Some instruction on reply

There are several people who automatically receive an email each time that I blog on the website. Please be advised that if you want to comment on the blog post that you cannot click reply on your email, it will be returned to you. This is not a problem with our Churches website, it is just that the server from the Blogger that sends the emails out is a no reply mailbox, that is why they are coming straight back to you. We welcome and appreciate all comments, however, in order to comment you must go to the Churches website at WWW.emmanuelbaptistmineral.com, or if you are on dial up and loading the Churches web page would take to long, just send me an email at pastormichael@emmanuelbaptistmineral.com and I will make sure that your comment gets on the blog. If you go to the web site, on the home page scroll down to the lower right corner and click on pastor Michael's blog, locate the article and click on the blue comments link at the bottom of the article. Leave your comment and click submit. I look forward to hearing from you.

Published with Blogger-droid

Whose ministry is it, anyway?

I am very excited about a brand new series I will be starting on Sunday, June 13th. This series is going to be a Biblical look at the local church. We are going to be looking at the responsibilities of the Elders as well as the responsibility of the Church members. One of the areas that we are going to be looking is the responsibility of the members to support the ministries of their local Church.

The Apostle Paul is very clear in Hebrews 10:25, that as God’s people, we are to always be consistent in supporting the ministries of our local Church with our attendance. Many Christians believe that because they attend once on Sunday, that they are fulfilling the requirements of the Scriptures. But the Scriptures show a very different picture of faithfulness. I wonder if men were as faithful to their wives as they are to their Church (the Church being a picture of marriage in the Scripture cf. Ephesians 5), how long they would be married. Some may think that I am over-emphasizing this to prove a point, but throughout the Old Testament God accuses Israel of Spiritual adultery because they were unfaithful. Could God accuse those who are unfaithful to their local Church of the same thing. I think so!

But we not only support our Church with our faithful attendance to the services, but we also support our Church by being faithful to the ministries that may not affect us directly. Listen, even if a ministry of your local Church doesn’t affect you directly, it is still a ministry of  your Church and therefore, that is your ministry.  People incorrectly believe because they personally do not have people involved in a particular ministry in the Church, that when that ministry is on display they do not have to be there. Part of being faithful to your Church is to support the ministries of your Church. There are a number of reasons why, but one of which is to support the people that have worked hard to make that ministry successful. By you not attending because you are not involved directly, is pretty much saying that the hard work that was put into that ministry does not mean anything, because you are not involved directly. Such is incorrect thinking and contrary to the Scriptural meaning of faithfulness. I do not mean to come across hard, but I don’t think that we think about the reactions that our actions cause.

But don’t worry, I am also going to spend a great deal of time reminding myself of my responsibility as Pastor, so it will not be one sided at all.

Remember June 13th.

The Theology of Charles Finney

Many Christians over the years have given rave reviews to the eighteenth century revivalist, Charles G. Finney. Books have been written about his life, preachers quote him from the pulpit and lest we forget the great number of people that “came to the Lord” as a result of his ministry. However, as you begin to review the life and the beliefs of Charles Finney, you will find that he was very much NOT an evangelical, and not at all orthodox in his beliefs.

Charles Finney was born in 1792 in Connecticut but lived most of his life in Oneida County, New York. Raised by unsaved parents, he grew up largely ignorant of Christian doctrine. The religion that Finney remembered as a child was, he said later, “of a type not at all calculated to arrest my attention”. Finney characterized his pastor’s sermon content as “a dry discussion of Theology”.

Finney decided to study law and took an apprenticeship in Adams, New York, where for the first time he became actively involved in Church. The local Presbyterian Pastor, George W. Gale, took a special interest in Finney and made him choir director. Then over the years, Finney made a profession of faith and later felt the call of God to preach. It was, I believe, extremely unfortunate that Finney chose to pursue a preaching ministry immediately after his conversion. Devoid of any solid Christian influence in his life, he was almost completely ignorant of the Scriptures and Theology. He was a brilliant man; however, and his legal training had conditioned him to think logically, but it also saddled him with a world of wrong presumptions. Finney’s notions about justice, guilt, righteousness, transgression, forgiveness, responsibility, sovereignty, and a host of other terms were drawn from his legal studies, not the Scriptures.

Wherever Finney preached, people responded enthusiastically. Finney boldly challenged conventional doctrine and persuasively championed his own rather novel set of doctrines. He interpreted everything from a nineteenth-century American legal standard to every biblical statement. “I had read nothing on the subject of the atonement except in my Bible”, he wrote, “and what I found on the subject, I had interpreted as I would have understood the same or like passages in law books”. He concluded that God’s justice demanded that He extend grace equally to all. He reasoned that God could not righteously hold mankind guilty for Adam’s disobedience. In his opinion, a just God would never condemn people for being sinners. Finney wrote, “The Bible defines sin to be a transgression of the law. What law have we violated inheriting this sin nature? What law requires us to have a different nature from that which we possess? Does reason affirm that we are deserving of the wrath and curse of God forever, for inheriting from Adam a sinful nature”.  Thus Finney discarded the clear teaching of Romans 5:16-19 in favor of human reason. Worse yet, Finney denied that a holy God would impute people’s sin to Christ and of Christ’s righteousness to believers. Finney concluded that the doctrines clearly taught in Romans 3-5 were “theological fiction”. In essence he denied the core teachings of evangelical theology.

Unfortunately, Finney’s early success in preaching obscured his serious flaws in Theology. Finney himself admitted that when he was being examined by his Church to be licensed to preach, the presbytery, “avoided asking questions that would naturally brings my views into collision with theirs”.  When asked if he agreed with the Westminster Confession of Faith, he said, “I replied that I received it for substance of doctrine, so far as I understood it”. Then later confessed that he had never read it.

There is much more that I could say about him and if anyone is interested I will share, but for my purposes on this article what I have said will suffice, because you get the message. One of the  marks that you always hear about  Finney is the great number of people that came to “know the Lord” under his preaching. In closing I want to quote a contemporary of Finney, “During ten years, hundreds, and perhaps thousands, were annually reported to be converted on all hands, but now it is admitted that Finney’s real converts are comparatively few”. It is declared, even by himself, that “the great body of them are a disgrace to religion”; as a consequence of these defections, practical evils, great, terrible, and innumerable, are in various quarters rushing into the Church.

Finney’s logical way of thinking, instead of biblical, and heretical teaching caused the superficial “conversion” of many. He denied the most cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith, and his presentation of the Gospel bore little fruit. Thank God for pastors who are strong on Biblical doctrine. 

"What is the Church doing wrong"?

The following article is adopted from Dr. Albert Mohler. Dr. Mohler is the President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

"Churches in many ways have actually added to the problem. They promote the idea of the Church as a full-service entertainment and activity center, where you take children away from their parents and put them in a different peer culture. Now it's a Church peer culture. What happens when they grow out of that? What steps can the Church take to do better"

• Focus on expository preaching, and teach how to think biblically. The puplit has to take the responsibility. In far too many Churches there is just no expository preaching (teaching that expounds on a particular text of Scripture). There isn't the robust biblical preaching that sets forth the Word of God and then explains how the people of God must think differently in order to be faithful to that Word.

• Show the seriousness of Church, including personal accountability. The local Church must be a robust gospel people. It must be a warm fellowship of believers...who are really living out holiness and faithfulness to Christ, and being mutually accountable for that.

• Give answers about current issues. We're not giving kids adequate information on some very crucial issues. Look at the questions that the average teenager is facing, "Why aren't you physically intimate with your girlfriend?" "Why don't you believe in evoloution?" "Why don't you accept this worldview?" "Why don't you accept this lifestyle?" If we aren't giving them intellectual material, intellectual knowledge, substance, and confidence, we shouldn't be suprised when they go with the flow.

• Explain how the gospel in unfolding through real history. The Christian faith, the Christian claim, the gospel, is first of all a master narrative-a true story-about life, about God's purpose to bring glory to Himself. It has four major movements: Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation. The only was to understand the great story of the gospel is to begin with the fact that God is the Creator and He is the Lord of all. If we don't anchor our children in that story, if they think that Christianity is merely a bunch of stuff to believe, if they don't find their identity in that-in which they say-"Yes, that's my story. This is where I am"-then they are going to fall away.

What are parents doing wrong?

We've got to start treating young people as a mission field, not just assuming that mere nuture will lead them into Christian discipleship and into Christian faith.

Parents need to take the responsibility here. The one thing we know from the entirety of the Scripture is that parents have the non-negotiable responsibility to train, educate, to confront them with the biblical truth, to ground them in Scripture.

We also have, on the part of many Christian parents, a buy-in to a new secualar understanding of parenthood. We are letting our children make big decisions far too early. A teenager making a decision about whether he or she is going to participate in Church activities or be at Church...is making a decision that should be made for him or her".

The "Black and White" Scriptures?

There is a sweeping notion permeating the Church at warp speed. A notion that most Bible believing Christians would say does not exist in their form of Doctrine. Oh yes, they believe the Bible and they believe its fundemental doctrines; but when the truths of Scripture begin to hit a little close to home they back off a little. Why? Because they really do not like truth that is absolute.

The Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary defines "Absolute" and being, "outright, unmitigated", (that word probably does not help much, so let me say that unmitigated means to be so definite in what one says that it leaves little chance for change or relief). It also uses the word "fundemental" and "ultimate". Many people will sit in Church and listen to good sermons being preached, but the minute that preacher comes out with one of those absolute statments, you can see their facial expressions change; particularly if that absolute statement is a negative statement and has to do with them or a person that they care a lot about. It is even more damaging when the preacher can show from Scripture that his absolute statements are, in fact, biblical. Then they have no where to go. Their argument then goes from being with the preacher to being with the Lord God of the Scriptures.

I have many things to thank God for in my life. One of the things that I am immensley thankful for is for my home pastor, Jeff Clark. He taught me two fundemental lessons about preaching and teaching. Always, always, always (did I mention "always"), have the Scripture back up what you say; and, people will only learn to the degree of the depth that you take them, (so if people do not like my in-depth approach to the Scriptures, they can thank Jeff Clark for that). That lesson is very important because I realize that there are a lot of preachers out there that spend a lot of time preaching and making absolute statements based on their own opinion. I, too, have to back up sometimes in my study and say "ok, Huffman (I like to think that is the Holy Spirit), where is your Bible for that statement", and sometimes I have to retract. So, I am very aware that the tendency is there for that. Because preachers are humans with real emotions; emotions that sometimes get the better of them.

The Bible is a book of absolutes. There are no grey areas in Scripture, none; it is black and white. But there are some who do not appreciate absolute, black and white statements. And when they hear a preacher make to many of them (especially if it makes them uncomfortable), they will discontinue going to that Church or going when or where that man is preaching. If you hear me make one of those absolute statements, whether live in our Church or over the internet, I, by the Grace of God, will have Scripture that validates the point.

For example, if I where to say, (and I have said from the pulpit), "If there is no consistent Church attendance coupled with your "faith" then your faith is vain". Is there biblical evidence for such an absolute statement? Yes! Hebrews 10:25, James 2:14-26; John 14:15, Matthew 7:21, just to name a few. But you know what, people hate that absolute statment. And I understand from a human perspective. We all have people that we want very desperately to believe are saved, but do not meet the requirement of the above mentioned verses. And the emotion and the flesh hate to hear that. Another example, my dad who, (for those of you reading this that are not a member of our Church), is also a pastor makes this absolute statement, "You cannot be saved without a changed life". Is there biblical evidence for that absolute statement? Yes! 2 Corinthians 5:17 is very clear on that.

Just remember, the Scriptures are a book of absolutes. If you have a problem with biblical absolutes, then your problem is with the God of the Absolute Bible.

Sermons Series in 2010

I am sitting here in my thinking chair, not doing much thining, but watching the fiesta bowl. I do not like either team, really, but hey sometimes it is just a matter of the fact that it is football, right? (Let me here a good Tim the "tool man" Taylor grunt).

I wanted to share with the readers of this blog and folks of my Church some information about the sermon series that we will be enjoying the first part of the new year. Also, for those that cannot be with us because of distance, so that you may listen online (Thanks to the cyber-talents of Mrs. Karen Cersley. Oops! Sorry Karen, I did not ask permission to use your name).

I am very excited about what the Lord is going to teach us through His Word in the Coming year. For those who have been with us we have spent sometime in the Gospel of John; Three years now and we are half way through the eighth chapter. But that is not the record, I know a Pastor who has been in John 5 years and is in chapter 4, so I am not the only nut!! But we will take an extended break from the Gospel of John.

Last Lord's day we began our study on the Lords teaching on the subject of Divorce and Remarriage. I taught this about three years ago, but the Churches in America are so confused on what the Lord actually taught on the subject, that we need to learn exactly what He said. I get tired of hearing preachers add their view and put words in the mouth of the Lord, we are going to let Christ speak for Himself.

Next, we will enjoy and wonderfully enriching study on "Twelve Ordianary Men", We will spend 11 weeks and learn about the first preachers of the NT Church. How they were men of doubt and sin just as we are yet God used them in a mighty way. We will come away from that with the understanding that God can use us no matter our past or our present, as long as we are submitted to God.

Then, we will do a study "Twelve extraordinanry women". I think God for how He uses my Mom in my life. I am thankful for how He uses my wife in my life. We will see the great way that God used women to perform His will.

We have many others planned, but God's grace. It is my prayer that God's people will be faithful to the Service at our Church on Sunday Evening and not sit at home, but come and worship as we learn great things about God's Word.

"12 Ways to Love your Wayward Child"

1. Point them to Christ.
Your rebellious child's real problem is not drugs or sex or cigarettes or pornography or laziness or crime or cussing or slovenliness or homosexuality or being in a punk rock band. The real problem is that they don't see Jesus clearly. The best thing you can do for them--and the only reason to do any of the following suggestions--is to show them Christ. It is not a simple or immediate process, but the sins in their life that distress you and destroy them will only begin to fade away when they see Jesus more like he actually is.

2. Pray.
Only God can save your son or daughter, so keep on asking that he will display himself to them in a way they can't resist worshiping him for.

3. Acknowledge that something is wrong.
If your daughter rejects Jesus, don't pretend everything is fine.
For every unbelieving child, the details will be different. Each one will require parents to reach out in unique ways. Never acceptable, however, is not reaching out at all. If your child is an unbeliever, don't ignore it. Holidays might be easier, but eternity won't be.

4. Don't expect them to be Christ-like.
If your son is not a Christian, he's not going to act like one.
You know that he has forsaken the faith, so don't expect him to live by the standards you raised him with. For example, you might be tempted to say, "I know you're struggling with believing in Jesus, but can't you at least admit that getting wasted every day is sin?"
If he's struggling to believe in Jesus, then there is very little significance in admitting that drunkenness is wrong. You want to protect him, yes. But his unbelief is the most dangerous problem--not partying. No matter how your child's unbelief exemplifies itself in his behavior, always be sure to focus more on the heart's sickness than its symptoms.

5. Welcome them home.
Because the deepest concern is not your child's actions, but his heart, don't create too many requirements for coming home. If he has any inkling to be with you, it is God giving you a chance to love him back to Jesus. Obviously there are some instances in which parents must give ultimatums: "Don't come to this house if you are..." But these will be rare. Don't lessen the likelihood of an opportunity to be with your child by too many rules.
If your daughter smells like weed or an ashtray, spray her jacket with Febreze and change the sheets when she leaves, but let her come home. If you find out she's pregnant, then buy her folic acid, take her to her twenty-week ultrasound, protect her from Planned Parenthood, and by all means let her come home. If your son is broke because he spent all the money you lent him on loose women and ritzy liquor, then forgive his debt as you've been forgiven, don't give him any more money, and let him come home. If he hasn't been around for a week and a half because he's been staying at his girlfriend's--or boyfriend's--apartment, plead with him not to go back, and let him come home.

6. Plead with them more than you rebuke them.
Be gentle in your disappointment.
What really concerns you is that your child is destroying herself, not that she's breaking rules. Treat her in a way that makes this clear. She probably knows--especially if she was raised as a Christian--that what she's doing is wrong. And she definitely knows you think it is. So she doesn't need this pointed out. She needs to see how you are going to react to her evil. Your gentle forbearance and sorrowful hope will show her that you really do trust Jesus.
Her conscience can condemn her by itself. Parents ought to stand kindly and firmly, always living in the hope that they want their child to return to.

7. Connect them to believers who have better access to them.
There are two kinds of access that you may not have to your child: geographical and relational. If your wayward son lives far away, try to find a solid believer in his area and ask him to contact your son. This may seem nosy or stupid or embarrassing to him, but it's worth it--especially if the believer you find can also relate to your son emotionally in a way you can't.
Relational distance will also be a side effect of your child leaving the faith, so your relationship will be tenuous and should be protected if at all possible. But hard rebuke is still necessary.
This is where another believer who has emotional access to your son may be very helpful. If there is a believer who your son trusts and perhaps even enjoys being around, then that believer has a platform to tell your son--in a way he may actually pay attention to--that he's being an idiot. This may sound harsh, but it's a news flash we all need from time to time, and people we trust are usually the only ones who can package a painful rebuke so that it is a gift to us.
A lot of rebellious kids would do well to hear that they're being fools--and it is rare that this can helpfully be pointed out by their parents--so try to keep other Christians in your kids lives.

8. Respect their friends.
Honor your wayward child in the same way you'd honor any other unbeliever. They may run with crowds you'd never consider talking to or even looking at, but they are your child's friends. Respect that--even if the relationship is founded on sin. They're bad for your son, yes. But he's bad for them, too. Nothing will be solved by making it perfectly evident that you don't like who he's hanging around with.
When your son shows up for a family birthday celebration with another girlfriend--one you've never seen before and probably won't see again--be hospitable. She's also someone's wayward child, and she needs Jesus, too.

9. Email them.
Praise God for technology that lets you stay in your kids' lives so easily!
When you read something in the Bible that encourages you and helps you love Jesus more, write it up in a couple lines and send it to your child. The best exhortation for them is positive examples of Christ's joy in your own life.
Don't stress out when you're composing these as if each one needs to be singularly powerful. Just whip them out one after another, and let the cumulative effect of your satisfaction in God gather up in your child's inbox. God's word is never proclaimed in vain.

10. Take them to lunch.
If possible, don't let your only interaction with your child be electronic. Get together with him face to face if you can. You may think this is stressful and uncomfortable, but trust me that it's far worse to be in the child's shoes--he is experiencing all the same discomfort, but compounded by guilt. So if he is willing to get together with you for lunch, praise God, and use the opportunity.
It will feel almost hypocritical to talk about his daily life, since what you really care about is his eternal life, but try to anyway. He needs to know you care about all of him. Then, before lunch is over, pray that the Lord will give you the gumption to ask about his soul. You don't know how he'll respond. Will he roll his eyes like you're an idiot? Will he get mad and leave? Or has God been working in him since you talked last? You don't know until you risk asking.
(Here's a note to parents of younger children: Set up regular times to go out to eat with your kids. Not only will this be valuable for its own sake, but also, if they ever enter a season of rebellion, the tradition of meeting with them will already be in place and it won't feel weird to ask them out to lunch. If a son has been eating out on Saturdays with his dad since he was a tot, it will be much harder for him later in life to say no to his father's invitation--even as a surly nineteen-year-old.)

11. Take an interest in their pursuits.
Odds are that if your daughter is purposefully rejecting Christ, then the way she spends her time will probably disappoint you. Nevertheless, find the value in her interests, if possible, and encourage her. You went to her school plays and soccer games when she was ten; what can you do now that she's twenty to show that you still really care about her interests?
Jesus spent time with tax collectors and prostitutes, and he wasn't even related to them. Imitate Christ by being the kind of parent who will put some earplugs in your pocket and head downtown to that dank little nightclub where your daughter's CD release show is. Encourage her and never stop praying that she will begin to use her gifts for Jesus' glory instead her own.

12. Point them to Christ.
This can't be over-stressed. It is the whole point. No strategy for reaching your son or daughter will have any lasting effect if the underlying goal isn't to help them know Jesus.
Jesus.
It's not so that they will be good kids again; it's not so that they'll get their hair cut and start taking showers; it's not so that they'll like classical music instead of deathcore; it's not so that you can stop being embarrassed at your weekly Bible study; it's not so that they'll vote conservative again by the next election; it's not even so that you can sleep at night, knowing they're not going to hell.
The only ultimate reason to pray for them, welcome them, plead with them, email them, eat with them, or take an interest in their interests is so that their eyes will be opened to Christ.
And not only is he the only point--he's the only hope. When they see the wonder of Jesus, satisfaction will be redefined. He will replace the pathetic vanity of the money, or the praise of man, or the high, or the orgasm that they are staking their eternities on right now. Only his grace can draw them from their perilous pursuits and bind them safely to himself--captive, but satisfied.
He will do this for many. Be faithful and don't give up.