Forgive... to Live

Why do we as Christians so easily succumb to replacing the glory of God with some earthly trinket that satisfies for but a moment? Do you ever think about it? I mean it doesn't have to be the worse sin imaginable, just the simple things or emotions of our lives, like movies, activities, other people, rest, pre-occupation, texting, e-mail, or pride. For me it seems the worst right after church. You know, I'm just out of Sunday service and am well aware of the last few hours of the weekend to do with whatever I wish before the next work week begins. Instead of studying the sermon further or just reading the Word together with my wife in prayer, I begin wondering what entertainment I could make of all this personal free time. While we could dive deep into this particular topic exploring issues such as consumerism, post-modernism, and lack of spiritual discernment, I want to look at another possible and perhaps more misunderstood cause of this effect of neglect and supplanting God's glory and it's subsequent healthy benefits.
                                         

                                              Forgiveness.

That's right, forgiveness or rather, the lack thereof. Did you know that it is the least preached upon topic in all of the historical, post-apostolic church? Why is that?  Is it because it is viewed as unimportant? That should not be surprising with the rampant neglect of sound, Biblical doctrine as it is. Is it because the enemy keeps his guns directed most on it? It would seem so, if it is so suppressed. The fact is, scripture speaks directly to forgiveness being that which restores us to foundational life in Christ Jesus, both in what He does for us and how we react to Him and to others.

“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”  Colossians 3:13

We even see Christ say something so astounding as to try the intellect of many a theologian.

 "And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,  until he should pay all his debt.  So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” Matthew 18:34-35

Hmm..seems that if there is no evident forgiveness from us toward others it raises serious questions about even our own salvation. This should give us cause to dwell long and hard upon what God says about forgiveness and meditate on those places in Holy Writ which expound the doctrine of forgiveness.


Dare I say that it might be because of a lack of forgiveness in your life that the very glory of God is being obscured from your view. Could it be that unforgiveness is causing you to find substitutes for God and thereby robbing you of the unimaginable joy that comes from simply taking joy in Christ's joy? Certainly, if you harbor unforgiveness or perhaps are unforgiven, then you will seek to placate your conscience with stimulation that blinds you from God. It is not that watching a movie, busying yourself about the house, or taking pride in something is necessarily bad, it is that you are doing these things NOT unto the glory of God, but in fact in an attempt to satiate your soul.

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31

Call me crazy, but I am convinced we are unable to do things unto the Glory of God if there are feelings of unforgiveness in our hearts or even in the hearts of those around us directed at us. Recently, I have had my own encounters with forgiveness. I ashamedly laid a heavy burden upon someone whom I hold very dear. It was unnecessary and revealed my sin nature. This precious person chose to forgive me. The conviction and motivation toward Godliness that this generated was extremely powerful. I cherish what God has done through this trial.
On the flipside, there is a certain history involving financial disagreements and a broken friendship that God has been bringing me to deal with these last few weeks. There is no question that I am liable, the disagreement is how much. There is no question that matters should be resolved, however the other party has shown his carnal nature in the way he has handled it. It has been difficult and stressful indeed to even think on this matter as well as see a professing Christian acting un-Christlike toward me. While I am a party to the problem, he was a friend and now harbors unforgiveness toward me, and while this will weigh most heavily on his own heart, it certainly makes for unpleasant and downright depressing feelings in mine. My utmost desire is to handle the matter as much like Christ as possible as I pray it is his as well.
Big issues aside, even the smallest thing can cause upset. Just getting mad at your spouse and letting it go on unchecked can easily become a mountain of problems. What a relief it is to just say, "I forgive you." Even if it is in your own heart before the other even knows you are mad....in fact that is the best time! In truth, there are no words sweeter than, "I forgive you."  Do you mean it? Yes, I forgive you.

Does forgiveness mean that we let people off the hook? Sometimes, but not always, and certainly never in the eternal sense... I mean it certainly does where God is concerned. When He forgives sin it is a complete absolution of the debt. Does forgiveness mean that we throw reason and truth out the window? Never.

It does mean that we will reap huge harvests of benefits in our own lives and in the lives of those around us.

The love of God compels us to forgive others and to love them in truth and spirit. Forgiving them does not mean you absolve them of guilt, just as loving them in spirit and truth does not mean sacrificing truth for the sake of unity.

                                                                                 
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Ephesians 1:7-10

We can and indeed must be truthful when we forgive or receive forgiveness. Letting go of ill will toward others and remaining true to God is evidence of His Lordship in your life. Only God alone will preserve within you the truth and life God Himself has provided. At the same time, it is ecstasy indescribable that propels you to fight and stand for the principles and Godly valor laid before you and in so doing keeps you within the veil of God's good grace. It is the way that He has orchestrated things that forgiveness is the balm that heals and the plan that provides for us the foundation of life. Anything else is just show tunes.The most important thing to realize is that all of it is for the Glory of God, and if it is for His Glory then you will get the most extreme joy and pleasure because God is the most supreme being in existence and when He glorifies Himself, His children reap an unending abundance of joy!


A younger brother in the Lord, Jacob, said this,
"The true heart of Man (i.e. the Image of God) and therefore the true heart of the Christian (i.e. the redeemed Image of God) is eager expectation of joy and glory around every corner of this life- in spite of it's corruption. The man in love with God is too happy to fold under "the fall", but rather- as if spitting in the face of Sin- rises triumphantly after every blow, to passionately continue the adventure."

That is an amazing quote. I have to ask myself, am I harboring unforgiveness enough to blind me from my one true love of Christ Jesus? Is there anything at all that hinders me from day to day that is a deeper cause of all my supposed symptoms, and if so is there anything more foul than unforgiveness? What in my life needs to be given to God and left at His feet so that I may experience the true heart of Man and the true heart of the Christian, spitting in the face of sin and rising triumphant to press onward toward the goal?

Oh Christian, do not be deceived. There lies in our hearts dark spots of ill will toward men because we are sinful by nature and totally depraved. Target these places I say, and throw off the smothering vines of complacency! Be about your Father's business ,and obey His wise commands! Rejoice in the joy of Christ, and rise to fight for that very joy!

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!

2 O Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive

to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

4 But with you there is forgiveness,

that you may be feared.

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in his word I hope;

6 my soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning.

Psalm 130:1-6

A Warning about Academic Hubris

A necessary dose of Spurgeon

In the Christian church there is, I am afraid, at this moment too much exaltation of talent and dependence upon education, I mean especially in reference to ministers.

I do not believe that a man of God who is called constantly to preach to the same people can be too thoroughly educated, neither do I believe that the highest degree of mental culture should be any injury to the Christian minister, but rather should be very helpful to him. By all means let the religious teacher intermeddle with all knowledge, let him give himself unto reading and be able mentally as well as spiritually to take the lead, but, O church of God, never set thou up human learning in the place of the Eternal Spirit, for "it is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord."

The great wonders of apostolic times were mainly wrought by men who were illiterate in the world's judgment; they had been taught of Christ and so had received the noblest education, but in classical studies and in philosophical speculations they were but little versed, with the exception of the apostle Paul, and he came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom. Yet the apostles and their followers preached with such power, that the world soon felt their presence.

On the slabs of stone which mark the burial places of the early Christians in the catacombs of Rome, the inscriptions are nearly all ill spelt, many of them have here a letter in Greek and there a letter in Latin, grammar is forgotten, and orthography is violated, a proof that the early Christians who thus commemorated the martyred dead were many of them uneducated persons: but for all that they crushed the wisdom of the sages and smote the gods of classic lands. They smote Jupiter and Saturn, until they were broken in pieces, and Venus and Diana fell from their seats of power. Their conquests were not by the, learning of the schools; that hindered them—the Gnostic heresy, the heresy of pretended knowledge hindered but never helped the church of God.

Even thus at this hour the culture so much vaunted in certain places is opposed to the simplicity of the gospel. Therefore I say we do not despise true learning, but we dare not depend upon it. We believe that God can bless and does bless thousands by very simple and humble testimonies; we are none of us to hold our tongues for Christ, because we cannot speak as the learned; we are none of us to refuse the Lord's message to ourselves because it is spoken by an unlettered messenger.

We are not to select our pastors simply because of their talents and acquirements; we must regard their unction, we must look at their call, and see whether the Spirit of God is with them; if not, we shall make learning to be our brazen serpent, and it will need to be broken in pieces.

                                                                                                            















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Gospel Call Update #3

Last night, Thursday the 4th of November, Michael and I were blessed to be able to walk the campus grounds of BSU and share the precious gospel. This beautiful fall season is a great time to do so, because there is lots of activity and the brisk air keeps conversations lively. We were only two strong, but that is enough and is also the least we have decided to go with. We spoke of going it completely alone and how we would rather not. There is something about proclaiming the gospel along with fellow believers that stir eternal passions within. There is a point where you realize that this is what you were designed to do. As we walked we commented on the Biblical mandate to the seventy to go by twos. Being able to hit the streets with the gospel is a priviledge, and we also spoke of the recent video we had watched where brothers in Christ in India are getting beat literally to death. We prayed while we walked, resolving to take nothing for granted, and to let the joy within us overflow.

We passed out a number of tracts on our way to the center of campus without conversation. Michael held out a tract as a very tall skateboarder sped past us in the opposite direction and deftly took the hand-off. As we walked we stopped and talked with a young girl sitting on a bench. She was in a happy mood and appeared to be waiting for someone. She told us that she was a Christian. As Michael asked her a few questions she actually stated that we can't know the Bible is true because there is no proof. Wow. The influence of high-minded professors who's great desire is to undermine scripture is very pervading. I then began to press her for answers about the field she was studying, Exercise Science. As she provided answers I asked her how she knew they were correct. She stammered and thought about it but could not answer. I asked if it might be because things like 'protein makes muscle' might be absolute and unchanging. She said yes. As I began to relate these things to gospel truth she got a phone-call and excused herself, but not before thanking us for the talk and encouraging us to keep it up.

From there as we walked it became apparent that there was an air of hostility toward the gospel. Most people I encountered were very offended and wanted nothing to do with me. There was an event on campus and many were just in a hurry, however as I walked briskly alongside them and pressed the gospel I found atheists, agnostics, Mormons, and New Agers alike. Walking and talking I found myself engaging in bullet point fashion with people who scoffed at absolute truth. Indeed, the atheist man I prodded who was around 67 years old excalimed that he did not believe in absolute truth. I then asked him if he realized that to make the very statement that 'there is no absolute truth' is in itself an absolute. He was a little taken aback and said that was very interesting. He then went on a rant about the Bible being a fairy tale and men just declaring truth based on their experiences. I followed him all the way to the door and exhorted him to "Crack open a Bible and look again!" Many other quick encounters happened including a young man who was angry and spoke of philosophy trumping scripture; another man who walked with me for some time answering questions about Christianity quite Biblically. Only when he talked about 'returning to God' did I determinehe he was a Mormon. I pointed to the contradictions between the Doctrines and Covenants and not only the Bible but his own Book of Mormon. He did not argue and actually thanked me for the information and we parted.

During this time Michael had stopped to speak witha a muslim woman for the duration of the hour. She actually asked him to give her the gospel. She then stated emphatically that Christ was not the Son of God. Michael told her that quite simply if a person does not believe that Jesus is God in flesh then that person is damned to hell. She countered without wavering and asked him who the last prophet was. He said Jesus, and she said no, Mohammed was. Michael told her that in fact Mohammed was not a prophet, but only an unsaved sinner. Michael engaged her with absolute truth as well whenever she began playing the culture card and how we belive what we are raised to believe. Before they parted company she had a copy of the New Testament n her hand. Praise God.

As the evening finished up I had a wonderful converstaion with a young Christian woman from California named Monesha. She professed Christianity and indeed came up to me to ask for a tract. She is studying to be a social worker with emphasis on sign language. She is planning on starting a non-profit for the deaf. I was able to expound on Isaiah where God says our righteousness is as filthy rags. She was very intent and asked alot of great questions. We spoke of Christian hip-hop like Tedashi and LeCrae, and spoken word Christian poetry like P4C and Blair Wingo. She stated that she attends a small disciple group on campus on Monday nights called Focus but no church body except having attended Agape a few times. I exhorted her to get in a gospel-centered church and gave her information on my church, The Well. As Michael joined me we talked further and then we bowed our heads and I had the priviledge of praying for this young woman and her protection in a secular culture.

As a side note, Dan Barker, the president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation is speaking tonight at 6:00pm. Advertisements for the event had been chaulked into the side-walk, and as Michael and I stood over one we had quite a conversation with twin brothers on their way to a campus Bible study. How badly do you think I would like to be preaching outside this event tonight? I hope in the Lord's prepatory work in my brothers and myself and look forward to the time when we are ready. For now, we take confidence that despite ex-preachers turned atheist like Dan Barker, who are perverting the minds of so many, the Word's of our Lord will remain eternal as He has told us they will.
"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."
Matthew 24:35


Please remember to lift this ministry up in prayer and ask God what He would have you do to participate. Please pray that hearts would be cultivated by the gospel, and that the tracts we hand out would be effective in the lives of those who read. Pray for these people who God brings into our path that the shining glory of God would be seen in their lives.
Post Tenebras Lux

You Learn Something New Every Day

Did your dad or grandpa ever tell you that you learn something new every day? Mine did. I remember it well, and I also remember my dad commenting on Roy Rogers, who said that he never met a man he didn't learn something from. God has made it very apparent to me as I live life; these pithy little sayings are quite true. I mean, think about it. Every day some new piece of information enters our world even if it seems miniscule. Learning from every man holds true as well. When you meet someone who is so very irritating and seems to be in possession of the same amount of wit as a an 'ol jersey cow, how beneficial is it, instead of ridiculing them, to realize that you are actually learning from them? As a Christian, you really should be striving to hear God and perceive His glory in all things. If you are not a Christian, you are still glorifying Him in your unbelief. Life is far more stress free when we lean on God's understanding and ask Him what He is saying to us through each person we meet. Certainly, it is good to reflect on how longsuffering God is when it comes to dealing with our own self, and how often we are bovine in our stubborn sin nature in God's eyes.

Applications aside, I would like to bring to your attention something new I've learned. For the last three or four years God has wrought changes in me. They have been painful, exhilirating, and foundational. Through these changes He has been gracious to show me many things which I have never known; things about Him and how He works in this world, and in the lives of men that have transformed everything I have ever been taught about God. The very title of this blog reveals the cry of my heart as I have been embraced by sound, Biblical, pre-destinarian faith. Last Sunday was Reformation Day, celebrating liberty and freedom from the bondage of man-centered theology. During set-up before the service, my pastor alerted me to something special.

In our service we use graphic slides during preaching to provide the verse addresses, accomodate the points made, and give quotes from respected authors. As I set up and adjusted the over-head projector, pastor Matt showed me an additional last slide he had made. The picture was of the peircing white light of a sun just creeping around the edge of a black planet in deep dark space illuminating the phrase...

POST TENEBRAS LUX

                                                                                        
This is Latin for,

OUT OF DARKNESS, LIGHT

Wow. Now that would make a good blog title. More importantly, the battle cry of the Reformers should ring loud in your ear. It sure did in mine last Sunday as Matt explained it to me. This was their motto as they strove for reform in an apostate church and eventually seperated from evil for good. I had not yet heard it physically, but maybe my soul had heard it before. Who has not heard of the God who outshines all the rest? A look down through the corridors of accurate, historical record will show a blazing white light forging a trail through the bleakest, blackest of nights. In every time in history, as destruction seeks to consume the land, there is always a small point of light that is preserved and perseveres to victory. Hopelessness can be so pervading that it masquerades as the only reality, until hope breaks forth like the morning sunrise in victory to reveal that the high-mindedness of self-seeking men who have decreed hope a crutch for the weak, have in the end only been grasping at straws.

Job of the Bible learned that God is faithful. In one of the most gripping dramas of all time, a man who loved God was cursed. However, out of his darkness came light. He called damnation down on the day he was born, but he refused to damn God. Through unimaginable suffering, he experienced communion with God that few men have ever experienced before or since. God revealed Himself to Job in he midst of pure blackness. God was faithful to Job, because God is faithful to Himself. All things come from God. Evil is a corruption of a thing. God allowed certain things to happen so that He would be glorified as He shows what hope is and what it does.
No man can thwart the will of God.

Learning comes today in so many forms that we oftentimes miss what we could learn from the stranger in real time. God uses so many ways to speak to us. I am convinced there is a blight on our nation and a storm coming the likes of which we have never seen. I am hesitant to speak of the details in mixed company. My pastor gave me a peice of gold in the statement
"POST TENEBRAS LUX".
In learning this statement and it's meaning for the first time, I was starkly reminded of how God works! What a joy and a blessing to know that through the most dark, desperate, heinous of times our God chooses to shine the brightest! Like a trillion diamonds reflecting the white light of the sun, so it is that a few priviledged souls will reflect the glory of God in blinding contrast to the demonic wars assuaging them at all angles; and as so many of the deceived call for submission and blood, O, how precious is the sight of men and women called to proclaim the victorious standard by which all others are measured.

Look around you. What is happening to the world you once knew? What are you learning? Put down your post-modern philosophy, leave off your death grip on self-will, turn off the television, put down your shallow books on non-sensical issues that serve only to distract from the real war at hand.
O Christian, what are you learning?
You will love what you look at and look at what you love.
Hear the cry of men who stood against tyranny!
Hear the soul-rending sobs of painful victory!
POST TENEBRAS LUX!
POST TENEBRAS LUX!
POST TENEBRAS LUX! ........................

OUT OF DARKNESS, LIGHT