Random Observations on a Sunday Morning

As I was headed to church this morning I had to stop to allow for pedestrian traffic as another church emptied out and its congregants crossed to the parking lot.  I observed that there were many gray heads; but there were no kids, no teens and no young adults.  Contrast that to the Sunday morning service at our church ( the Baptist Church of Northville--yeah, I am promoting it   here:  http://www.baptistchurchofnorthville.org/) where there are families with infants, preschool, and all school-aged kids and older teens as well as a significant number of young adults, a few newlyweds, and a few soon-to-be-weds. We have the full spectrum of ages covered.  

We also cover a broad range in music, as was commented on this morning by our Music Director. This morning we had a special that was done to a Jamaican beat and in an island vernacular.  It was well done and well received. Our Sunday morning worship is graced by all types of music from a contemporary praise band with a variety of instruments, a great sounding choir of adult voices, kids choirs, bells choirs and endless specials. Any music that brings praise and honor to our Lord is used.  It's priceless to see senior citizens clapping to a modern song and youngsters singing the timeless and traditional hymns of the faith. 

I was also struck this morning by the commitment to service among some of our folks. One older gentleman--long a loyal servant within our church, having served in a variety of positions--now needs a cane to safely navigate from the parking lot, across open ground and into the sanctuary. However, he takes his place among the ushers when the time comes for the morning offering, though he may grasp a pew for support here and there. That's faithful service!  

Finally, over the last couple of weeks I've been in a position to notice the preparation that goes into worship. Our musicians practice beforehand, our sound people make sure everything is working, our maintenance man is standing by, ready to deal with the little needs that pop up with a high degree of regularity...yes, worship does take preparation. This begs the question:  Are we prepared to worship?  Are we already thinking on things of the Lord, or about the picnic this afternoon? Have we looked at the sermon outline that's usually available on-line and read the Scripture? Have we asked God's blessing on the hour? Hmmmm.

   

Some Things Just "Stick In My Craw"

Facebook has allowed me to connect with a lot of folks.  Some are friends from years past, some are quite distant geographically, some I might never have met; but through mutual "friends" we've connected and developed a dialogue.  Some post things that I can't wait to see--pictures of their kids, that kind of things; others post words of wisdom, whether just good sense or something of solid theology.  Some have postings that are a mixed bag of information and enough interesting things to keep me reading them, and then there are those who post drivel.  Yeah, that's right, drivel.
I might have ranted about this before; but this time I have a specific bit of drivel that has got me fired up.  I'm often seeing posts (generally passed on from others so far removed that the original source is totally occluded) that read something like "Say this prayer and in two hours God will do...." You've seen them, I'm sure.  They're the 21st century version of the chain letter.
I take a couple issues with this:

• First of all, I believe that God answers prayers of those who are His.  That's straight from the Bible.  He is under no obligation to answer those of a random person who passes on what another has written, often with not a thought, let alone a real prayer. 
• A prayer is something heartfelt.  Though they may be read from written material, those are all too often words from a page, nothing more.  There is no heart connection to God.
• Most egregiously, the person posting is invoking God's name and reputation; promising, on His behalf, that He will do some specific thing.  That is, I believe, a form of taking God's name in vain, which--in case you've forgotten--is part of the 10 commandments.  

Some of these folks come from backgrounds about which I have no idea.  Maybe they were not taught any better; in this day, that's certainly understandable. Others, and these bother me more, were raised where the truth was taught.  They are without excuse.
I have thought about responding to these things with an all capitalized "YOU OUGHT TO KNOW BETTER;" but as of yet have not done so.  It gets more tempting all the time.
So folks, if you are one to post such things, think about what you're doing.  Don't presume to speak for God unless you've truly studied His word and have a grasp of what prayer and answered prayer is all about (hint--it's not about what you want; it's about what He wants for you).  If you make a statement based on Scripture, good for you.  If you're posting because you like passing on nice-sounding things, think about what you're doing.

The Attributes of God--Holy, Holy, Holy

Quite possibly the least discussed attribute is God's holiness.  Yes, we sing "Holy, Holy, Holy" and similar songs, but what do we mean by it?  Do we understand it?  Believe it? Live by it?

Simply put, God is set apart from us; there is no other like Him.  Interestingly, as He is set apart from man, He calls His people to be set apart from the rest of the world.  He gives us patterns--the sinless life of Jesus being one--to follow to do this.

He can't look on sin, yet sent His Son Jesus to die so that man could be forgiven for it.  That's a mighty God

The song HOLY HOLY HOLY also allows us a look at some of His other attributes:

LORD God Almighty--

• LORD is the way the Jewish writers of the Old Testament recorded the proper name of God--Yaweh, or Jehovah as we write it today.  
• God is an entity to be worshiped, followed and obeyed
• Almighty reflects his attribute of omnipotence--all power is His

Merciful--He gives mercy which is withholding a punishment that is justly due.  He will withhold that from those who trust in Christ

Trinity--God is a God of three persons, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  All are God; all are equal; together they are God.  It's not an easy concept to grasp and anyone who says he has it all figured out is most likely a heretic--or at best he is in well-intentioned error.

...all the saints adore thee...A picture of Heaven, when the saints will be glad to give to God all the rewards which they have earned in His service.  This clearly shows God to be worthy of all our worship and praise.

Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee--Another picture of Heaven.  Here are two types of angelic beings, both engaged in acts of selfless worship.

Was, is and evermore shall be--Here's a statement of God's eternal nature, without beginning or ending.

Though the darkness hide thee--Our sinful world has clouded our ability to see God clearly as He is.  Adam and Eve walked with God, apparently in a literal sense; but since they sinned, mankind was no longer able to do that.  We cannot know, and I suspect even in eternity will never fully know, the full extent of God for we are limited beings and God is limitless.

Perfect in power, love and purity.  He is perfect, that is complete in all of these things:

• He is all powerful--omnipotent.  There is nothing that the LORD God Jehovah cannot do! 
• Love--He loved the world so much that He gave his only son....  That's perfect love
• Purity--there is no guile in God.  He defines truth, it's recorded in His Word, and acts according to it

All Thy works shall praise Thy name...--there will come a time when every knee will bow to God's power and sovereignty.  There will be no more disputing of His claim to authority, his right to rule.  It will be over.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!

1. Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
   Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
   God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
2. Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
   Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
   Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
   Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.
3. Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
   Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
   Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
   Perfect in pow’r, in love, and purity.
4. Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
   All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
   Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
   God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

This has not been an exhaustive exploration of the Attributes, merely an introduction.  For a further and deeper study, I'd suggest biting the bullet and investing in a good book of systematic theology (I like Grudem's).  Along with a good study Bible, it will guide you to a better understanding of who God is and what He says about Himself.  He is NOT the god of pop-culture, He is Jehovah God, the LORD.

The Attributes of God (Unchangeable and Eternal)

Ps 102:25-27:  In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.

This passage which, incidentally is quoted in Hebrews 1:11-12, talks about the unchangeable nature of God.  He is, was, and always will be the same.   In following the Bible’s account of creation, through the fall of man, the flood, the choosing of Abram, the birth of the nation of Israel, continuing through the Exodus and going through the years of the judges, kings, captivity and even to the time of Christ and the first century church He did not change.  He has not changed in the 2000 years since the church began and He’s not going to change in our lifetime or that of our children. 

When written in the Psalms, this statement was directed toward the Father, when quoted in Hebrews, it was directed at the Son.  This clearly puts Christ as God, debunking any belief that “Jesus might have been a good man or a great prophet, but certainly not God.” 

This passage also mentions His eternal nature “…years will never end.”  This begs the question of when did God begin.  Psalms 90:2 tells us “…from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.”  That is the span of eternity. 

So, the God of whom we speak, God Jehovah, the LORD, “I AM WHO I AM,” existed before time, will exist beyond the end of time, and will not change.  This is the short version of what the Bible tells us. 

The Attributes of God (What God are we Talking About?)

As we start looking at the attributes of God, let’s start with this one passage.  It’s the well-known account of Moses returning to the mountain to get the second copy the commandments:

Ex 34:5-7   Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD.   And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."

First we must determine just who it is we’re talking about.  God has many names throughout Scripture, but the first we need to look at is the LORD.  In our English translations, when we see it written with all capital letters, it is the following the Jewish tradition of never speaking the name by which God referred to himself when He spoke to Moses in the burning bush.  It means “I am who I am” and today we use the word Jehovah to indicate that same proper name.  In that we see that He defines himself.  We do not, we cannot—and, might I add, we dare not—define God according to what we wish Him to be.  It was He who spoke the Earth into being, and breathed life into all creatures, ending with man, and then said “It is very good.” 

He is compassionate and gracious.  The image that compassion should bring to mind is like that of cuddling a much loved child.  Among my favorite memories are those of my kids cuddled up with me in my chair or on the couch while I’ve read them stories, comforted them when they’ve been upset, or maybe just snuggled with them as they drifted off to sleep.  To grasp the concept of gracious, imagine again a child, this one struggling with some kind of problem.  You stop, bend over or kneel down to help.  There’s no obligation to do so, you do it only because it’s a child and it’s in your nature to enjoy helping children.  Such is the nature of God.  We are His children; it’s His nature to help us.  We could probably follow up on that last picture by thinking of trying to help a child put a square peg in a round hole.  We know it won’t work, but he just keeps trying to do it his way.  (NOTE: I raised boys—I’m sure it’s the same for girls!)

God is slow to anger, at least as we see it.  In Biblical history He waited generations, giving ample time for His people, the Nation of Israel, to repent and return to Him.  When they repented and returned, He forgave them…and then they rebelled again.  He waited and waited forgiving years of repeated rebellion; but ultimately he acted.  He did so justly.  He punished the guilty.  Without punishment for the guilty, there is no justice.  We’ll deal with that another time.

Children of Designer Gods (final)

That's final as in the last, not that this is a test.
I've been examining some misconceptions that I often see and hear among my friends.  That's enough looking at error.  Since I'm of the belief that the best defense against error is truth,  I'm going to move into a quick look at the attributes of God.  I should have my thought on the matter, and more importantly my Scripture on the matter, lined up in a couple days and will try to get it started by the weekend.

Children of Designer Gods (part 5)

Moving along yet further into the making God in our own pattern concept, we'll now look briefly at the idea of why Jesus came to Earth.  If we were to ask that questions, many would say things like "to teach us how to live good lives," "to heal sick people," and a host of other things, all of which He did, but none of which are the reason He came.  It's specifically stated once.  In Luke's Gospel, chapter 19, verse 10:  "For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost."
What was lost?  Man was lost--unable, on his own power to come to God.  All of us have sinned and fall short (daily, I might add) of God's Glory.  The penalty for that sin is death--eternal death, Hell, horrible punishment. The single way to escape that is by trust in Christ and His work on the cross.  It was on the cross that He died for our sins and that is how he saved us.
So, Jesus came to provide a way for us to be reconciled to God.  He came to seek and save us.  Along the way, he did some great things.  He healed many, fed lots of people, performed all kinds of miracles...so many things that John's gospel tells us that there were not enough books to record all His actions within those three short years of ministry; but those things were not the reasons He came.   He came to seek and save the lost--I was among the lost, you were among the lost (hopefully, the past tense is correct, if not the time to correct that is now).
We can't be fooled by those who take bits and pieces of the Bible and use them out of context to prove something which is contrary to the book actually says.  Jesus did NOT come just to do good things, or teach us how to live good lives.  He came to seek and save the lost.  That's the whole story.  Tho think He did less, is to sell Him short, to design him as we want Him to be.

Children of Designer Gods (part 4)

How much can I get away with and still go to Heaven?
That's the question asked on a bumper sticker seen on and off over the years.  The fact that the questions has been asked should make us wonder what's going on in the mind of the person asking.  Does the questioner think that there's a certain sin limit that can be approached, but not exceeded, before God's wrath is incurred?  The whole question there is just wrong in so many ways; we'll look at the practical and the theological only.
First, we never "get away" with sin.  Sin can be forgiven--and made of no eternal consequence--by merely confessing it asking God to forgive it.  That provided that a person has made a commitment to Christ, taking Him as personal Savior.  However, the sin will just about always bring some measure of consequence in this life.  Stealing, for instance will put the thief at odds with the person from whom he steals and might very well be dealt with by the courts and land him in jail.  Adultery, though confessed and forgiven will often put stresses and strains on a marriage, wrecking forever the trust that should be between a man and wife.  Lying will make a person unlikely to ever trust the liar again.  So how much did a person really "get away with?" On the theological side, the Apostle Paul deals with this in Romans, Chap. 6.  "...should we continue in sin that grace may abound?  God forbid!"  Some were saying that since God is a loving God (starting to sound familiar?), and gives grace freely, is it not better to take more grace by sinning more?  That is that statement to which Paul objects in such strong terms.
If you push God for his grace, are you really a child of His?  It's certainly fair to ask that question.
This should have been put to rest by the writings of Augustine of Hippo, many centuries ago--long before bumper stickers.  His statement, often written as "Love God and do as you please," on the surface might be misconstrued to think that we might live according the "how much....?" question above.  However, Augustine understood that if we love God we do what He wants, what His will is.  In context of how and what he wrote, that's very clear.
If you're asking how much you can get away with, I doubt that you poorly understand the nature of God.  The answer is NOTHING.

References:
John 14:15
1 John 5:3
Psalms 119:167

Children of Designer Gods (part 3)

Another fallacy of today's so-called Christians is their acceptance of others' beliefs as equal to their own.  Usually it's expressed something like "as long as they're sincere in their belief," or something similar.  Sorry folks; you cannot be a true Christian and think that a good Buddhist , good Muslim or good anything else will be going to Heaven--their fate is a one-way trip to Hell.  If you believe that, you're not trusting in the Christ of the Bible. The fault for holding this kind of belief lies squarely in the teachings of many churches.  They're not holding fast to God's Word!
After preaching in a local church one Sunday morning, I shared coffee with an interesting fellow who had only recently started attending there. He'd grown up in a main-line denomination in which some churches teach the Bible properly and others teach whatever they want, or so it seems. My new friend was commenting on the large number of Buddhists that had been moving into the area and mentioned that they were "good people" and made some other comments that put his theology squarely in my sights.  I commented that, thought they were good people: helpful, hard working, industrious..., their beliefs were taking them straight to Hell.  My new friend stopped and looked at me strangely.  "I've never heard that before," was his reply.  He'd never heard that, though he'd been brought up in and around a church.  The church had failed him.
Jesus clearly said that He is the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father but by Him.  That's pretty plain, pretty exclusive.  It completely contradicts any statement about "as long as they're sincere...."  Some other religions even give credence to Jesus as a great prophet, though saying he's not divine.  He clearly said "I and the Father are one," so if He is a great prophet He should be believed; therefor, His statements are to be believed; they therefore condemn themselves by what they say.
The second half of this is that the churches have failed to teach the reality of Hell--the penalty for sin.  There was a time when preachers preached "Hell-fire and damnation messages," and that time is gone--replace largely by the God is Love message. God is certainly Love; but love without truth is valueless--not really love at all.  Maybe we need at least a bit of that fire and brimstone preaching again.
When churches ceased to preach the Bible theology began to drift; people's knowledge and understanding of God went by way of the wind and they started making it up as they went along--thus the designer gods however you want it.  The fix for that is to return to the Bible.  Read it, study it, memorize it; get into a church where it is taught reliably and regularly; surround yourself with folks who attempt to live it and apply it to their lives.  Then you will better understand God as He is, not as each might design Him to be.


References:
Johns 14:6
John 10:30

Children of Designer Gods (part 2)

One of the great fallacies of the day among professing Christians is that they can, as one friend said years ago, "worship God better sitting out there on my rock," without the need for regularly attending a church.
We can and will agree that to worship the Creator in the midst of His creation can be a valid and valuable thing.  However, we're directed to meet together regularly in worship; to do otherwise is another part of designing God after our pattern, not conforming to His.
The concept of a church is first mentioned by Jesus when he said "upon this rock I will build my church."  That rock mentioned here, by the way, was not Peter himself, but more accurately understood as the truth of what Peter had just stated: "You are the Christ, the son of the Living God."  The church is further pictured in the New Testament as the Body of Christ and the Bride of Christ.  Common sense will tell us that brides want to be in close contact with their grooms and body parts when separated from one another are not of much value.  Jesus envisioned the Church as a group, not a bunch of individuals.  There are two general concepts of the church.  One is the church at large: all believers of all times, world-wide; the other is the local church: local gatherings, whether small or large of believers.
The whole concept of a church is not a building, but rather a gathering together of like-minded people.  It exists for several purposes.  One of them is for the building up and encouraging of other believers.  That's among the reasons that the writer of the book of Hebrews warned about neglecting meeting together.  When you're running around solo, it's easy to become discouraged, when discouraged easy to fall away.  Using the imagery of the sheep and shepherd, it was the solo sheep that were caught by the wolves.  Of course, it's also the place to be taught, corrected, nourished, comforted, protected and a host of other things; but we're specifically warned that to be without fellowship and encouragement is a dangerous thing.
Most of us recall that Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd.  It's wise to consider that since we are His sheep, we should be in close contact to the rest of His flock.
I will never say that any local church is perfect, none are.  All are composed of imperfect people.  One pastor friend even has commentary on the imperfect nature of his church by calling the church's website  www.imperfectchurch.com/.
So, thought we might occasionally be upset or disappointed in any church; we cannot escape the fact that we belong there--regularly.  I know few, if any Christians who have not had periods of running solo.  As a lone sheep, I could easily have been plucked off by a marauding wolf a couple of times.  God has faithfully brought me back each time.
If you're trying to worship on your rock, isn't it about time to get back to the flock?

References:
Matt: 16:16-18
Heb. 10:25
1 Cor. 12:27
Rev. 21:2

The "Steady Eddie"

This post is written primarily for Christians: those who know the Lord as personal Savior.  Others might, or might not, get something from it.

It's been said that it's the Steady Eddies of organizations that really make them successful--those individuals who may not be the flashy, hard drivers and don't ever get much attention; but instead show up regularly, play their part competently and rarely, unfortunately, receive any notice, and sometimes struggling with continuing in the task.  So it is within Christian circles.
The goal of every Christian should be to bear fruit, that fruit being primarily new Christians.  There are other things one might do along the way; but that is the true goal: to bring others to Christ.  Success, by the way, is not measured in the number of people brought to a saving knowledge of Him, but in faithfulness and consistency to the attempt.  One missionary I know struggled for years before winning his first convert--but oh, what that one convert was able to do afterwards!
But how about those of us not in full-time Christian service?  One friend has had a measure of success in bringing people to Christ.  He's brought them in due to knowing them in social settings, just by being a good friend, offering a listening ear, help where need, and living a consistent Christian life to the point where people could say "I want what he has"  Then he showed them the way.  Yet this friend has struggled in one area.  He had a work life that for many years was quite difficult for him.  Plagued by many issues, he would have liked to move on, but due to realities such as job opportunities and potential pension losses, he stayed--not very happily maybe; but still living and working diligently as a Christian should.  He has been a true "Steady Eddie."
Into his work circle came an absolute atheist.  This guy wanted nothing--nothing at all--to do with God.  Even a prayer at a public event upset him.  A few years back, he started to participate in some social activities our church was doing--the camaraderie of riding motorcycles with his coworker and a bunch of other men can do that--and he began to soften.  Over a couple years time, he started to show up in church occasionally with my friend, then regularly, sometimes even when my friend was out of town!.  A very short time ago, he accepted Christ as his Savior.  He is now a changed, and still changing man.  It was the presence in his life of that Steady Eddie who brought him to the point where he recognized his need for Christ.
All the years my friend struggled, wanting out of his job situation, now has purpose (in hindsight, of course).  Had he let his inner struggle with the job situation spill out into his job performance or attitude he would never have seen this man come to the Lord as a result of his steadiness.
So, what's all this rambling about?  Some reading this might be among the movers and shakers wherever they are.  They might fully enjoy their work, they might be seeing tremendous success.  They may be seeing fruit in their Christian lives.  The rest of us, however are not going to be that way.  We're going to show up, do our jobs well--hopefully--and  receive few if any accolades for what we do.  The consistency in our work patterns, our life-styles do get noticed.  It may be that someone might be looking at you and wondering what makes you tick   Live your life, do your work, conduct yourselves at all times in a manner worthy of a Christian.  Someday that steadiness might be used to bring someone to the Lord.  That will make whatever struggles you've had worthwhile.

Children of Designer Gods (part 1)

It becomes increasingly clear that people in our culture are becoming less and less godly in their behaviors.  Oh, they claim the name Christian, they talk about prayer, they talk about God...; but what god are they talking about?
To be called a Christian, one must be a follower of Christ in the manner of those first Christians.  They believed that Christ was the Son of Jehovah God, that He came to Earth to free them from their sins, and that faith in Him was the key to their salvation.  They also purposefully followed His teachings, which were the embodiment of the Old Testament Law, played out, and laid out, in practical terms.
Today, many so-called Christians have a warped perspective on all that.  They pick what they want, and discard the rest.  "Jesus loved everyone," they say, and they're right; but He also corrected sinners and told them to mend their ways.  He embraced them, but not their sinful behavior.  Many of the current day affirm all behaviors on the grounds that God loves all.  Again, He loves all people, but hates sin, and will deal with it.  The modern so-called Christian has re-designed his own Jesus to do things his way, not God's way.
Within this is the fact that as God's son, Jesus is God and therefore He is just.  Justice demands accountability; accountability in turn demands payment.  God will not overlook sin.  He has provided a penalty for it (death) an escape for us for its penalty (justification), but that demands faith.  The proof of faith is repentance--changing direction.  A person who claims to be a Christian, but has no true faith and is not following the path that Christ presented as the right one can hardly rightly be considered a Christian as the word was first--and correctly--used in the book of the Acts of the Apostles.
The person who claims that Jesus' love accepts all needs to review His actions and words.  When He said "Go and sin no more," He really meant it!  To misconstrue His love as accepting all is to re-invent Jesus...making God in mans' image.  Making a designer god.   It's dangerous ground.  
*****************************************************************************

References and some comments (read the whole context so you get the whole picture):
Ac 11:26(b) So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
This is the first and only use of the work "Christian" in the Bible.  They were those who believed and were obeying the teachings.   A disciple is one who is taught; the disciples were called Christians; therefore a Christian must be teachable.  

Joh 8:10-11, Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
"No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
We are not to condemn people; however, those who are students of the Word are called to correct those who claim to be Christians yet behave in a way contrary to Christ's teaching.   Jesus did not condemn the woman; but he told her to repent--change her behavior.  

Tomorrow....

Since the first of the year I've been frequently filling the pulpit of a small church that is currently without a pastor.  Tomorrow morning I'll be preaching the fourth message in a series on the foundations of the faith.  One of the great scandals of modern Christianity is its failure to know and understand its history.  Along with that, the comprehension of the foundations of the faith have gone away.  Many churches don't preach, or at least don't emphasize many of the things that are important: the blood of Christ, the reality of hell and other things. I've tried in these four messages to incite a hunger to regain the knowledge of history and the facts of the foundation.
In my first message, we started with 2 Timothy 2 and looked at the five critical concepts of the Reformation.  They were know as the five solae: Sola fide, Sola Christo, Sola gratia, Sola scriptura, and Sola Dei Gloria.  That's Latin for faith alone, Christ alone, grace alone, scripture alone, and glory to God alone.  We also discussed the need to pass those concepts down to the next generation of the church.
Next we went to Romans 1 and spoke about God's wrath, the reason for it and "respectable" sins--those we don't think are all that bad.  We noted that Paul didn't pull any punches in dealing with the diversity within the young Roman church.  They all had the same problem--sin, and the same need--faith in Christ.
Last week was from Romans 3, where we dug into the meaning of some of those words we toss around all the time, but the meaning of which has been largely lost to the masses.  Grace, justification, propitiation...all can be tough concepts.  Within this message, the necessity of Christ's shed blood came into view quite vividly.
Tomorrow is from Romans 6 and deals with the fact that pay day is coming and the wages of sin is death.  We'll be looking three time frames of salvation, a concept I picked up at a conference a couple years back.  I have been saved from sin's penalty; I'm being saved from its power and will be saved from its presence.
Within this message we'll talk about the reality of Hell, and the certainty of Heaven.  I'm looking forward to bringing that message.  I borrowed some of the great imagery from Jonathan Edwards' powerful sermon,  Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.
So far in this series, I've also been able to weave in the five points of Calvinism--TULIP:  the total depravity of man; unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace and the perseverance of the saints.  It's been an aggressive series.
I have but one message left in this "Romp through Romans," and won't get a chance to deliver it until May or June, so this will be a wrap up of the basics.

Right Believing, Right Living

Like most Christians, there are things I struggle with.  One of the many is the relationship between faith and works.  It's an age-old discussion, so I'm in the company of many much more knowledgeable than I am; but it's frustrating still.

Obviously, not one Christian is perfect.  I have enough notable errors--we can safely call these sin--in my life to keep me humble and lots of family and friends who can remind me of that with nothing but a raised eyebrow; but like many, I work hard, with the aid of the Holy Spirit to live a responsible Christian life and not give the cause of Christ a bad name (though I'm sure I do that occasionally despite my best attempts).
However, we see many professing Christians living lives that are horrible.  They might be quiet Christians, who aren't terribly vocal about their faith and live like the rest of the world; or they may be outspoken ones that make it very plain what they believe, but by their behavior give everyone around them cause to step back and say "REALLY?"  "HE'S a Christian?"  Those loud ones are the once that concern me.

In my profession, I had friends in another agency who had very bad feelings about Christians on account of one of their supervisors.  His office was filled with Christian sayings on plaques; there was a Bible on his desk; Christian radio stations were always on in his office and patrol car....that kind of guy.  However, he was the most miserable man to work for.  He treated his officers like pawns in a chess game, told them lies...you name it; he was not the visible image of a good Christian.  Though I'm sure his belief was right, his life--at least at work--surely didn't show it.

Another fellow, in another agency, quickly became my friend after I noticed his uniform had some Christian items displayed on it, and I started a dialogue.  He had a church-going family and was, for all to see, a good Christian man.  All went well for a while, then I found that he was having an affair with a young woman...and all his coworkers knew it.  What a black eye on the cause of Christ.

Both of these men--though I'm sure they were believers--were not showing it by their works and bringing the cause of Christ into disrespect.

Faith--belief--is what brings about salvation, that can't be disputed Biblically; but, if the life is not changed by the belief, is the belief really there?  Hmmm.

I'm disturbed by many friends who tell me that they're believers, though their behavior makes me wonder.  I've often said that you cannot fly in the face of God's laws and expect him to bless you--that seems to be what many of my friends are doing.  My job is not to be critical, but to make sure I get my life right--maybe being something of a positive role model to them.  I can ask some probing questions, offer advice; but to point fingers is not my job.  It's still disturbing to see my friends living lives that are not God-glorifying.  I worry about what God might have to do in order to get their attention.

Christians and Diversity

Christians who hold to the absolutes of Biblical standards often get insulted for their lack of attention to cultural diversity.  They're not sensitive to the perceived needs of specific groups, or so it is said.  They--OK, let's make that we--should be more sensitive to those who have different backgrounds than we do, different values.  We're told that we should not be so hard-line on our beliefs.

When Paul wrote the epistle to the Romans, that document from which we get so much of our doctrine, he was writing to a group about as diverse as could be.  This was the first generation of the church. There were newly converted from all walks of life, all races and cultures.  Rome was the center of the world for all practical purposes, and all nations met there.  People from all groups were composed the first century church; converted Jews, Romans, Greeks, slaves, freemen, soldiers barbarians...were all among them.  

Paul had no problem being sensitive to the needs of each because the need was the same:  All needed the saving grace of Christ because all were guilty of sin.  The fact that the cultures were filled with many types of sin made no difference to him, he named the behavior sin and moved on.  He gave the same remedy for all sin and the same patterns of proper behavior to all, regardless of their individual backgrounds   

If you think that the culture today demands different treatment, check out the culture of first century AD Rome.  Prostitution and homosexuality were rampant, politics was crooked, the poor could be oppressed by the rich...need I go on?  

Yes, Paul addressed diversity then and the same words are applicable now.  Sin, grace, faith, redemption atonement,...they addressed the diverse needs of Paul's day; they address our needs today.  

Perfection

My family grew up singing hymns.  We sang them in church, at the piano at our house, friends' homes, my grandparents' house...lots of places.  They were sung with gusto and much inflection on the music.  The little variations on the part of the piano players added to the overall quality of the music produced.
Several times in the last few years I've had the occasion (where a piano player was lacking) to sing hymns played by what a friend calls the "piano player in a box."  It's a CD with the hymns produced digitally.  They are played in perfect time with zero inflection.  I had survived singing as a participant, but a few times recently I've had to lead the singing to this digitally produced stuff.  I messed it up pretty badly in a couple places--OK, a lot of places.
There are a couple lessons here.  The first, and most important is our proximity to perfection.  We aren't even close.  The best singers, those with impeccable skills, will not keep to the exacting time of a computer--the perfect time.  It makes me think of Romans 3:23: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  The best of us just won't be perfect.  No matter how hard we try we will not achieve the perfection that is required.  That's why Christ had to die, so that God could look on as though we were perfect, even though we are not, and never will be.
The other lesson is a bit convoluted, but is an interesting thought.  As each musician has his own interpretation on the music, each Christian (and here I'm talking those who have accepted Christ and are attempting to live up to his standard, not nominal Christians) will have minor variations in his attempts at getting it perfect.  Some musicians might hold a note, fiddle with the timing here and there, maybe even change a note once in a while, whatever works for their style.  This is their work to make a pleasant piece of music.  Each Christian in our attempt to get it right will have a few of those "imperfections" in our lives also.  They're part of us; but hopefully we're trying to get our lives the way Christ would have us live them.
My music will never be perfectly timed, and my life will never be that of a perfect Christian; but I strive to make good music, and I strive to make my life pleasant and pleasing to my God.

The book of First Opinions

A former pastor often made reference to this book. Though we’ve never seen it, we all know of it and hear it quoted occasionally—sometimes even by preachers.
A short time ago, my wife and I heard a pretty decent sermon (just for the record, not in our own church) based on Ez. 33:3 “…warn the people….” It was really a pretty good message warning about the realities of Hell, consequences of a godless life and a couple other things right out of Scripture. But then the preacher digressed. Instead of quoting, or even paraphrasing the Bible, he went into an area of opinion, and used unreferenced sources for information that seemed to me a bit on the shaky side.
When we hear a sermon it should resonate with the truth of Scripture! There should be no other authority than that of God’s Word itself. There is certainly room for opinion from the pulpit—indeed that makes one preacher different that the other; but opinion should be expressed for what it is: the belief of that person, and it should be backed up by Biblical principles. The absolute authority of what comes from the pulpit should be Scripture and Scripture alone. Other information should be given for what it is. If it's fact, reference the source; opinion or statement, do the same. Failing to do so can lead to a misinterpretation of the information as all being from the same source.
I’m not trying to castigate this particular preacher because he’s really a good man, and has been used of God to work in the lives of many folks in his area; besides, probably all preachers and all Christians (at least the outspoken ones) fall into the same trap on occasion, but I’m sensitive to the fact that preachers and pastors play an extremely important role in the lives of God’s people. Generally, they are working hard to impress upon their people what God has impressed upon them, but sometimes make their personal convictions—which God may well have laid upon their hearts—doctrine to be held by all.
I’ve seen that happen in other places where over a period in time the pastor’s decisions dictated the way his people lived, even to the point of choosing jobs or mates for some of their congregants. That’s a dangerous situation. A good pastor should give the Biblical facts, in all cases pointing out sin for what it is, and then let the Word penetrate the heart. Then each man and woman can make decisions for him/her self.
At least that's my opinion!