I am not a liberal, so…

I am not a liberal, so you can have a “grown-up” conversation with me. If you say something I don’t like – that’s ok. I am an adult and fully capable of hearing something that bothers me without suffering any psychological damage. If you and I disagree on something, we can discuss it – and I will honestly try to deal with your argument rather than attack you personally. We can keep our discussion to the area if the disagreement and the merits of our arguments. If I get offended, it’s not the end of the world, feel free to speak your mind.

I am not a liberal, so I am willing to offend you and hurt your feelings if that’s what voicing my opinion will do. I will not intentionally hurt your feelings or offend you, but if my opinion does that – well, I won’t lose any sleep over it. I will let you speak your mind, and I fully intend to speak mine. Freedom of speech is a very special thing, and I support it and encourage it – I can speak, and you can speak. But freedom of speech does not obligate anyone to listen, and I understand that… feel free to walk away if you don’t like what I say – it may not thrill me to see you walk away from the discussion… but again, I am an adult and I will live. Who knows, I may walk away when you talk. That also means that maybe you and yours won’t do well in a given area (Talk Radio, for example), so rather than stamping your feet and insisting that Rush Limbaugh gives you time on his show, maybe you should allow the Talk Radio world to simply walk away from you – they/we are not obligated to listen to you… remember that.

I am not a liberal, so if you have more money or material possessions than me, well and good for you! I hope you enjoy it and have a happy life. If you see someone who needs help and it is within your means to help, I would hope you would – but if not, well then that’s your business, not mine (and certainly not the governments). I don’t think you are a bad person because you have more than me. If you got your prosperity from working hard and being smart, that’s great! Maybe you can give me some info and tips on how I can do the same for myself (but again, you don’t have to!) and if you came by your money through inheritance or the lottery or whatever – then that’s still great! Not everyone gets the same opportunities and I am ok with that, and I do not for one second hate you for what God has given you. I do not think anyone has the right to take what you have by force and give it to other people. I was always told that was called “theft” and I have yet to understand why it’s somehow ethically acceptable if it’s the government taking what you have by force and giving it to other people – still sounds like theft to me.

I am not a liberal, so I don’t think anyone owes me anything. In fact, with all the kindness I have been shown in my life, I owe the world in many ways, and I think that is a pretty universal truth. The government does not owe me healthcare, nor does an employer. If an employer chooses to provide (or help provide) health benefits, that’s great! If not, that’s ok too! I am not entitled to a nice car, a big house or even a well paying job. Not everyone gets those things, and I am ok with that. It’s ok to want those things and to work towards them, it is not ok to demand them.

I am not a liberal, so I am perfectly willing to tell you that the liberal worldview is wrong. Of course, I am also willing to let you say that I am a terribly mean and horrible person for saying such a mean and hurtful thing. I am not a liberal, so I can take it… and to tell you the truth – after hearing so many liberals for so long, I kind of expect it.

Preach the Gospel…with WORDS!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, a little history first. A long time ago, in a place far far away, lived a man named Francis of Assisi (1182-1286). He became the founder of the Franciscan Monks – but I think he got special consideration because his name was Francis and the monks were Franciscan monks (politics!)

Seriously though, most people know very little about this man… but most of today’s professing Christians know one thing about him. They know he said “Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary use words.” Now, they may not know Francis of Assisi said it, but they know someone said it. It becomes their shield of sorts. This quote probably created “Lifestyle Evangelism.” This quote gives them license, so they feel, to not actually SPEAK about Jesus – they just just smile and say “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!” They say that they are going to “live out” the gospel in front of people. All this is defended with “Francis of Assisi said ‘Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary use words!” But there’s a couple things you should know…

The first thing is: HE NEVER SAID IT!!!!!!!!!!! Ever. Nope, he didn’t. It’s a Christian version of an “Urban Legend.” This quote is not found in ANY of Francis’ writings – I can’t find anyone even attributing it to him until the last 50-60 years (maybe someone attributed it to him earlier, but I can’t find it – and I did look). This fact is becoming more and more known these days – so much so that now people are starting to attribute this quote to other people! Ya see, this quote has become a precious little hiding place for people who don’t WANT to preach the gospel.

The next thing is: THE QUOTE DOESN’T MAKE SENSE!! It’s actually kind of silly. The thinking goes like this, Christians think if they will just be nice and live good lives, then people will… well, Christians can never seem to articulate the next step very well. I suppose some think that if they are nice, other people will just “become” Christians – others may think that if they are nice, people will ask about Christianity, other think that if they are nice, people will want to become Christians, other may think… well who knows what they think. First, I have met many nice Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims, Hindu’s and I have even met nice atheists! They live nice, kind, quiet and (from a human standpoint) moral lives. So now what do we do? Next, answer me this: How many times has someone, unprompted, asked you about “why you are so nice?” I would guess it’s NEVER happened to you, but on the off chance it has, compare the number of times it happened verses the amount of people you have met in your life… Chances are, most people just think you are a nice person, which is good… but it aint the gospel! What IS the gospel?

“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” (1Co 15:1-4)

So that’s the gospel. Anyone want to try to explain how being nice and kind will somehow tell someone that Jesus died for their sins and rose from the dead? Remember, the quote in question implies that you can get this message across WITHOUT words. Now, if you want to say that the gospel is about feeding the poor – then, yeah, words quickly become unneeded. But remember, Jesus actually only did this a few times – and even when He did, it was ACCOMPANIED WITH PREACHING – WORDS! The apostles in the book of Acts fed the poor that were IN THE CHURCH, that is professing Christians… and if you read the Epistles, those that were in the Church also had the gospel preached to them. Feeding the poor is NOT preaching the gospel.  If you want to say that the gospel is about taking care of the sick, I would point out: “And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.” (Luk 9:6) Notice there are TWO SEPARATE ACTIONS – and healing is listed as a separate action! Taking care of the sick is NOT preaching the gospel. I maintain that preaching the gospel is IMPOSSIBLE without words! Your lifestyle IS important, but its more along the lines of supporting your message and giving you the CHANCE to preach the gospel – WITH WORDS!!

Finally, THE QUOTE IS UNBIBLICAL. We have seen that the gospel is NOT feeding the poor, it’s NOT taking care of the sick. It’s preaching:

preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. (2Ti 4:2)

I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD. (Psa 40:9)

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Mat 4:17)

but the word of the Lord remains forever." And this word is the good news that was preached to you. (1Pe 1:25)

but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, (1Co 1:23)

For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. (2Co 4:5)

--I gotta thank Mark Cahill for the legwork on those verses… speaking of Mark Cahill, he says (and he ACTUALLY said it!) “Funny thing is, that in the Bible, preaching actually means talking with someone. It means parting our lips, opening up our mouths, and speaking forth truth.” (Mark Cahill did a GREAT job of dealing with this very topic here: http://missionaryroad.wordpress.com/2006/01/22/should-we-preach/)

So enough with the Francis of Assisi quote, enough with the “lifestyle evangelism” – get up, get out and share your faith… and in the words of Mark Cahill - “Where are YOU preaching today?”

Thanks for readin!

Rob

A bowl of soup and some new shoes?

Through some bizarre link following the other day, I ended up on Amazon.com reading reviews of Rob Bell’s “Jesus Wants To Save Christians.” Now, unless you are either unsaved, or saved but want to raise your blood pressure, I would strongly suggest you just stay away from Rob Bell stuff – unless you are a Pastor and want to be able to warn your flock. Rob Bell is a heretic – lets just get that out of the way.

Anyway, while I was there, I stumbled on this quote: “Social justice IS the message of salvation.” Now, on the surface, this sounds nice. Most people care about the poor, sick and needy – Christians HAVE to care (the Holy Spirit ensures that Christians WILL care – it is not up to the Christian). But is this the gospel? Did Jesus come down from Heaven, take on human form, live a perfect sinless life, allow Himself to be brutally beaten and suffer a horrible and excruciating death, raise Himself from the dead three days later and then ascend to Heaven so that we could have a full tummy? Did the God of Heaven become a man and submit Himself to unimaginable pain and suffering so we could have nice clothes? Did Almighty God, maker of Heaven and Earth, sustainer of all things – allow Himself to be murdered so to save us from hunger and nakedness?

Did Jesus die to make sure we all had a bowl of soup and some new shoes?

If you think He did, then you might want to re-read the New Testament (even better, the entire Bible). The Bible speaks of Jesus as the one “who delivers us from the wrath to come”  (1Th 1:10). Jesus said “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost"  (Luk 19:10) & “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many"  (Mat 20:28).

I’ve mentioned it before – caring for the poor and sick IS important… but it can NOT be a Christians primary concern! Jesus did not tell us to go into all the world and pass out sandwiches and blankets – but to go and make disciples. I keep pointing this out: How often do we have Jesus taking care of the poor in the Gospels? Only a few times – it was important, but it was NOT Jesus’ primary focus. Think about the fact that the rest of the New Testament does not emphasize Jesus life, but rather His person and His work on the cross  and His resurrection. Not His teaching, not His miracles and not His treatment of the poor and sick.

The fact is, Donald Trump is NOT poor. As far as I know, he is healthy… and as far as I know, he is not saved. Unless he repents and trusts Jesus, he will go to hell when he dies. If he suddenly got advanced cancer and lost all his money – his eternal destiny would remain UNCHANGED! A homeless man who is dying of pneumonia who is also unsaved has the same eternal destiny as the Sultan of Brunei – and your treatment of either man will not change YOUR eternal destiny. It’s about their sin, its about YOUR sin. God is not going to check financial statements or records of charitable contributions. My pastor said “Quality of quantity of service does not earn Gods favor.” Feeding the poor may make you feel better (and it IS an important thing to do!), but it wont get you to heaven!

Your treatment of the less fortunate is not your problem – your problem is that you have broken Gods laws. Repeatedly. You have lied, you have stolen, you have been ungrateful, you have hated people – go through the 10 Commandments and be honest with yourself. Pay special attention to the first 4 Commandments – those will show you how you have treated God Himself! You have broken Gods laws countless times – you are guilty before God. You are a sinner. Not in some abstract sense – in a very REAL sense, you are a criminal in Gods sight, and God would be just in sentencing you to hell for your crimes. But God is “ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love (Neh 9:17).”

If you just humble yourself and agree with God that you are NOT good, that you deserve His judgment and condemnation and ask Him for his mercy – He WILL forgive you. You need to trust that you CAN’T earn Gods favor, and trust that Jesus earned it FOR YOU – and then you go and take care of the poor and sick, and here’s the key, in order to get a chance to TELL THEM about Jesus – about who He is and what He did, and about their problem… their REAL problem. Because when they die, whether they were in Armani or rags, whether they were hungry or full, whether they were a body builder or died of aids – none of that will matter.

Thanks for readin!

-Rob

Is it "God" or "G-d"?

I have noticed this trend picking up a small amount of steam over the last year or so. It's not widespread, and I can never see it becoming the "norm" or anything, but it is more noticeable now then it was a while ago. I even have a family member that does this. What is it that I am talking about? It's the conscious decision not to write out the name of God. They would, instead, write "G-d". Now, lets be fair - it's not that these people hate the letter "O" or anything - and I am sure the "O" key on their keyboard works just fine... it's just that, for some reason, they have decided that it is somehow more respectful and/or reverent to write "G-d" instead of "God."

....but is it?

Well, it is almost always traced back to the fact that the Jews in the Old Testament times would not write out the name of God when they were making copies of OT scrolls. Now, right here we run into an important point: the original writers had no such tradition. When Moses wrote the original scrolls of the Pentateuch, he wrote out the actual name of God. When Ezekiel wrote his original, he wrote out the name of God. It was a tradition that developed later that the Jews would not write out the name of God. Furthermore, it was the personal name of God that they refused to write. Eloheim, Adonai, etc, they had no problem with - they would simply not write out the personal name of God - and that is a very condensed version of how we ended up with Jehovah/Yaweh. Anyway, all that to point out that not writing out the name of God is a tradition of men. There is no such commandment from God.

The debate should end there - but it probably wont. We may need to point out that God gave lots of commands in the OT - and the Jews expanded greatly on these commands.... something that Jesus seemed to go out of His way to oppose. For instance In John 5, Jesus healed a man who could not walk. Jesus told him to pick up his bed and walk. Now the Jews got upset and told him that it was not lawful for him to be carrying his bed (this took place on the Sabbath). Now, the Jews were wrong... how do I know? Because Jesus told this man to do it, and in reality not doing it would have been disobeying God (since Jesus is God). Not carrying a bed on the Sabbath was a commandment of men. Commandments of men were things that Jesus seemed to greatly dislike: "Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 'THESE PEOPLE DRAW NEAR TO ME WITH THEIR MOUTH, AND HONOR ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR FROM ME. AND IN VAIN THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.' " (Mat 15:7-9). Once again, there is no command from God that says you can't write His name - and the original writers of the Bible did write Gods name. Throughout history, the great men of the Church (Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Knox, Whitfield, Edwards, Spurgeon, etc) all wrote out the name of God. We can write out the name of God.

To be honest, I tend to think writing "G-d" is a unconscious work of self-righteousness. I don't think these people are deliberately doing it as such - but the end result is the same. They are following a tradition of men in an attempt to be reverent - reverence pertains to righteousness.... and since this tradition is solely of men with absolutely no Biblical support, this ends up being at least close to self righteousness. I don't mean to sound harsh - and once again, I don't think they are deliberately being self-righteous.... I just think they need to honestly ask themselves why they feel the need to add this requirement to themselves when God gave them no such command.

One final thing - the three letter word "God" isn't nearly as important as the name "Jesus":

"let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the 'STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED BY YOU BUILDERS, WHICH HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE.' Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Act 4:10-12)

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Php 2:9-11)

 

...and yet no one writes "J-s-s" It's ok to write "God" and it's ok to write "Jesus".

 

Thanks for readin!

Rob

Are we all children of God?

"We are all children of God"

You'll likely hear that a lot. It quite often comes tied to the concept that a "loving God wouldn't send His children to hell!"

But ….is the concept true?

No. Not everyone is a "child of God". Let's look a little closer at the concept.

People usually don't know where this concept (children of God) even comes from – I mean, they know it comes from "The Bible", but they have no idea where (very few of the people who claim to have read the Bible really have read it!). Well, it is mentioned a few times, but the "main one" is John 1:12 -

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name [John 1:12 NKJV]

Now, let's break this verse down a bit.

First off, the "Him" in this verse refers to Jesus (if there is any doubt about this, a quick read of the first chapter of John should make this clear).

Ok, so we have the first part "as many as received Him" – now, right off the bat, notice that it doesn't say everyone received Him, it says "as many as received Him". This seems to be a clear implication that the verse is speaking of a select group of people, not everyone. But maybe some will still doubt – so let's take special note of the first word of this verse: BUT. Ok, so why is that word there? Well, it points back to the previous verse, which says: He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. [John 1:11 NKJV] – this verse explicitly says that not everyone receives Him. Now, this particular instance is talking about the Jews, but it establishes the precedent that not everyone is a "child of God" (I really don't think anyone would even bother making the ludicrous claim that everyone is a child of God except the Jews!)

Next, we have this part: "to them He gave the right". Again, it doesn't say "to everyone He gave the right" or "to all He gave the right" – no, it says "to them". The very notion indicates some people were not given the right. It's "to them", a select "them" are given a right that other people are not given.

So what right did He give them? "The right to become children of God" – Note that they had to BECOME children of God; they were not children of God beforehand (this is true of EVERYONE – no one is born a "child of God", they have to become one!), this lets you know that what they were before was not what God wanted them to be, and the fact that He gave them the right to become something, would seem to indicate that He wanted them be different. This is further borne out in 2Corinthians - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.  [2Co 5:17 NKJV]

Now, John 1:12 closes with a reiteration of the very point I am making; who did He give this right to? "To those who believe in His name" – This would indicate that those who do not believe in His name are not given this right. Now, lots of people "believe" in Jesus, but that's not quite what's in view here, as can be evidenced by this verse: Even the demons believe--and tremble!  [Jas 2:19 NKJV] No, these people "Believe in His name". So what's the deal with Jesus' name?

And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  [Isa 9:6 NKJV]
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name [Php 2:9 NKJV]
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. [Act 4:12 NKJV]

Ya see - Jesus' name is special – special in a way we can only barely understand. Part of  believing in Jesus name is to be in complete agreement with everything He said, among which is this: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6 NKJV]

So what am I getting at here? If you believe everyone is a "child of God", then you believe that those who are not trusting in Jesus alone for their salvation are children of God (the old "all roads lead to heaven" deal), which means that you disagree with Jesus who claimed to be the ONLY way to heaven, which means that you DON'T believe in His name (at least not in the way the Bible says you need to!), which means that YOU are not a child of God!

My favorite preacher, C. H. Spurgeon had this to say about John 1:12 – "All men are not the sons of God; the doctrine of the universal Fatherhood is utterly untrue. They only become the sons of God who receive Christ, and believe on his name; else are they heirs of wrath, even as others: 'To them gave he power to become the sons of God.'"

So, if they (and possibly you) are not children of God, whose children are they? Well, first off they are "by nature children of wrath." [Eph 2:3 NKJV] – notice that it is "by nature", that means that they are born that way, their natural state is a child of wrath… and the wrath in question here is the Wrath of God – not something anyone will want to suffer! The Bible makes it easy for us and breaks things down into two groups: "the children of God and the children of the devil" [1Jn 3:10 NKJV]

So which one are you? If you are a child of the devil, then you cannot enter heaven – at least not as you are. You need to become a child of God – you literally need to be born again, because only people who are born again go to heaven - "unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  [John 3:3 NKJV] You need to realize your state of absolute sinfulness. God's standard is absolute perfection – no exceptions. God demands a life of perfection – and you don't have one to offer Him! You have broken His laws and as such deserve His punishment which is (as I'm sure you know) hell. This wasn't an accident either – every time you lied, you knew it was wrong, but you did it anyway – each time you stole something, you knew it was wrong… now maybe you tell others that you have NEVER stolen ANYTHING, but you and God both know the truth – and HE is the one you have to answer to. Just look through the 10 commandments and try to gauge how many times you have broken each one over the course of your lifetime. Keep in mind that God doesn't just go by what you DO, He also demands perfection in everything you ever say or think – if you have a sexual thought about someone you are not married to, then you are guilty of actually committing adultery in God's eyes!

Now, you may hope that God will see that your good outweighs your bad – but it doesn't work that way. The Bible says: "There is none who does good, no, not one." [Rom 3:12 NKJV] and "all our righteousness are like filthy rags" [Isa 64:6 NKJV] – that means that the best, most nice and kind things you have done in your life are less then worthless to God – and to offer them to Him in an attempt to get into heaven is insulting to Him. Imagine if you were selling a brand new BMW – and I said "Here, let me give you a dirty diaper to pay for it" – you would either be angry or think I was insane (maybe both!), but either way I doubt I would get your car! It's the same thing with God – you have nothing to offer Him. NOTHING. The best you have available to offer just angers Him… so what do you do? Well, you need to realize that you have nothing to offer  God, that since you willingly sinned against Him you DESERVE to be sent to Hell – that you have no excuse or defense, and you just ask for His grace and mercy. The most absolutely stunningly amazing thing is---- that HE PROMISES HE WILL GIVE IT TO YOU!!!!

  "The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out." [John 6:37 NKJV]

If you ask Jesus for forgiveness and mercy – He WILL give it to you! The INSTANT you do that you will become a Christian, and will be destined for Heaven!

Then get a Bible and read it EVERYDAY and obey what you read – try to find a good church (there's no such thing as a Christian who doesn't at least try to hang out with other Christians!) and tell others about Jesus!

Thanks for readin!
-Rob