A Christian Sabbath?

“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,

from doing your pleasure on my holy day,

and call the Sabbath a delight

and the holy day of the LORD honorable;

if you honor it, not going your own ways,

or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;

then you shall take delight in the LORD,

and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;

I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,

for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

(Isaiah 58:13-14 ESV)

Question: Is the Sabbath day (the Lord's Day) a delight to you? 

After answering that question, ask yourself why?

For many Christians, they would not say that it's a delight because they take a holy rest from all their worldly labors and pleasures. In fact, to do that would make it a lot less delightful for them. The idea to set aside (make holy) one full day out of the week to do nothing but focus on the Lord seems downright silly, and sadly, needless to most Christians. Sure, they can handle an hour or two of church in the morning, but then the rest of the day is free for whatever other activities suit their desires. To keep the TV off for the whole day - wow! - now that would be a preposterous notion for a lot of today's Christians.

A frightening trend in many modern churches is the irreverence and indifference people give to the Lord's Day. It's as if Sunday is an exciting day, not merely because of the Lord, but for mostly other reasons. Just one of those reasons in America is that Sunday is NFL football day, as well as a day for a myriad of other sporting events throughout the year. 

Even in my own church, I'm ashamed to admit that because we offer a "casual" atmosphere, people wear their favorite team's jerseys to church. The buzz about the upcoming game laces most conversations, and even the person giving the announcements can't help but throw in some reference to the day's game or last week's game. I sometimes ask myself, "Did these people come to worship God, or worship something else?"

And Christians I talk to at work and outside of church, they too seem to show little reverence for Sundays anymore. When you ask a Christian how their weekend was, rarely do you hear any comments about the Lord's Day and how it was refreshing to their soul to take time out of their week to forsake worldly business and personal recreation or entertainment to worship God publicly and privately. It just isn't there.

Frankly, I'm disappointed by it. Why do so many so-called Christians treat their faith as if it's an add-on to their already busy life? Like Sunday is just another weekend day where they do the "church thing" and then go about their life? Other than maybe praying before eating, their faith rarely appears in casual conversations once they leave the church parking lot. Discussions about doctrine, theology, or what God is doing in their lives or the lives of those they know are for the most part absent. 

It didn't used to be like this. Christians from even 150 years ago would be appalled at how modern-day Christians treat Sundays.

I am not proposing we go back to a legalistic system of Sabbath observance that the Jews for so many years were commanded to do, and did so to the extreme that it became a huge burden for many when it was supposed to be a time of refreshing. For that would defeat the very reason Christ came - He is our true Sabbath rest - He delivers us from the weight of sin and guilt under the law. 

No, Sabbath-keeping is a matter of spiritual freedom. Romans 14:5 makes it clear concerning the Sabbath or any other day we might consider sacred, that "each one should be fully convinced in his own mind." And Colossians 2:16 tells us not to judge each other with regard to the Sabbath day.

However, in my own experience, when I don't commit a full day to the Lord and instead I fill it with "things I have to get done" or "places I have to go" or "people I have to see", then it's easy for me to neglect my focus on the Lord when He should be my "best thought by day or by night" - the One in whom I should fully delight in. I also find myself getting caught up in the things of this world that are trivial at best. And if you think about it, if Satan had a strategy to deceive as many people as possible, one of his main goals would be to get people to think about anything and everything else EXCEPT for God.

So when I think about things like the NFL, which so many people in my city seem to be consumed by, I tend to view it as just one of many of Satan's strategies to get people to dethrone God and idolize something else. In my view, NFL has come to mean Neglecting a Focus on the Lord. Christians who watch football, even one game a week, spend more time doing that than is required of them to attend a Sunday morning church service.

As shocking as it may be for some who know me, I have personally decided that for me and my family, NFL is out the door - for good. I've already gotten some blank, confused faces when asked about "the game" and I responded with "I don't know, I didn't watch it." From a Christian worldview, in the end sports mean absolutely nothing. Sure, the world idolizes sports and professional players, but I think we as Christians need to guard ourselves from what the world thinks is important, otherwise those things will creep into our lives and before you know it, we look, talk, and act just like the world.

It never hurts to look back at history and see how those before us treated the Sabbath. Two sources that I have drawn much insight from are the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647) and the Baptist Confession of Faith (1689), and they speak of the Sabbath (Lord's Day) in a similar manner:

As it is the law of nature that in general a proportion of time, by God's appointment, should be set apart for the worship of God, so He has given in His Word a positive, moral and perpetual commandment, binding upon all men, in all ages to this effect. He has particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy for Him. From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ this was the last day of the week, and from the resurrection of Christ it was changed to the first day of the week and called the Lord's Day. This is to be continued until the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week having been abolished.

The Sabbath is kept holy to the Lord by those who, after the necessary preparation of their hearts and prior arranging of their common affairs, observe all day a holy rest from their own works, words and thoughts about their worldly employment and recreations, and give themselves over to the public and private acts of worship for the whole time, and to carrying out duties of necessity and mercy.

Can you imagine what kind of witness we would be to the world and what kind of statement we would make about the God we serve, if every Christian alive held to this kind of reverent view of the Sabbath?

Think about how you treat the Lord's Day - are you fully convinced in your own mind that how you are spending it (the whole day) is honoring to God?

Are Visits to Heaven for Real? - Answers in Genesis

With the upcoming April 16th release of the movie 'Heaven is for Real' based on the story of Colton Burpo as told by his father Todd Burpo, I thought it fitting to share with you a Biblical response to supposed visits to Heaven and those who tell [sell] their stories. 

Article: Are Visits to Heaven for Real? - Answers in Genesis

This article is by Pastor-Teacher Dr. John MacArthur and is one of the best articles I've read on this subject, and I have read many. Below is an excerpt that really hits home what it means to search for or demand more information about Heaven than what scripture reveals to us:

Those who demand to know more than Scripture tells us about heaven are sinning: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever” (Deuteronomy 29:29). The limits of our curiosity are thus established by the boundary of biblical revelation. In the words of Charles Spurgeon:

It’s a little heaven below, to imagine sweet things. But never think that imagination can picture heaven. When it is most sublime, when it is freest from the dust of earth, when it is carried up by the greatest knowledge, and kept steady by the most extreme caution, imagination cannot picture heaven. “It hath not entered the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” Imagination is good, but not to picture to us heaven. Your imaginary heaven you will find by-and-by to be all a mistake; though you may have piled up fine castles, you will find them to be castles in the air, and they will vanish like thin clouds before the gale. For imagination cannot make a heaven. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered the heart of man to conceive” it.

What God has revealed in Scripture is the only legitimate place to get a clear understanding of the heavenly kingdom.

My personal opinion on the book and the movie is that it has taken many people down a different path away from the true God and His Word, the Bible. Personal experience can NEVER supersede what Scripture says. And anyone who claims to have had an experience that doesn't line up with Scripture is someone we don't want to listen to as discerning Christians, even if they claim to be Christians themselves. Furthermore, I also have huge reservations about the fact that his father Todd has essentially sold this story to millions of unsuspecting [undiscerning] people around the world. A prophet is anyone who claims to speak on behalf of God or who claims to have divine revelation/visions/experiences/etc. The Bible also speaks many times about false prophets. 2 Peter 2:3 for example says:

And through covetousness shall they with feigned [false] words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

Has Todd Burpo made merchandise of many, many people with this story? - YES. No doubt tons of money has been made from the many variations of the products sold by this author. Is the story about a boy going to Heaven and back and living to tell about it and all the details, Biblical? - NO. Then it would seem to me that this book/movie/author is something we should stay FAR away from.

Sufficiency of Scripture

One of the primary targets of Satan's attacks is Scripture, and more specifically, its sufficiency. If he can get people to believe that the Bible is insufficient, then he can get them to start looking elsewhere for answers, and thus lead them away from the Truth.

I wanted to pass along this timely article by Ken Silva of Apprising Ministries who examines the claim of the charismatic movement that God is still in the business of giving divine, inspired revelation to His people today. As you'll see, those involved in the charismatic movement tend to take specific commands and/or promises for a specific time in history and apply them to the church today. This can be a very dangerous way to interpret the Bible.

One quote that stuck out to me was from a Korean Missionary named Harvie Conn. He concluded that one of the distinguishing factors of mystical religions is their belief in special revelation apart from the Bible. He says:

If added revelations repeat what’s in the Bible, they are unnecessary. If new revelations contradict the Word of God, they are heresy. And if they supplement God’s Word, then the new revelations imply Scripture’s insufficiency, and about this Proverbs warns: “Add thou not unto his [God’s] words, lest he [God] reprove thee, and thou be found a liar” (Proverbs 30:6, KJV).

Read the full article here: THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HOLY SCRIPTURE 

How to Recognize a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing - Spotting False Teachers

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:15-16a) 

I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert… (Acts 20:29-31a)

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15) 

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. (Ephesians 5:11)  

The Bible is full of warnings against false teachers. It is every Christian's duty to be able to discern, at least on a basic level, what is true and what is false. Just because someone claims Jesus as their savior doesn't make them a true, regenerate follower of Christ. Just because a pastor or teacher uses all the Christian terminology and quotes from the Bible, doesn't make them a teacher of Truth. 

Since this is a very new blog on discernment, I thought I would use a post to tackle the question:

"How does one recognize or identify a false teacher,
or a wolf in sheep's clothing?" 

Francis Barlow - public domain

1. Wolves arise from within the visible church – they have been around a long time and are currently in the church, and prevalently so. (Acts 20:29-30 | 2 Peter 2:1)
   
2. Wolves appear to be Christians on the outside. They have all the markers of a Christian: they claim Jesus as their savior, they quote from the Bible, they seem sincere, they use all the Christian lingo and terminology, and they appear religious.  They are in disguise as servants of righteousness and as apostles of Christ, yet whether they know it or not, they are servants of Satan. (Matthew 23:27-28 | 2 Corinthians 11:12-15)
   
3. Wolves teach destructive heresies. Heresy is a deviation from the established Truths in Scripture. Heresy contradicts correct, sound teaching as grounded in the Word of God. Early church father Irenaeus fought hard against the heresies of his day, especially Gnosticism. He described the established teaching from Scripture as ‘orthodox’ which comes from the Greek words orthos “straight” and doxa “belief.” Anything that went against the ‘straight beliefs’ derived from Scripture he called out as heresy. (2 Peter 2:1-2)
   
4. Wolves deny Jesus as Lord. They may claim him as savior and give lip service by calling him Lord, but they will distort the meaning of scripture to remove the sovereign lordship of Jesus over their lives. They want the freedom to live any way they please. (Jude 4 | 2 Peter 2:1)
   
5. Wolves twist scripture. They typically do this to support their own false interpretation of the Bible in order to satisfy their deep, inward desires and appetites and to accumulate many followers. (Acts 20:29-30 | Galatians 1:6-8)
   
6. Wolves teach people what they want to hear. Thus, the people no longer hold an ear to the Truth of Scripture, but instead gravitate to those teachers/preachers who give them what they want. Wolves avoid anything that could be offensive to the proud state of fallen mankind. Thus, they are usually well-liked people, agreeable, and attractive in a sense. (2 Timothy 4:3-4 | Romans 16:18)
   
7. Wolves serve their own appetites, desires, and cravings. This could be greed, wealth, riches, power, fame, lust, etc. They also saturate their teaching with appeals to the desires of the flesh. And they will compromise scripture to make it appeal to the culture. (2 Peter 2:2-3 | Romans 16:18)
   
8. Wolves are usually smooth talkers, they flatter others, and take advantage of the unsuspecting and the naïve (the Biblically illiterate, new in the faith, etc.). They rarely teach the demanding truths of scripture, they’d rather encourage than correct or rebuke, and they will avoid absolutes and anything condemnatory.  (2 Timothy 4:3-4 | Romans 16:18 | Galatians 1:6-8)
   
9. Wolves distort the true Gospel and preach another so-called gospel. They add to the true gospel or they take away from the true gospel, or both. In any case, they seldom teach a narrow gate to eternal life or reveal the depth and utter danger of sin and wickedness. Thus, there is usually no warning of judgment and God’s wrath or a call to true and lasting repentance.  (Galatians 1:6-8 | Jude 4)
   
10. Wolves typically live secret lives through depraved/immoral conduct not seen in the public eye, but when they are exposed, they bring disgrace upon the way of Truth and prompt outsiders to speak evil of, or malign the church. A corrupt understanding of scripture will manifest itself in a corrupt way of life…eventually. (Jude 8 | 2 Peter 2:2 | Matthew 23:27-28 | 2 Peter 3:17)
    
11. Wolves can grow a rather large following, and often validate their so-called ministry and God’s anointing on them by the size of their crowds. Thus, they lead many astray who will be like them: self-absorbed, self-indulgent, self-righteous, full of pride, and narcissistic, while maintaining a ‘religious’ appearance. (Matthew 23:27-28 | 2 Peter 2:2 | Acts 20:29-30 | Romans 16:18)
    
12. Wolves are sneaky, crafty, and cunning. The way in which they interpret and twist scripture is subtle, so much so that the destructive heresies they teach creep into the church secretly and unnoticed by most. (Jude 4 | 2 Peter 2:1)
    
13. Wolves do not abide [remain, dwell] solely in the Word of God. They may rely on pagan or mystic practices and teachings, or extra-Biblical writings, or supposed extra-Biblical revelation through visions, dreams, ‘hearing’ God’s voice, etc. (John 8:31-32 | Jude 8)

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As I continue to write articles, I may from time to time point out false teachers. I may reference back to this list or to some of the verses quoted here. I believe if we truly love Christ and we follow His word, we should expose false teaching and false teachers. Many Christians today try to stay away from calling someone a heretic, but if someone is teaching heresy - they are a heretic. As quoted earlier, Ephesians 5:11 commands us:

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 

Acts 20:31 tells us to "be alert." 2 Peter 3:17-18 says: 

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Romans 16:17 tells us to "watch out" and avoid those who teach things contrary to sound doctrine.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, like I've said before, we are in spiritual war between good and evil. We don't have the luxury or the time to tiptoe around these issues, not trying to offend anyone. Souls are at stake - many, MANY people are heading down the path of spending an eternity in hell. Think about that for a moment. It could be someone in your family, in your circle of friends, the people you work with everyday, some of your neighbors, the people sitting next to you in a restaurant, the family in front of you in the checkout line at the grocery store, and so on. Many of these people claim to be Christians, but may have fallen captive to the array of false teaching out there and their souls will be forever damned unless someone, maybe you or I, take the time to expose the error in what they've been taught or read. But the first step is being able to distinguish for ourselves true teaching from false teaching. I pray that this blog will help you in that regard.

Wisdom, Understanding, Discernment and Boldness

If one is looking to gain wisdom and understanding, and increase their ability to discern good from evil and right from wrong, the book of Proverbs is probably one of the best places to start. Verse after verse compares the wicked to the righteous, the foolish to the upright, the sluggard to the diligent, folly to wisdom, hate to love, and evil to good. It is a treasure trove of knowledge. I am currently reading through Proverbs and one of these comparisons stuck out to me as a must-have in our duty to contend for the faith. Proverbs 28:1:

The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

The first part of that verse basically means that the wicked [ungodly] are guilty and they know they’re guilty – their conscience condemns them. Not only that, but they are so aware of their guilt, that they tend to be paranoid about it; they think everyone else might find out too. Because of this they are always on their toes, ready to flee at a moment’s notice, always in fear.

Have you ever been there? Have you ever done something wrong, or broken the rules, or sinned in some way or another and you were afraid someone else was going to find out? You might be worried that you will be caught in your lie, so you become nervous when you talk to people and you take second glances to see if they look like they might know something.  I know I've been there and it’s usually not a peaceful state to be in.

photo credit: katiew via photopin cc

In contrast, those that are righteous are bold as a lion. To be ‘bold’ is to be absent of fear. Usually confidence accompanies boldness; you typically have confidence in something. In our context, that confidence comes from our righteous standing with God. No longer do we have a guilty conscience, but a clean one – one that is made clean through our faith in Jesus Christ whereby he imputes, or ascribes, His righteousness to us!

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Once we realize that we have become righteous in God’s eyes, because of Jesus, there is no more condemnation:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1) 

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:18)

In ancient Israel, David displayed this proverbial kind of boldness in confronting the Philistine giant Goliath, when everyone else was cowering in fear:

And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him [Goliath]. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17:32

In Moses’ time, the people of Israel were given a promise of boldness in their battles so long as they walked in God’s statutes and observed His commandments and did them:

Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you. Leviticus 26:8

We too need this kind of boldness in our lives on a daily basis, especially if we are to contend for the faith and fight for the Truth. In reading that proverb, I thought to myself “What good are wisdom, understanding, and discernment if we don’t have the boldness to do anything with them?” Sure, we can be selfish and keep all of those things for ourselves, but isn’t it our imperative to use those abilities for all the saints at a minimum – and possibly even for those whom have yet to believe?

Many Christians today aren't bold at all, but instead live their lives in fear and worry. In fact, it is fear and worry that prevent many of us from carrying out the great commission of spreading the [true] gospel. The worries of this life weigh us down. Many Christians are afraid that they will offend someone if they tell them their views, or if they object to someone’s line of thinking – so they don’t say anything at all. This fear has also crept into the church and we have believers and even pastors unwilling to confront the lies of the enemy head on, with authority. People refrain from using words like ‘evil’, or ‘sin’, or ‘abomination’, or ‘heresy’. My friends, if you don’t know this already, the gospel of Jesus Christ IS OFFENSIVE to those who are perishing! (1 Corinthians 1:18). We are not instructed to water it down, or make it more appealing by leaving out certain truths, or dumb it down so as to distort it. No, instead we are told to proclaim the full gospel in its unfiltered, unaltered entirety.

And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. Philippians 1:14 (NIV)

Paul knew the gospel was offensive, but he and those he taught proclaimed it anyway. We have to stop being politically correct and compromising God’s Word to make it more palatable to the masses. If you present a false [incomplete] gospel, you will get false converts - PERIOD.

Will this come easy? No. Will you suffer persecution? Yes. Will you be hated at times? Yes.

"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” John 15:18

Are you willing to be hated for the sake of the gospel? Jesus was. They hated Him with such a passion that the Jewish leaders gave Him an unfair trial and executed Him as quickly as they could in hopes of silencing Him and His teaching.

Depiction of Sanhedrin trial of Jesus
by José de Madrazo Agud

So how do we do this? How do we be bold on a daily basis? Well first of all I truly believe that that boldness comes primarily from two things:

(1)    The recognition that we have been forgiven and our debts have been paid and we are no longer under a state of condemnation. As stated earlier, this is a realization and faithful trust that we have Jesus’ righteousness. Because of God’s perfect love for us, all fear is gone and we have no obstructions in our way. (1 John 4:18) (Ephesians 3:11-12) 

(2)    The empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Peter and John were unlearned men, but when empowered by the Holy Spirit, the people around them marveled at their boldness and proclamations. (Acts 4:8,13) Acts 4:29 and 31 indicate that by the Holy Spirit, the disciples in the early church ‘spoke the word of God with boldness’. When we become believers, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. (2 Corinthians 1:22) (Ephesians 1:13) As we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:16), He will empower us to be of service in the gospel of God.

Secondly, the book of Philippians is a great book of encouragement that you should read if you want to learn how to live out your life on this Earth, but as a citizen of Heaven. In 4 short chapters, you will find ways to grow in your commitment of service to God and to other believers. Boldness is a gift that comes along with righteousness; we just need to learn how to put it into practice. I’d recommend reading the 4 chapters of Philippians every day for a week to really sink it into your mind.

Paul says in Philippians 1:27-30 [emphasis mine]:

Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

I pray that you have been reminded of the wonderful grace of God in Him providing a way for us to be in a right standing with Him. Furthermore, I hope you are encouraged to be bold in your daily lives, not giving into fear or worries about your [our] opponent (the world, the lies, the evil one).

Christian Couple Fights Texas Officials After Homeschooled Children Forcibly Removed From Home

Just a few days ago I wrote about my family's decision to homeschool our children. We believe with all conviction that educating our children ourselves is the best way we can instill the values and [Christian] worldview we would like them to have. We believe it is a basic right for parents to have to be able to determine how their own children should be educated. However, there are those in this nation (humanists, secularists, liberals) that believe otherwise. In their view, government knows best and is more capable than parents to make decisions about children's education. They'll even go so far as to criticize homeschooling parents by calling them 'mentally ill' and say that they are 'brainwashing' their children. They believe the government is the only way to 'properly educate' children.

The link below tells the story of a Texas couple who had their children forcibly removed from their home, not for abuse or neglect, but for homeschooling - that's right - homeschooling! 

Christian Couple Fights Texas Officials After Homeschooled Children Forcibly Removed From Home

My initial thought was that this kind of stuff happens in other countries, but not America - at least not yet. Don't fool yourselves, it's here too. Persecution of Christians takes many forms, and this is one of them. I expect this kind of persecution to become greater and greater in this [morally declining] nation. I think this is a perfect time to remind you that our battle is a spiritual battle of cosmic forces - good and evil, as Ephesians 6 tells us:

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

Paul gives us several commands here:

1. Be strong in the Lord
2. Put on the whole armor of God
3. Wrestle against spiritual forces of evil
4. Stand firm
5. Fasten the belt of Truth
6. Put on breastplate of righteousness
7. Put on readiness
8. Take up the shield of faith
9. Take the helmet of salvation
10. Take the sword of the Spirit (the Word of God)
11. Pray at all times

That's a lot for 8 verses! In this battle, we need to be constantly aware of who we are fighting. The verses tell us there are rulers (plural) and authorities (plural) and cosmic powers (plural) over the present darkness. Satan has an army, and a well-ordered, well-structured one that employs tactics and strategies to deceive as many as possible. Those that are deceived by Satan in this world carry out his plan and his intentions, whether knowingly or unknowingly.

IMPORTANT POINT:

The weak in heart, the shallow in faith, the undiscerning, the Biblically illiterate, the armorless, and the prayerless will not be able stand firm, and persevere in this battle. I urge you to heed the instructions of Paul as we are heading deeper and deeper into this war. This is a daily thing folks, a daily regimen that we must use to be ready to fight and defend ourselves. This isn't something that can be maintained with a 'once a week, I'll go to church' mentality. Some people get offended or become sheepish when anyone mentions the notion of fighting. Well, I'm sorry to break it to you, but not only are we to put on our armor for defense, but we are to take up the sword as well. We are to slay the lies and deceptions that come into our path with the Word of God. How can we do that if we don't know the Word? 

In a future post, I'll be discussing this idea of being ready. Have we really 'given our life' to Christ, or are we living as if we've allowed Christ to be just a part of our lives?

Homeschooling vs. Public Schools

My wife and I have a 3-year-old boy, a 17-month-old girl, and our 3^rd child is due in a few weeks. Needless to say, the question of educating our children has been on our minds a lot lately. Both my wife and I went to public school from kindergarten through high school and both attended public universities in the Midwest (southwestern Missouri to be exact). Coming from a small town in a more conservative part of the country to the Denver area in Colorado, we quickly found out what it was like to live in a big city.

Our first town home was only a block away from a public middle school and one of the first things we noticed were the kids going to and from school each day. It was very common for us to see ‘goth-like’ dress, kids smoking, unfiltered, obscene language, the smell of marijuana, and disrespectful talk among other things. At this time we did not have any kids but we jokingly told each other that we’d never send our kids to school here.

Well, that was six years ago and those kinds of things are even more commonplace among kids who go to public schools today. Many youth today exemplify 2 Timothy 3: 1-4:

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

I regularly ride public transportation and it just amazes me how arrogant, selfish, and inconsiderate young people have become. On a weekly basis, I see teenagers get on the bus blurting out obscene language to their friends as if no one else is riding along with them – this is especially irritating when I see young children nearby. Many times they’ll cut right in front of people, even the elderly, while getting on and off the bus without thinking twice about it.

Needless to say, it is becoming a rare thing to see a polite, courteous, well-behaved, well-mannered, well-spoken child these days. The other day I was talking to a substitute teacher who was working a long-term stint in a public school. She was going on and on about how disobedient and disrespectful the teenagers are. She spoke of a teacher in her 9^th year that said of all the years she’s taught 8^th graders, that this year was the worst. The kids will not obey the teachers, they don’t really care about learning, they are indifferent to getting suspended from school, and they don’t care what the teachers think about them. Furthermore, there is nothing, no real consequences for the teachers to administer other than to kick them out of class and suspend them – even then they are limited because they can’t suspend everyone. And the kids don’t mind it anyway.

Then there are stories like this one, where kids in a public school were fed x-rated material under the guise of sex education. In this incident, a poster was hung on the wall that was entitled “How Do People Express Their Sexual Feelings?” followed by 17 different ways to do so. When a parent of a student who took a picture of the poster was outraged and brought it up to the school’s administrators, they did nothing about it. A district spokesperson said:

“The poster that you reference is actually part of our middle school health and science materials, and so it is a part of our district approved curriculum”

Followed by:

“The curriculum it is a part of, it aligns with national standards around those topics, and it’s part of our curriculum in the school district”

The father of the student later said:

“A lot of parents view the school as a babysitter,” “My message is to stand up. Let’s take charge of our kids. There are so many out of control kids in the nation.”

Amen to that! Seems that he is observing the same thing I am.

Then you have another story where a teacher humiliates a first grader by telling her in front of the whole class to stop talking about the Bible while in the middle of a one-minute presentation she was giving in response to a classroom activity given by the teacher the day prior. 

photo credit: bookgrl via photopin cc

The article states that: The principal reportedly told her [the parent] that her daughter could write about her beliefs in a journal but she was not allowed to share her beliefs aloud to any other student.

I say all of this because at this point in time, my wife and I have decided to homeschool all of our children, while we still have the freedom to do so. Echoing the sentiment of parent mentioned earlier: we WILL be taking charge of our children, and their education.  Some countries, like Germany, have outlawed parental homeschooling of children. The government there will, by force, take children from their parents should they find out that they were attempting to homeschool them. In fact, many German families have left the country to go to places like France or the U.S. just so they can homeschool their kids. One such family came to the U.S. recently and was granted asylum because the German government was attempting to put the parents in prison for homeschooling. But U.S. protection didn't last long.

The article states that: The Obama administration, which in other notable areas of immigration law has enacted a policy of “discretion” regarding deportations, took the [family] to court to have its asylum protections revoked, and succeeded in doing so. The family has appealed to the Supreme Court, which has ordered the Obama administration to respond to the [family’s] petition, but the administration has so far refused to do so.

So it appears that the current administration is showing more signs of their anti-homeschooling agenda by trying to send this family back against their will. What does this mean for the future of America’s homeschooled children? The outlook does not look good.

As a father, I am commanded in Scripture to:

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)

I think as a parent, one of the best ways we can contend earnestly for the faith is by teaching and instilling that faith in our children. This goes beyond church, Sunday school, and youth group.  This is a command to ‘bring them up’, or educate them (which takes time; years, in fact) in the discipline and in the instruction of the Lord (the Bible). 

Source

Currently, the only way I see this happening effectively is through homeschooling, and for parents to take responsibility for their children and not leave it up to the government or public school system. While I won’t be the primary one doing the homeschooling (my wife will), you can rest assured that I will make certain that a Bible-based curriculum is chosen and that what is taught is done so with a Biblical worldview. And I will reinforce their instruction by being involved, reading Scripture with them, teaching them to pray and to worship, and explaining the things of life in the black and white Truth revealed in God's Word.

You may also be interested in:

(Let your kids decide about Religion? – Greg Koukl from Stand to Reason)

Subtlety: The Old Cross and the New (A.W. Tozer)

One of the greatest tactics of Satan in his quest to spread false teaching in the church is the use of subtlety. By slightly changing one thing here and one thing there on a fundamental doctrine, he can creep in unnoticed by all unsuspecting, undiscerning believers. His primary target would be of course the person and work of Jesus Christ. The formula goes something like this: a little truth + a dash of falsehood = deceived. If Satan can get you to believe in a Jesus almost like the True Jesus as revealed in Scripture, using all the same lingo, imagery, and emotions, he has you in the palm of his hand, utterly deceived. And to spread his false Jesus and false doctrine, he raises up false teachers in the midst of the true body of believers:

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. (2 Peter 2:1-3)

Verse one supports my previous point - that false prophets (teachers/pastors/etc.) arise from within the church, bringing in their heresies in a mode of secrecy, that is to say: you're not supposed to know about it.

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. (2 Corinthians 11:14-15)

It is in this context that I would like to point you to a very blunt and honest assessment of the state of the modern evangelical church by A.W. Tozer. I encourage you that after you read this that you begin to develop your discerning eyes and ears as you hear sermons and see popular pastors being interviewed by the media, and as you read books, articles, websites, etc. Is the person you are listening to/reading preaching the Old Cross or the New? Keep in mind that his was written in 1966; so if it was true then, how much more truer is it today?


As I continue posting to this blog, one of the things I will be watching out for is exactly this: what are popular pastors preaching and book authors teaching out there and does it line up with the uncompromising, unchanging gospel message as presented in Scripture?

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The Old Cross and the New

(A. W. Tozer, Man, the Dwelling Place of God, 1966) [emphasis mine]

ALL UNANNOUNCED AND MOSTLY UNDETECTED there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental.

From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique-a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before.

The old cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai. The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane morally if not intellectually.

The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious product is better.

The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, "Come and assert yourself for Christ." To the egotist it says, "Come and do your boasting in the Lord." To the thrill seeker it says, "Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship." The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.

The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross.

The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said good-by to his friends. He was not coming back. He was going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.

The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life.

That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die.

We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.

God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God's just sentence against him.

What does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life? Simply, he must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die.

Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Saviour, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ.

To any who may object to this or count it merely a narrow and private view of truth, let me say God has set His hallmark of approval upon this message from Paul's day to the present. Whether stated in these exact words or not, this has been the content of all preaching that has brought life and power to the world through the centuries. The mystics, the reformers, the revivalists have put their emphasis here, and signs and wonders and mighty operations of the Holy Ghost gave witness to God's approval.

Dare we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the truth? Dare we with our stubby pencils erase the lines of the blueprint or alter the pattern shown us in the Mount? May God forbid. Let us preach the old cross and we will know the old power. 

What about those who never hear of Jesus Christ?

A while back, a co-worker of mine had asked me a question that at the time I wasn't able to give him a complete answer. These kinds of interactions can really bug me, because if I'm disappointed in my response, I'll replay over and over again in my head what I should have said. But, one thing they do prompt me to do is go back and do some studying and prepare an answer so I'll be ready if the topic ever comes up again. 

His question was this:

What happens to people throughout the world that have never had the chance to hear about Christ? Would they be saved? 

I was reading something the other day that brought our conversation to mind so I thought I would try now to answer that as best I can. There are several scripture passages I will reference in my answer. (emphasis mine)

We'll start with Psalm 53:1-3 which says:

1. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.
2. God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.
3. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

 Romans 3:23-26 says:

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, ²⁶ to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

So by these two passages, we know that no one deserves God’s grace because we all have sinned against a perfect and Holy God – we all deserve to pay the penalty of our sin. Grace is something we obtain that we don’t deserve: like forgiveness of wrongdoing. Mercy is not receiving something that we do deserve: like eternal punishment and separation from God. 

Here is a very important, but difficult-to-swallow point: God would not be unjust if he were to let everyone on this Earth die in our sin and spend eternity in hell to pay for our sin. God has given us a moral free-will and He does not compel us to sin, nor is He the author or originator of evil; we ourselves choose to sin.

From the very beginning, in order for sin to be atoned for, blood had to be shed, punishment had to be carried out. Leviticus 17:11 makes this very clear:

¹¹ For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.

In the Old Testament, only a perfect, spotless, unblemished animal could be used in sacrifices for atonement to redeem the sinner from his or her sin. When Jesus came to this Earth and lived a perfect, sinless life, and died on the cross, shedding His blood for the sins of those who believe in His name, He became our righteousness through an everlasting sacrifice. 

photo credit: SweetCapture via photopin cc

Now to the question of who will and will not be saved:

From Romans 10:

¹³ For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
¹⁴ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? ¹⁵ And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” ¹⁶ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” ¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Continuing on, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. - and -²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save [only] those who believe.

So the final conclusion to answer his question is this: In order to be saved, one must first hear of Christ by the proclaiming of His Word. If the Father then draws them (John 6:44) and they subsequently believe, it produces a saving faith. It may seem unfair in our eyes for someone in a 3^rd world country who has never heard of Christ to be punished, but remember, all of us have sinned and none of us is deserving of His Grace to begin with. 

The mere fact that He chose to humble Himself by coming to this Earth to die to redeem some of us (those who believe) demonstrates his amazing love (John 3:16). This fact is something I praise God for every day of my life, that I was born at this time in history and live in a free country where there is free access and proclamation of the gospel wherever we go. What is even more sad than the 3^rd world country scenario is the people in a county like America who have had a chance to hear the gospel, but choose to deny it and turn away from it anyway.

Additional Resources:

Greg Koukl - What about those who've never heard? (4 min video)