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Paul

Dumb Christianity Is Okay?

I was listening to a sermon tonight and realized that I am tired of, in my opinion, a misunderstanding of a verse. This verse is Acts 4:13, "When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and knew that they had been with Jesus."

I almost always hear the emphasis on the fact that the apostles were "uneducated and untrained men." First, the emphasis here is on the boldness of the apostles because of the work of the Holy Spirit. Secondly, the men were perceived as uneducated and untrained by the Sanhedrin. The were uneducated and untrained in their culture and worldview. Instead, in God's eyes they were educated and trained for the past three years BY JESUS CHRIST!  That was the most intense education and training ever! 

So please, to whom it may concern, please stop using this verse to confirm your decision not to go to seminary or pursue a deeper knowledge of God. If so, you are basically calling the authors of the New Testament morons. That they were not. No, they were not trained in a Rabinical school, but they were trained in Christ Seminary. This gave them boldness - a boldness that the other leaders did not have. This impressed them and intrigued them.  

People are not impressed with our knowledge, but with the God who lives inside of us. This verse is not, however, an excuse to ignore education and training.  We must be trained and educated, but most of all have boldness!

When Love Begins

After having a baby your perspective changes - no matter how many children you have. For us, it is number two. The other day, I held our 2 week old baby in my arms and once again in her short life so far told her how much I loved her. I told her something, and then stopped to think about what it means. I told her that I loved her ever since I knew of her existence. I did not just start loving her on July 14, 2009 at 1:49pm. I have loved her since I knew of her.

This is not the case with God. A few Sunday's ago we were singing about the love of God and it made me think - God did not just start loving me when I was conceived or born. He has loved me forever. Catch that - God has loved me forever, He has love YOU forever. God is infinite and eternal meaning that He has always loved and will never run out of love. Also, He never changes, so His love for us never changes. That is unlike my love. My love is finite - it has a starting place. God's love does not. Not only is God's love an action (John 3:16), it is an attribute (1 John 4:8)! Love is who God is.

How do you respond to this love? How do you respond to the infinite, eternal, unchanging love of God? Is He your Lord? Have you made Him Lord? Do you love Him back? Our love for Him should be greater than any love we have. Doesn't He deserve it?? Reread this hymn by Frederick M. Lehman:

1. The love of God is greater far
   Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
   It goes beyond the highest star,
   And reaches to the lowest hell;
   The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
   God gave His Son to win;
   His erring child He reconciled,
   And pardoned from his sin.
   • Refrain:
     Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
     How measureless and strong!
     It shall forevermore endure—
     The saints’ and angels’ song.
2. When hoary time shall pass away,
   And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
   When men who here refuse to pray,
   On rocks and hills and mountains call,
   God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
   All measureless and strong;
   Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
   The saints’ and angels’ song.
3. Could we with ink the ocean fill,
   And were the skies of parchment made,
   Were every stalk on earth a quill,
   And every man a scribe by trade;
   To write the love of God above
   Would drain the ocean dry;
   Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
   Though stretched from sky to sky.

Death And Life

Last night I got an important call. It was from the nursing home, informing me that a woman was near death and the family had requested my presence to pray. Of course, I do not have a problem with this at all. I have been around death before and it is not the last time I will be for sure. The problem was not going to the nursing home, but the problem is thinking about what to say and what to pray.

I showed up, found the room and family and prayed for this sweet woman. You could obviously tell that her time on earth was coming to an end. She had lived a long life and everyone in the room was basically there to watch her final moments on this earth. My feelings were bittersweet. It was bittersweet because she was leaving the earth and that causes sadness, yet she was about to enter into eternity with God in heaven and that brings joy! As we all huddled around the bed, I prayed. I prayed for an easy and painless transition from this life to the next, but then a sense of jealously came over me.

The Bible says that when we are absent with the body, we are present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). It is an either/or - when on earth we are absent from the Lord, but death brings the presence of the Lord. I knew that when she breathed her last breath here, her next breath would be in heaven if she had made a decision to put her faith in Jesus Christ. She was about to step into a place where there is no pain, sorrow, tears, or death (Rev. 21:4). Most of all, I am jealous that she is now worshiping around the throne of Jesus. I know that I will one day join her, and that gives me a hope and an excitement!

What are we doing with our lives? What will be on our mind and our heart when we have a preacher praying around our death bed? Is heaven even an option right now for you? It can be! The Bible says that we are all sinners and that sin causes death (Romans 3:23; 6:23). God sent Jesus, His One and Only Son, to take our place and die on the cross for our sin. This opened up the chance to have a relationship with God. When Jesus rose from the grave, He conquered death giving us eternal life and the chance to spend it with God. But, because sin demands a punishment, there is a literal and real hell. Because of man's free choice, many choose hell because they do not put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. It is so simple to change this.

The Bible says, "if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. With the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation (Romans 10:9-10)." All it takes to spend eternity with God is faith, receiving the free gift by God's grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). Salvation is nothing we can earn, but only something we receive from God. Have you received this free gift? Will you? We learned in VBS that it is as simple as ABC - Admit, Believe, Confess. If you haven't already, pray in your heart to God. Admit to Him that you are a sinner in need of His salvation. Tell Him that you believe that Jesus is God and He died for you and your sins and rose again conquering death. Confess your need of Him to be your Savior and your Lord. Ask Him to come into your life and be your Lord and Savior. Then, thank Him for a new life and eternity in heaven with Him! Yes, it's that easy - why make something so easy so difficult?

Salvation though gives us a task. God has left us here for a purpose. Are you completing His purposes for you life so that when you get to heaven, He will greet you with a "well done, thy good and faithful servant?" I hope so. I hope I am. What does He want you to do? Are you using your gifts to serve God in a local church? Are you committed to becoming more like Jesus? Are you sharing the story of salvation? We ALL must!

"Lord, bless this family as they mourn a loss. Thank you for the life of this precious women. As our lives continue here on earth, give us comfort through the pain and joy through the suffering. May those who do not know you, find you during this time. In Jesus name, amen."

The Shadow Proves The Sunshine

On my way to the Y this morning I was looking for some music to "pump me up." Yes, I need all that I can to get me motivated. So, I put on some Switchfoot which I haven't listened to in a while. I forgot how philosophical the album "Nothing Is Sound" is. I enjoyed listening to one of my favorite tracks called "The Shadow Proves The Sunshine." Some of the lyrics include:

Oh Lord, why did you forsake me?
Oh Lord, don't be far away away
Storm clouds gathering beside me
Please Lord, don't look the other way

We are crooked souls trying to stay up straight
Dry eyes in the pouring rain where
The shadow proves the sunshine
The shadow proves the sunshine

Sometime we get so wrapped up in our lives; storms of life, relationships, etc. that we forget about God's providence. We talked about this last night as well. We need to see life from a different perspective - God's perspective. Switchfoot gets it right, the shadow proves the sunshine. Even though there are dark days, there is always Someone who is bigger than any problem. As God's children, He will never leave us or forsake us. This week focus on God's providence. He is our Father and He cares for us and protects us. We read this verse last night: "Neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives everyone life and breath and all things (Acts 17:25, emphasis mine)." God doesn't need anything and He gives you and I everything. That is an amazing truth!

Dangerous Theology Of The Gift Of Prophecy

There is another dangerous theology found in C. Peter Wagner's book 7 Power Principles I Learned After Seminary. It is one of extra-Biblical revelation. This is prophecy above and beyond the Bible. This is so dangerous that Joseph Smith picked up on this and started a cult. Let me briefly breakdown this dangerous theology in the following paragraphs.

Wagner writes, "The reason that God has provided prophets is so that His will can be heard, understood and obeyed by the Body of Christ. The major source of the revelation of God is, of course, the Bible, and no authentic prophecy could ever contradict what the Scriptures say. Nevertheless, there are many things that God wants to tell us today that cannot be found in the Bible (pg. 46)."

Wagner is confusing an OT office of prophet with the NT gift of prophecy. The Bible specifically says, "I testify to everyone who hears the prophetic words of the is book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of this prophetic book, God will take away his share of the tree of life and the holy city, written in this book (Revelation 22:18-19)."

The reason God spoke through prophets in the OT is because Christ had yet to die making Himself a mediator between us and God (1 Tim. 2:5, Heb. 8:6, 9:15, 12:24). God used His prophets to speak to man. Today, thanks to the blood of Jesus Christ, we now have the ability to enter into a personal relationship with God. God has spoken. He has revealed all of Himself that He wants us to know. That is through general revelation (nature, earth, sky, universe, etc.) and special revelation (through Jesus Christ which is revealed in the Bible). Today, we do not need anyone to talk to God for us (1 Pet. 2:9) and we don't need anyone to speak for God - we now all have equal access to God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The Bible says about the Holy Spirit, "When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, because He will take form what is Mine and declare it to you (John 16:13-14)." If every believer has God indwelling inside of them, there is no need for someone to speak for God anymore. This eliminates the OT office of prophecy.

Basically, with all of this I conclude, as with Wayne Grudem, "So prophecies in the church today should be considered merely human words, not God's word, and not equal to God's words in authority (Systematic Theology, 1055)." I believe that I have the spiritual gift of prophecy. It DOES NOT mean that I speak for God. God has spoken and reveled Himself. I believe that God gives me a message FROM HIS WORD, to share with the congregation that God has called me to serve. It is not new. It is an interpretation of Scripture applied to our local context and to His body of believers.

God does NOT have anything to tell us that is not in the Bible. We can apply Biblical principles differently, but God does not SAY anything different. If so, God could change. If God keeps changing we could never know Him, and only those with a "special" gift could tell us who He is. This denies the Christian unity of the Body of Christ in the church as prescribed in Scripture. Also, this gift of prophecy goes hand in hand with my other highest gift of exhortation. I believe I stand in the pulpit to point out sin and the direction we need to take as believes and a church (as given by Scripture), but also to encourage all believers to keep on keeping on in the faith. This is exactly what the apostle Paul did throughout his letters.

One of my former pastors, Harlan Caton, sums up my view (the Biblical view) of the gift of prophecy when he writes, "Notice that the gift of prophecy is to be distinguished from the office of the prophet. The true New Testament office of a prophet was a man who was at the particular time actually receiving the Word of God, while the gift of prophecy is the divine-given ability to preach the Word of God. Since we have the written Word of God, there is no longer any need for the office of a prophet, but we do have those who have the fit of prophecy. It certainly should be stated here that the gift of prophecy has nothing to do with the ability o tell the future. It is the divine-given ability to preach the Word of God and is given only to men (Strengthening The Saints Through Sound Doctrine, 175)."

Basically, God is not saying anything new about Himself. God does not need anyone to talk specifically for Him because He can simply tell each believer who has the Holy Spirit indwelling inside of them. Therefore, there is no need for a future-telling gift. We already know what's going to happen! What do you think? Stay tuned, there is more to come...

A Dangerous Theology Of The Trinity

C. Peter Wagner’s book 7 Power Principles I Learned After Seminary lends itself to a very scary, but accepted, doctrine of the Trinity. I believe this belief in the Trinity is not compatible with Scripture and I briefly hope to make my case here. Wagner writes,

"The pragmatic question, then, becomes, What does it take to reach the lost? The answer, of course, is that it takes the power of the Holy Spirit. This is not simply a theologically correct statement. It has been borne out of empirical research. The churches that are growing most vigorously in the world, are with few exceptions, the churches that are permeated by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. Consequently, supernatural power becomes a determining operational force. It is derived from the premise that the Holy Spirit is the person of the Trinity most directly involved in effective evangelism. This does not mean that the emphasis on the Father and the Son is reduced in apostolic churches, but rather that the emphasis on the Holy Spirit is increased.

This is not only a pragmatic conclusion based on the premise that the more we have the operational power of the Holy Spirit the more we'll evangelize, but it is also understood as a clear biblical principle. While I was in seminary, I was taught that the Cross was an indispensable lens through which I should interpret the Bible. Before coming to a conclusion on any doctrine or important idea for ministry, I was taught to ask the test question, How does this relate to the Cross? The assumption behind this was that our focus should constantly be on the work of the Second Person of the Trinity - Christ. As I look back on this assumption years later, I regrettable feel that it ingrained in my mind an exaggerated Christology. The slogan 'Christ is all!' has its positive connotations, but it can also become and obstacle to biblical evangelism (pg. 20-21)."

And later,

"What Jesus was telling His disciples is the point I am trying to make now, namely for the purpose of evangelization, the immediate presence of the Third Person of the Trinity is more important than the immediate presence of the Second Person of the Trinity (pg. 22)!"

Wagner here is very close to saying that Jesus is no longer needed because His work is done. The work is now done by the Holy Spirit and Him alone. Also notice that there is no mention of the Father anywhere. This is because I believe Wagner is leaning towards a Trinitarian theology called modalism (which is accepted by the United Pentecostal Church which I believe Wagner uses for many of his examples in the book. For an eye opening look at their doctrine on the subject visit http://www.upci.org/doctrine/60Questions.asp).

Modalism, as defined by theologian Wayne Grudem in his Systematic Theology, is "God is not really three distinct persons, but only one person who appears to people in different 'modes' at different times (pg. 242)." This means that God was the Father in the OT, the Son in the NT, and the Holy Spirit today (technically after Jesus ascended). This theology is nothing new. It was introduced in the third century by a teacher in Rome named Sabellius and is sometimes known as Sabellianism.

There are big problems with this. First, God reveals Himself as plural in the OT. This does not tell us exactly that He is one God in three Persons, but it points to the fact that there is more than one person that makes up this one God. A great example is Isaiah 6:8, "Who should I send? Who will go for us?" God speaks of Himself in the singular and the plural. If that is not enough, the biggest hurdle in my mind to get past would be Jesus' baptism in the Gospels of the NT. Here we see Jesus, hear the voice of God the Father, and the Holy Spirit rests on Jesus like a dove (Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-10; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:29-34) If this is not true, then either Jesus or someone nearby was an awesome ventriloquist!

Plus, this theology denies relational aspects of the Trinity which is the core of Trinitarian theology. Human beings are relational begins by nature and this comes from the relational nature of the Trinune God.

Next, let me interact with a few words from the above quotation that jumped out at me. First is the use of the word "empirical." As we will see as we flesh out more of the ideas in this book, the focus is on an experience or feelings. While feelings and emotions are important, it is not how we judge or base our relationship with God. We are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. It is important to know what God is like. To know His character and to trust Him - even if we don't have the emotional experience we are hoping for. It does not diminish God's work.

Also, the word "force" is used. Now, thanks to Jonathan and my own doing, I have been watching Star Wars way too much. As you know, the focus of the movie involves a New Age-ish philosophy focusing on a force around us. We have to be careful to turn the Holy Spirit into a force or focus on the force of His power. If that is the case, the Holy Spirit is diminished to a weapon. The Bible is our weapon (Eph. 6:17). The Holy Spirit does have power - all power - because He is God, but He is not the only source of power. God the Father has power and God the Son has power. Our desire is to seek the will of the Father, live like Jesus Christ, and be guided by the Holy Spirit. Every person of the Trinity plays an important role in our sanctification.

Lastly, there seems to be an emphasis on the number of the Trinity. Remember that those numbers are just placed there for human understanding. Every person of the Trinity is equal - no One is more important. It does not matter that three comes after two and that the Holy Spirit is now more useful or powerful. They are all equal because they are three persons as ONE God. Hard to understand - yes! What the Bible teaches - yes! Accept it by faith - we're gonna have to!

So this leads us to ask, what is the difference in the three Persons of the Trinity? Well, I'm glad you asked! Join us on Sunday nights at 6pm as we look more carefully at the Trinity starting with God the Father in two weeks (no PM Sunday due to Father's day). See you then!