Sunday sermon: "Comfort in Trouble"

This past Sunday, we were unable to hold services due to a power outage caused by damage from the freak snowstorm that hit the Northeast. I'll continue the study in Romans next Sunday, but today I'm posting some thoughts I shared with our Wednesday night Bible study.

We often ask questions whenever we have to go through trials. We don't like suffering, and we don't understand why we must go through it. The Bible provides us with some insight into that topic, but we aren't always happy with the answers.

In 2 Corinthians 1 Paul deals with finding comfort in suffering. He doesn't go into a treatise on the purpose of trials, or what God accomplishes through our suffering. Instead, he deals with the question of comfort. Perhaps this is really what we seek in most cases; we just want to know that we have someone to turn to in the middle of everything.

The source of comfort is God Himself. The word used in this passage for "comfort" comes from the same root used in naming the Holy Spirit the "Comforter." No human source is adequate to provide comfort in trouble. If we want to comfort others, we need to rely on the strength that comes from God through Jesus.

Paul here doesn't promise us relief from suffering in this world. In fact, he does the opposite. We will experience suffering because we are followers of Jesus. If He was not spared suffering, why should we expect to be? I know some teachers proclaim that we can be free of all problems in this life if we have enough faith, but that doesn't match the teaching of the Bible. It certainly doesn't match what Paul teaches here.

The most fundamental point to remember is that God is in control. He is with us in our trials, and His divine comfort helps us to find our way through. Not only that, but it enables us to share comfort with others going through trials. We are to express the comfort of Jesus to others, so they may experience the comfort of God.

Whatever we experience in this life, we don't experience it alone. God is with us, bringing us comfort in the middle of our trials. As we learn and grow through them, we also become agents of His comfort to others. We may never know why we go through a trial, but we know God is in control, and with that knowledge we can face any storm.

Sunday sermon: "What the Law Teaches Us"

Are you a Christian? That question is answered "yes" by many, but when we dig down deeper we find that people mean different things by the term "Christian." Some use it to mean they were born into a family that was a member of a Christian church. Some mean they are religious, and not Jewish or Muslim or anything else, so they must be Christian. Some mean they are decent people who try to live according to what they consider to be what Jesus taught (although often when you probe deeper, you find they don't really know what Jesus actually taught!). And of course, others mean that they have placed their faith in Jesus as their Savior and Lord, and seek to follow His leading in their life.

Paul had to deal with a group of Jews in Rome who had placed their faith in their ability to keep God's Law. They felt they were superior to the Gentiles, and that they were indeed the wise teachers who were much more spiritual than others and could teach them how to be like them, and thus get closer to God. Their boastful attitude was designed to ensure their own status in the eyes of others, and to make a statement about their relationship with God.

Paul brings them down to earth in Romans 2:13-24. He notes that we are all responsible for what we know. The Gentiles, who did not know the Law, still had enough knowledge about God to be subject to judgment. As Paul pointed this out, no doubt the proud Jews were nodding in agreement. This wasn't about them, for they knew the Law.

Then Paul brings down the hammer. Knowing the Law isn't enough. In order to be justified under the Law, you had to keep it-all of it. Resting on your knowledge and background was not sufficient to be right with God. This not only critiques the Jews of Rome in Paul's day, but many who call themselves Christians in ours. Our churches are filled with people who think because they grew up in church, or know so much about religion, or keep more of God's commandments than others, they are in good standing with God. Yet the Bible tells us it's all or nothing; either we keep the whole Law, or we are guilty of breaking it.

This really is the first step in being restored to a relationship with God. We not only aren't right with Him, we can't be right with Him. We will see more about this further along in our study of Romans, but the good news is that it'snot up to us. Jesus did it all for us, and it is through faith in Him that we are freed from trying to impress God and others with our good works.

This passage ends with a frightening verse. Paul says that those who claim to keep the Law but break it cause the name of God to be blasphemed (2:24). Those outside of Christ and the church look at our failures and sins and use them as an excuse to say God's work and Jesus' sacrifice don't mean anything important. Trying to be "Christian" on our own only brings the name of Christ we carry into disrepute.

The Law teaches us that we are inadequate. The bad news is that we can't be right with God on our own. The good news is that we don't have to; Jesus made us right through His death on the cross. Through faith in Him we a set free from the Law, and set free from ourselves, and are free to let our good works shine to show what Jesus has done for us rather than as what we do to try to be right with God.

Sunday sermon: "Who's the Judge?"

It's a whole lot easier, and more fun, to judge other people than to be judged ourselves. If you watch one of the myriad of TV shows that involve competitors putting themselves through the wringer of performance for a panel of judges, it seems like the judges are having the better time. They can criticize, comment, joke, or insult, and there is no one to call them on the carpet. No matter what they say, the microscope is trained on the competitors, not the critics.

Some of the judges are well-qualified, but others are just there because they are celebrities. It quickly becomes obvious which judges know what they're talking about and which don't. The funniest ones are those who think they know what they're talking about, but demonstrate their ignorance on a regular basis. Still, it must gall someone who works so hard at trying to successfully complete a task when they are criticized by someone who doesn't understand what they are trying to accomplish.

In Romans 2 we find a group of h=judges who are enjoying their time criticizing others when they are not qualified to judge. These judges seek to make everyone else conform to a standard which they don't apply to themselves. What's more, their standard is inadequate. These are people who ought to know better, but who ignore the true standard for one of their own making.

We can fall into that trap ourselves. We hold up the standard of God's Word to the world, but don't follow it ourselves. We make our own rules the standard by which we live, and of course no one else can quite live up to them. By making our own standard, we can make sure that we can live up to it.

Paul tells the Romans that won't work. We aren't the standard; God is. We should know that we don't live up to God's standards, even if we refuse to look at His Word. The scope of creation and our own conscience are enough to tell us we aren't the people we ought to be. We fall short of the standard we see revealed, but instead of looking for a way to meet that standard we simply substitute a lesser one.

The result is that we find ourselves under a more serious judgment. Our Judge is fully qualified to pronounce an absolute and true judgment on us, and it isn't a pretty one. We deserve eternal condemnation. We deserve to be rejected by God and punished for our violation of His holy standard. Until we face up to that reality, we can't hope to be saved from God's wrath.

There is another way to meet that judgment, however. Jesus came and gave Himself as a sacrifice for us, taking on Himself the judgment that we rightly deserved. In His death, Jesus fully paid the price for our sin, and took the judgment of God on Himself. Through faith in Him and His work, we can be freed from the consequences of our judgment, since they have already been paid for by Jesus. We meet God's standard in Jesus.

Judgment is real, and we are subject to it. But God made a way through Jesus Christ to free us from that judgment. Is our faith in the right person? Are we seeking to meet God's standard, or one of our own? We can't look at others and think that we're all right; we have to look toward Jesus and realize we aren't, except in Him.

Sunday sermon: "The Truth About Humanity"

We often go to the Bible to find passages of great beauty and comfort. At the same time, we recognize that there are many ugly passages in Scripture. Romans 1:21-32 is one of those passages. Charles Spurgeon felt this way about this passage: "This first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans is a dreadful portion of the Word of  God. I should hardly like to read it all through aloud; it is not intended to be so used. Read it at home, and be startled at the awful vices of the Gentile world."* Preparing for this sermon was challenging, due to the necessity of thinking about what this passage says.

Here Paul gives us the picture of humanity on its own, fallen and apart from God. It is not a pretty picture. It flies in the face of all our world wants to believe about humanity. It is not politically correct. Yet it is the truth about us, and unless we are prepared to face that truth, we cannot understand why our world is the way it is.

In the world today, we are taught that people are really good at heart, and if we just fix whatever is wrong with our world (and many groups have conflicting ideas as to what that is!) we can have love, peace, and harmony. Unfortunately, that just doesn't natch reality. We don't have to teach our children to be selfish and sinful; we have to teach them to be selfless and good. The morning news shows us what people throughout the world are really like. Reality is that we are sinful, selfish, and as a result hopeless.

Following his discussion of general revelation, and his declaration that everyone is "without excuse," Paul shows us the result of the suppression of the truth about God. Since people do not want to acknowledge God, they set up something else in His place. In Paul's time, this could be an idol, or maybe Caesar or the "genius of Rome," or even Greek philosophy. Everyone has something that drives their life, and whatever that is stands in the place of God. Only God Himself belongs there.

Ultimately, rejecting God leads us to put ourselves in His place. We seek after whatever we feel will "fulfill" us. We look toward our own advancement. We engage in those activities that we find pleasurable, regardless of their consequences. We, the creature, take the place of the Creator.

As a result, God takes action. In one of the most frightening verses of Scripture, Paul writes, "And because they did not think it worthwhile to have God in their knowledge, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong." (Romans 1:28) In essence, God gives the rebellious sinner what he or she wants-control of their own life. The values and practices sought are those that satisfy a craving. 

In the end, justice will be served. From nature and conscience we learn of a powerful and wrathful God, but without Jesus we have no recourse. Paul will deal with this further along in Romans, but we can't close without hope. The judgment of God is a spur to us to acknowledge Him and to seek Him. Through Jesus Christ we can find salvation, and be made right with God. Only through Him can we avoid being the kind of people we see here in Romans 1. What is your future-serving yourself, or serving your Creator?

*Spurgeon quote from “Inexcusable Irreverence and Ingratitude,” May 22, 1892 (Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Vol. 38)

Sunday sermon: "No Excuses!"

There are few apologetic questions that are more perplexing than "What about those who never heard?" We wonder how God could condemn those who never had the opportunity to hear about Him, or understand their condition, or hear the message of the gospel. This strikes us as unfair, and has been used as an excuse by many to refuse to consider the claims of Christ.

Paul deals with that question in Romans 1:18-20. He addresses the issue of what we call in theology "general revelation," This is the way God reveals Himself outside of the Bible. There are two major ways God does this: conscience and nature.

In our conscience, we hear a voice, not our own, that tells us we don't always do the right thing. We may not have a full-fledged law code internalized, but we do know that we engage in wrong actions and thoughts. While many psychologists tell us we need to look out for #1, we know that we somehow we owe consideration to others. There also is a nagging sense that we have a responsibility to someone or something beyond that. Read attempts by self-proclaimed "atheists" to come up with an ethical framework that is based solely on human thought and you rather quickly find them smuggling in as "natural" ideas those that are conditioned by the religious background of our culture.

We also can know God through nature. The immensity of the universe, the precision of physical laws, the complexity of sub-atomic interactions- these all show us a design that boggles our mind, even as many attempt to avoid that conclusion. The odds of all this being a cosmic accident are so small that some modern evolutionary thinkers have proposed some sort of guiding "life force" which guided the process (in a totally impersonal and natural way, of course).

General revelation only goes so far, however. Paul says that it shows us the power and divinity of God. We can know He is there, He is in control, and we are responsible before Him. God gives us enough knowledge outside of His special revelation in Jesus and in His Word that we can know we are in trouble. Paul sums it up like this: "As a result, people are without excuse." (Rom. 1:20, HCSB)


General revelation gives us the bad news. At the same time, Paul also tells us here the deeper problem with humanity: we "suppress the truth" about God. Humanity's problem is not one of knowledge, but of will. We choose not to believe in God. We create ever more elaborate schemes to have the world as we want it without reference to a "higher power," much less the God of the Bible. Perhaps this is the answer to the question we posed at the beginning: People who have not heard about God don't want to hear about God. An active ignorance keeps us content with our sinful, selfish nature.


This is a hard message, and not one we like to share. But until people understand the "bad news" about themselves, they can't respond to the "good news" of Jesus Christ. For those who believe, this gives us the responsibility to take that good news out to those who may have a vague sense of God but who seek to avoid thinking about Him. We need to let them know that the bad news they see in themselves and in nature has an answer in the good news of the cross. 

Let's Try This Again

I confess to being a person who can fall into habits easily. I can also fall out of them. So after fighting some technical issues last summer, I gave up on this blog for a little while, then forgot all about it. I'm sure all of you were devastated that I wasn't posting regularly. :)

I plan to start posting again, but many elements of my life have changed since July. I no longer have the time to pursue my patristic studies, due to starting a new job that is quite time-consuming in its start-up phase. (It also will be time-consuming once I get the ball rolling, but not quite so much as it is now.) I am still serving as the transitional pastor at Central Hunterdon Baptist Church, and will be both preaching each Sunday and teaching an adult Sunday school class, so I've added prep time there. On top of all that, it's marching band season, and my social life until November will consist of football games and band competitions.

Since I am currently working through an OT and a NT book, I will be able to post on those studies. I can't promise more than a couple of posts a week, but I will try to keep a consistent flow of sharing my studies with you. The "Sunday sermon" will make a return as well.

Time constraints have prevented me from adding to the material on the Pastor Steve's Study wiki. I just found another pile of my old graduate study papers, so as I have my brief moments of free time I will try to post some more of them there. (I am developing another Wikispace now for school, but unless you are interested in musical activities and musical selections for use with special needs students it won't be of much interest.)

Thanks for stopping by the blog, and I hope to provide you with material of interest to keep you coming back!

Blog Apologies

I have been having issues with Blogspot this past week. Excuse me for the blank posts, and I am sorry I appear to have lost some posts. I will try to catch up over the weekend (assuming this post finally goes through!).

Sunday sermon: "When Opposition Arises"

Many teachers have become popular by proclaiming that God wants every Christian to have success in life, with good health, material prosperity, and no conflict. That kind of teaching appeals to our fallen human nature with its self-centeredness, but it isn't consistent with what the Bible teaches. Jesus never promised us a life without opposition; in fact, He promises exactly the opposite. So how do we handle the inevitable opposition we will face in this life?

Nehemiah and the Israelites faced opposition in their task of building the wall of Jerusalem. What began with the provision of God and the enthusiasm of the people was seen by their enemies as a cause for fury. We read about the escalating opposition in chapter 4. The enemies of the Jews began by mocking them and their work. They essentially said the Israelites were wasting their time, that their work would prove to be worthless. Nehemiah handled this opposition by praying that the Lord would hear and deal with the insults, then the people simply ignored what their enemies said and kept on working.

This led their opponents to a stronger response. They met together and plotted to disrupt the work. This was more serious, and led to Nehemiah posting guards to watch for signs of trouble. The people would not be stopped from focusing on the work God had given them.

Israel's enemies then stepped up their opposition once again. Word came back to Nehemiah that the Jews would be under attack from their enemies. Their lives were in danger. This was a real threat, and required a serious response. So Nehemiah and the leaders of Israel took measures to watch for danger, planned for the protection of the people, and then kept right on working. While the need to guard against threats may have slowed the work somewhat, the response of the leaders and the people was to work even harder to finish the walls.

In our lives today we will face opposition. It may be simple mockery, belittling our faith and wondering how we could imagine such a thing to be true in our modern times. It may be distraction, seeking to divert our attention from what is important to what those around us consider important, in the process shuffling our faith off to one side. It may be actual threats against us, not necessarily against our lives but against our careers, our families, or our relationships. The world is not aligned with Jesus, and those who follow the ways of the world will seek to detach us from our connection with Him.

How do we handle this? The same way Nehemiah and the Israelites did. We first pray, seeking God's guidance and protection. Then we guard ourselves against whatever might challenge us, preparing to face the challenges in the strength of the God who has the power to guide us through our trials. Finally, we keep doing what He has called us to do, even as we prepare ourselves for whatever may come against us.

Jesus told us we would have tribulation in this world, but that He has overcome the world. (John 16:33) We do not have a Savior who is free from suffering Himself, but one who has suffered and died on our behalf. We can trust Him not only because of His power, but because He understands the tribulations of human life. As we rely on Him, we can stand against our opposition, and remain faithful even in times of trouble.

The Laughing Jesus

Before I begin, let me say that I do believe Jesus has a sense of humor, and that He no doubt enjoyed Himself on many occasions while here on earth. He was the one who made the "best wine" for a wedding party, after all. So the idea of Jesus laughing is not one I am uncomfortable with.

As I read the Gospel of Judas, I was struck by how often the author of that treatise describes Jesus as laughing. Usually when Jesus laughs, He is laughing at the misconception of the disciples or of Judas, and His laughter seems to be somewhat derisive. It also struck me that a number of those events have Jesus laughing at the concepts held by the orthodox church of that time.

Now, the author of Judas doesn't always appear to have a firm grasp on the orthodox faith of the second century. There seems to be some bouncing around between Christian and Jewish thought, and a few of the times it's hard to say just what the author has Jesus laughing at. This is sometimes due to gaps in the manuscript of the text, and the reconstructions needed to try to fill in as many blanks as possible. Still, there seems to be a gap between what this author considers orthodoxy to teach and what we see in other authors of the second century.

No doubt at least some of this is also due to the unsettled nature of orthodox theology in the second century. While we look back and piece together the commonalities of the writers we have to try to understand what the early church believed, some of the formulations of later times have not yet been worked out. The church, under periodic persecution and with no central organizational structure, was more concerned with survival and evangelism than with producing anything approaching what we might today call a systematic theology.

This fluidity has been used by some to posit that there were multiple Christianities, and that what we today call "orthodoxy" just happened to be the winning form. The authors who contribute essays to the volume I have been reading fall into that camp to a greater or lesser degree. They believe that the Gospel of Judas is a major discovery that shows us what an alternative Christianity looked like.

My take on the presentation of Judas is exactly the opposite. The use of a chronological framework that appears to work around the Passion week accounts of the canonical gospels and the very fact that the author tries to make orthodox thought the foil to the more "exalted" Gnosticism he presents tell me that there was on at least some level an "orthodoxy" that stood opposed to the ideas presented in this treatise. There apparently were some core beliefs that were widespread enough that they touched the locale in which this author wrote.

I don't have the time at present to do so, but it might make for an interesting study (no doubt already done somewhere if I could find it) to try to work out the theology to which the Gospel of Judas is a Gnostic reaction. It certainly appears to me that it is something along the lines of the orthodox, catholic faith we see in the writers of the second century, which was more fully developed in the writings of Irenaeus at the end of that century. It certainly would not be a theology at which Jesus would laugh; I suspect His mirth might be more aptly expressed at those scholars who two millennia later would find a fragmentary Gnostic gospel more exciting than the gospel accounts of Jesus' life.

Sunday sermon: "When God Calls, God Provides"

Often when we seek the Lord's direction for our ministry or service, we seem to hit a wall. Perhaps God isn't answering our prayers the way we expect, or maybe an opportunity hasn't arisen to move ahead. IF you are like me, you may become impatient and plead for God to just get moving. Frustration may set in, and we wonder if we've misunderstood what we are supposed to do.

Yet God is never silent without reason. We see in Nehemiah 2 that Nehemiah did not have an opportunity to speak to the king about his desire to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem for almost four months. I'm sure he kept praying, but to a man as active and gifted as Nehemiah that four months may have felt like an eternity.

Nehemiah understood, though, that God works in His own time. The Lord did not decide that Jerusalem should remain in ruins, or change His mind about Nehemiah leading the project. It simply wasn't yet the time for the work to begin. We are not given a reason in the Bible why this was so. All we know is that Nehemiah exercised patience until the Lord opened the door for him.

When his opportunity came, Nehemiah did not hesitate. He prayed (his natural first response), then made his request to the king. It was carefully worded to avoid alarming the king, but it was also bold, asking for exactly what Nehemiah needed. When every element was in place, God gave him the opening to make his request.

The king responded favorably. Nehemiah was a trusted servant, so the king wanted to know how long he would be gone. He also agreed to provide the timbers needed for the work. In addition, Artaxerxes provided an armed guard for his cupbearer, something for which Nehemiah had not asked. The situation turned out to be as favorable as Nehemiah could expect.

As we seek our place of service, and seek the Lord's guidance for our ministry, we need to exhibit the same confidence and patience Nehemiah had. At the same time, we must be ready to move forward when the time is right and God opens the doors for us. When we trust the Lord and are willing to serve Him, He will provide what we need to successfully minister for Him.

Curiously Uncritical

I have been reading the Gospel of Judas, with several supporting essays, from the National Geographic publication of 2006. I recall the hype that surrounded the publication of this work, and the claims that this was the most significant archaeological find of the past half-century. I confess that I am seldom swayed by popular clamor over Biblically-related discoveries, whether the promotion comes from liberal or conservative circles. I find it's best to allow some time for careful, scholarly assessment and critique.

What I found most intriguing in this book was not the text of the Gospel of Judas, which perhaps deserves further study but appears to be a more or less typical Gnostic treatise. It was comments in the essays that piqued my interest. In particular, the essays by Marvin Meyer and Bart Ehrman expressed opinions and ideas that demonstrated a marked contrast in the way they handled ancient material.

When writing about the books of the New Testament, these essays follow the general lines of mainline Protestant scholarship. The dates given for the NT documents are relatively late, and Ehrman in particular states that some of these books were not written by the authors claimed for them. They adopt the critical view of the NT that is accepted among their peers, while allowing no attention to conservative scholarship.

Yet when their attention is turned to Gospel of Judas, their critical stance mysteriously disappears. A date in the early-to-mid-second century is accepted to match the conclusion that this is the Gospel of Judas mentioned by Irenaeus, even though the match is far from exact. The possibility of textual emendations or alterations is almost summarily dismissed as unlikely. The portrait of Judas, while not claimed as historical, is accepted a giving insight into the place of Judas in Jesus' inner circle, while the accounts in Matthew and Acts are subtly questioned.

This leads to a question that I think is seldom if ever asked about "critical scholarship": why are scholars more skeptical of the canonical writings than of non-canonical writings? While I can't speak with certainty, I believe that this attitude is the result of a fundamentalism of liberalism that is every bit as real as the fundamentalism of conservatism. There are simply some beliefs that are accepted and no longer questioned, with contrary arguments ignored or dismissed,

This may seem harsh, and certainly puts me outside the so-called "mainstream" of Biblical scholarship. Yet we must take it into account when examining Biblical and historical discussions. Too often evangelical scholars are belittled due to their positions on Biblical authority, while liberal scholars are portrayed as open to whatever the evidence says. This is not an accurate assessment of either side; both have their fundamental beliefs that are accepted based on each scholar's own studies, and both need to be examined in light of all evidence. (I know that their are those on both sides who simply accept what they are taught and hold it without much examination, but I am more concerned with the realm if scholarly debate.)

So it is important to understand that our assumptions and presuppositions can color our views no matter where we fall on the theological spectrum. While it is comfortable to simply accept a few favored authors, a broader perspective will help us avoid letting what we believe to be colored too strongly by what we want to be true without examining it.

Sunday sermon: "Taking Responsibility"

The Bible teaches us that all Christians are gifted by the Holy Spirit and called to serve the Lord. If this is true, why does it seem so many churches are not effective in their ministry? I believe that many Christians (and many churches) miss an important step in ministry: taking responsibility for using their gift for Christ's glory.

Our American culture does not seem to place much value on responsibility. We seek to deflect responsibility for our actions; witness the vast amounts of money spent on psychiatrists and psychologists, and the overwhelming number of lawsuits filed in this country. Each of these certainly has value in the right circumstances, but too often they are used to blame someone else for what has happened to us.

Nehemiah certainly faced the challenge of getting the people of Israel to take responsibility for rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. He had his own plan, developed in Susa from the report he was given, but he knew more effort would be needed to carry out the task than he alone could give. In Nehemiah 2:10-20 we see the steps he took to bring the people together to carry out this  mission.

He began by assessing the situation. Although he had heard the reports brought to him, Nehemiah wanted to see for himself the extent of the project. He quickly discovered there would be opposition, so even this step was done secretly. He inspected the walls, discovering that the damage was severe. With the information he gathered, he prepared to begin the job.

Calling the leaders and people together, Nehemiah presented the situation to them. His words are hard: "You see the trouble we are in." He later describes the situation as a "disgrace." The Israelites faced danger with their protective walls in ruins. Not only that, but by allowing this to continue they brought disgrace on themselves and on God. Nehemiah encouraged the people to take on this task by telling them what God had done for him and how the king had given his approval.

While churches in our culture are no generally at risk of destruction of their property (although that risk is real in many parts of the world, and is not entirely absent here), I think the the greater risk we have as God's people is that of disgracing the name of Jesus. When we refuse to use our gifts to honor the Lord, the world around us can look at us and say, "Their God must not matter much if they don't think it's worth their effort to serve Him." When we take up our responsibility, we cannot guarantee that the world will like or appreciate it, but we can be sure they will take notice.

The Israelites responded enthusiastically to Nehemiah's call to rebuild. Immediately their enemies sought to discourage them, but Nehemiah reminded everyone involved of one additional factor: God was in charge of this project. While Nehemiah had been called to lead and the people called to labor on this building project, it was ultimately God who would give them success. Nehemiah had faith that the Lord would see to it that they succeeded in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and bringing honor to his name.

As we work for the Lord, seeking to build up the church and expand the kingdom of Jesus Christ, we need to remember that it is God who is in charge. We are called to use the gifts He has given us to do the work of His kingdom, but our success is in His hands. As we serve the Lord faithfully, and take on the responsibility He has entrusted to us, I believe we will see the results that God wants for us, and that will be the success that we show the world to honor Jesus Christ.

A Rough Week

I apologize for the lack of posting this week. My family has had a difficult time this week, and I have not had time to post here. I have a couple of posts in me- I realize I haven't posted last Sunday's sermon, and I have been reading the Gospel of Judas with some supporting essays which deserve comment- so expect my activity to pick up this week. I also hope to have a wikispace update this week, as I took a little time to catch up on a couple of articles to post there.

How Much Truth Is Enough?

In my rather unsystematic excursion through the second century, I came across the life and works of Bardesanes, the Syriac poet and author from Edessa. Although we have little of his work extant, what we know about his life and his writings certainly makes him an intriguing figure. Depending on whom you consult, the various influences of astrology, Christianity, and Valentinian Gnosticism land Bardesanes a place among the faithful, the fallen, the heretical, or the badly confused.

This leads to a question with which Christians of all stripes have to wrestle, and which does not lend itself to an easy answer: How much truth is needed to lead to an authentic faith? I am not one to teach that the content of faith doesn't matter, just the sincerity of the seeker. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," and it is not for us to say otherwise. So the question becomes, "What does it mean to have faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord?"

Maybe another way to put it is, Is Bardesanes [or your favorite questionable figure] a believer?" Christianity took some unusual forms in the second century, and it takes some unusual forms today. Which of these forms retain enough of the truth to ensure the salvation of their adherents?

We often put this question into a denominational form: Are Baptists/ Catholics/ Lutherans/ Episcopalians/ Orthodox/ Pentecostals/ whomever truly saved? The answers range from the fanatical assertions that the only true church is "us" to the extremely broad "God loves everyone." As a student of church history and a friend of Christians whom I believe are born again even though they belong to a denomination other than mine, I want to answer this carefully.

In the end, only God knows for certain who are His. I believe that we need to walk a fine line between recognizing that He may work in many different ways and through many different groups to draw people to Jesus and remaining faithful to Jesus' own teaching that He is the only way. I believe that those whose faith is in Jesus (not the church, a denomination, a particular teacher, or a vague notion of God) are bound for heaven, even if we are not exactly correct in every point of doctrine. This doesn't excuse us from studying and seeking to refine our beliefs to conform to the Bible, but it does provide some needed humility.

So was Bardesanes a Christian? Will we see him in heaven? My opinion (and it is just that) is that yes, he was a genuine believer who tried to fit what he knew to his faith, sometimes stumbling. (As opposed to someone like Valentinus, who I believe was not a Christian despite the Ehrman/Pagels arguments, but whose belief used Christian terminology to cloak something entirely different.) I'll find out someday, when I get to heaven and join all who truly trusted Jesus around His throne.  

The Purpose of the Church

I was listening to a lecture on "What Does a Theological Church Look Like?" by Carl Trueman of Westminster Theological Seminary as I drove to church the other day. In this lecture, Trueman made an thought-provoking analysis of the purpose of the church; he said that in a very basic sense, the job of the church was "to prepare people to die."

Having recently finished a series on the functions of the church, I found his comment intriguing. Certainly we cannot understand it without having a grasp on the whole Biblical teaching on the church. Yet the statement is true on a very fundamental level. This life, no mater how wonderful or terrible it may be, is only a blip on the screen of our life. The Bible teaches us that human beings are destined for eternity. That can either be an absolutely wonderful prospect, or an absolutely terrifying one.

When I read that comment in light of what I just taught my congregation about the church, I see how each of the functions of the church really do prepare people to die. Evangelism is about proclaiming the good news that  death is not the end, and that eternal life is found in Jesus. Worship is aligning ourselves in a right relationship with God, and prepares us to spend eternity in His presence. Fellowship reminds us that our eternal life will be spent with others who share our relationship with Jesus. Discipleship is growing into the people we were created to be, the ones who will be perfected when we stand before our Lord. Ministry begins a life a service that will continue when we reach heaven. The ministry of the church in this life prepares us for the life we will live in eternity.

Trueman's statement also speaks to the preoccupation many churches have with the here and now. They focus on the current plight of people not as a part of reaching them with the love of Jesus, but as the entire purpose of their ministry. Some churches see hell as the troubles and inequalities of life, and heaven as having God meet our needs here and now. They lack, or at least seem to lack, any sense of what lies beyond this life. In a few cases this may be because, despite retaining a Christian name and language, they no longer believe there is anything beyond. In most cases, though, I think it is that meeting current needs is more easily seen as "doing something" for the kingdom of God.

We can engage in many kinds of ministries that may look exactly the same as those of churches focused on the now, but do it with our eyes on eternity. Jesus said, "What is a man benefited if he gains the whole world, yet loses or forfeits himself? " (Luke 9:25, HCSB) We need to make sure that we do not seek to meet people's temporal needs at the expense of their souls. As a church, our mission is to "make disciples," and our goal is to help people find their way into eternity.


How much different would our lives be if we lived them with our goal in mind? To think about eternity and where we will spend it is not morbid; it is to realize that this life is just the prelude to the life we are destined to live as God's children. We should live and serve in such a way that we call others to prepare themselves for their own eternity.

Sunday sermon: "The First Response"

In Nehemiah 1:11, Nehemiah almost casually mentions that he was the "cupbearer to the king." Often our picture of a cupbearer is one of a lowly servant, forced into a job that could cost him his life, probably someone who was expendable to the court. A Persian cupbearer was anything but that. Nehemiah had to be an accomplished, talented, and highly trusted man to be made the cupbearer. In addition to literally having the king's life in his hands, he would also have been an advisor, part of the king's council. From a human standpoint, Nehemiah was everything our society admires: powerful, skilled, well-placed, and (as the rest of the book implies) wealthy.

Yet when faced with the shocking news from Judah that the walls were fallen and in disrepair, Nehemiah's first response was not to see what he could do about it. The news, which probably reflected a relatively recent event, struck Nehemiah deeply. He broke down and mourned for at least three months. During that time, he took what he felt was the most important step he could: he went to God in prayer.

This is the opposite of what we often do when faced with a problem. We do everything we can do, use all of our talent and skill, then, if we can't solve it, turn to prayer. Nehemiah realized that anything he could do would be meaningless if it was not first of all God's will.

Nehemiah's prayer is instructive in another way. As he faces a serious problem, we expect that his first cry would be for help from the Lord. Instead, he begins by exalting God. This is a significant emphasis; if Nehemiah is going to ask the Lord for His help, he recognizes that he needs to be asking a God who is capable of helping, one more powerful than Nehemiah, King Artaxerxes, or the opposition back in Palestine. God is greater than all, "awe-inspiring," and thus a worthy God to be petitioned.

Even then, Nehemiah doesn't jump right into his request. He laments and confesses the sin of himself and his people before God. Again this is a recognition of who God is by Nehemiah that leads toward his request. The reason that Judah is in crisis is their own sin. Nehemiah, though living in Persia and not of the generation that went into exile, includes himself in this confession of failure to keep God's covenant. He understands who he is in light of the greatness of God, and will not request God's help until he is sure that his relationship with the Lord is unhindered.

Finally Nehemiah prays for favor from God. Even now he does not ask for a great miracle to be done, but for favor in the eyes of the king. Nehemiah reaches the place where he can, after months of prayer, offer himself as part of the solution to the problem, under God's providential care. 

As we face the challenges and problems of our lives, what is our first response? If we have not yet learned that it is prayer, then we need to learn from what Nehemiah teaches us. I confess to often failing in this regard, and I know that I need to glorify God, confess my sin, build my relationship with Jesus, and then seek the Lord's will and His power to overcome the issues of life. If we all learn to do this, how much more can we accomplish for the kingdom of God by the grace of God?

The Old, the New, and Online Study

There is often a real paradox in the use of commentaries in Bible study. As a theological student, I was trained (whether consciously or unconsciously by my teachers) to seek out and use the very latest commentaries on whichever book of the Bible I was currently studying or teaching. Those works would have the latest information on language, archaeology, and the state of scholarship, and would also distill the best of earlier studies. So I diligently spent my scarce student dollars only on recent commentaries.

As I have continued to study, I found many of newest works lacking in one area. While they did indeed bring me up-to-date on historical and linguistic developments, they often were seriously deficient in theological reflection. Many respected commentary series (including those which I use) spend the bulk of their space on issues of textual reconstruction; their focus is determining how the text we have was composed. This can be an interesting study, but often simply is speculation that doesn't really add much to understanding what God is saying to us through His Word.

After my father retired, he gave me his pastoral library. I became acquainted with some of the older commentators. Not all of them were what would be called scholarly, but many of them contained keen insights I found missing in the more current writers. (There were also some pretty wild stretches, but that's why we study and sift.) I later subscribed to the release of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, which made it easier to find what the church fathers said on passages I was studying.

When studying online, this issue can be magnified. A lot of online resources are older works which are in public domain, and if you believe only the latest works are of value you'll avoid online study resources. However, many of these older resources are valuable in their own right. There are, of course, the classic materials like the works of the church fathers or Calvin's commentaries, which are still recognized for their value. Many other older sources are available online, and I would encourage anyone to examine these to see if they are useful for your study.

It takes some careful analysis, but as scholars, even erstwhile ones, we shouldn't be afraid of a little work. I go to several online sites and look at a wide variety of sources, and can often find useful insights into Scripture. (I have links here on my blog page, and a few more over on the wikispace version.) I've created a very useful online Bible study suite that enables me to do quite a bit of my teaching and sermon prep on my netbook, all using free sites. I supplement that study with current material from my library (which I only wish was free!), which gives me a very well-rounded study experience.

The Internet makes it possible for even those under budget constraints to engage in serious Bible study with quality materials. With multiple translations, commentaries, and other study aids available for free, you can take advantage of the wisdom of generations of Christian teachers to enhance your own learning and to pass on to those whom you teach.

On My Use of Bible Translations

One question that I am sometimes asked is, “Which Bible translation do you prefer?” Those who hear me preach or teach, or who read the variety of materials I post online, see that I use multiple translations. So which ones do I use the most, and which do I prefer?

In my sermon summaries I use the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB), since this is the version I use when I preach at my church. This follows a long-standing practice of mine, which is to preach from the Bible translation that used by the church as the pew Bible. I do that so that if a visitor comes in, especially someone who may be unchurched, they will read the same thing I read from the pulpit. The HCSB is a decent translation, and is becoming widely used in Southern Baptist circles.

My preferred translation is the New International Version (NIV). I use the 1984 revision. There is a new revision (2011), but I haven’t really had a chance to evaluate it yet. I have found that some passages are significantly different from the 1984 version, and since I have memorized many passages in the NIV from the 1984 version I’ll stick with that for a while.

For study and sermon preparation, I compare five English translations, as well as looking at the original languages to the extent of my ability. I start with the HCSB and NIV, then add the New American Standard Bible (NASB), which is somewhat more literal; the World English Bible (WEB), which is based on the very literal American Standard Version (ASV) of 1901; and the New English Translation or NETBible, which provides extensive translation notes. Used together, these translations provide a very good cross-section that really gets at the meaning of the text.

Why not the KJV? I grew up with the KJV, and the beauty and formality of the language makes for wonderful reading. However, the English language has changed so much in four centuries that the language of the KJV is difficult for modern readers to understand. There are some good modern updates of the KJV, but I prefer translations built off an eclectic text, since in my studies I have concluded that these texts give us the best opportunity to recover the original text of the authors.

So you can expect to see several translations in the materials I write. Using multiple translations helps me understand Scripture better, and I highly recommend the practice to everyone who wants to seriously study the Bible in English.

Sunday sermon: The Serving Church"

The final installment in the series on the church deals with the church engaging in gift-based ministry to carry out the Great Commission. The summary can be found at http://pastorsteve.wikispaces.com/file/view/The+Serving+Church.pdf.

A Measure of Faith

No, despite my title I'm not trying to find a way to quantify how much faith I have or to work out an equation for who has more or less faith than I do. I'm referring to Romans 12:3, where Paul speaks about God giving us a "measure of faith." This is a curious phrase, and some have taken it to mean something like what I implied above, while others, looking at the context of spiritual gifts, see it as the way God gives "better" gifts to some than others.

I always try to make sense of Scripture by looking at the context. (Ask my Sunday school classes; they'll tell you my first three rules of hermeneutics are (1) look at the context, (2) look at the context, and (3) look at the context.) Verse 3 reads: "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." (NIV 1984- which, as an aside, amuses me to write after reading so many posts and articles that refer to KJV 1611.) Paul is speaking here not of the salvation experience or of any sort of comparison, but of our attitude.


The problem addressed in this verse is one of pride. Paul reminds the Roman church that everything they have, and every gift they exercise, is something God has given them. They should therefore not think that it is their inherent quality that allows them to exercise a particular gift, but the Holy Spirit. The "sober judgment" we are to have of ourselves is due to the fact that we have received grace from the Lord, and that "measure of faith" is not due to our own effort, will, or desire but to God's will and calling.


The Greek word for "measure" here is metron, which underlies our English word "meter." A meter is a standard measurement, and metron can have that meaning. Here, however, it more likely has the idea of "a determined portion," a measure of a quantity given out. The gifts God gives to us are a "portion" given to us. It goes against our culture to think this way, but we have nothing to do with what gifts we are given by God.


So what difference do we make? That is in the verses that follow, where Paul tells us to use the gifts we are given. He mentions a few specific gifts, each time urging those with those gifts to use them well. Where we make a difference is not in the acquisition of our gifts, but in their use. We have a calling from the Lord, and He sees to it that we have whatever gift is needed to carry that out. Our responsibility is to honor Him by using our gifts for His glory.


Don't think too much of yourself, then. Notice Paul doesn't say to think badly of yourself, or to put yourself down, but to think "soberly." That means having an accurate assessment of who you are and what you do for Jesus. Basically it means seeing yourself as God sees you. That will prevent us from getting puffed up about our importance, but it also will keep us from thinking we are worthless.


All Christians are gifted, and we all have a place of service to which we have been called. We need to make sure we are fulfilling our roles in expanding Christ's kingdom, and as keeping ourselves humble as we do.

Fighting Error With Truth

I've probably never used a title for a paper or post that is more likely to make readers go, "Well, duh!" In light of some comments I've seen relating to some current issues, however, I think it is an important reminder. When combating error, we need to begin from a base of knowing and understanding truth, rather than trying to pick apart little snippets of falsehood and fighting them like a series of brushfires.

I worked for a while in a retail store cash office. As a result of my job, I got to handle a lot of cash. (Sadly, very little of it was my own.) I couldn't even guess how many paper bills I handled during my time there. Only once did I encounter a counterfeit bill. (And trust me, if we were passing along counterfeits, our bank would have let us know!) How did I know it was counterfeit? Because I handled a lot of genuine currency. This bill didn't feel right as I counted, and upon inspection it didn't look right either. It wasn't an obvious fake, but I knew it was counterfeit because I knew what the real thing was like. (And yes, our bank did confirm it was a counterfeit bill when we sent it to them with a note explaining our suspicions.)

There is a lot of falsehood in our world today, and even a lot of falsehood in the church. How can we as pastors and teachers prepare people to deal with the false teaching they will encounter? We need to ground them in the truth of God's Word, and train them in how to study the Bible. Armed with truth, we can battle falsehood without having to study in minute detail every possible error we will encounter.

I have been listening to some excellent lectures on the early church fathers from the Theology Network web site. (I would recommend this site for the serious student of theology and church history; I'll add a link to my "favorites" box.) In his lecture on Irenaeus, Mike Reeves points out that Irenaeus' magnum opus, Against Heresies, is often seen as an attack on all heresies. It deals primarily with an attack against Gnosticism, especially Valentinianism, but in his work Irenaeus spends time dealing with orthodox teaching, and in attacking the Gnostics he also deals with the roots of many other heresies.

This reminds us of two points. First, while there are indeed many kinds of error, falsehood tends to fall into a few repeated areas. In a slightly different context, Josh McDowell has said that when answering objections to Christianity, knowing the answer to about twenty standard questions takes care of over 90% of what he is asked. Dealing with error generally involves dealing with world view questions, and those questions at their base fall into just a few categories.

The second point is that it is truth that wins the day. If you can successfully convince a person that what they believe is wrong and they should change their mind,  yet give them nothing to change to, what have you accomplished? We need to do more than point out what is wrong; we have to hold out the truth for people to believe. Our primary mission as Christians is to present the truth, the good news of Jesus Christ, to our world.

So arm yourself with truth. If you have the time and inclination, by all means acquaint yourself with the errors you are likely to encounter. We need informed teachers to tell us what we will face. But as your primary weapon in this battle, arm yourself with God's truth.

Family Radio: Enough Is Enough!

This is a post that brings me no joy to write. Just as God takes no joy in the death of the wicked, I don't believe He takes joy in the fall of the unrepentant either. I grieve for the proud, erroneous, and now pretty much incoherent path that Harold Camping has followed away from Biblical truth and into his own mix of numerology, allegory, and theological error that led him to look at a blatantly false teaching he made and stand up before reporters with a straight face and tell them he had been mostly right.

What angered me more, however, was the absolute callousness and cruelty he demonstrated toward those followers of his who gave up everything to spread his message. When asked if he felt any responsibility, Camping basically said (after several minutes of hemming and hawing) that it was their choice, they should ask God for help, and sometimes being destitute and desperate leads to a closer walk with God. Funny that he himself didn't sell all his possessions, liquidate Family Stations, or even acknowledge that he would do so as a possibility for his new date, October 21.

As I posted before, I used to listen to Family Radio many years ago, and was blessed by its ministry. I listened again tonight, to see if Camping would indeed repent. I will not listen again. (OK, maybe on October 22nd; he has to be out of excuses by then, right??). I am also going on record tonight as advising anyone I know to avoid Family Radio, unless and until the board and the stations repudiate Harold Camping's false teachings and return to Biblically sound, orthodox teaching.

It will, of course, be hard to monitor this while not listening, but I get to enough Christian outlets that somewhere I should see if this happens. (I have heard rumors that WFME, Newark may be ready to move away from Campingism, but I'll believe it when I see it.)

Watching an old friend waste away and drift into oblivion is not easy. I could simply turn away myself and just never talk about FR again. However, I think the hubris, arrogance, and meanness shown by Harold Camping tonight require me to openly state what I believe about this fiasco, and to also state that I will not support FR even by listening to it. I pray the Lord will open the eyes of all involved with FR and bring them back to Jesus and the Word.

Sunday sermon: "The Growing Church"

Today's sermon dealt with the church's function of discipleship. We were reminded that we all need to work to build up each other and our church, and that our standard is always Jesus. The summary is at http://pastorsteve.wikispaces.com/file/view/The+Growing+Church.pdf.

See You Tomorrow!

As I type this tonight, we are just about four hours from the beginning of the Day of Judgment according to Harold Camping. I have to admit, after years of studiously avoiding Family Radio, I have been drawn to the last few days of broadcasting. I guess there's a morbid curiosity at work.

I used to listen to Family Radio (WKDN, Camden, NJ) when I was in college. At that time, there was a nice spectrum of conservative Christian programming on FR, and Camping hadn't yet gone off the deep end. While the music wasn't always the style I preferred, the solid Bible teaching was.

Over the years, with Camping in financial control of Family Stations, more and more of the orthodox evangelical broadcasters left the station, and of course all churches left after Camping declared them apostate. What I have heard over the last two days is the shell of a once-great influence for Christ, now reduced to the pathetic echo of a heretical teacher.

This will make a great lead-in for my sermon this Sunday (assuming, of course, that Sunday comes). When we cut ourselves off from the stream of orthodox Bible teaching and set ourselves up as the sole arbiter of what the Bible means, we can go far off the trail, as Camping has done. That's why the Lord gave the church people who are gifted in teaching us about the Word, our faith, and the way we should live. We cannot reach full maturity without depending on each other and on the wisdom of past generations to keep us on the path of light.

I recognize that we don't all agree on everything about theology and Christian living. We need to understand, however, that together, as each person and each group goes to the Bible for the truth, we can work toward a common understanding of many things. Our goal, of course, is the full unity in Christ that will one day be ours when we get to heaven. Until then, we need to sharpen and challenge our brothers and sisters in Christ to seek after and live the truth.

In the meantime, let's pray for those who will be disillusioned by the failure of the false prophecy of Harold Camping, and may be tempted to give up on God and the Bible altogether. Let's pray for those who would use the heretical predictions of an eccentric teacher to discredit the Bible. Let's pray that Camping himself would recognize his error and repent and turn back to Biblical truth. And let's pray that we will be diligent in our own study so that we re not led astray by those who take a little truth and mix in a lot of falsehood, bizarre interpretations, and ego to seduce us away from the Bible's teachings.

What Jesus Demands From the World

Some of you may recognize the title of this post as that of an excellent book by John Piper. Have you ever read a book where it seems that you can't get through more than a chapter before you have to stop and really think about what the author is saying? That's what I'm finding with this book. What makes that all the more amazing is that the chapters are intentionally short.

What makes me stop is how each of these chapters, pointing out a demand of Jesus, not only makes a claim on my life, but is potentially life-altering. And I'm only on chapter 9! Piper says that the later chapters will be the more detailed demands, but I'm finding plenty in these supposedly more general chapters to keep me occupied.

It's not that these verses are unfamiliar. I appreciate Piper's emphasis on presenting the words of Jesus as they appear in the Gospels, rather than picking away at the supposed process underlying the text (which often becomes the preoccupation of those dealing with the Gospels, to the detriment of the actual passage). That means a lot of what he discusses is based on very familiar ground, if you have studied the Bible for even a short length of time. 

Maybe that all comes back to one of the foundational teachings of the Reformation: the perspicuity of Scripture, which is an obscure way of saying the clarity of the teaching of the Bible. There are many deep and difficult passages in the Bible, and a lot of material that requires knowing something of the cultural, historical, and religious background of the times. But a large portion of the Bible is plain and can be understood by anyone (with the help of the Holy Spirit, of course).

Many of the hardest teachings for us to follow are those easy to understand. Mark Twain is quoted as saying, "It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts I do understand." While there is some doubt he actually said it, it makes sense. The central message of the Bible, that we are sinners who can't save ourselves and need to have faith in the person and work of Jesus to become right with God, is clearly stated many times, and is a huge stumbling block to many. For Christians, it isn't the obscure teachings of Scripture that trip us up nearly as often as the clear commands of the Bible. Easy to understand doesn't mean easy to do.

I expect that as I continue to make my way through this book (slowly, and with some thought) I will find more than enough challenges in what is familiar to keep me on my knees and working to become more like Christ. The familiar can become new when you look at it with a fresh perspective, and John Piper is helping me do that with these verses.

Sunday sermon: "The Calling Church"

This week's sermon speaks about our call to be ambassadors for Christ, calling others into a restored relationship with God through the function of evangelism.  The summary can be found at http://pastorsteve.wikispaces.com/file/view/The+Calling+Church.pdf. If you were present at church last Sunday, you will find some additional material in this summary.

Looking Back on Half a Century...

I'm not particularly either bragging or embarrassed by my age; I just want to put up that title because it sounds cool. Any time we reach a milestone in our life we can look back over all the events and people that got us there. Still, the main reason we make milestone birthdays is that God has graciously allowed us to keep on living.

When I compare the 50 years I have lived with the grand sweep of redemption history, though, I realize how young I still am. Thousands of years have passed since Adam and Eve were sent away from the garden, and the story continued through Abraham, David, Jesus, and Paul, among others. Even just accounting for the writing of the Bible, we have over 1500 years to account for. The story from the fall of man, through all the steps of God's plan, and on to the prophecy John received of the end, is an overwhelming revelation of the grace of God.

Yet the story continued after the Bible was completed. Through Irenaeus, Athanasius, Augustine, Gregory, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Warfield, and to our present day, through generations of men and women, and a much longer list of leaders, teachers, and scholars than I have written here, the people of God continue to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and look forward to His return.

I think this may be why I find church history so compelling. Studying the way God has worked over the past 2000 years tells me the story in which I now play a part. I may be a pastor of a particular church at a particular time, serving the Lord in my small corner of the world, but I am a member of a church that is grand and glorious, and which has an amazing future in store.

So I can say, looking back on half a century in the church (yes, I was born on a Monday and in church the next Sunday) I have seen God at work. I have seen joy and sorrow, victory and defeat, success and struggle. Through it all, I have seen the hand of God at work. Should He give me another half-century, or should He give me but a few days, I want to keep serving and growing, and learning more about God, His Word, and the story He has told through the millenia of time, until the day Jesus comes to begin a new story with us for all eternity.

The Disappearing Church

One of the subjects that has attracted my notoriously fickle attention lately is the history of the church in the Syrian city of Edessa. I was first piqued by the legends of the correspondence of Jesus and King Abgar, and then by the earlier Acts of Martyrs of Edessa (which, alas but rather obviously, are not true, although some scholars believe they may reflect a genuine core around which the details were built).That led me to some brief articles on the city of Edessa and the church in that city. The church arose rather early, and went through a number of controversies and dabs at heresy. It remained a fairly strong witness for quite some time, even after the Muslim conquest. What I have found makes me curious to know more.

Yet the Edessene church is no more. Despite a history of strong figures, vigorous theological debate, and steadfastness under persecution, the church eventually gave way to forms of Christianity that would become marginalized, and then to the fate of most of the churches that came under Muslim domination. To borrow a phrase from Revelation, their lamp has gone out.

This phenomenon is not a relic of the past. We have only to look at the once-powerful churches of Europe to see that decline and destruction still happen today. True, the church has not fully succumbed yet, but the trends are not good. This didn't happen from military conquest by another religion, either; it happened by the gradual erosion of faith and doctrine, in some cases carried out within the churches.

The good news is that Christianity has spread throughout the world, and is growing and vibrant in may places. The bad news is that what we have seen happen in European countries could spread to the United States and elsewhere if we are not careful and willing to stand for the truth. Could it be that future generations will look back at Germany, France, and even the US as the Edessas of our era- churches once strong and alive, become nothing but distant memories of a tiny minority? We cannot allow the church to disappear from anywhere she stands, and we should pray and act to see the church of Jesus Christ grow even further in lands where once the church was strong as well as in the frontiers of mission.

Ambassadors for Christ

In 2 Corinthians 5:20 Paul uses the intriguing phrase "ambassadors for Christ." It is a word he uses twice, and no other NT author uses. In Ephesians 6:20 Paul uses of himself  ("an ambassador in chains"), and here he uses it of all believers. In both contexts he is speaking about proclaiming the message of the gospel boldly.

The root of the Greek word translated "ambassador" is the same as the root for "elder." The general idea with this word is one who has the right as an "elder" to represent someone. This is not specifically targeted toward the Biblical office of elder; instead, the idea is of those that have an experience that makes them qualified to speak for the party they represent.

So does this mean that we're off the hook for evangelism until we have enough experience to be a well-trained representative for Jesus? Not at all. Each Christian who has experienced the saving power of Christ, and who is empowered by the Holy Spirit, has more than enough experience to speak on behalf of the Lord. The very change that has been made in our lives is what qualifies us to speak to those who have not had that experience about the Lord who makes it possible.

I'm certainly not suggesting here that it's therefore OK to just sit back and just say what comes naturally, without attempting to learn more and more about Jesus. The newest Christian knows enough to speak about the life-changing power of Jesus, but each of us should seek to learn more, to grow more, and to find ways to be more effective in our communication of the gospel and of the Bible. Although we need to remember that regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit, not us, we should want to be able to represent our Lord in the best way we can.

Paul also doesn't say that Christians "ought to be" ambassadors for Christ; he says we "are" ambassadors for Christ. The question isn't whether or not you as a professing Christian will represent Jesus; the question is how you will represent Jesus. We in the church are often baffled, angered, or confused at some of those who claim they are followers of Jesus, and many who are not believers look at them and use them as excuses not to come to Christ. Our desire should be to show Jesus for who He is and what He has done to the world to the best of our ability.

If you are a Christian, you are an ambassador for Christ. How will you represent Him today?

Sunday sermon: "The Unified Church"

This week's sermon looked at the importance of fellowship in the church, and examined the meaning of fellowship and the Biblical foundations for fellowship. The summary can be found at http://pastorsteve.wikispaces.com/file/view/The+Unified+Church.pdf.

A Birthday and a Wikispace Update

First I want to wish a happy birthday to my son Robert, who is the first of my children to navigate all the way through his teen years. He is making his mother and me proud as a music education major at Philadelphia Biblical University. He's had to over come a lot of obstacles, but God is blessing him and using him to touch the lives of teens for Jesus.

I have added two articles to the "Transitions" page on the Pastor Steve's Study wikispace. One is on the transition in Israel from the reign of Solomon to the reign of Rehoboam. The second is on the transition from Jesus to the apostles as leaders of the church. I have also updated the "Biblical Questions" paper with answers to select questions on OT chronology. I hope you will find these new additions informative and helpful.

Work Where You Are Placed

Who decides what each member of a church should do? Who decides who the officers of the church are? Depending on your church and denominational background, we could provide many answers to these questions. For example, I come from a congregational background (specifically Baptist). Therefore, on the surface the answer for my church would seem to be, "The congregation decides." Maybe we hold a business meeting and vote, or delegate the appointment of officers and leaders to the pastor, elders, or deacons.

Yet that would be an incorrect answer. 1 Corinthians 12:19 tells us that "God has placed each of the members in the body just as he decided." (HCSB) Ultimately it is God who decides where each of us should serve in the church. The Holy Spirit specifically is the one who gifts us and calls us to minister in the way He determines.

What does this mean for our churches? I believe that in many churches too many people are operating outside of the areas to which God has called them. While in a few cases this may be due to a desire to find a place in which the person receives more attention or admiration than they might in the place God has gifted them for (and after many years in the church I've known a few of these!), it is more often due to people realizing "something has to be done" and doggedly volunteering to do it. After a while, working in an area that does not match their gifts, they may burn out, and not only leave that ministry but stop working for the Lord altogether.

I believe it is imperative that our churches look to fill positions of leadership and service with those the Spirit has called to those ministries. Each of us has gifts to be used to build up the body of Christ, and we need to use those gifts. I also believe that if God calls a church to engage in a specific ministry, He will provide the people to carry out that ministry. If we do not see "ministers" to take on the challenge of a ministry, we need to at least pray and ask God if we should be doing that ministry at this time.

Do you know what God has gifted you to do, and where in the body He has placed you? How are you taking your part in the body of Christ? There are no small gifts and no small people. Sometimes those who get the most attention (as a pastor, I speak especially to my fellow pastors) may be far less significant to the healthy service and growth of a church than many who labor in relative obscurity, and probably also less significant than we often think we are. But all of us are called to serve, to use our gifts for the glory of God and the building up of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

As we seek the Lord's will for our churches, let's help each member find the Lord's will for them in our churches. When we all work together as a body which is put together by God rather than by human wisdom, necessity, or desperation, we will see our churches grow and impact their communities and their world for Jesus.

Getting Healthy in the Church

If you have spent any time working with a church, especially as a pastor or on a pastoral staff, you probably have a large shelf in your library filled with a plethora of resources related to church growth and health. As I work with churches as a transitional pastor, I come back to these studies time and again. Some of them are faddish recaps of what worked in some church somewhere, but probably have little meaning for my church situation. Some are rather complex evaluations of where your church is and where it is going (often with surveys and consultations available at a "reasonable" cost). Some are much simpler and to the point. (One of my favorites, in fact, is called Simple Church.) There is just a huge amount of information available to those who work with churches today on how to help a church become a growing, healthy body.

Yet for all of this growth in church growth material, there seems to be something missing. Few churches today are growing at all. It has become almost commonplace to hear people say if you want a growing church you need to start a new one. What is keeping us from seeing the kingdom of God, and as a corollary our churches, growing?

I think the problem may well be that many churches fail to seek a balance in what they do as a church. Whatever the pastor's gifts are, or whatever the staff specializes in, or whatever the major contributors give to becomes the meaning of church for that congregation. So some churches emphasize evangelism, but have nothing in place to help the new Christians grow. Others emphasize discipleship, but see few new people come to know Christ. Still others favor pouring themselves into ministry, yet their busy programming schedules aren't matched by increasing numbers of maturing disciples. We could multiply the possibilities here, but they all result in the same thing: a one-dimensional church that is extremely good at what it does, but still does not see the growth it expects.

Maintaining balance in a church is hard, as in "herding cats" hard. This is due to our natural tendency (yes, it is mine as well) to emphasize the area in which we are gifted as the primary function of the church. We are most comfortable when the church we are part of majors in what we do best. Yet when we allow that to happen, we are hindering the church from becoming what it can be in God's plan.

How do we overcome this tendency? The hard way is to follow Paul's advice to "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Philippians 2:3-4) That's right, to encourage health and growth in our church we should desire to see those whose gifts are different from ours flourish in exercising them. I firmly believe that every church that is seeking to do God's will and carry out His mission is given everything they need to do so. That includes people with all the spiritual gifts necessary to enable the church to function in a healthy, balanced way. We need to encourage others to use their gifts in a ministry for which they are gifted.

What will happen if we do this? We may very well find a natural balance to the ministry of the church. If the Spirit give gifts as He wills, and He gives them so we as a body can carry out our commission, then when everyone uses their gifts all of the functions of the church will take place. Evangelism, discipleship, worship, fellowship, and ministry will work together to make our church one which glorifies Jesus and engages in a well-rounded mission for the kingdom of God.

Such a humble attitude toward encouraging others will also make the church a witness to the love and compassion of Jesus. There may be nothing that Satan enjoys more than watching Christians fight. C.S. Lewis writes in The Screwtape Letters about what he calls "party" churches; these are churches where taking sides is more important than showing Jesus' love. His "hero" Screwtape writes (specifically about the Anglican Church, but with application to us) that without the work of the devils the church "might have become a positive hotbed of charity and humility." What would love and humility in our congregations say to our communities? A change in our attitudes and in our ministry could be the breakthrough we need to truly reach those around us for Jesus Christ.

Justice, Mercy, and Godly Sorrow

By a curious coincidence, we were studying Jonah 4 this past Sunday in our adult Sunday school class. One of the major topics of discussion was how we as Christians ought to treat our enemies. Jonah, of course, was furious with God for sparing the city of Nineveh. He complained that he knew God was compassionate and merciful, and Jonah had feared that the Lord would indeed spare the city if it repented. The Assyrians were the enemies of Israel, God's chosen people, and Jonah wanted them judged.

We talked about how difficult it is, even knowing Jesus' teaching to love our enemies, for us to pray for those who hate us, and to deal with grace toward our enemies. Several class members spoke of situations in which they found it extremely hard, if not impossible, not to wish for judgment on those who had perpetrated harm on others.

Little did we know we would be tested that night with the news Osama bin Laden had been killed by American Navy SEALs. How do you react to news like that? There is certainly a powerful sense that justice had been served. Bin Laden had perpetrated evil, had ordered the killing of our fellow countrymen. When I visit my parents' gravesite at a cemetery here in town, just down the row is the grave of a woman killed on 9/11. Our town lost six residents that day, including a parent of a student at the school where my wife teaches. The scars are still prominent here, as we live not far from New York City. That bin Laden received what he deserved in an earthly sense gave a sense of satisfaction to all who were touched by the losses of that day.

Yet as a Christian, there is no joy that, as far as we know, another soul had gone to eternal judgment. God Himself, speaking through the prophet Ezekiel, says, "I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live." (33:11) While in its context this refers primarily to Israel, I believe it also shows us the heart of God. While divine judgment is necessary to uphold the holiness of God, it is not what God created humanity for.

As angry as I am about what bin Laden did, as much as I recognize the need for justice to be served, as satisfying as it is to see that justice carried out, I take no delight in the fact that he has gone on to a destiny in hell. Far too many people who have posted and blogged about this subject today seem to take joy in consigning bin Laden to the flames. That does not reflect a Christ-like attitude toward our enemies. Jesus could have cursed those who nailed Him to the cross; instead, He prayed for them.

Now, this is an incredibly hard teaching, and I'm not going to sit here piously and pretend I have reached a point where I can grieve for the death of the wicked instead of taking joy in their receiving their due. Yet I know that this is an attitude we as followers of Jesus need to cultivate. We should not let justice fail, or seek to simply brush over the evil that people do. There is judgment, both human and divine, and the Bible clearly teaches that. It is our attitude toward those under judgment that we need to examine. Do we think of those being judged with a sense of satisfaction or even gladness? Or do we pray for our enemies, and seek to see them turn to the Lord? It's a tough lesson, and I suspect it is one we will not master in this lifetime.

Who are our enemies? Who are those who we see as the personification of evil in our world today? Closer to home, who are those who have done wrong to us personally? How do we treat them? Let's pray that evil may be reduced in our world not through the destruction of the wicked, but through their turning to Jesus Christ in salvation. If they do not, may justice be served on them, but let's not take joy in judgment, but grieve for the hardness of heart rejects Christ.

Sunday sermon: "The Christ-Centered Church"

In the month of May, I am preaching a series on the five functions of a healthy church. The first sermon is on worship. Because I believe these sermons are important, I have written up longer summaries of them and posted them on the Pastor Steve's Study wikispace. I will provide links here to these summaries. The first sermon can be found at http://pastorsteve.wikispaces.com/file/view/The+Christ-Centered+Church.pdf.

Solving Problems By...Creating the Same Problem?

It's funny how sometimes when we combat a problem, all we seem to do is make that very same problem worse. It may even be that in proposing a solution to a potential problem, we actually cause the problem we were trying to avoid in the first place. This isn't just a modern phenomenon; there are historical examples that sometimes make us scratch our heads in wonder.

One example is the way Victor, the bishop of Rome at the end of the second century, handled the issue of the date of Easter. Most of the churches at that time celebrated Easter on the Sunday after the 14th of Nisan, the Jewish date for the Passover. It was widely held that a Sunday was the appropriate day to celebrate the risen Lord, since Sunday was the Lord's Day in commemoration of the resurrection. Still, there were a number of Christians, mostly in Asia Minor, who thought it was most appropriate to commemorate the crucifixion of the 14th of Nisan, and the resurrection two days later, no matter on which day of the week they fell. They were called "Quartodecimans" after the Latin word for fourteen.

The issue had created some small controversy between the parties, but through the middle of the second century both sides had pretty much agreed to let each other celebrate as they chose. Victor. however, decided that unity in the church's observance was paramount, and proclaimed that all churches should call councils and set the date of Easter as the Roman church reckoned it. In fact, a large portion of the church did, but the significant region of Asia Minor was largely Quartodeciman and did not want to change their practice, which was rooted in the practice handed down to them from such figures as Philip, John, and Polycarp.

So, in order to achieve unity, Victor excommunicated the church in Asia Minor! Yes, he decided unity was best achieved by splitting off a large chunk of the church from the majority. The desire for a unified practice may have been a worthy goal (and at Nicaea would become the official position of the church), but Victor's "solution" only created the problem he sought to avoid. The churches of Asia Minor protested strongly, and Irenaeus, who himself followed Roman practice, sent a letter of reprimand to Victor stating that he needed to put a true unity in the church ahead of his desire to enforce a particular practice. To his credit, Victor backed down. He heeded Irenaeus' call not to break fellowship over an issue like this.

What kinds of problems are you facing? Are the solutions you are considering likely to help solve the problem, or might they possibly create the very problems you are trying to avoid? We need to exercise wisdom, particularly when we are standing for Jesus Christ, in order to resolve issues in such a way that the problem is properly dealt with and that we honor God in what we do to solve it.

Wikispace update

I have added another paper on the "Library" page called "The Fact, Nature, and Meaning of the Resurrection." This paper covers harmonizing the gospel accounts of the Resurrection, answering alternative theories of the Resurrection, and the meaning of Jesus' Resurrection for us today. On the same page, I have added an article to the "Second Century Sketches" on the origins of the Old Roman Symbol/Creed. Enjoy!

Sunday sermon: "Jesus Meets an Adoring Crowd"

[NOTE: As part of my promise to make up for missing posts, I present the missing Sunday sermon from Palm Sunday.]

The crowd that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem on His Triumphal Entry was in many ways no different from the crowds that acknowledge Jesus in our own time. Many of those present had likely heard about Jesus' teaching and miracles. The bulk of the crowd, in fact, was probably fellow travelers from Galilee with whom Jesus moved on His way to the Passover. These people knew about Jesus' reputation, and perhaps they believed the time was right for this wonder-working prophet from Nazareth to take charge of the situation in Jerusalem.

In the account of the Triumphal Entry in Matthew 21, we read that the people were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Their cry of "Save now!" (Hosanna!) was eerily prescient, but in their mouths was more likely to be asking that Jesus do something about their temporal and political state right at that moment. Calling Him the "Son of David" indicated that they were prepared for Him to take His place on David's throne. They wanted Jesus to kick out the Romans and re-establish Israel as a powerful and independent kingdom.

The people in the crowd that day were ready to accept Jesus as their king- provided He came on their terms. They wanted to set the conditions under which they would accept Him as their Lord. As long as He conformed to what they thought the Messiah should be, they would let Him be the Messiah. Their main concern was for themselves and their own earthly future.

This is really not much different than the reaction of people in our world to Jesus. As long as He comes in to fix their problems, bring them health and happiness, provide them with nice moral teaching, but then not be too demanding, they will accept Him. Many, including Christians, want a Jesus who doesn't threaten to overturn their lives, and who meets their needs on their terms.

The problem with this interpretation, of course, is that Jesus comes as King on His terms. Jesus is King and Lord whether or not we accept Him as that. We can choose to rebel, but we cannot topple Him from His throne. As Jesus comes to our world, He offers us not the choice of whether or not we will make Him King, but whether or not we will live like citizens and subjects of His kingdom. We can choose to follow another king, but only as rebels who follow a usurper.

This means that Jesus is not only King over those who believe in Him, but over all. Satan may be the "prince of this world" temporarily, but only because he is the leader of the rebellion against God. The Bible may call him a prince as a pretender, but it never acknowledges Satan as a king, even for now. We are no different; we may think we are "king" and try to rule our own lives, but we are still in reality the subjects of the Almighty King of Kings.

The question before us today is, will we live our lives in a right relationship with King Jesus, accepting His Lordship on His terms, or will we rebel and live for ourselves? Jesus is King. Our lives find their fulfillment in living as part of His kingdom.