music you appreciate. The exercise of true freedom is worshiping the God who cared enough to send His Son to die in our places. To love and obey His ordinances, realizing that He gives us rules to guide us through life, and in fact His way is life to any man who chooses to follow. True freedom is the freedom not to be enslaved to your former lusts and desires. It is the freedom to say no to sin, and yes to God.

Ready for Grace

The writer of the book of Hebrews describes Moses as, "faithful in all [God's] house as a servant." He goes on to write that Jesus is much greater than Moses, like a builder is greater than the house. But Moses was a key tool that the Lord used in liberating His people from an evil empire. And the Bible says that he enjoys a special place in heaven because of his faithfulness.
I find this fact to be extremely encouraging to me. I am a sinner at best, and at worst I am a downright loser. Sometimes I know that I am doing the wrong thing, I can feel the Holy Spirit chastening me to stop, but I don't. Of course, the devil uses these circumstances to create doubt and fear in my life. Thoughts such as, "God could never use you," or, "You're no good as a Christian," pop up in swarms after I sin and blow it. You may have experienced something similar in your life.
The good news is, God will never give up on you. In fact, it's even better than that; God knew you completely before He called you to serve Him. He knew everything about your past and your future before you ever became a Christian. Imagine if God had just given up on Moses when he whined about not being able to speak in public! Our God's grace is all-encompassing.
Moses was a man full of weaknesses. He had been in the desert a full 40 years before the Lord came to him with his mission. But the last part of Moses' life was the key that opened the door for generations of God's people.
It shows us that God can and will use us when the time is right. We can never have too little confidence, or too few skills, or too little bible knowledge for the Lord to take a pass on using us. The only thing He asks of us is that we are ready when the time comes. Make sure you are ready for the Lords call, whatever it may be, and whatever the cost. Like the second string player who has a shot at starting, we need to be poised for launch when the time comes. Take advantage of God's grace and make yourself ready for His call today.

The Church of The Silver Screen

You can’t have clean thoughts if you drag your mind through the gutter. Likewise, you can’t expect to live a Godly life while exposing yourself to the basest forms of humanity. Hollywood is 97% filth, but I would say that almost the same percentage of Christians pay to see its movies. Drug use, pre and extra-marital sex, foul language, nudity, and violence characterize American cinema today. It is a sick cancer on the mind of society, and even worse for the Christian church.

Rome in their glory had their gladiatorial games, so we have our mini-coliseums, in every city and town, all across the nation. We watch as people are unceremoniously slaughtered, raped, and sometimes worse. But our excuse to ourselves is that it’s not real, it’s only a movie. But that’s the problem. We only get the glorified Hollywood version of the actual killing and debauchery, the real version includes the real consequences of those actions. Real gangsters are no-brained low-lifes that feed on the misery of others. But not in a cool way; in a If-I-Don’t-Repent-I’m-Going-To-Spend-Eternity-In-Hell way. Real life has those kinds of consequences.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; Hollywood is the pulpit of this generation. Its teachings pervade our everyday lives. How many times in a week to you think of or draw reference to a movie? How many times do you sit for an hour-and-a-half sermon in front of the T.V. or at the theater? So you tell me, does your time with God even come close to your time with Hollywood?
I’m not saying I am above any of this. Actually I am writing this as a result of too much Hollywood influence in my life. I love a good movie. I get lost in it. I can forget reality for a while. But the outcome is a shabby, weak excuse for a Godly example to others.

Jesus said, “Come to Me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Movies don’t give you rest, they give you nightmares. Peace can’t be found on the silver screen, or on the LCD for that matter. We must wake up from our Hollywood-induced comas, splash some water on our faces, and get moving in the race. Remember, there is much work, and little time. So please do yourself a favor and cut your membership with the Church of The Silver Screen.

The Main Question

The idea of losing one's salvation begs one main, overarching question: If we can fall away from grace and back into death, then at what point are we considered "apostate"? In other words, where is the line? Who picked it? And most importantly, where is this line clearly communicated in God's Word?

We are called as Christians to live in the joy of our freedom, not in fear that we have fallen from grace. For we could always ask ourselves, was it today? Did I offend the Lord greatly today? How do I quell His judgement? What steps can I take to gain back my salvation? The ultimate end to this thinking is salvation by works. But the apostle Paul said, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

"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, that no one should boast." -Ephesians 2:8,9

If we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior then we are "sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." (Ephesians 1:13) But if we believe we can fall away because of our own works then we denigrate Christ's work on the cross. Jesus' death fulfilled the law so that we would not have to pay ourselves. If we believe that we can somehow undo what Christ has done, then we make ourselves to be greater that He, and we sorely underestimate the saving power of His blood.

Good Shepherd, Eternal Father - Can We Lose Our Salvation? Part 3

Let’s next put the idea of losing one’s salvation to the test by comparing it to some examples in the Bible. In John chapter 10 Jesus speaks of Himself as the “Good Shepherd”. He explains to the Pharisees that He is the door to the sheep, and anyone who enters can come and go and find pasture. Finally, when pressed about whether He is the Christ (the Anointed One) he says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.” So according to Jesus no one, not even Satan, can snatch us away from Him once we are saved.

Notice that Jesus makes a point to say that, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me?” Let’s jump ahead to another parable, one that was made famous because of its incredible imagery: The Prodigal Son.

I have heard those that say you can lose your salvation use this story as a proof for their argument that one can fall away, but regain their salvation through repentance. I believe this parable says something different. Notice that the young man didn’t feel bad about what he had done, he was looking after himself. He went back to His father because he had to, he was starving!

But Jesus says that the father saw his son while he was, “still a long way off.” His father ran out to him and embraced him! But why would he do this? Because he was waiting for his son to come back so he could express his love to him. As far as the father was concerned, the boy was never an outcast. Would the father run out to greet an outcast?

It made no difference that the boy offended the father deeply, that he took his gifts and squandered them. The boys’ “apostasy” had no effect on his father who was ready and willing for him to come back home and experience his joy and grace. Or do we suppose that if the boy had died in the pig pens, to extend the parable a little, that the father would not go to him, take him and bury him as a rich man’s son?

My friends we are the sons of a rich man. He will not let us go. He will not allow anyone or anything to take us away from His grace. The safety that we have in Him is overwhelming. Though we may squander our gifts, and miss opportunities to glorify Him, He still cares for us, and we are still His sons.

Our Helper, Our Inheritance - Can We Lose Our Salvation? Part 2

Another factor in the study of salvation is God's gift to us in the form of our inheritance, and our Helper. Our Helper is the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Himself said that we are essentially better off having the Spirit than with having Him around in the flesh (He said this immediately before His ascension). Our inheritance is our adoption by Jesus Christ into the family of Almighty God. Ephesians 1 explains all of it clearly: “In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself.” In the case of losing our salvation, and therefore losing our sonship with God, it begs the question: Do we somehow thwart God’s plans for us through our apostasy?

The apostle Paul writes that we were predestined for His Glory (vs. 6) and that it was through the consultation of His own Will (vs. 11) that we were chosen for the inheritance. It was for His purpose that He chose us. So how does “falling away” for our own purpose fit in?

God not only foreknew us, He called us to Himself from the beginning. And once we heard the message of the gospel and believed, He put His seal on us in the form of the Holy Spirit.

“In Him you also, after listening to the message of
truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance.” Ephesians 1:13, 14

The question is: would God break His own seal and take away the Holy Spirit from someone who was not living according to His laws? Would He betray His pledge to us on account of something we did or said to offend Him? Consider Matthew 14:16, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever…” (Emphasis mine)

In fact before we came to Christ we were dead in our sins; spiritually dead, and following the ruler of the present world, Satan. Most of us did what we wanted, any evil thing that our hearts devised, and some of us were at enmity with God, strongly opposed to Him and His message. Yet somehow God, in the richness of His mercy, chose to make us, “alive together with Him.” But that is just the beginning – the scripture also says that He, “raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places.” Why would God choose to do all of this if He knew that we could at any time fall from His grace into death?

“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, that no one should boast.”

If our salvation was not as a result of works, then what works could we do to undo our salvation? As I said before, the idea of losing one’s salvation raises many concerns, and ultimately calls God’s own character into question. A believer must ask whether God takes back what He has given, or unseals what He has sealed, or disavows His own pledges. This is what really is at issue here. For the one who believes that their salvation can be lost, the answer to these questions must be monumentally unsettling.

Can We Lose Our Salvation? (Or, Can a Person Be Saved and Then Not Saved?) Part 1

My wife and I attended worship this Sunday at a prominent church in Northern California. During the service the pastor tackled a tough doctrinal issue in a question and answer format. The question was this: “Can a Christian lose his salvation?” The pastor briefly made a distinction between Calvinist theologies versus Arminian theology. In short, the pastor explained, he believes we can lose our salvation due to apostasy. The pastor used marriage as an analogy, saying that he could do a lot of bad things to his wife and know that she would continue to stick with him. But it would be foolish to think, he said, that he could do absolutely anything to his wife without her rightly leaving him. He supposed that if he were to cheat on his wife, she would be justified in leaving him, and most likely would. And the same would be true of us and Christ.

My first reaction was to address this analogy, as I believe Jesus speaks specifically to it, and I will also use this rebuttal as a preface for the reader to understand how I will continue my analysis of this question in the future. There is very little that the Bible does not speak to specifically, in some form or another. I believe (and I am not alone) that if we but search the Holy Word, rightly dividing the Word, and rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we will find all the answers to our questions. Therefore I pledge that I will stick to the Word as closely as possible when answering this important doctrinal issue.

In the 19th Chapter of Matthew a group of Pharisees asked Jesus about divorce for any reason. Jesus quoted Genesis 2 for His answer, “The two shall become one flesh.” Or in other words; inseparable. But when pressed about why Moses gave certificates of divorce, Jesus tells them plainly, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning, it has not been this way.” Jesus was telling the Pharisees that divorce was a concession to the weakened human spirit, not as something God handed down as law. So to use divorce as analogous to losing your salvation, resulting in a “divorce” from God, does not hold up to His Holy Character. God is not human, and His ways are not our ways. Thus He has no frailty or weakness of character that would permit Him to make a choice to disown us. He is Almighty, infinitely strong, so what could I do to separate what He has deemed inseparable?

In Possession of Servitude

Reading Psalm 49 reminded me of a trip that we took to Monterey. We made it down the coast to Carmel-by-the-Sea and to the famed 17 Mile Drive. On this road you could see many different mansions of every size and design, some of them were not only marked with an address, but with a name as well. One was “Stone briar”, another was, “Wellingham.” These were obviously the estates of very wealthy people, and more than likely they were not their only homes.

The bible teaches that a man’s dwelling place is nothing, for just like sheep we are all on the short road to death. It sounds bleak, but what the psalmist is saying is that when we die we take nothing with us. Men may think that their possessions will last from generation to generation, but in reality they don’t. So if we take this seriously then why does it matter where we live?

The Lord works in each of us in His own way, and leads us to where He wants us to serve. It doesn’t matter where we serve, it just matters that we are available to serve. And with this mindset the greatest of tasks can be accomplished for the kingdom. We would be free to mobilize wherever God wanted us, doing His work and taking prisoners for Christ. God bless the man with the courage and the faith to follow the leading of the Spirit and to go where he is called, regardless of the worldly possessions he may leave behind.

Transition to Maturity

As I sat down tonight to read the Word I thought to myself how bland my time in the Word has become. I don’t get the deep insights that once had, and verses don’t jump out at me like they used to. Not lately, at least. But as I thought to myself why this might be, the Spirit stuck a thought in my mind. I am not a baby anymore. The Lord doesn’t have to hold my hand at every turn and make the Word appear to me as if it were written on a billboard. I must study the Word, I am responsible for searching its profound wisdom. The Holy Spirit will teach me, but I hold the discipline to carry it through.

Isn’t it awesome to serve a God that doesn’t baby us, even though we expect it most of the time? How would we grow as Christians if He spoon-fed every lesson to us? When I was child I did childish things and ate food fit for children. Now I am passing through adolescence and into adulthood, and the mantle has been placed on my shoulders. As a man of God I am responsible for learning His Word, and for seeking His truth. And I am glad to do it. Just as He is glad to meet me and teach me.

From Comfort to Faith

Breaking out of your comfort zone is necessary for your Spiritual life. To put it another way, if you follow the Lord’s leading you will eventually end up out of your comfort zone. It’s just the way He works. God wants you to experience all the things that will help you become a better servant and a better worker for the Kingdom. We are not called to sit back and let the world rot away from under our feet. We are called to go and to preach and to love.

Your comfort zone might be your job, or your friends, or where you live. It could mean exile for you and your family or it could mean that your friends will desert you. What you have to come to terms with is that Jesus Christ didn’t call us to be sedentary, and he certainly didn’t call us to be comfortable. To find an example just look at Jesus and the disciples. What was their focus? Was it to make money in the next town? Was it to find a great place to set up shop? No, in fact Jesus said that even the fox’s have a hole to go to at night, but He had nothing.

A Christian’s concern about being comfortable is detrimental to his faith. Listen to Him and let Him guide you. Have faith that the God of the universe knows what He is doing when He tells you to “Go!”

A Great Opportunity

The Mind of Christ.

The Apostle Paul tells us in I Corinthians chapter 2, “Now we have received…the Spirit who is from God that we might know the things freely given to us by God.” The Spirit of God dwells within us if we are truly born-again Christians. And since a person’s spirit knows every intimate part of that person, Paul deduces that we have the mind of Christ.

So what does this mean for us? It means that God has revealed His thoughts to us through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Later Paul explains to the Corinthians that he did not preach to them out of his own wisdom and clever speech, but he let the Spirit work in their hearts. This is why the people were drawn to his teaching.

You have an opportunity to share the Lord’s thoughts with others. When a co-worker is telling you about how hard life has been for them, your first reaction is not to comfort them and tell them about God’s eternal love. But that is the Holy Spirit’s reaction, and you need to be ready to follow those feelings as they arise. We were put here to help others, so we must be ready to give help to those in need as the Spirit directs us. That is the mind of Christ.

To know God’s mind is like having a window into the inner-workings of the universe. This is why, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Let’s take every opportunity that God gives us, and let’s apply His awesome mind to helping others.

Parable of Two Sons

Let’s start our study with a parable from the book of Matthew. I am starting here because this really spoke to me, and recently I have seen certain ‘prejudice’ toward other Christians in the church. In Matthew 21: 28-32 Jesus tells of a father who tells his two sons to go and work in his vineyard. The first says, “I will, sir,” but does not go, and the second says, “I will not,” yet feels badly afterward and goes to work in the field anyway. The question Jesus poses to the priests and elders is, “Which of the two [sons] did the will of the father?”
What is your answer? It should be obvious; the latter son did what the father asked of him, yet outwardly he did not show himself to be obedient. The same thinking can be applied to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Some of them may not look or act in a way that is consistent with our own views of what a Christian looks like. And I’m not just talking about long hair or tattoos. I’m speaking of subtleties such as personality and charisma.
There is a man at my church who will not give me the time of day. I’ve said ‘hi’ to him and he is cordial, but he obviously doesn’t want anything to do with me. On the other hand my social observations of him are not positive, but what he does for the Body is invaluable. And who am I to criticize the servant of another man, or God in this case? I was struck by my own pride when reading this passage. We must make sure to see our brothers through the Lord’s eyes. He is the One who created us differently, and He loves each and every one of us, including our faults.
The point is no matter how we see others act, or how bad they seem to have blown it, God’s grace is sufficient for everyone. And how can we know that they are not secretly doing the will of the Father? Our job is to do the work that He has set before us, regardless of how others perceive it. Let’s make the exception for others who are on the same path.

Introduction - Welcome

This is a forum for those who want to come and learn about God. It is not a structured bible study per se, though I will target a specific book to study through. But it is by no means a classroom, or even a Sunday school. The fireside is a place for you to pull up a comfy chair, or perhaps sit on the floor, and soak in the wisdom of God’s teaching. You might even imagine The Lord sitting beside you, or you sitting at his feet. The point of which is to draw the believer into a place that is inviting, a place where you want to come and meet with the Lord.
Of course this study is also different because you can provide input as well. In fact, I encourage your input. As we study the Word together the Spirit will speak to us differently, and I believe that we should explore the questions in our hearts. It is God answering these questions that will build our faith, and also build that grounded relationship with Him for which all believers yearn.
And with that, I leave you with the words of our Lord Jesus:

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light."