It is 12:37 on a Friday morning here and my Grandmother has just gone home to be with the Lord. My Grandmother was a victim of the cruel diease of ALS for which she fought for about a year, maybe a little longer. My Grandmother was a wonderful lady with lots of spirit that will greatly be missed. At this moment my heart is filled with grief. Not grief for my Grandmother, but grief for us; grief for my precious Dad who has now lost both of his parents. Grief for my children who thought the world of Grandma and she thought the world of them. Even though you know that this is coming (she was so sick this last week), the heart is never truly prepared for the news. I just got off the phone with my Dad with the news.
But while my heart is filled with sorrow, I know that it is a selfish sorrow. But we would never want Grandma back here in the condition that she was in. I have been praying very hard the last couple of days that the Lord would take Grandma on home to be with Him. And He has, once again, been faithful to answer. I am reminded of the words of a song that I heard and have sang in Church, I will just give you the first verse and the chorus:
Our prayers have all been answered, I've finally arrived.
The healing that had been delayed has now been realized.
No ones in a hurry, there's no schedule to keep,
We're all just praising Jesus, sitting at His feet.
Chorus:
If you could see me now, I'm walking streets of gold,
If you could see me now, I'm standing tall and whole.
If you could see me now, you'd know I've seen His face,
If you could see me now, you'd know the pains erased.
You would'nt want to ever leave this perfect place,
If you could only see me now.
In this time the words of the Apostle Paul take on new meaning.
In 2 Corinthians 5:8, "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."
For Christians, our sorrow can turn to joy to know that our saved loved one that has departed this life is not lost, is not floating, or is not asleep, but is in the presence of Christ. My Grandma, at this very hour, is in the presence of Christ, reunited with her husband, in great joy. Never again to suffer the pains of ALS or the loss of dignity that sickness can bring, but is with Christ waiting for me some day. The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 1:23 that it is better to depart this life and be with Christ. Grandma now knows the joy of which Paul spoke.
So while we say "good-bye" for now, and we will travel to Charlottle next week I'm sure to lay Grandma's shell next to the shell of her husband, it is not, by the Grace of Almighty God, good-bye forever. It is only for a short while. I told my oldest child just yesterday, that if we live 60 more years here on earth, what is that in light of eternity.
"Father in Heaven, thank you for the life of Grandma. And thank you for extending your Grace to her so that she could face death with victory and not sting and so that we have the hope of her eternal healing and once again sharing her presence. Thank you for Salvation found only in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that Grandma knew you as her Lord and Savior." AMEN
I love you Grandma. Good-bye for now. See you in a little while.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
"What are we Teaching our Children"
I believe that the Word is not only interpretational, but I believe that it is also applicational. By that I mean that the Scriptures have a meaning, they have one meaning and as a Pastor it is my job to find out that singular meaning. I do not buy into the notion of what is being taught today as the "Hermenutics of Humility". That basically says that "I am far to humble to think that I could ever really know the truth of God's Word." To the person buying into that; they believe that it is pride and arrogance to say that I know what the Bible says. To get up and say that I have the meaning of the Scripture is the height of arrogance.
But isn't that the job of a Pastor? Anyone who gets up in the pulpit and preaches anything but the truth, is preaching their opinion. And there opinions are like noses; everybody has one. But opinion does not necessarily mean truth. It is the Pastor's responsibility before God and his congregation to study, to find and know the truth.
With that being said, I believe that John 7:5 is a very sad verse. It speaks about the brothers of Jesus "not believing on Him (Jesus)." I spoke on this passage in last nights service at my Church. I spoke on Divine Timetables. Even Christ, in His humanity, humbled Himself to the Divine timetable of the Father. All people, to the most holy to the most diobolical, are under the restraint of the Sovereign timetable of God.
But as I was studying verse 1-13, I came across verse 5; I stopped for a moment and thought. We do not know a lot about the life of Joseph. We know nothing about him after the incident at the temple when Christ was twelve.
Now, understand me please, I am not making any accusations about the way that Joseph raised his children and I am not saying that this is the proper interpretational view of this verse; however, I do believe that looking at this verse, at least for me, brought about a reminder. What could have happened in the home of Jospeh that caused his four sons not to believe on Christ as the Messiah until so late in life. Accoprding to Acts 1, it wasn't until the resurrection that they did believe. In fact, in John 7, they were the four that were trying to push Christ to go, prematurely, to Jerusalem to show His power and they did this with the word "if". As if they were questioning whether or not He was genuine.
Listen, Joseph may have taught his sons about the Messiah and that their half-brother was the anoited one of God and they reacted like Joseph's brothers did in the book of Genesis. However, we do not know that to be the fact. The fact that they did finally believe in Acts 1, may indicate that all that their father taught them finally produced fruit, we just do not know for sure.
But all of this is a reminder to us that it is possible that from the brothers original reaction, Jospeh MAY NOT have done his job in teaching his children. This is a challenge to us to make sure that our children are taught about the Lord and then, and this is just as vital, that we live before them the message that we teach. That we are faithful to God in our personal service, speaks volumes more than what we say. If we are not faithful in our service (Bible study, Church Attendance, etc.), then our message is just hypocrisy to our Children. What are you teaching your Children; both in your words and in your actions. If everything comes before Church attendance in your life, then do not be suprised when it is the same way with your Children. If we allow sports and other activites to come before Church or other services to God, your children's devotion to the holy things will be worse. Your children will always fall below your standards, so set your standards ultra-high to protect their future.
But isn't that the job of a Pastor? Anyone who gets up in the pulpit and preaches anything but the truth, is preaching their opinion. And there opinions are like noses; everybody has one. But opinion does not necessarily mean truth. It is the Pastor's responsibility before God and his congregation to study, to find and know the truth.
With that being said, I believe that John 7:5 is a very sad verse. It speaks about the brothers of Jesus "not believing on Him (Jesus)." I spoke on this passage in last nights service at my Church. I spoke on Divine Timetables. Even Christ, in His humanity, humbled Himself to the Divine timetable of the Father. All people, to the most holy to the most diobolical, are under the restraint of the Sovereign timetable of God.
But as I was studying verse 1-13, I came across verse 5; I stopped for a moment and thought. We do not know a lot about the life of Joseph. We know nothing about him after the incident at the temple when Christ was twelve.
Now, understand me please, I am not making any accusations about the way that Joseph raised his children and I am not saying that this is the proper interpretational view of this verse; however, I do believe that looking at this verse, at least for me, brought about a reminder. What could have happened in the home of Jospeh that caused his four sons not to believe on Christ as the Messiah until so late in life. Accoprding to Acts 1, it wasn't until the resurrection that they did believe. In fact, in John 7, they were the four that were trying to push Christ to go, prematurely, to Jerusalem to show His power and they did this with the word "if". As if they were questioning whether or not He was genuine.
Listen, Joseph may have taught his sons about the Messiah and that their half-brother was the anoited one of God and they reacted like Joseph's brothers did in the book of Genesis. However, we do not know that to be the fact. The fact that they did finally believe in Acts 1, may indicate that all that their father taught them finally produced fruit, we just do not know for sure.
But all of this is a reminder to us that it is possible that from the brothers original reaction, Jospeh MAY NOT have done his job in teaching his children. This is a challenge to us to make sure that our children are taught about the Lord and then, and this is just as vital, that we live before them the message that we teach. That we are faithful to God in our personal service, speaks volumes more than what we say. If we are not faithful in our service (Bible study, Church Attendance, etc.), then our message is just hypocrisy to our Children. What are you teaching your Children; both in your words and in your actions. If everything comes before Church attendance in your life, then do not be suprised when it is the same way with your Children. If we allow sports and other activites to come before Church or other services to God, your children's devotion to the holy things will be worse. Your children will always fall below your standards, so set your standards ultra-high to protect their future.
"Truth Wars! Your Best Life Now!"
Dr. John MacArthur examines Joel Osteen's book, "Your Best Life Now".
Friday, May 15, 2009
"The Gospel According to Jesus"
The following is an portion of a sermon that I preached on Lordship Salvation.
We live in a day where the Gospel has been prostituted by would-be ministers of the Gospel, but who are really wolves in sheeps clothing. Your typical Gospel presentation urges the sinner to say a pray or as some preachers put it, "make a decision for Christ".
The Gospel is not about us "making a decision for Christ" it is not about us "receiving Jesus" it is about asking Christ to accept us. It is not about making Christ "Lord", He is Lord. The Gospel is not about health or wealth prosperity. Jesus said in Luke 9 that if "....anyone wishes to come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." When the people heard Jesus say these things about taking up their cross, they understood one thing, death. The cross had one imagery for those people, death. But that is not the typical gospel that you hear today. Robert Schuller has said that the problem with the Gospel is that it is more God-centered and not man-centered. He said that when a person hears that they are an unworthy sinner, it is doubtful that they will ever be able to receive the grace that is found in Christ.
Now, why some "evangelicals" may would not go that far, the Gospel is diluted. I have even heard the Gospel diluted in fundamental Baptist Churches (how sad). There is such a drive for numbers that the gospel gets cut to pieces.
The Gospel gets reduced to "receiving Jesus as Savior" or "accept Jesus" or "make a decision for Christ". There is rarely a mention about the Lordship of Christ (oops, I am in trouble now). Jesus is either Lord or He is not Savior. Romans 10:13, (In the original Greek) reads, "Whoever accepts Jesus as Lord...".
When I speak to people about the Gospel, the first place I go to is the price. Not the price that Christ paid, but the price that we must pay. That is another phrase I hear alot, "Salvation is absolutely free", not quite. It cost Christ and it costs those that repent as well. You say, "What do you mean?" Well. Jesus spoke in Luke 14 that if any person comes to Him and does not hate father, mother, brothers or sister or even his own life, he is not worthy of Christ. He further says that if you are not willing to forsake all, then you cannot be my disciple. Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all that he has and give to the poor. In essence what does it cost us, potentially everything. If a person is not willing to loose everything to gain Christ, Jesus said, don't even bother coming to me, you are not serious nor worthy.
"Well", you say,"Who would want to accept that?" Simply, those are truly being drawn by the Holy Spirit would gladly give up everything for the sake of knowing Christ. Listen, this is not a new Gospel, it is the true Gospel. People have a hard time hearing it because they have heard the watered down gospel for so long. May we return to the truth of Lordship Salvation.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
"What Do You Call your Pastors?"
I want to say from the outset that this is not a particulary theological post, but it is something that I think probably needs to be addressed. It has been a busy posting day, but this will probably be my last for the day.
As I look in the NT, I see the Pastors of the different local Churches addressed as "Pastor" or "Elder". When I was first saved, my Pastor was insistent that we call him "Pastor", not "Jeff", but "Pastor". He would tell us, "It is not for prides sake, but it reminds me of my position in your life".
Probably one of the most "gut-wrenching" things I here from a Church member is to call their Pastors by their first names. Listen, They may be Steve or they may be Michael by birth, but that is not who they are in the lives of the members of Emmanuel Baptist Church, they are "Pastor". And, just as my Pastor said, it is not for prides sake, it reminds us of our position in your lives. I have seen new people come into the Church calling the Pastors, "Pastor", but as time goes on they hear other members calling them by their first names, so they begin to do the same thing.
Some Churches are not as blessed to have two Pastors, as other Churches. Both, according to 1 Timothy 5 are worthy of double-honor and I believe that part of that honor is by calling them "Pastor"; again, that is what they are to you that are members. I still call my home Pastor, Pastor. So, if you just have a Senior Pastor, call him "Pastor", that is what he is in your life; but if you have a Senior Pastor and an Associate Pastor, call them "Pastor", for that is what THEY are in your life.
As I look in the NT, I see the Pastors of the different local Churches addressed as "Pastor" or "Elder". When I was first saved, my Pastor was insistent that we call him "Pastor", not "Jeff", but "Pastor". He would tell us, "It is not for prides sake, but it reminds me of my position in your life".
Probably one of the most "gut-wrenching" things I here from a Church member is to call their Pastors by their first names. Listen, They may be Steve or they may be Michael by birth, but that is not who they are in the lives of the members of Emmanuel Baptist Church, they are "Pastor". And, just as my Pastor said, it is not for prides sake, it reminds us of our position in your lives. I have seen new people come into the Church calling the Pastors, "Pastor", but as time goes on they hear other members calling them by their first names, so they begin to do the same thing.
Some Churches are not as blessed to have two Pastors, as other Churches. Both, according to 1 Timothy 5 are worthy of double-honor and I believe that part of that honor is by calling them "Pastor"; again, that is what they are to you that are members. I still call my home Pastor, Pastor. So, if you just have a Senior Pastor, call him "Pastor", that is what he is in your life; but if you have a Senior Pastor and an Associate Pastor, call them "Pastor", for that is what THEY are in your life.
My Favorite Southern Gospel Group
This blog is usually very serious, but I wanted to add a bit of blessing from my favorite Southern Gospel Group, Greater Vision. Enjoy!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)