Christian Life

Wild At Heart– A Modern Classic

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Here is an influential book by John Eldredge that no new book for men can fail to take into account. I am sad that I am only now reading this book that has helped so many men. Having read other later books for men I see the fingerprints of this volume all over them. That surely defines a classic.

He goes after “discovering the secret of a man’s soul.” He argues that we have been moved away from what God wants us to be, or what a man really is. We have been emasculated, turned into something not masculine at all. He, then, sees the irony of people, particularly women, asking where have all the men gone. We are bored and have our God-given desire demolished.

He says men must have a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue. Not just any battle as “God has a battle to fight, and the battle is for our freedom.” As for adventure, “God is a person who takes risk”‘ and love is the ultimate risk. As for the beauty, “Eve embodies the beauty and the mystery and the tender vulnerability of God.”

He gives incredible insight. He says, “Men are angry, and we really don’t know why.” He speaks of our underlying fears. What is our deepest fear? He says it’s “…to be exposed, to be found out, to be discovered an imposter, and not really a man.” He says every man feels this and I expect he is right. We find it easy, he says, to turn into posers. It is not that women don’t have some of these issues (read his perceptive comments on Eve and helpmeet and her issues, but he is on the trail of men. He wants us to drop the fig leaf!

This book could be a crises! We may have left the real battle and lost the desire for adventure. That makes us unfulfilled. Even if we are married, we may have failed to win the beauty. Still, he counsels us on how to go forward.

He reaches men’s hearts when he said “Choose the path of humility; don’t be a self-promoter, a glad-hander, a poser. Climb down the ladder….” He went on to say “The world of posers is shaken by a real man. They’ll do whatever it takes to get you back in line–threaten you, bribe you, seduce you, undermine you. They crucified Jesus. But it didn’t work, did it?”

There is so much more. Every man should read it!

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It’s Time For An Independent Baptist Truth Revolution!

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I’m going out on a limb. You may want to rev your chainsaw before you reach the end of the blog post and take care of that limb for me. But I am compelled. Three months of prayer and thought precede this introductory blog post of a series calling on we who march under the flag of the Independent Baptist Battalion in the Lord’s army to shape up our sloppy group. We are a passionate group with a high number soldiers decorated for valor and about as many needing time in the brig. I am as convinced, though, that we are a most valuable battalion that is greatly needed in the battles ahead. When I say battles, I mean some of the most ferocious ever, particularly as we see developments all around us.

Two theories must be dispensed with immediately:

1. God is finished with Independent Baptists.

If you think so, you simply don’t know some of them as I do. Many of them are kind, giving, and passionate for Christ. Their lives are wrapped up in Him. Even though some may carry a few traits that are worthy of reevaluation, they are sincere. Many of them have an undaunting zeal. Some of them would charge Hell with a toothpick and a squirt gun. Though some of it might be zeal without knowledge, I think we would be worse off if it all went away.

2. The Independent Baptist Movement is perfectly fine.

Our excesses are finally catching up with us. Our being convinced that we are the greatest blessing the Lord ever had is blinding us to glaring failures. The bitter poison of pride boils in a cauldron of conceit as many of us are now convinced that we are the only group that actually pleases the Lord, follows His Word, or has His blessing. Many on the outside looking in can easily see what has never occurred to us–we have a superiority complex. We aren’t the first, likely we won’t be the last, but we have got it good. It makes a mockery of the label “independent” as it is classic denominational pride.

Why Write?

I write because I care. I want Independent Baptists to succeed, but I would love to see them address the critical issues demanding attention. Actually, that is the only pathway to success left!

To ignore the issues only deepens the problem. To claim there are no problems is to disconnect with reality. We cringe when a 20/20 or CNN exposé comes out, but besides some skewing there are ugly truths in them. We lambaste the critical or mocking posts on sites like stufffundieslike.com, but we sadly give them material that comedians salivate over.

I write because, perhaps, it would be better to hear it from within. I guess that remains to be seen, but I will make a stab at it.

Why me? No special reason. I am not an “important person” within the Independent Baptist movement, but that might be a plus too. If I were, I likely would be thought to be associated with one clique and so have all my comments interpreted though that filter. No clique in the Independent Baptist world has any power over me. On the other hand, I have been around almost all of them at some point. I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly– I mean the really good, the really bad, and the really ugly!

So I plan to write an article and release it every Tuesday morning for this series. I will not give names as I do not want to be guilty of what I must criticize, but I will come hard at the issues. Even if you disagree with all I say, I pray after it is all over you will consider me a Christian gentleman.

Would you come along on this discussion with me? You can follow this blog via email or I will still share on Facebook and Twitter. In any event, join the discussion and leave comments. I won’t delete them unless you are vulgar or attacking of some individual.

Again, I know the risks. When I wrote a blog on dress standards last December, we went into a nuclear winter of sorts. People who play the game don’t want change. So I sending out an urgent call–a call to an Independent Baptist Truth Revolution!

Related Post:
The Dress Standards article mentioned above

Posts in the series:
2. We Preach the Word of God. Really?

3. Personality Cults

4. Jesus and the Old Paths

5. Self-Appointed Guardians of the Truth

6. The Weight of Omnipotence

7. Missions-minded Pastor or Tyrant?

8. Christmas–A Case Study

9. Peripheral Vision

10. Staffs Under The Gun

11. The Missing Ingredient

12. Letting Go

13. The Silent Majority

14. The Cost of Disloyalty

15. Join Me In This Revolution!

16. The Emptiness of Performance Based Christianity

17. Is There Hope For Our Children?

18. Plastic Christianity

19  Scandal

20. Why It It Pays To Be A Man In Our Movement

21. From The Pew

22. The Worst Crime

23. Is Shunning In The Bible?

24. Fringe Versus Mainstream

25. Are You Part of the Fringe or Mainstream?

26. The Idolatry of Success

27. So Jimmy, Why Do You Write This Stuff?

28. Grace Killers!

29. Why I Am Remaining An Independent Baptist

30. Soulwinning–The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

31. Truth Versus Tradition

32. Would Jesus Like It? 

33. Dishonesty In Preaching

34. Cannibalization In The Independent Baptist World

35. Crucifying Our Straw Men

36. Selfies

37. Academic Inbreeding

38. Win Them…To What?

39. Hopeless Inconsistencies

40. Spiritual Gestapos

41. Fake It Till You Make It

42. Stepping Down From An Abuse of Power?

43. The L Word–Liberal

44. The Ghosts of John R. Rice, Jack Hyles, and Lee Roberson

45. Spiritual Profiling

46. Urban Legends

47. Jesus For Sale

48. Standing Up To The World

49. Quarantined

50. A Cult?

51. The Greatest Motivation to be a Pharisee

52. Straining At Gnats and Swallowing Camels

53. The Inverted Spiritual Gift of Griping

54. The BJU Probe

55. Cookie Cutter Christians

56. Have You Left Doctrine?

57. Make Sure You Leave Right
58. Why I Don’t Like What My Husband Likes
(My comments and an article my wife wrote about how she feels about me writing this series.)

59. So You Must Be in Full Time Ministry?

60. It’s What’s Right, Not Who’s Right

61. So Who Is Your Lord And Master?

62. I’m Out!

63. Misconceptions About the Truth Revolution

64. Old-Fashioned Church?

65. Our Brand of Idolatry

66. Where Will Independent Baptists Be In 10 and 25 Years?

67. Are You a Narcissist?

68. A Truth We Baptists Should Never Forget

69. A Lesson In Light Of The Duggars

70. A Sword Or A Club?

71. Is This Really The Time For A Witch Hunt?

72. The Priority Of Bad News

73. Sola Scriptura–Is The Bible Our Only Guide?

74. Do You Have Your Own Spiritual Litmus Test?

75. The Five Key Issues Facing The Independent Baptist World Today

 

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The Lesson Of The Fog

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I fell for it. Come to think of it, I have quite the bad record on that score. It was a dreary morning as I drove the curvy Tennessee roads early the other day. The fog hung heavy all around and it was as particularly dreary as I remember in a long time. Strangely enough, the physical conditions matched my disposition. It was as gloomy inside my head as it was out beyond my windshield. The day had no potential on any level. Every mile seemed more dreary than the one before. Funny to have in nature a metaphor of what was inside of me.

The worst part was how hopeless it seemed. The day was bad and that was that–don’t even think it could be salvaged. Sometimes life can look the same way. Have you ever had a day like that? Life ever seemed that way too?

Then I had a shock. I drove around a curve , and presto, the fog gave way to a burst of sunshine! The sky was that vivid blue of fall and the trees and fields were all that Tennessee is known for. It couldn’t have any more beautiful and gloom ran away like a frightened child. As I was thinking “wow”, it seemed an elbow nudged me.

Then it hit me like a flash of lightening. I hadn’t heard the weather forecast and the day was actually to be a gorgeous one. It wasn’t that it was dreary and now it wasn’t. That wasn’t the lesson at all, though we often think that is the best we can hope for. Actually, it was a great day and it was just obscured from me. The day was wonderful, the sun was shining, and the outlook was really perfect. It was true and a little fog robbed me of it.

Such is life, at least for one born into the family of God. There is fog no doubt. Plenty of it. The sun, though, shines on! My life has its fog, but that gloom is not the reality for me. The sun will burn the fog; the sun will defeat the fog; the sun will win! Fog can hide but it can’t change reality as it simply isn’t that powerful. For me there is Christ, Heaven, and forever! That is my reality and that is the lesson of the fog!

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Together Is A Beautiful Word by Guest Blogger Jennie Bender

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bender familyHere is a story that will reach your heart. Jennie Bender and her family walked through the fires of trial. She is wife to Shane and mother of Sabrina, Elaine, Darcy, and Davison. They are a wonderful Christian family living now in Fairborn, Ohio. The other day when I wrote a blog post called “What If Your Healing Doesn’t Come”, Jennie privately wrote my wife and I on her experiences with praying for a healing that didn’t come. In her case, it wasn’t for herself, but for her child. That is just as appropriate to the subject as any parent would realize. What she wrote was so touching, powerful, and real, I asked if I could share it as a guest blog post. Be sure to read the extra information she gave at the end. It is an honor to give her piece here. It is little edited so nothing of her heart is lost. Here it is in her words…

I just read your piece on healing. It was a blessing. I believe He can, but I have peace that He didn’t. God gives grace, mercy, and peace to go through trials. I could not do without any of those three at any given time. I have learned more, gained more, so much more. If I could go back– I’d probably selfishly choose to take away trisomy 18 (explained below) and have my daughter alive– without sleepless nights and burning tears, without knowledge of impending death, without… But I’d not know this great grace, I’d not have a strong realization of Heaven, I’d not have a measure of faith, I’d not have the blessings of brokenhearted strangers who reached out and gave me friendship through our mutual suffering, and I’d not have lifelong friendships given to me on her behalf by God’s hand…

I had so many say that God would take away this problem and it’d just go away– because He is God. Death was surely not coming to my house– according to them. They meant well; it was what we all wanted.

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The Lord showed me that wasn’t the way I was going– though I wanted it badly, more than anyone passing by could fathom. I remember my own prayer– “Lord, I know you are praying for me because I don’t know what to pray.” I even went so far as to pray for her death so she could be truly safe– and hastily recanted it as soon as I spoke it– because I couldn’t believe I spoke it aloud. Only a mother dealing with a fatal disorder could understand that prayer and its depth. I wanted her more than I could bear, but my love for her wanted the fullest, happiest life for her– and with her diagnosis the best place was not with me but with God.. There was a guilt after I prayed that prayer because of my absolute humanity, but my heart later knew that prayer was because of my love for her — her grave struggles and future caused me to desire to give her to God– though it broke my heart in pieces. And I am sure someone will say that’s wrong, but the Lord knows how desperately we wanted her– with or without her so-called deformities. She was perfect to us and still is, no one dare question our love for her. Even if they did, there is no point to prove to them. We stand before God Almighty; He knew and knows our hearts. We only wanted her best– and that is love– and the greatest love is someone else’s best over your own selfish desires.

baby pic

This is a real issue, as you say. There are so many remarks you receive… some are not helpful. I am so thankful for the people who came into my life– people who were broken hearted, mended, and ministering because they had seen God. They all spoke the same words, just like a painter’s hand is recognized in every painting, you could see His hand and hear His voice through their unique stories. Others did not have that, only the broken ones. They had seen God work –they were compelled to comfort as He had personally comforted them and as they had been blessed by His people through their own sorrow.

I am changed because of those days. They are painful at times to recall, but the changes God made have only made our lives better. Every move He makes is for our good, and I trust the loving kindness of the Lord.

And as for your family and mine, our situations are not the same and not to be compared, but the Lord has made us better friends because of our trials.

(Editor’s Note: There is a hard-to-explain camaraderie in suffering.)

Trisomy 18 is a generation of an extra chromosome. It can be shattered, misplaced, or a duplicate chromosome. The simplest explanation is– it is like an extra puzzle piece. It fits, it is perfect, it is useful, fully functioning, alive. The only problem is–it is extra, therefore it destroys the whole. It can be genetic, it can be due to the age of a mother, but most of the time, as in our case, it is simply an accident at the onset of the division and multiplication of cells. Every time the bundle of life multiplies and divides it creates more problems. Since it is in the actual cells, there is nothing to do but wait. We were told she would die before her due date, she would have great struggles and die eleven days after her birth on average, and if she survived beyond those early days–she would surely be dead within a year.

Gravestone

Elaine had an extra finger, water on the brain, strawberry shaped skull, a twisted foot, and three holes in her heart– nearly every marker of T18. Our marriage was given a 1% survival rate because of the stress before and after her delivery. God has been good, we’ve not been prefect, but He has led us gently all the way. We have an unexplainable daily joy and gratitude that was given to us because we put our child and our broken hearts in God’s hands. “We are better for knowing her–even if it was just for a moment.”

She is the reason we say and know, “Together” is a beautiful word.

Thanks Jennie

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

If you know anyone going through such times, please let us know –jennie@benderparty.com.

Also, Now I lay Me Down to Sleep is a non-profit organization consisting of professional photographers who photograph families whose children have been given a fatal diagnosis. They were a great blessing to us. Lori Anderson of Simply Southern Photography took pictures of Elaine through NILMDTS.org.

RELATED POSTS:

What If My Healing Doesn’t Come? The original post Jennie responded to.

Confessions of a Disability Marriage Jennie mentioned God’s grace in her marriage getting through what wrecks many marriages. It is tough and I have written on my own case.

Future Grace by John Piper

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How would you like a book that takes the concept of grace and interweaves it through the whole of Scripture? By that I mean what grace really means to us. How does faith play out to bring the dramatic power of grace into our lives? How does grace, faith, sin, and the promises of God interrelate to make the Christian life the awesome thing it is? I assure you that Mr. Piper makes one of the strongest explanations I have seen in that regard.

Not that I would agree with everything he writes (I don’t), but he takes you to thoughts that need to be entertained though you have never thought them before. That interrelation of key Bible concepts I spoke of is the volume’s greatest asset. He connected a few dots for me.

Though he ties many things together, his theme is one: we must live by faith in the future grace of God. We find that that simple theme brings great clarity to the Christian life as expressed in the Scriptures. Or as he further explained, “…the faith which justifies also sanctifies, because the nature of faith is to be satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus.”

I can at best whet you appetite in this review of the things he brings out. For example, he describes sin as what you do when you are not satisfied with God. We sin, he says, because we believe we will find happiness there. That presupposes a lack of faith in what God said. If we believed His grace will deliver what it promised, it would be impossible to think that the sin in question could bring happiness. I can see that truth, can’t you?

Perhaps you will be as shocked as I was to follow his discussion on the debtor’s ethic. He justly describes how we so often try to motivate ourselves and others by saying that we owe the Lord for what He did for us. Though what He did for us is monumental beyond description, he shows that is not at all how the Bible seeks to motivate us. No, he rightly argues, our problem is always a lack of faith, not a lack of gratitude, when it comes to the matter of radically following and obeying Jesus Christ.

Pride, he goes on, is a specific form of unbelief that is a turning from God to self. With that goes a loss of faith that comes a foolish faith in the promises of self. That ties the hands of grace’s work. Building on C.S. Lewis he tells of the “itch of self-regard and the scratch of self-approval.” He quotes: “The pleasure of pride is like the pleasure of scratching. If there is an itch one does want to scratch; but it is much nicer to have neither the itch nor the scratch.” He explains how the craving of the praise of others is a loss of faith in future grace.

There is so much more. He goes all the way to a faith in future grace that can triumphantly lay down one’s life for the glory of God as many martyrs before us have done. How did they do it? They believed the promises of God and the grace they contain.

Besides a few points of disagreement, I love this book. I find it superior to his writings on Christian hedonism, though he believes they are connected. It is 400 pages that I had to read slowly, but it is worth it. He has conveniently given this work in 31 chapters if you want to take a month with it. That might be the best way.

This volumes re-establishes how my faith in what my Lord has told me is so essential to the overall success of my Christian life. For that, I thank Mr. Piper.

 

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 .

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Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart– A Book Review and Personal Observations

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forlornstop asking jesus in your heart

Well, can one really know if he or she is saved? Can those lingering doubts ever be put to rest? Must we have to make that fifteenth profession of faith? Or in a few weeks will it be what it always comes to–the pain of just not being sure if you are going to Heaven or not?

Perhaps this issue is the ultimate elephant in the living room for Christians. Over the years I have come to the opinion that it touches more Christians than it does not. I have not personally dealt with it in my own heart, but I have certainly worked with those who have. That I have not doubted has nothing to do with living so highly that I was insulated from it. To the contrary, I have done plenty enough to raise doubts since I was saved all those years ago. I credit an incredibly clear presentation of the Gospel for sparing me. I have always known it was Him and not me. I praise God for it too.

Still, many have a storm raging in them. Happiness always runs just out of reach. It makes sense. Who could be happy if you just didn’t know if you would open your eyes in Heaven or not someday? To make it worse, it is hard to fathom exactly what is at stake if we lack assurance. Our entire Christian life gets tied up in knots if we can’t get out of this struggle. Obedience struggles too because obeying to gain salvation is flawed and doomed to failure. It can only thrive when we know where we stand.

A book I recently read, “Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart” (reviewed below), got me thinking about it again. I have read plenty on it, but apparently we don’t have enough written on it as of yet.

I don’t think we can give generic advice as all cases of doubting one’s salvation don’t spring from the same place. If you battle a lack of assurance, I suggest you figure which category you are in:

1. Confused

You hear much preaching and teaching that throws you onto the merry-go-round. Just when you think you got it, along comes another sermon and presto, there you go again! It is not a matter of not really wanting to be saved, or of being insincere, or any such thing. It is an intellectual misunderstanding of a heart that truly loves Christ.

2. Backslidden

Since salvation is as eternal as the fact of physical birth, The Lord uses different means to reach us when we go the wrong path. A lack of assurance is actually a tool from His toolbox to help us. Such a lack of assurance really traumatizes and can lead us back. First John is a whole book about dealing with a lack of assurance and joy.

3. Unsaved

Of course it is an option. Jesus Himself said in Matthew 7:23, “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” These folks have a false assurance. Surely at times they hear the little voice that says you are not saved. To trust something other than Christ can’t satisfy,and in such a case, a lack of assurance is a glorious gift.

Now let’s talk solutions to these cases of doubting one’s salvation (in reverse order):

1. Unsaved

You need to see your condition before a Holy God and throw yourself on His mercy provided in the Person of Jesus Christ. There is no other hope for you! ( please write me if you have questions).

2. Backslidden

I imagine you know exactly what to do. Just remember this gnawing will never go away till you do!

3. Confused

You likely are putting yourself through needless torture. Do you love Jesus? Do you want desperately His salvation? Do you really think One as loving as Him wants to make it so hard? We are the ones who make it so hard by always thinking that some of His work is ours to do. Ours is but to see the absolutely helpless conditions of our souls, the gory depths of sin in ourselves, and the infinite grace of Jesus Christ. Run to Him! If you did, He did save you as He expressly promised in His Word.

Examine your heart. Are you downplaying your sin and imagining that you just need a little help? If not, I think you can trust His Word. Spend your days looking at Jesus. Learn of Him. Don’t stop until you learn once and for all what grace is. Until you do, the torture may dog you.

The main thing is that it is Jesus, not you. You bring your brokenness, He brings His peace; you bring your failure, He brings His righteousness. You don’t contribute to your salvation, you only bring your lostness. It might be that you just need to remember your part (nothing) and remember His part (everything). It can be no other way.

And by the way, heaping more guilt on yourself will only add to the problem. Being ashamed of your situation is pointless too as you are one of so many. The right approach is dealing DIRECTLY with the problem with no One other than Jesus! Get the other voices out of your head and His voice will be kind, calm, loving, and will lead you back to peace.

BOOK REVIEW:

J. D. Greear has given us a thought-provoking volume. The title (Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart) alone titillates! I do not agree with everything he says (there is some Calvinism), but he helps us get away from a life of multiple professions that plague so many. The book digs into the subject and helps us wrestle with this critical subject.

House Church?

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Over the last few years we have seen a trend of more people having what they call a “house church”. I’m not referring to what is referred to in Romans 16:5:

Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.

In that case they had church in the only place they could meet and it happened to be a house.

No, I’m talking about this idea that I can’t find any church pure enough for me and mine, so my house is my church. That would have its perks—scheduling family and church activities would be rather easy when the only schedule I would have to consult is my own. If I didn’t finish preparing my message and it is only my family, how easy would it be to watch “The Andy Griffith Show”. (Perhaps some episodes of that show would be better than some of the messages I’ve preached, but that is beside the point).

What is lost in this discussion is the idea of corporate worship. The Lord did not intend that everything in your life in regards to Him be in private. That’s a modern invention. Here’s a Scripture that might have escaped your notice. Deuteronomy 12: 17-18 says

Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand: But thou must eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto.

The phrase “within thy gates” means at your house. There are some activities that should take place at God’s House. No amount of verbal acrobatics will nullify what the Lord says.

This is nothing more than a repackaging of the old I’ll-have-church-in-nature routine. You know, I worshipped the Lord Sunday morning at the fishing hole. How does that work? Is there some spiritual way to hold the pole or bait the hook? I think of the Lord when out in nature too, but does that replace His call to corporate worship?

This all springs from a misunderstanding of all the Lord had in mind when He gave us the local church. Part of the idea was that there should be other Christians in it besides me and my family. Hopefully my family is already encouraging me and surely they are praying for me. I need more prayers, more encouragement, more of the Word than I can have at my house alone. Then there is giving and reaching out and the local church is what the Lord has designed for this very thing.

It’s not about that building, but we need that body of people in our lives. We need a local church.

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A Forgotten Regulation

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It’s one we don’t think about. I imagine you haven’t heard a sermon on it in a long time, if ever. It first came up in Deuteronomy and was re-emphasized a few times in the New Testament. More importantly, it has incredible potential to keep you and me out of deep messes. We can hardly imagine why it is important at all, but it got enough mileage in Scripture to show us the Lord thought it a worthy concept.

What is this mysterious and forgotten regulation? The requirement that we have two or three witnesses to establish the validity of a word or matter (Deut. 19:15) is the one that needs to make a comeback in our generation. Think of how we establish a matter. We accept a whisper, we seize a rumor, and the worse the report the sooner we believe it. We so believe it that we feel it such an established fact that we have the right to tell it far and wide. Such is the genesis of broken friendships, wounded hearts, assassinated reputations, and of course, a sin itself. This doesn’t even cover the fact that it is blatantly unchristian and repeatedly forbidden.

The Lord knew what He was doing when He gave us this regulation. He knew conflict would arise among us and He knew we might not always play fair. So He took precautions for us. It protects us from both directions. On the one hand, it’s so easy for someone to make up a charge in a moment of vindictiveness, or at least so exaggerate the situation that it no longer resembles what actually happened. If there’s a requirement of two or three witnesses, unless they conspire together, it will rule that out. At the very least, it will greatly lower the chances of a false accusation getting through. This makes a great principle obvious. Don’t form opinions by the word of one person, even if a good one, because you never know what complications in life may color his or her judgment. Also, we should check our own conclusions by those of others because it’s so cheap and easy to form a harsh opinion. You can check and see if others you respect have the same opinion.

Secondly, this can lead us through church troubles. Such crises usually denigrate into who can garner the most support as if it were but a popularity contest. But, praise the Lord, we don’t have to settle matters that way. I look for two or three witnesses, and if they are not available, I turn it over to God. Isn’t this what Matthew 18:15-20 is all about? Then personalities are irrelevant and we have a clear path through the mess.

There’s something to this two-or-three-witnesses thing. Do you suppose it has something to with why we are sent out two-by-two to witness of our Lord?

There is a lot of junk in this sin-cursed world. Perhaps, though, there wouldn’t be quite as much if we would but remember a carefully-defined, yet mostly-forgotten, regulation our Lord gave us long ago.

I first posted this on Partners For The Gospel

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The Two Main Paths of Temptation – Idolatry and Legalism

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Temptation

The written record we have makes it clear. Our life experiences confirm it in every instance. We are swept from God’s way at any given point from one of two streams of thinking. We either are bewitched into idolatry by our desires or we are escorted into legalism by our pride.

I realize sins themselves can be categorized into sins of the flesh or of the spirit, but I refer to where these sins come from. Whether idolatry or legalism, sins of the flesh and of the spirit easily emerge. Before this discussion becomes academic exercise for Christian readers, I, too, want to add that the subject is not any more geared to unbelievers than it is to believers. In that the flesh remains, idolatry and legalism find fertile ground to thrive in any of us. (Since I have swan in the putrid waters of idolatry and of legalism, as well as committed a wide variety of sins of the flesh and of the spirit, I find myself unusually qualified to speak).

If you think about it, you find the story of the Old Testament as it traces Israel from its infancy to the threshold of its Messiah tells this very thing. For centuries Israel fell into idolatry at every turn. Whether she ran after the false gods of Canaan, or wanted a king over the King of Kings, she was never far from idolatry till she watched herself ruined and carried away into the Babylonian Captivity.

After she endured that painful captivity she shook off idolatry once and for all, but replaced it with a more subtle type of sin—legalism. The key difference in the two is that when you fall into idolatry you tend to know it. You and the Lord are not on good terms and it is as obvious to you as anyone. On the other hand, when you are drowning in legalism, you  are usually the last to know it. You and the Lord are still not on good terms, but you are convinced He sits on the throne giving you regular rounds of applause.

To understand sin, you must begin with God. It is not only that sin is an affront to God, but that every sin is personally against Him. Every sin we commit is then connected to Him in the sense that it springs from what we think about Him. That thought horrifies me as much as anyone, but it is true.

In idolatry I want something other than Him. Any one of a thousand things will do; it just can’t be Him. I want to distance myself from Him, from His way cramping my style. Like the idol of stone, the quieter the better. I will be God for a while.

In legalism, I don’t necessarily want Him because I am so sure I already have Him. I get to thinking I have earned God and that blinds me in the ugliest ways. I make myself pleasing to Him and that builds up a reserve that covers an indiscretion here and there, even if that indiscretion is actually horrendous. In a way not so obvious, I will be God for a while.

I am sure the Pharisee of Jesus’ day was embarrassed by the idolatry of his fathers while he lived in his legalism. Well, it was embarrassing. Still, there were plenty of Pharisees in the crowd ready to stone the woman taken in adultery when Jesus stopped it.

The point is not that legalism is that much worse than idolatry. When Israel was in idolatry, however, she did bring reproach on His Name; and when she was in legalism, she nailed Him to a cross. Still, both are bad and I do no favors to attack one at the expense of the other.

That is, though, the heart of the problem. We are usually blind to one or the other. If I am in idolatry, I can spot the ugly pride inherent in legalism a mile away. If I am in legalism, I can find the reprobates all around me so easily. The issue becomes which road temptation will travel to get to me. As you can see, it will either be the road of idolatry or of legalism, and it will depend on what I think of the Lord at the time. Looking down one road or the other, temptation will sneak up on me from the other direction. I guess that explains how I have been blindsided so many times!

Believe and Belong by Clarence Sexton

/ jimmyreagan / 1 Comment

believe and belong

Here’s a timely subject where you wonder why more hasn’t been written on it before. In this volume entitled Believe and Belong by Pastor Clarence Sexton the subtitle says it all: “The Joy of Church Membership.”

It is a needed corrective to the prevailing notion that church membership is irrelevant at best and unbiblical at worst. It is born of our excessive personal independence that scorns even the most gentle accountability. The interdependence that is inherent to the idea of the local church is just too much for many. No doubt, the loss is truly theirs.

As a pastor, I appreciate his emphasis as this is a battle we all face in dealing with folks. Pastor Sexton writes with the intensity and candor you might expect from someone who has been in it over 40 years.

He makes a good case for membership as well as what a church really is. That is foundational to the local church ever being both what it can be and what The Lord intended it to be. His discussion on God’s Word being our guide is critical in a day when many forget that our cry should be sola scriptura (“by the Scriptures alone”).

He actually covers most of the things found in a discussion on the local church: baptism, the Lord’s Supper, prayer, the pastor. He warns of “grievous wolves” and ends on a push for the Great Commission. Along the way comes out strongly for soul liberty and the priesthood of the believer, which, strangely, is rare among Baptist pastors today. Yes, that was Baptist people’s most unique feature in previous generations.

This book is fine for new Christians as well as seasoned Christians who need to consider a subject they have thought little of in the past. Pastors, we will find ideas here of how we might present this truth. I recommend this book.

DISCLAIMER: Unlike other books I have reviewed on this blog, I know this author. While that could be some bias, I still feel this a truly helpful book.

clarence sexton