Texas Sky Pilot - Coy Wylie

Some of My Favorite Music

2007-06-03T17:36:00.001-05:00

Well, it's been a few weeks since I've posted so I wanted to share some of my favorite music videos.

This first one is perhaps the greatest acoustic guitar player ever, Tony Rice playing his classic solo, "Church Street Blues." The album by the same name is one of my absolute favorites.

This next one is Tony Rice and Ricky Skaggs doing the old gospel song "Where the Soul of Man Never Dies." Tony and Ricky did an entire album in the late 70's called "Skaggs and Rice" that features this one and several more like. Simplicity at its finest.

The last video today is from a jam band called Greenbroke. I've met and had some lessons from John Moore (mandolin) and Brad Davis (guitar). Great guys and great music!

Thank God for the wonderful gift of music He has given us to enjoy!

Soli Deo Gloira!

Spirituality and Sports

2007-04-25T18:17:00.000-05:00

I recently wrote a blog on professional golfer Zach Johnson's public expression of faith in Jesus Christ upon receiving the coveted green jacket as the 2007 Master's champion. Today I discovered an article comparing Johnson with Kurt Warner (both graduates of the same Cedar Rapids, Iowa high school). After leading the Rams to win Super Bowl XXXIV and being named Superbowl MVP, Warner's expressions of his evangelical faith became well known.

As with Warner, Johnson seems to be learning to deal with how to deal with those who oppose his public profession and those who want to exploit it. Everyone from academicians to marketing specialists weigh in with their ideas in this article.

All this brings to light the post-modern idea of the sharp dichotomy between public and private life. The prevalent thought is that it is okay to believe what you want to believe but you must never express those beliefs in a way that might challenge anyone else's private thoughts. Of course those who hold such a philosophy have no understanding of genuine, biblical Christianity.

A true Christian cannot divorce his private faith from the his public words or actions. As the Apostle Paul said, "For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col.3:3). He also wrote, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me" (Gal.2:20).

If as believers our old man has died and now we are risen to new life in Christ, there is no possible way that we can separate ourselves from Christ, whether in the church or on the golf course.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Safe from Wrath

2007-04-25T10:11:00.000-05:00

From The Golden Key to Open Hidden Treasures by Thomas Brooks (1675):

Christians, spend your days in admiring the transcendent love of Christ--in undergoing hellish punishments in your stead! Oh pray, pray hard that you "may be able to comprehend what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of that love of Christ, which passes knowledge!" (Ephesians 3: 18-19).

The love of Christ put Him upon these bodily and spiritual sufferings--which were so exceeding great, acute, extreme, and universal--and all to save you from wrath to come! His miseries, sorrows, and sufferings are unparalleled, and therefore Christians have the more cause to lose themselves in the contemplation of His matchless love. Oh, bless Christ! Oh, kiss Christ! Oh, embrace Christ! Oh, cleave to Christ! Oh, follow Christ! Oh, walk with Christ! Oh, long for Christ --who for your sakes has undergone insupportable wrath and most hellish torments!

Oh, look up to dear Jesus, and say, "O blessed Jesus, You were accursed--that I might be blessed! You were condemned--that I might be justified! You underwent the very torments of hell--that I might forever enjoy the pleasures of heaven! Therefore I cannot but dearly love You, and highly esteem You, and greatly honor You, and earnestly long after You!"

Soli Deo Gloria!

A Master's Faith

2007-04-08T23:03:00.000-05:00

Today Zach Johnson fulfilled every golfer's dream. He won the historic Master's Tournament in Augusta, Georgia.

He seemed cool and composed as he made his way through the treacherous back nine and even when he stumbled with a bogey on 17 it didn't fluster him on 18. He missed his approach shot just shy of the right bunker but made a beautiful chip to "gimme" range of the flag to par the whole and win by two stokes over the infamous Tiger Woods.

In Butler's Cabin just before 2006's champion Phil Mickelson helped into his green jacket, he sat down with Master's chairman Billy Payne and answered a few questions from reporter/commentator Jim Nance. He seemed awed and noted that the experience was "very surreal." He gave credit to his instructors and sponsors but then said, "More importantly I give my Lord Jesus all the credit."

I knew that Zach was a great golfer but I didn't know anything about his faith. I did some googling this evening to see what I could learn about Zach's walk with Christ. The most comprehensive article I found was from Links Players International. The article states:

Johnson's wife, Kim, had manufactured a personal ball mark for him. On one side she inscribed the words, "Trust your line," accompanied by the notation Proverbs 3:5,6, which says: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Johnson would set that side up on the putting green and recite the proverbial words to himself.

The reverse side of the homemade mark helped shape Johnson's mindset elsewhere on the course. The inscription was, "One shot at a time," and the Scripture passage was Matthew 6:33-34: "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you. Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow has enough worry of its own."

The article goes on to describe how Johnson came to faith in Christ:

Closeness to God is something that has not always been there for Zach Johnson. He was raised to know Christ and actively participated in the family's church. In fact, Johnson says, he did have a relationship with Jesus. His parents taught their children to take their faith seriously, and Johnson prayed trusting God. But many aspects of his faith were not mature enough to survive the first few years away from home.

"I loved my four years of college," he says, looking back, "but that's kind of when things went astray as far as my faith went. I call those my 'blind years.' I'd go to church with my parents, and it didn't mean as much as it did before. There was not as much prayer in my life."

In 2002, while living and playing his winter golf in Florida, Johnson met his wife, Kim. They lived in the same apartment complex.

"She was the one who brought me a long way back to where I was, but in a more adult mind frame. Before my faith had been more childish.

"She really guided me along," Johnson says. "She didn't push me or pressure me. She just got my mind thinking. She provoked it in a very good manner. That's something I can never repay her for, but it was extremely wonderful."

Still, while Johnson had started thinking about his faith more deeply, he hadn't made any commitments. And even if he'd wanted to commit to Kim, she was hesitant.

"There was something in her heart that she could never marry a non-Christian man," Johnson says.

But Johnson wasn't sure this applied to him. "I always thought, You know, I'm a good guy, I believe in God. She can marry me. At that time I believed that all good people went to heaven, regardless."

In a pre-marital class at Kim's church in Orlando, however, the issue became clearer for Johnson. He needed to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

"One night in particular during that class, I remember that questions were being asked and my mind was searching and wandering. Then I was talking with my mom on the phone, and suddenly everything kind of hits you in the forehead and you just kind of open your eyes. I didn't think I was blind so much," Johnson recalls.

I'm so glad Zach gave credit to the Lord Jesus. He did just say "Thank God." Even an unbeliever could say that. He unashamedly said, "I give my Lord Jesus all the credit."

Soli Deo Gloria!

Reflecting on My Sins

2007-03-28T10:13:00.000-05:00

Recently, a recurrent theme in my preaching and teaching has been that of pondering one's own sinful condition, both the sins committed before conversions and the evil thoughts, words and deeds that pour forth from our corrupt hearts on a daily basis.

Modern theology would have us bury the guilt for our sin so that we would have better self-esteem. The prevalent idea seems to be "God has forgiven you so you should forget your sins" or "Because you are in Christ, you are now a saint not a sinner." I don't buy that. Believers are saints but we are saints who still sin. The Apostle Paul didn't believe it either. He wrote in 1 Timothy 1:13-15:

Even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.

The purpose in reflecting on your own sinfulness causes a great appreciation for the grace that is in Jesus Christ. Not only are we saved by grace, we are kept by grace. If God should remove His sovereign grace from our lives we would immediately fall back into the pit just as if we stepped on a rotten step. Being ever reminded of our sinfulness drives us to humility and builds in us even greater affection for the Lord Jesus Christ. We are great sinners but we have a Great Savior. Paul stated this in verse 16:

And yet for this reason I found mercy, in order that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience, as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.

The Puritan Thomas Brooks wrote about this same topic in 1662. He called it "self-loathing."

True repentance is a daily turning of the soul further and further from sin--and a daily turning of the soul nearer and nearer to God.

True repentance includes . . . a true sense of sin, a deep sorrow for sin, a hearty loathing of sin, and a holy shame and blushing for sin. To repent is to make . . . a clean head and a clean heart; a clean lip and a clean life. To repent is for a man to loathe himself, as well as his sin. Is this easy for man, who is so great a self-lover, and so great a self-exalter, and so great a self-admirer--to become a self-loather? To repent is to cross sinful self, it is to walk contrary to sinful self, yes, it is to revenge a man's self upon himself. True repentance lies in a daily dying to sin, and in a daily living to Him who lives forever.

May we reflect on our sin so that we will glory in our Savior.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Are You a Note-taker?

2007-03-13T09:50:00.000-05:00

Are you a note-taker? Three events in my life this past week spur this question.

First, after returning home from last week’s Shepherds’ Conference, I see in my notebook that I took 48 pages of notes on 8 sermons. Most of these pages are filled and I typically write with a small script.

Second, at the conference before an evening session began I happened to notice Tim Dick’s Christian Note-takers Journal (a leather-bound book designed just for this purpose). I asked if I could see it and was amazed to find in his clear handwriting notes on almost every sermon preached at Cornerstone over the last two years.

Third, I’ve been reading Leland Ryken’s book, Worldly Saints, a book about the lifestyle of the Puritans in the 16^th and 17^th centuries in England and America. I knew the Puritans loved expository sermons but did not realize that they were also copious note-takers. Ryken states:

Several Puritan practices show exactly how active the person in the pew was. One of these practices was the note taking that became a standard feature of Puritan church services. We read about Comenius, visiting England from the Continent, watching with admiration as London congregations took shorthand notes of sermons. John Brinsley, Puritan educator, advised, “For Sabbaths and other days when there is any sermon, cause everyone to learn something at the sermons. The very youngest [should] bring some notes.

The Puritans not only took notes but used them after the sermon as a source of study. Edmund Calamy said that sermons are like food, “You must eat it; and not only eat it, but concoct it and digest it… One sermon well digested, well meditated upon, is better than twenty sermons without meditation.”

When families gathered after church services there was often a “repeating of the sermon.” Fathers would reflect on notes taken during the sermon to give further instruction and application to their families.

The sweetest sound to my pastor’s ears is to hear the pages of Bible turning as the congregation searches the Scriptures together. One of the sweetest sights is to see heads down and pens quickly jotting down thoughts and Scripture references for further study.

I suggest three reasons why every diligent believer should be a note-taker.

First, taking notes requires attentive listening. If you intend to leave the sermon with a well-filled and useful page of notes, you prepare yourself to listen closely to every word that is spoken. This is especially helpful when you are tired and distracted. Taking notes requires that you pay careful attention and not let your mind wander.

Second, taking notes provides a better opportunity for personal study. Every Christian should be like the Bereans of Acts 17 who “…received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so” (v.11). It is never enough to merely hear a sermon. How do you know that the preacher is correct unless you are willing to study for yourself? Further study will help you remember the doctrine of the text and make application in your own life.

Third, taking notes will provide a journal of your spiritual growth. Like Tim, you will be able to look back and reflect on key truths you have learned from the preaching of the Word. You don’t need a fancy, leather-bound book. An inexpensive spiral notebook will do just fine. In the years to come, these notebooks will serve as a roadmap of your spiritual journey.

Note-taking is a beneficial discipline that diligent believers have practiced for centuries and continues to be a source of spiritual growth.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Shepherds' Conference 2007

2007-03-08T00:50:00.000-06:00

I and Cornerstone Elder Karl Barnett are in Sun Valley, California this week at the Shepherds' Conference held each year by Grace Community Church. For an excellent live blog of the conference go to Challies.com.

We had a great day hearing messages by John MacArthur, Phil Johnson, Steve Lawson and C.J. Mahaney. This evening we hooked up with Cornerstone member Tim Dick, his brother and missionary to Croatia Todd Dick(whom I recently visited on a mission tour: see February posts), my Croatian friend Brako, my new friend from Northern Ireland Mervin, Faith Baptist pastor Kurtis Spidel and Faith youth leader Haven Reed to a Viet Namese restaurant for pho.

Just to give you a taste, here are some pictures from Wednesday:

Soli Deo Gloria!

In Case You Haven't Heard About John Piper...

2007-03-03T00:09:00.000-06:00

He's baaaaad!

Soli Deo Gloria!

I Look to You for Strength

2007-03-01T09:57:00.000-06:00

A Puritan Prayer

O Lord of grace,
The world is before me this day, and I am weak
and fearful--but I look to You for strength.
If I venture forth alone, I stumble and fall--but
on the Beloved's arms I am firm as the eternal
hills. If left to the treachery of my heart, I shall
shame Your name--but if enlightened, guided,
upheld by Your Spirit, I shall bring You glory.

Be . . .
my arm to support,
my strength to stand,
my light to see,
my feet to run,
my shield to protect,
my sword to repel,
my sun to warm.

To enrich me will not diminish Your fullness.
All Your loving-kindness is in Your Son. I bring
Him to You in the arms of faith. Accept . . .
His worthiness for my unworthiness,
His sinlessness for my transgressions,
His purity for my uncleanness,
His sincerity for my deceit,
His truth for my lies,
His meekness for my pride,
His steadfastness for my backslidings,
His love for my enmity,
His fullness for my emptiness,
His faithfulness for my treachery,
His obedience for my lawlessness,
His glory for my shame,
His devotedness for my waywardness,
His holy life for my unchaste ways,
His righteousness for my dead works,
His death for my life.

Soli Deo Gloria!

John MacArthur on the Exclusivity of the Gospel

2007-02-27T11:08:00.000-06:00

In order to clear the palate of Osteen's waffling, check out MacArthur in the same setting and a crystal clear presentation of faith alone in Christ alone.

Here's another:

Soli Deo Gloria!

Joel Osteen: The Waffler

2007-02-27T10:02:00.000-06:00

If Joel Osteen was a comic book superhero he would be called "The Waffler." Why? He waffles around the issue of the gospel like few I've seen.

Osteen is the pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, the self-proclaimed largest church in America. His book Your Best Life Now has sold over four million copies (and has its own board game!) and his TV broadcast is seen in over 100 countries worldwide. Surely an evangelical pastor with this type of audience understands and preach the biblical gospel, right?

Don't be so sure. Have a look at this video from Larry King's CNN talk show:

Did you get that? He doesn't know for sure if faith in Christ is essential for salvation. King asks, "What if you're Jewish or Muslim, you don't accept Christ at all?"

Osteen replies, "You know, I'm very careful about saying who would and wouldn't go to heaven. I don't know."

King presses him further, "If you believe you have to believe in Christ? They're wrong, aren't they?"

Osteen admits, "Well, I don't know if I believe they're wrong." He goes on to discuss having spent time in India and doesn't know much about their religion but he knows they love God. He knows they are sincere. Is that enough for true salvation? A caller then tries to pin him down:

The caller quotes or slightly misquotes John 14:6 where Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Me." Yet Osteen doesn't seem to be willing to completely affirm that. He doesn't know if a Jew or a Muslim or an atheist who doesn't trust in Christ will be rejected. Although he says Christ is his way, he will not say that any other way is wrong. The he says he teaches truth.

Here's a link to the whole interview if you want to read more.

I think I understand Osteen. He's on national television. A seasoned interviewer is grilling him. He's like a deer caught in the headlights. He's pinned against the wall. He doesn't want to offend anyone. He's got a lot at stake. So does he stand with the martyrs, the faithful witnesses who would choose death over denial of the gospel? When pressed and pressed about the exclusiveness of Christ, the best he can come up with is "I don't know."

Be careful that you are not deceived.

2 Tim 4:3-4 says, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths."

Galatians 1:8-9 says, "But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed."

Is Osteen preaching another gospel? I have not listened to his teaching enough to make that judgment. Is he earnestly contending for the faith once delivered to the saints? Does he believe Christ is the only hope for sinful man? You judge for yourself.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Profane Pastors

2007-02-24T13:39:00.000-06:00

A preacher's life should be a commentary upon his doctrine; his practice should be the counterpart of his sermons. Heavenly doctrines should always be adorned with a heavenly life.

An ignorant, profane, and soul-flattering clergy, are the greatest pest, plague, affliction and judgment, which can befall a people! There is no rank nor order of men on earth, who have so enriched hell, who have been such benefactors to hell--as the ignorant and profane clergy! How many are there in these days, who are more ready and willing to make a sacrifice of the gospel--

for profit sake,
and preferment sake,
and honor sake,
and lust's sake!

Where there is no serious, sincere, faithful, and powerful preaching--there the people grow abominably wicked, and will certainly perish, and go tumbling to hell.

Pastors! Either preach as the ministers of Jesus Christ ought to preach--

plainly,
spiritually,
powerfully,
feelingly,
fervently,
frequently;

and live as the ministers of Jesus Christ ought to live--

heavenly,
graciously,
holily,
humbly,
righteously,
harmlessly,
exemplary

--or else lay down your names of being the ministers of Jesus Christ. Do not any longer a cheat upon yourselves, nor upon the people--by making them believe that you are ministers of Jesus Christ, when you have

nothing of the spirit of Christ,
nor of the anointings of Christ,
nor of the grace of Christ,
nor of the life of Christ in you.

From Thomas Brooks, The Crown and Glory of Christianity, or, HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness, 1662.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Hallelujah I'm Ready to Go!

2007-02-19T18:43:00.000-06:00

It's 1:45 a.m. in Croatia as I sit here writing. We leave for the airport at 4:45 so our team has decided just to stay up. It seems silly to get undressed and get in bed for only a couple of hours.

Alois and I stayed up late last night playing fiddle tunes. We slept in this morning and had a late breakfast of salami, cheeses and bread. We jammed with Alois and Edith and then cooked some more sausages out on the grill. They eat a lot of sausage here.

We had to drive about an hour to the city where the concert would be held. For some strange reason, Todd wanted me to drive his 5-speed Volkswagon van while he drove another car. That was quite the drive. As Bill says, "There's not fifty feet of straight road in this country!" We twisted and turned and shifted gears until we all felt like milkshakes.

The concert was held in a downtown civic center hall. The place was packed and a local TV station filmed us. We recruited Alois and Edith to play with us. One man who played for the other group played a small folk instrument that is very similar to a mandolin. During the encore, he and I played a duet together.

We will be home in about 24 hours and sometime between now and Sunday the four of us will have to wade through hundreds of photos and hours of video to share with you all on Sunday evening. I can't imagine a mission trip being any better than this.

If you look close at this poster you can see it says, "The Coy Wylie Band." It made Bill so mad almost wouldn't play :-)

Soli Deo Gloria!

Sunday's Service and Concert

2007-02-18T15:37:00.000-06:00

We got up early and drove an hour and a half this morning to Todd's church where I played guitar to accompany Lynn on the piano for the song service. My friend Mario translated as I preached.

After church we drove to another city where we ate Croatian pizza. It was quite good and loaded with garlic! I was glad Bill and I had separate microphones to sing into tonight! After lunch we connected with Alois and Edith and went to the other church where the concert would be held.

By 6:00, the church was packed! Literally people were standing in the center aisle halfway to the front and all around the edges of the pews. They didn't know what bluegrass was but they seemed to really like it. We had a blast playing for them.

Afterward, we were tired and ready to go back to Todd's house but there was a young Croatian named Peter who brought up a dobro (resophonic guitar). This was humorous because the Croatian word for "good" is dobro. He played a dobro dobro! I thought, "This young kid loves this music and has no one to play with, I'm not going to refuse to jam with him." Alois and Edith got out their instruments and we had a jam at the church.

We just got back to Todd's house and are settling in for evening. I feel another jam coming on!

Me and Misha my translator at church.

Croatian Pizza Planet!

...with garlic!

At the concert. The place was packed!

Dobro Dobro!

Soli Deo Gloria!

The Saturday Session

2007-02-17T12:27:00.000-06:00

I finally got to sleep this morning at 2:oo a.m. Todd woke me at 6:30. By 7:30 Todd, Brian and I were at the school greeting the pastors. I began the first lecture at 8:00. I taught with only short breaks until noon. We had a wonderful lunch of salad, roast pork and rice. I bit into what I thought was lemon cake only to realize it was a cake made with cottage cheese!

I then taught and answered questions from 1:00 until 4:00. We finished up the book of Titus in a whirlwind but it was a great day in the Lord. My heart goes out to these dear men who serve the Lord here in Croatia. We found much common ground. They so desperately want to spread the gospel and reform these churches but this is not fertile ground. It bears much resemblance the challenges Titus faced on the island of Crete in the first century. They are planting seeds that will take a long time to harvest. However, God is faithful and I believe the work of the Lord will flourish here and that God will reward their hard labor.

Tomorrow we will leave at 7:30 to drive an hour and a half to the church where Todd pastors. I will preach the message on The Congregation's Responsibility to the Elders as they have just established their eldership only a month ago.

Afterward we are going to have lunch with some of the church members and then rehearse for the evening concert. My friends Alois and Edith will drive down from Austria to meet us and be there for the concert.

After the concert, Alois and Edith will drive back with us to Todd's house. They will spend Sunday and Monday night with us and we will have lots of time to jam and enjoy each other. Todd is planning a barbecue for Monday afternoon and Alois and Edith will play with us in the concert in the town hall on Monday evening.

Me and some of my new friends.

Playing "Red Haired Boy" on yet another Martin between lectures.

Me and Misko Horvatek. Misko is the founder of the seminary in Croatia. I like to think of him as the "Croatian John MacArthur."

Brian finds a buddy bigger than him!

Chris Brackett, Todd's American partner explaining something to one of the Croatian pastors.

Soli Deo Gloria!

First Three Sessions

2007-02-16T15:34:00.000-06:00

Tonight I taught the first three sessions and got through the first seven verses of of Titus. You Cornerstone folks can relate. Seriously, these men need as much as they can get about church leadership and particularly the role of elders. We will go slow through the first chapter of Titus and then move more quickly through rest of the epistle.

My translator Mario did an excellent job and I was able to move through my material very quickly. We had a Q & A time and the pastors asked some very good questions concerning the role of deaconesses, a solo elder in a church, deacons becoming elders, etc...

Pray for me that I can sleep tonight. It's 10:40 p.m. here now (3:40 p.m. in Amarillo) and I need to get up by 6:30 a.m. I have seven more hours of teaching tomorrow.

Soli Deo Gloria!

More Pictures

2007-02-16T09:04:00.000-06:00

Friday:

I am writing this about 4:00 p.m. local time (9:00 a.m. in Amarillo). Jet lag is working on me. We stayed up until about 1:00 a.m. to get good and sleepy. I went to sleep immediately and slept all of about two hours. I then woke up and simply could not go back to sleep. At 4:00 a.m. I came downstairs to the living room and read and studied until 6:30. Then I went back to bed and slept until 10:30 a.m.

Todd went out an bought us a traditional Croatian breakfast, a meat pie in a pastry called burek. It was very, very tasty. After everyone was ready to go, we drove out through some of the villiages in the area. The country is truly beautiful. I can only imagine what it looks like in the full bloom of spring. Here are some pictures I took this morning as we drove around.

Wine is part of the culture here. Almost every family has a klet, a little house out in the country where the family has kept their personal vinyard for centuries. This is the vineyard of one of Todd's best Croatian friends Branko.

Here is our group standing under the deck of Branko's klet looking down on the grape vines.

Here are a couple of barrels inside the klet.

This is Baka (grandmother), Branko's 70-year-old mother out working in the mulch/manure as we drove into the villiage. Baka has had two hip replacements but still works hard every day.

The rural Croatians are extremely hospitible. Todd is very close to this family and used to rent a house from them. We were quickly invited into the house and special food was prepared for us. We ate homemade salmi, shumpa (smoked ham, their favorite delicacy), homemade bread, pickled onions, pickles and boiled eggs.

Here's a picture of the table and Anna, Banka's wife serving her homemade bread. Talk about hospitality! I'm sorry these two pictures did not come out better.

I'm going to stop for now because we will be going to the seminary in a short while to begin my lectures in the book of Titus for the Croatian pastors. Pray for us!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Croatian Music

2007-02-15T15:13:00.000-06:00

Thursday:

Today we all slept in as late so we could to catch up on our rest. Lynn fed us a hearty breakfast and we piled back in the van to drive about an hour to Machkovec where we will do our concert Monday night. We met and played with some local musicians who will open for us on Monday. It was such fun. On some songs they sang one verse in Croatian and then we sang it in English.

This is certainly beautiful country. It reminds me of Eastern Kentucky with the winding roads and steep hills. After all this is the foothills of the Alps. What really makes it interesting is Todd's driving. If he ever moves back to the U.S. he will have to change his driving habits or he will lose his licence!

We got home to a great meal and some good fellowship. Tomorrow we will do a little sight-seeing, eat some traditional Croatian food in a restaurant and begin the Expositors' Institute tomorrow evening.

There is a strong flu virus going around here and several church leaders have had it. Todd came down with a fever and went to be early today. Please pray for him and for the rest of us that we stay healthy through the duration of the trip.

Check out Brian checking out the smokehouse in this guy's garage. They all raise hogs, slaughter them and hang the meat around their houses.

Soli Deo Gloria!

On the ground in Croatia

2007-02-14T15:46:00.000-06:00

Wednesday Evening:

We napped off and on during the overnight flight but with no real sleep. We were flying the German airline Lufthansa and they served a German breakfast of eggs, veal and spinach. Bill, Sally and Brian opted for the fruit cup but I like German food. This is my third time to fly Lufthansa to Europe and each time I have been impressed by their service.

We arrived safely in Frankfurt, Germany this morning about 9:00 a.m. or (2:00 a.m. in Amarillo). We had a three hour layover so we spent some time walking around the airport amazed at how little U.S. dollars will buy compared to the Euro. A cup of Hagan Das ice cream was 7 Eruos or about 11 dollars.

Just after noon we got on the flight to Zagreb. The best part of this leg was when the sky cleared over the Alps. It was a spectacular view of massive snow-capped peaks.

Thankfully we and our bags arrived in Zagreb on the same plane. We breezed through customs and Todd found us shortly. He and Lynn's home is only about 30 minutes from Zagreb just outside the village of Krapina.

The Dick's children, Seth, Abigail and Hannah were very happy to see us because we carried two large suitcases filled with toys, candy and clothes from the states in addition to all the other items given by our church family. Todd and Lynn were overwhelmed and deeply grateful as we presented them with the love offering from the church.

Lynn prepared us an elegant dinner and some strong coffee. After that and a quick shower, we piled in their two cars and drove an hour and half through the foothills of the Alps to another villiage where Todd pastors a church. Thankfully, I didn't have to preach tonight but gave a greeting from our church to our brothers and sisters here in Croatia.

My new friend and translator Mario translated Todd's message for me. I'm glad he did or I could have never stayed awake. This has nothing to do with Todd's preaching but the fact that I've not really slept in about 30 hours.

Todd asked Bill and I to sing one song at the end of the service. As tired as we were, we did it. The people seemed to enjoy it and wanted to know if we would sell them CD's. Ha! We give them away!

We drove the hour and a half home in darkness and I finally was able to hook my laptop into Todd's home network. So after writing this, I'm off to bed for some much needed sleep.

Soli Deo Gloria!

2007-02-14T15:40:00.000-06:00

Tuesday Evening, 9:45 p.m. CST

I am writing this somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, east by northeast of Nova Scotia according to the map displayed on the plane’s video screens. We are due to arrive in Frankfort, Germany at approximately 2:30 a.m. CST but it will be 9:30 a.m. locally. We have had a pleasant and uneventful trip thus far.

It seems none of slept much last night due to excitement and anticipation for the trip. I had so many last minute tasks to accomplish that I didn’t fall asleep until after 1:00 a.m. I got up early to see Debra and the girls off to school and then ran a couple of errands. Frank Wilson came by the house to pick me up at 11:00. He drove me to the airport where I met Bill, Sally and Brian. Brian’s wife Stacy had gotten time off work to drive him to the airport. Sally’s daughter Mandy, her son-in-law Derek and grandson Braden were also part of our send-off party. I also met Brian’s parents, Pat and Jerry Farnam for the first time.

We were all a little nervous about the weight of our bags due to carrying all the items we would need and a number of gifts for the Dick’s. Checked luggage must be less than 50 pounds. My wheeled duffle bag came in at 47.5 and the others were almost as heavy. Hopefully it will be lighter going home.

We flew to George Bush airport in Houston and made a mad dash from the Continental Airlines terminal to the Lufthansa section on the other end. Just after acquiring our boarding passes from a lady who spoke English with great difficulty, the passengers began to board.

Thankfully, the plane is only about half full and we were able to sit together and still have lots of room to stretch out. I’ve flown these trans-Atlantic flights before with a full load, so this seems very nice. I'll sign off for now and try to rest a bit as we will land in Germany in a few hours.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Where is Croatia?

2007-02-12T12:10:00.000-06:00

I've been asked this question several times of late, so here's a map and a basic article from Wikpedia.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Croatia Bound

2007-02-09T11:47:00.000-06:00

This has been an extremely busy week for me. I am preparing to travel with some friends from our church to Croatia to teach in a seminary sponsored Expositors' Institute for Croatian pastors. I have been asked to teach the pastoral epistle of Titus.

The seminary is called the Theological Biblical Academy and is part of a system of theological schools associated with The Master's Academy International in conjunction with The Master's Seminary and Grace Community Church and the ministry of John MacArthur.

This invitation to speak came from the seminary professors, primarily my good friend Todd Dick. Todd is a native of Amarillo and was trained to work as a chemist in the defense industry at PANTEX. While driving to work one day, he heard Dr. MacArthur preaching the gospel on his car radio. God used that message to bring Todd to Christ. Soon after, he married his wife Lynn and moved to Southern California to study at The Master's Seminary. Upon graduation in 1998, he and Lynn moved to Croatia to begin this ministry.

I met Todd when he returned home to Amarillo on furlough in 2001. He called our church one day and told me he had heard about our church and had visited our website and would like to worship with us while he was in town visiting his relatives. Our friendship quickly grew. Todd shared his ministry with our people and by the time he returned to Croatia we began to support him financially and prayerfully. Some time later, Todd's brother Tim became part of our church family and he is very active with our Missions Team.

I have been busy this week because I am trying to condense my verse-by-verse teaching series through the book of Titus from twelve messages into ten lectures, each less than hour long spoken through a translator. I've told people this is like pouring a gallon of water through a funnel into a quart jar. It will not fit and I have to leave much out. I will give three lectures on next Friday evening and seven lectures through the day on Saturday.

In addition to the teaching I will be doing, our team will visit Croatian churches and will perform some gospel music in two concerts. Tim Dick traveled to Croatia over the Christmas holidays and told Todd that two of our team members, Bill and Sally DeHay along with me are Bluegrass musicians. Todd immediately asked if we could perform in Croatia because this type of roots music is very popular there. In fact, there is a group of musicians in one of the churches there that plays traditional gospel music.

So next Sunday and Monday evenings, Sally, Bill and I will be part of two gospel concerts held in public halls in two cities. The Croatian musicians will open the concert with several songs, then our trio will play: Sally on bass, Bill on guitar and lead vocals and me on mandolin and tenor vocals.

I am part of a internet group known as Flatpick-L. This internet list is dedicated to the discussion of guitar flatpicking. Through the list I came to exchange emails with an Austrian musician named Alois Kleewein. It turns out that Alois and his banjo-playing wife Edith only live about a hundred miles from the Dick's. So they will come down to meet us, jam with us and play a couple of songs with us during the concerts. I am very much looking forward to meeting them in person.

I don't want to leave our the other member of our team, Brian Reyes. Brian is a former professional football player, a Chevy salesman and a very active member of our church teaching in our youth department. I have been so blessed by Brian. He is the model of discipleship. When he and his wife Stacie came to Cornerstone they gave themselves fully to the work of the Lord and he has grown immensely in his knowledge of the Word and obedience to Christ. Brian will be taking video and helping out in many, many ways.

There is much to do before we leave early next week but I wanted to post some information about this trip because I plan to upload information and pictures to this blog to let you know what we are doing while we are there. Please pray for our safety, health and success.

Soli Deo Gloria!

How to Spot a False Prophet

2007-01-31T17:20:00.000-06:00

Repeatedly the New Testament warns believers to beware false prophets. In fact, of all the biblical writers, the Lord Jesus Himself had the most to say about false prophets. For example, He said in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” In Matthew 24:11 he said, “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.” He said in Matthew 24:24, “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (cf. Mk.13:22).

The apostles also warned of false prophets. Paul, like Jesus, called them “wolves.” He said to the Ephesians elders in Acts 20:29-31, “For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.”

Peter wrote, “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction” (2 Pet.2:1).

John wrote, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 Jn.4:1).

Now let’s go back to the description of false prophets as wolves. Jesus said they will come to you “in sheep’s clothing.” What does this mean? Have you ever seen pictures of the plains Indians hunting bison before they acquired horses? They covered themselves in buffalo robes so as to fool the buffalo and get close enough to kill them.

Jesus said that there are men who are like “ravenous wolves” who cover themselves “in sheep’s clothing” to hide their true identity from the sheep. Paul called them “savage wolves.” He said they come “from among yourselves,” from within the church, the framework of Christianity. They “rise up, speaking perverse things.” They speak what is contrary to sound doctrine. Why? They want to “draw away disciples after themselves.” They want to build a following for themselves. They want to be popular, successful and well-liked.

Paul says “watch” out for them. Jesus says “beware” them. So how do we spot them? How will we know them? There are two ways in these verses.

First, they will come “speaking perverse things.” What they say may sound good, it may sound right; it may even be laced with biblical verses. Yet it is “perverse.” The Greek word is diastrepho. It means “distorted.” They will distort truth so that it is pleasing to men. They will reduce the gospel to praying a prayer and the Christian life to a few simple steps.

Second, people will “speak well” of them. Jesus said in Luke 6:26, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets.” Why will people “speak well” of them? Because what they say it easy. It tickles the ears. It makes men feel better about themselves. It builds large crowds and appeals to all kinds of people.

Becoming a genuine Christian is far more than asking Jesus into your heart. It requires faith in Christ alone, not a prayer. It requires real repentance that produces a change of lifestyle. Authentic Christianity is not about finding purpose in your life but about dying to your selfishness, giving up what appeals to your flesh and living for God’s glory.

So how do you spot a false prophet? Run from anyone who makes our faith seem easy.

Soli Deo Gloria!

The Dangers of Hyper-Calvinism

2007-01-25T10:34:00.001-06:00

"Calvinism" is one of those words that causes both grins and grimaces.

Those who understand the depth of man's sin, the height of God's holiness and the "mighty gulf that God did span" in sending His Son to be the propitiation for our sins have an appreciation for the term. They understand the great courage it took for the Reformers to stand up against the heretical tyranny of Rome. To them Luther's brave words "Here I stand, I can do no other, God help me" are far more important that the patriot Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death."

On the other hand, many Christians have been taught that Calvinism is a deviant form of Christian theology that portrays God as a tyrant who arbitrarily chooses one human being over another, who delights in His wrath, who is unjust and unfair and who casts infants headlong into hell. To such people Calvinism is anti-evangelistic and anti-missions because God will save only those he chooses, no one else has a choice and thus men are "mind-numbed robots."

The major reason for such a dichotomy is confusion between true Calvinism and what has become known as "Hyper-Calvinism." Phil Johnson, director of Grace to You and writer for Pyromaniacs wrote an excellent paper on this subject some years ago. He says:

History teaches us that hyper-Calvinism is as much a threat to true Calvinism as Arminianism is. Virtually every revival of true Calvinism since the Puritan era has been hijacked, crippled, or ultimately killed by hyper-Calvinist influences. Modern Calvinists would do well to be on guard against the influence of these deadly trends.

Johnson's article is helpful in clarifying the differences between a biblical view of the doctrine of election and those teachings that make assumptions that go far past the test of divine Scripture and the various levels of Hyper-Calvinism.

Click here to read A Primer on Hyper-Calvinism.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Regenerate Church Members?

2007-01-10T13:43:00.000-06:00

In Matthew 13, Jesus gives two famous agrarian parables. Both stories speak of farmers, seeds, soils and harvests. Yet they have very different lessons for us to learn.

The first is called The Parable of the Sower (vv.1-9). It describes how a farmer broadcast his seeds on a variety of soils. There is hard soil, stony soil, thorny soil and fertile soil. Of course this provides an illustration for how the gospels is rejected or received by the hearts of men.

The second is called The Parable of the Wheat and Tares (vv.24-30). Again a farmer goes out and sows his seed. However, this time the emphasis is not on various types of soil but upon an enemy. While the farmer is away, his enemy comes into his field and sows tares among the wheat seed. The tares were worthless weeds that looked so much like wheat that in the early stages it was hard to tell them apart.

When the heads began to appear on the wheat however, the tares became obvious. When the farmer's helpers asked him what he wanted to do about the tares, he said, "Let them grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, 'First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn'" (v.30).

Later in the chapter Jesus explains the meaning of this parable to His disciples. He tells them that He is the farmer, the field is the world, the seeds are "the sons of the kingdom" and the tares are "the sons of the wicked one." At the end of the age, they will all be gathered in for judgment where the wicked "cast... into the furnace of fire" and the righteous "will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (vv.36-43).

The picture painted by this parable is of the visible church, the membership of local churches. The odds are that in almost every Christian congregation there are both believers and unbelievers, both wheat and tares. There are regenerate and unregenerate church members.

How do we tell them apart? Like the wheat and tares, at first it is difficult. However, later on the difference becomes more obvious. Those who have never truly been converted have little genuine love for the church. Their attendance and participation fades.

Does this not say something about modern evangelistic methods? We've dumbed down the gospel and made it so easy to believe that many believe they are saved when they've never even heard the authentic gospel. Then after a brief stint in the pews, they slip back into their former lifestyle. Why? They are unregenerate. Because their hearts have not been changed, they have no lasting love for the things of God.

At least some Southern Baptists are picking up on this trend. Though as a denomination, the SBC is long noted for padding its membership rolls, some like Mark Dever, John Hammit and Thomas Ascol are calling for integrity in church membership. Ascol presented a resolution to the messengers of the SBC in their 2006 meeting on this very issue but it was voted down.

This is why pastors and elders need to be very careful about receiving new members. We need to carefully question them about their understanding of the gospel and verify as much as possible their genuine salvation. If we do not, we may be admitting unbelievers into the church and contributing to their judgment.

Here is an excellent article from the Southern Baptists of Texas concerning the problem of an unregenerate membership.

Soli Deo Gloria!

A Pastor's Prayer

2007-01-05T13:35:00.001-06:00

Recently a friend pointed me to Grace Gems!, a wonderful website. On their Pastor's Page there are a number of great articles and prayers from some of the church's most memorable writers. I found a puritan prayer called "A Ministers Confession" that really spoke to me.

O God,
I know that I often do Your work without
Your power, and sin by . . .
my dead, heartless, blind service,
my lack of inward light, love, delight,
my mind, heart, tongue moving without Your help.

I see my sinful heart in seeking the praise of others.
This is my vileness--to seek my own glory. It is my
deceit to preach and pray--in order to generate
admiration; whereas I should consider myself
more vile than any man in my own eyes.

Help me to rejoice in my infirmities and to
acknowledge my deficiencies before others.

Keep me from high thoughts of myself or my work,
for I am nothing but sin and weakness. In me no
good dwells, and my best works are tainted with
sin. Humble me to the dust before You. Root and
tear out the poisonous weed of pride, and show
me my utter nothingness. Keep me sensible of
my sinnership. Sink me deeper into penitence
and self-abhorrence.

Break the 'Dagon' of pride in pieces before
the ark of Your presence!

Demolish the 'Babel' of self-importance
and scatter it to the wind!

Level to the ground my 'Jericho walls'
of a haughty, rebel heart!

Then grace, free grace, will be my experience and
message. This is my ministry, my life, my prayer,
my end. Grant me grace that I shall not fail.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Resolutions: One Thing I Do

2007-01-02T09:13:00.001-06:00

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus -- Philippians 3:13-14.

Several years ago, the aging actor Jack Palance found the perfect role as the stoic, hardened cowboy "Curly" in the hit film "City Slickers." Curly mimiced the iconic "Marlboro Man" as he guided three city men each going through their own mid-life crisis through their adventures on a New Mexico dude ranch.

In one noteworthy scene, Curly and Mitch (played by Billy Crystal) are riding their horses alongside a herd of cattle. Mitch is unloading his burdens on the rough, old cowboy. Curly says nothing but then holds up one finger. Curly says, "Do you know what the secret of life is?" He gestures with his extended index finger and says, "This."

Mitch with a puzzled look says, "Your finger?"

"One thing," says Curly. "You stick to that and the rest don't mean anything."

Mitch asks, "But what is the one thing?"

Curly responds, "That's what YOU have to find out."

The Apostle Paul, a much more legitimate source for one's life philosophy stated, "But one thing I do... I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Paul found out what the "one thing" really is. It is pressing toward the goal of being conformed to Jesus Christ.

Most people begin each New Year with resolutions. They make mental or even written lists of goals and aspirations they hope to obtain. These might include losing weight, working out, paying off debts, etc... However, we often have so many goals in so many different areas that we fail to reach them. Curly and Paul understood the primacy of a singular purpose in life.

Romans 8:29 says, "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." That's the one thing. God's purpose in every believer is that he or she might be "conformed to the image of Christ," that each of us would become more and more like Jesus. This was Paul's focus.

We can spend our lives striving after endless resolutions which may or may not be fulfilled or we can give ourselves to this one thing, the very thing for which we were created, to become more and more like Jesus.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Flatpicking the New Year

2007-01-01T00:47:00.000-06:00

To start the New Year off, I thought I would link a few recordings I've done recently. This first one is called Cherokee Shuffle. My buddy Goose is playing mandolin and I am playing guitar. We love to play this one fast.

I developed this arrangement of a great fiddle tune called Rickett's Hornpipe a few weeks back. I enjoy the key change in the middle.

This last one is another old fiddle tune called Over the Waterfall. I recorded with my 12-fret, slothead, Colling slope D guitar. I love tone of this instrument. It sounds more like a piano than a guitar.

Playing these old tunes is a great stress-reliever and a creative outlet. It's also a joy to sit around with good friends and share them in a musical conversation. I hope you enjoy them and I'll post a few more when I get them recorded.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Holiday Reading

2006-12-31T08:45:00.000-06:00

When I travel, especially over the holidays, I try to bring along some good reading material. I tend to stack up books I want to read and get to them as I have time. Over the last week, I read two books that I've been looking forward to reading for some time.

The first was Wings of Morning by Thomas Childers. Childers chronicles the story of his uncle, a radio man on an ill-fated B-24 bomber, the last American bomber shot down over Germany in World War II. Though the author never met his uncle, he meticulously researched his life through letters, family and friends. Though clearly non-fiction, the reader feels as if he is riding along on every mission over hostile territory and on every libery in London. For a first-hand look at look at the sacrifices of young Americans in the European Theatre, this is an excellent read.

The second book I read this week was eerily similar. It was James Bradley's Flags of Our Fathers. My wife and I saw the film made from this book a couple of months ago but I always like books better than movies. This was no exception. James Bradley is the son of John Bradley, the last of the six flag-planters from the Battle of Iwo Jima in February of 1945. The book traces the backgrounds of these six young men, how they came to be United States Marines and to fight together in the South Pacific theatre of World War II. Three of the six were killed in the later days of the battle. Three came home and were treated as heros as a result of the popularity of the famous photograph. Bradley describes how this pressure along with the memories of their wartime experiences shaped the rest of their lives. I could barely put this one down once I started reading.

Soli Deo Gloria!

I'm Back!

2006-12-30T22:05:00.000-06:00

After several have asked about my defunct blogging efforts and in an attempt to resolve some goals for the New Year, I'm resurrecting my blog.

Don't look for something every day but I do plan to post something at least once or twice per week as well as write for our church e-newsletter, The Cornerstone Connection. If you would like to subscribe to the Connection, you can do so via our church web site.

Thanks for checking back here and look for more to come in 2007

Soli Deo Gloria!

Genuine Forgiveness

2006-07-23T16:58:00.000-05:00

Our family just returned from a refreshing vacation trip to the headwaters region of Ontario, Canada. We enjoyed visiting family, relaxing and enjoying the beautiful green countryside. I'll try to post some pictures later in the week.

Last Sunday I was honored to preach at the First Baptist Church of Mablevale in the Toronto suburb of Missassauga. On the road this week, I wrote the next message in our verse by verse series in 2 Corinthians.

In 2:3-11, Paul deals with the issue of the Corinthian church forgiving and restoring a repentant brother who had been the subject of church discipline. There is much here to learn both from a congregational perspective and that of individual believers forgiving one another of offenses.

I called the message "The Evidence of Genuine Forgiveness."

Soli Deo Gloria!

Reaffirming Love

2006-07-10T13:07:00.000-05:00

Conflict are common to all human life, even within the church. In 2 Corinthians 1:15-2:2, the Apostle Paul deals head on with the problems that existed between him and the Corinthian church. False teachers who claimed to be apostles had told the Corinthians that Paul was unstable, undependable, manipulative and heretical in his teaching. As we examine how Paul confronts these issues and reaffirms his love for the church, we can learn how to properly deal with conflicts with other believers. I call this message "Reaffirming Love."

Soli Deo Gloria!

A Clear Conscience

2006-07-09T00:06:00.000-05:00

Does your conscience bother you at times? It should. God places within every human being a conscience, a "law written in their hearts" to guide them in truth and morality. However, the conscience is not infallible. I can be "seared" or calloused so that it does not warn us when it should. That's why our consciences need to be trained by continually feeding upon the Word of God.

As the Apostle Paul struggled with the problems with the church in Corinth, he called his conscience as witness. In this second message in my verse-by-verse series through 2 Corinthians, we examine 1:12-14 and the necessity of "A Clear Conscience."

Soli Deo Gloria!

Help in Time of Need - 2 Corinthians 1:1-11

2006-06-25T23:58:00.000-05:00

This morning I began a new verse by verse series through the book of 2 Corinthians. Just before I began this blog last March, I finished a verse by verse series through 1 Corinthians. In fact in the course of my pastoral ministry at Cornerstone, I've preached through several of the books of the New Testament:

Matthew
Mark
Acts
Romans
1 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
Titus
Philemon
1 Timothy
2 Timothy

Many of these sermons are available at the Cornerstone website.

I am taking a different approach with the 2 Corinthian series. I average preaching forty-five minutes to an hour on Sunday mornings and feel that I barely do the text justice. With this series, I plan to preach as much as I can of the text on Sunday morning and then finish the message on Sunday evening. I hope this accomplishes two important goals. First, it will allow me to give my full study to one passage of Scripture each week and fully deal with each aspect of the text. Second, I hope that by continuing the message on Sunday evenings, more of our church family will give priority to that service as well. If tonight was any indication, this approach seems to be successful.

I also know that some of you cannot return on Sunday evening for a variety of reasons and so you can read the rest of the message here on my blog.

I called this first message from chapter 1, verses 1-11 "Help In Time of Need" because it speaks of the supernatural comfort believers receive when they suffer with Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Biblical Worship Parts 7 and 8

2006-06-25T23:34:00.000-05:00

Okay, okay, I'm behind on my blogging. I know, I know! Summer is here and my plate has been quite full. So to catch up with my preaching schedule since several of you have asked for sermon notes, here's message number seven in the Biblical Worship series on the fifth essential element of worship: the celebration of the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper.

The eighth and final message in this series dealt with how we as twenty-first century Christians approach the Lord's Day. In this message we look back historically at the creation of the Sabbath, the Jewish practice of the Sabbath Day, the early church's practice of the Lord's Day and then considered some practical application for today. I called the message Reverencing the Lord's Day.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Biblical Worship Part 6 - Singing of the Saints

2006-06-04T14:43:00.000-05:00

This morning I preached the sixth message in my series on Biblical worship. The topic was the singing of the saints. It's interesting that in the contemporary church, worship is almost always associated with music. The phrase "praise and worship" is synonymous with singing. Yet in the Scriptures worship includes much much more than music.

Given the entertainment-driven nature of our society, this sermon may be a bit counter-cultural. I have tried to be fair and balanced. In both Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 the purpose of "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" are not only to praise God but also to teach and admonish believers. In this message I take shots at both modern praise choruses and familiar hymns that fail to meet the standard of teaching and admonishing.

Agree or disagree with me, I pray my readers and listeners will be motivated to think carefully and biblically about the songs we use in public worship.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Water for Fuel?

2006-05-30T16:31:00.000-05:00

Speaking of the high price of gas... This video comes from an anonymous source. Don't ask because if I told you I'd have to kill you ;-)

Soli Deo Gloria

Bluegrass Express?

2006-05-30T16:15:00.000-05:00

Last week, I did something I've not done since 1992. I bought a new car. I didn't intend to do so right away but it just sort of happened. We wanted a third car so that our now 16-year-old daughter would have something to drive to school and sporting events as well as play taxi-driver to her younger sister. Ashlea received the '95 Blazer and I got the the new Chevy HHR.

Mid-life-pastor-crisis? Maybe. But you have to admit it's pretty sharp and at 25-35 miles-per-gallon with $3 per gallon gas, I think it was a good choice. Plus, I'm in "hog heaven" when I drive it around listening to XM14 "Bluegrass Junction."

Soli Deo Gloria!

When Trials Come

2006-05-30T16:03:00.000-05:00

This last week I had planned to continue on with my series on worship. We would have logically explored the fourth essential element of worship: the singing of praises. Yet because singing is so synonymous with worship in the contemporary church and is the source of much controversy and divisions, I decided to postpone this message for a week because of the Memorial Day holiday weekend. I knew many of our regular attenders would be away and I wanted as many as possible to hear the message about singing praises to the Lord.

So I approached the subject of worship from a different angel. I wanted to wrestle with the question of how we worship God in the midst of life-shaking, cage-rattling trials. Trials come to us all. Pain is a part of life. The litmus test of spiritual maturity is to trust the Lord when things go wrong. Perhaps the most genuine of all worship takes place when there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. I entitled this message When Trials Come.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Biblical Worship Part 5

2006-05-21T13:47:00.000-05:00

Have you ever heard a sermon on the topic of public prayer? In forty-two years of church attendance (I went to church while I was growing my eyelids!) I don't ever remember a sermon on why and how we are to pray publicly. Yet this morning I preached on that topic as part of a continuing series of sermons on Biblical Worship.

Here's the message on public prayer. For those who were present in our service this morning and want to follow up on the references of where people in the Bible prayed the words of already revealed Scripture. Here's that resource:

1. The later prophets learned from Moses how to praise God in prayer (Num.14:18; 2 Chron.30:9; Neh. 9:17, 31; Ps.103:8; 111:4; 112:4; 116:5; 145:8; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2).

2. Mary at her annunciation drew from the prayer of Hannah (1 Sam.2:1-10; Lk.1:46-45).

3. Solomon at the dedication of the temple drew from the Psalms in his prayer of dedication (Ps.132:8-9; 2 Chron.6:40-42).

4. Jesus from the cross prayed the words of the Psalms (Ps.22:1; 31:5; Mt.27:46; Lk.23:46).

5. The early church prayed the language of the Psalms (Psalm 146; 2; Acts 4:24-30).

Soli Deo Gloria!

Ma & Pa's Math Lesson

2006-05-17T09:35:00.000-05:00

It's time for final exams. For students struggling with math, consider this a must-see tutorial.

Smile, it's almost over.

Soli Deo Gloria!

David Grier and Herschel Sizemore

2006-05-15T10:35:00.000-05:00

Here's a great video of a small informal jam session featuring two of my favorite muscians, David Grier on guitar and Herschel Sizemore on mandolin.

This video comes courtesy of Mike Stangeland, a great guy who has provided tons of tune transcriptions for both guitar and mandolin to the bluegrass community.

What a great way to start the week!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Biblical Worship Part 4

2006-05-13T23:30:00.000-05:00

It's been an extremely busy ministry time for me recently and I've not posted anything this week. For those of you who are faithfully come back to my little blog, here's this weeks message. The fourth in my series Biblical Worship.

It's called The Essential Elements of Biblical Worship - Part 2 and deals with the necessity of expository preaching in worship.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Biblical Worship Part 3

2006-05-06T22:50:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I will preach my third sermon in this series entitled Biblical Worship. I've posted the first two messages earlier. They are The Biblical Foundation for Worship and Profane Fire: Worship Rejected.

I've tried to build the case that just as God tells us how to be saved, how to live the Christian life, how to pray, how to give, how to order the church and so on, He tells us how to worship Him. God is not ambiguous about worship. We do not have the freedom to worship Him in a way that pleases us. In fact, if we do so, we can be certain that such worship will be rejected.

How then are we to worship God? How does the Bible guide us in worship. In the weeks to come, I will be laying out the essential elements that are both commanded and exemplified in Scripture. This week is the first. Above all, the gathered church is to publicly read the word of God. Here's this week's sermon. It is based on Nehemiah 8:1-12 and several other passages.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Could You Be Happy in Heaven without Jesus?

2006-05-05T10:22:00.000-05:00

From John Piper's new book God is the Gospel:
_____

The critical question for our generation and for every generation is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?

And the question for Christian leaders is: Do we preach and teach and lead in such a way that people are prepared to hear that question and answer with a resounding No? How do we understand the gospel and the love of God? Have we shifted with the world from God's love as the gift of himself to God's love as the gift of a mirror in which we like what we see? Have we presented the gospel in such a way that the gift of the glory of God in the face of Christ is marginal rather than central and ultimate? If so, I pray that this book might be one way God wakens us to see the supreme value and importance of the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. I pray that our ministries would have the same focal point as the ministry of John Owen, the great Puritan writer of the seventeenth century. Richard Daniels said of him:

There is one motif so important to John Owen, so often and so broadly cited by him, that the writer would go so far as to call it the focal point of Owen's theology... namely, the doctrine that in the gospel we behold, by the Christ-given Holy Spirit, the glory of God in the face of Christ and are thereby changed into his image.

Can we really say that our people are being prepared for heaven where Christ himself, not his gifts, will be the supreme pleasure?
______

For Amarillo residents, I saw several copies of this book at the Family Christian store this week.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Bound in Heaven?

2006-05-02T09:56:00.000-05:00

A few days ago I attended a very large Christian gathering in our city to support a ministry that impacts many people. At the close of the event a local pastor was called to the microphone to lead a final prayer. He said something like this, "We are told where two agree together our prayers will be answered and so let's agree together in prayer for this ministry."

That statement hindered me from praying for a few seconds as I contemplated his meaning. I don't want to put words in his mouth but to me he seemed to be espousing the idea that if two Christians pray for the same thing God is bound to give them their request. Is a sovereign God bound by the agreement of two human beings? Can we in fact bend God to our will by finding someone else who will pray just as we are praying?

The biblical passage that this pastor drew on for this statement is Matthew 18:18-19, where Jesus says:

Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.

Is it legitimate to say if two or more of us pray the same prayer that by these verses God is honor bound to perform our desires? I think not. First, experience tells me this interpretation is false. For example, have you ever joined your prayer with other believers that someone who was very sick would recover but he died anyway? I have.

Second, and more importantly, the context of this passage must dictate our interpretation. Without going into great detail, the obvious context of Jesus' words here refer to the discipline of a wayward brother in the Lord. First, according to verse 15, we are to go to that brother and try to win a hearing. Second, in verse 16 if he has refused us we are to take two or three witnesses and go to him again. Third, if he will not hear the admonition of the witnesses, his sin is to be told to the church. If he will not hear the collective admonition of the church, he is to be put out, shunned and treated as "a heathen and a tax collector" (v.17).

In that context of discipline, Jesus tells his disciples that what they "bind on earth will be bound in heaven" and what they "loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (v.18). The idea of the binding and loosening of sin was the language of the rabbis. What Jesus clearly means is that when we act in discipline according to these principles we are not commanding heaven but we are acting in agreement with heaven.

With that context, verse 19 makes perfect sense. The "two" who "agree" are the minimum number of witnesses mentioned in verse 16. When at least two believers are seeking God's will in confronting sin (literally acting in symphony with each other), they can know that they are also in agreement with the Father. God will answer their prayers and help them to do what is right.

This pastor was very wrong to imply that these verses are a blank check for prayer, the notion that if we can get believers to agree in prayer that God must answer according to our desires. That interpretation is a perversion of Jesus' teaching. The application is confidence to confront sin in the church.

How foolish to think that by the melding of our finite human wills we can bend the sovereign will of Almighty God to our desires. Rather, we should pray that our will be melded to His.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Fishing for Fun

2006-05-01T08:34:00.000-05:00

It's Monday morning, a beautiful spring day, don't you wish you could go fishing?

Soli Deo Gloria!

Biblical Worship Part 2

2006-04-30T14:58:00.000-05:00

This morning I preached the second message in a short series I've entitled Biblical Worship.

While there is much discussion about worship among Christians today, the focus seems to be more on what we as individuals want in worship rather that what God wants. We seem to ignore the fact that God sometimes rejects men's worship.

If you think about it, the Bible is replete with examples of rejected worship. God rejected Cain's sacrifice. The second commandment condemns worshiping through images. God brought judgment on Israel because they used a golden calf to worship Him. Saul was rejected from being king because he tried to offer the sacrifices himself. Uzzah died because David tried to move the Ark of the Covenant on cart instead of having the priests carry it. Jesus pointedly told the scribes and pharisees that though they honored God with their lips their hearts were far from Him.

The first sermon in this series was called In Spirit and Truth: A Biblical Foundation for Worship.

Today's message is Profane Fire: Worship Rejected.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Emotional Worship

2006-04-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

Jesus said that the Father is seeking worshipers who will worship Him "in spirit and truth" (Jn.4:23-24). True worship is not spirit apart from the truth or truth apart from spirit but a spiritual, emotional connect with God according to the truth He reveals in Holy Scripture.

Therefore, true worship is emotional. How can we contemplate God's grace without feelings of intense gratitude? How can we meditate on Christ's propitiary sacrifice on the cross and be neutral in our feelings? How can we consider the eternal decree of God in electing us from the foundation of the world, calling us to Himself, justifying us by faith and glorifying us that we might "dwell in the house of the Lord forever" and not be overwhelmed with joy?

True worship engages the emotions but emotions are not the goal of worship. The purpose of worship should not be to excite our emotions but to give praise to God. Emotions should be a by-product of God-centered worship.

The problem in many churches is that emotions are the goal. Songs with repetitive lyrics and little biblical content build emotional intensity. Sermons are laced with stories designed to tug the heart-strings. People are emotionally manipulated to the point of weeping but the experience may not truly exalt God.

The issue is not emotions versus non-emotions. The true worship of God produces emotions but those emotions are the natural result of passionately praising the Savior. Emotions are not to be an end in themselves. May we not crave a feeling but earnestly desire to commune with our Creator.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Spurgeon on Election

2006-04-27T09:01:00.000-05:00

Charles Haddon Spurgeon was the "prince of preachers." He was one of the most uniquely gifted communicators the church has ever known. Before microphones and sound systems he routinely preached to crowds of over ten thousand people in London. His sermons were dictated, printed and published around the world in books, pamphlets and newspapers.

Many thousands of people came to faith in Christ through Spurgeon's powerful preaching. His written sermons still inspire us to day. Yet Spurgeon saw no disconnect between his evangelistic zeal and God's sovereignty in salvation. He strongly upheld the doctrines of grace. In fact he said:

"I believe the doctrine of election, because I am quite sure that if God had not chosen me I should never have chosen him; and I am sure he chose me before I was born, or else he never would have chosen me afterwards; and he must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why he should have looked upon me with special love. So I am forced to accept that doctrine."

(Lectures to My Students, bk.2, pg.47).

Spurgeon accepted God's sovereignty in his own salvation because he understood his own sinfulness. Today the gospel has been made so palatable so that it no longer offensive. Instead of confronting sinners with their sin and the wrath of God's judgment and the fear of a literal hell, they are told that Jesus died so that they might have "purpose" for their lives.

When we minimize man's sin we consequently trivialize God's grace and His power to save us in spite of our sin. It's no wonder so many reject the biblical doctrine of election.

"...He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will" (Eph.1:4-5).

Soli Deo Gloria!

A Consuming Fire

2006-04-26T09:46:00.000-05:00

The high plains are a tinderbox. With a severe drought and brisk spring winds all that is needed is a spark in the right place for a raging prairie fire to commence. Tens of thousands of acres of grassland has burned in our region in the last few weeks. Houses, barns, vehicles and livestock have been destroyed by the flames. Lives have been lost. Three fires have approached the outskirts of Amarillo but have been contained before causing extensive damage. Last Sunday evening a fire came very close to the home of my friend Bryan Kimsey in eastern New Mexico. We desperately need moisture. Without rain, a stray spark will begin another inferno.

Last night I was reading Hebrews 12 and came to this passage, "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire" (vv.28-29).

How mysterious that the writer of Hebrews describes God Himself as "a consuming fire." That was not a new concept to him. Exodus 24:17 tells us what the Israelites saw as they looked up to Mount Sinai, "The sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel." When the law forbids idolatry it gives this somber warning, "For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God" (Deut.4:24). The people of Israel were encouraged not to fear their enemies as they went out to possess the land. Deuteronomy 9:3 says, "Therefore understand today that the LORD your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the LORD has said to you."

Therefore the context of Scripture uses the metaphor of "a consuming fire" to describe God's holiness, His righteous jealousy and His power over His enemies.

While Hebrews tells us as Christians that through Christ we may "come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb.4:16) and to "draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith" (Heb.10:22), it also warns us of the danger of trivializing our relationship to God. The veil has been torn. We need no further sacrifices of blood. We need no other priest. We may come boldly to God but we may not come flippantly, irreverently or carelessly. Rather, we are to approach Him "with reverence and fear" because He is now as He has always been "a consuming fire."

Soli Deo Gloria!

Regarding Henry

2006-04-25T16:58:00.000-05:00

Today I visited with my friend Henry. I've spent a lot of time with Henry over the years, much of it chasing blue quail over the Canadian River breaks or ringneck pheasant through Kansas milo fields. Henry is old enough to be my dad and has been a father to me in many ways.

When my family first moved to Amarillo fourteen years ago, Henry was the treasurer for our then tiny church. As a corporate accountant he knew how to "squeeze a nickel until the buffalo squealed." For years he helped us maintain biblical stewardship and weather some difficult financial storms. In those early years when funds were low, Henry paid some of the church's bills out of his own pocket. He was that kind of man.

Henry was a teacher. He loved the Word of God and committed much of it to memory. He disciplined himself to read through the Bible each year. He would study for hours each week in order to rightly divide the Scriptures for his adult Bible class each Lord's Day.

Henry was a mentor. He gave good counsel. For years I would not make a major decision without first talking with Henry. He consistently encouraged me with sound biblical advice.

He was a visionary. Early on he helped our little church to understand that a parsonage was not a good idea. He convinced the congregation that a pastor should be paid well enough that he could purchase his own home and earn his own equity. As our little church grew and grew, Henry helped lead the way to the future as we sold buildings and bought new ones.

Henry was a man of prayer. When I preached I always knew he was praying for me. It was always a joy to call upon him to pray publicly. He would address the Lord with a profound sense of reverence and humility.

I keep writing the phrase, "Henry was" but you need to know that Henry still is. He's still with us but in a different capacity. The occasion for our visit today was his first day as a new resident in a home for Alzheimer's patients.

Henry still looks the same. He seems physically fit for his age. He still always seems to know me. His characteristic wit is still present. As we sat together listening to some of the other patients struggle through a handbell rendition of "Home on the Range," he leaned over and said dryly, "Some people are easily amused." Yes, he's different but he is still Henry.

He said, "I hope I'll be going home soon." I responded with the hope that perhaps his stay in this place would be only temporary. He then said, "No, I mean my eternal home." Henry struggles with names. He can't remember what food he likes and dislikes. Yet he has never for a moment forgotten his faith in the Savior. He said today, "I don't understand why God has allowed me to become like this. Yet this is His will so who am I to complain? I know something much better awaits me."

I thank God for Henry. Even as he struggles with Alzheimer's Disease he continues to mentor me. I pray that I can face the struggles of my life with that same courage and faith.

Soli Deo Gloria!

In the News!

2006-04-25T16:52:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Lisa Thomas on being featured in a Globe-News article on administrative assistants.

Lisa and her husband Lamar are active members of Cornerstone. They both serve on our Missions Team and Lamar is the leader of the Tech Team. Plus, Lisa is also a fountain pen user, another sign of God's grace!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Granny and Gramps

2006-04-24T22:53:00.000-05:00

Our Cornerstone family needs no introduction for this picture. For other friends, this is one of our elders, Mike Williams and his wife, the best church secretary in the world, Charla Williams holding their first grandson, Carter. Congratulations to Ryan and Melinda too.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Stupid Pet Tricks - Part Doux

2006-04-24T09:24:00.001-05:00

Back by popular demand, more Stupid Pet Tricks! This time of course we feature a horse!

It's Monday morning, lighten up!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Worship or Entertainment?

2006-04-23T22:13:00.000-05:00

This evening I played gospel music in a church with some of my bluegrass compatriots. Since it was a special occasion, I slipped out of our own services to help with this performance. We played a number of songs and concluded with an upbeat, banjo-driven hymn arrangement.

Was it edifying? Yes. People smiled, tapped their toes, clapped their hands and even sang along on familiar tunes. Was it worship? No.

We live in a time unprecedented in church history. When I was growing up, there was no dedicated Christian radio. There were no Christian Top 40 charts. There was secular music and there was church music, with rarely an overlap. I remember the first time I attended a concert by a "contemporary Christian artist." I saw Dallas Holm and Praise from the third row. It was an eye-opening experience and sparked controversy in the local community. Christian entertainment is a new phenomenon that has developed within my lifetime.

How things have changed! I can scan my radio dial and find any number of contemporary Christian radio broadcasts. Beyond having a wide selection of Christian music in Christian bookstores, there is a large number of best-selling Christian CD's in Wal-Mart. Contemporary Christian Music is a category in ratings reports and brings in many, many millions of dollars each year. It's not just contemporary music either. Consider the resurgent popularity of Bill and Gloria Gaither and their DVD's and videos.

To some extent, I am glad for this. I would much rather have my teenage daughters listen to the music they like with wholesome if not biblical lyrics rather than vulgar, lustful and even violent lyrics.

However a problem arises when we attempt to label all Christian music as worship. Popular Christian music can be helpful, edifying and encouraging; but true worship is communicating to God our adoration for His glorious attributes, the confession of our sins and our thanksgiving for His wonderful gifts. True worship is participatory. We don't watch and listen to worship; we engage in it. Watching and listening are the marks of entertainment.

Is entertainment wrong? No. All good gifts come from God (Ja.1:17). We can tap our toes, sing along and be edified by wholesome music whatever the style. But we must learn to discern between entertainment and worship. We must not substitute Christian entertainment for worshiping the Savior in spirit and truth.

Soli Deo Gloria!

In Spirit and In Truth

2006-04-23T00:51:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a busy last couple of weeks I've had. Life has jumped in the way of blogging it seems. Nonetheless, here is my message for later on this Lord's Day. I spent the better part of two years preaching verse by verse through 1 Corinthians and finished up earlier this year. Then I did a five sermon series on the doctrine of eternal punishment. Today I begin another fairly short series on the subject of biblical worship and when this is finished I plan to begin an exegetical study of 2 Corinthians.

For many Christians and many churches biblical worship has all but been forgotten. Oh there is a lot of thought, creativity and ingenuity put into worship services. However, much of what passes for worship today has little to do with the teachings of the Scriptures. The question believers should be asking is not "How do I like to worship?" but rather "How does God command me to worship Him?"

That's the question we will explore and hopefully answer in this new series. This first message surveys John 4 and Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman about worshiping the Lord "in spirit and in truth." You can read it here.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Miscellaneous Musings

2006-04-17T11:27:00.000-05:00

Okay, so this isn't always a spiritual blog. Let me tell you about one of my other passions. Recently I went to a bluegrass guitar jam hosted by my friend John Beaver in Oklahoma City. There I got to play "the Pearl of Great Price." Like the proverb, I went and sold all that I had to acquire it... well at least I sold another guitar and a banjo in order to buy this fantastic dreadnought built by Mario Proulx in far northern Canada. Mario is a fine guy and he really built a beast of a guitar. If you are interested, here's the Proulx in a sample of the old fiddle tune "Cattle in the Cane."

In other news, quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs is challies.com. Tim's excellent article called An Audience of One evidences why. Look for Tim to live blog the Together for the Gospel conference April 26-28.

If you are worried about the church being crippled by the Da Vinci Code movie, cool your jets. It seems Harry Potter has come to the rescue the gospel. Read Chip's blog here.

Busy week, more later.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Expositional Listening

2006-04-17T10:58:00.000-05:00

We hear a lot about the vital importance of expositional preaching these days. When a pastor preaches what the biblical text means rather than reading the text and preaching his own ideas the congregation is fed and grows spiritually. The preacher's task is to expose the Word of God so that the Spirit of God can make application in the hearts of the people of God. Such an approach to preaching requires the pastor to be diligent in study and cautious in application so that he is rightly dividing the Word of Truth. It is a heavy responsibility.

However, have you every thought about the congregregation's responsibility to listen expositionally? It's not enough to merely show up on time, dress nicely, greet people warmly, sing sincerely if we then let our minds drift away as the Scriptures are proclaimed. Expositional listening is as much a responsibility as expositional preaching. Taking notes, asking follow-up questions, personal study of the passage and meditating on and discussing the text with others make us all diligent students of the Word.

You should read Thabiti Anyabwile's article on this subject in the 9Marks newsletter for further insight and application.

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does" (James 1:22-25).

Soli Deo Gloria!

He Is Risen Indeed!

2006-04-15T23:58:00.000-05:00

It's been a busy, busy week. I performed a funeral service on Thursday and another out of town on Friday. I rushed back to participate in our Tenebrae service on Good Friday evening. What a special time of reflection of the hour of darkness, when Christ paid the ultimate price for our sins on the cross.

Today we had an outreach event for children in our neighborhood and our family worked hard to ready our home for an Easter feast tomorrow afternoon. My wife, Debra started the tradition years ago of inviting church friends who had no other family living our city to come to our home for fellowship on Easter. So much work had to be done to prepare for this sweet time of fellowship.

Yet, now as I look at the clock it is just past midnight. Resurrection Day has come. In a few hours we will gather with the saints to sing praises to the living Savior and speak the words believers have echoed for two millennia: He is Risen; He is Risen Indeed!

I have just gone over my notes once again in for the message I will deliver. It's called "Three Resurrections." We will examine the resurrection of Lazarus from John 11; the resurrection of Jesus in Matthew 28 and the spiritual resurrection of believers in Ephesians 2. You can read my manuscript here.

Wherever you worship today, may you glory in the cross and delight in the life of Christ. We died with Him and we are raised with Him. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

Soli Deo Gloria!

The Hour of Darkness

2006-04-13T13:33:00.000-05:00

"Then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to Him, 'Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is YOUR HOUR, and the POWER OF DARKNESS'" (Luke 22:52-53).

What a dark hour it was. As Jesus arose from His prayer in the garden determined to do the will of the Father, to pay the ultimate price for sin, the leaders of the Jews met Him armed with weapons and lust for violence. One of His own betrayed Him with a kiss, the kiss of death. While myriads of unseen angels watched in excruciating anguish, the Lord was bound and led away to a series of six false trials. That same night he stood before Pilate and Herod. He was spat upon, slapped, punched and degraded in every way. There was no rest for His humiliation lasted through the night. In the early morning hours he was presented to the Passover crowd that called for His blood. He was beaten with a Roman scourge He received thirty-nine lashes for it was said forty would kill a man. Bloodied almost beyond recognition, He was placed before the mob again. They called for a murderous terrorist to be released so that He could be crucified.

Forced to carry the instrument of His own execution, Jesus drug the heavy cross down the pathway of suffering to the hill of the skull. There His hands and feet were nailed to wood. He was suspended between heaven and earth. Mockers stood about hurling insults and wagging their heads. Yet like a sheep before its shearers, He was silent. At high noon the sky turned dark as if it were night. The sins of lost men weighed down His sinless soul. Finally, at mid-afternoon, after six hours, He said it was finished and yielded up His Spirit.

Why? Why did He suffer both the agony of crucifixion and the price of sin that separated Him from the Father?

2 Corinthians 5:21 answers, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

1 Peter 2:24 answers the He "Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed."

He was forsaken that we might be forgiven. He died that we might live. Ancient Christians on Good Friday conducted a service they called Tenebrae, Latin for "darkness" or "shadows." The service emphasized that hour of darkness in which Christ suffered for our sins.

On Friday evening, at seven o'clock Cornerstone will commemorate the propitiary death of the Lord in our own tenebrae service. We will corporately proclaim "the Lord's death til He comes." If you are a member, nothing should be of greater priority. If you are not a member but are in our area, please join us as we remember the hour of darkness in preparation for celebrating the triumphant light of the resurrection.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Reverence the Tax Man?

2006-04-12T22:37:00.000-05:00

It's tax season here in the U.S. Pretend for a moment that next Monday you have an appointment at 10:30 with an IRS agent because he has questions about your return. I know that sounds like a nightmare but indulge me for a few more seconds.

How would you approach the interview? If it were me, I would do everything to prepare carefully. I would study my return. I would bring all my receipts. I would arrive early. I would dress my best. I would speak respectfully. I would approach the whole situation with a sense of caution and concern born out of healthy fear.

Now, how do you approach meeting with God in the presence of the saints each Lord's Day? Do you prepare? Do you study the Word ahead of time? Do you bring a notebook to record your thoughts? Do you arrive early? Do you dress your best? Do you approach public worship with a sense of awe born of a reverent fear for God?

The busy pace of our culture, the relentless flow of days into weeks, the stress of our schedules and the demands of society all seem to conspire to rob believers of that precious sense of reverence for the Lord's Day. I don't mean come off like a legalistic Sabbath-keeper but somewhere along the lines we seem to have come to think of Sunday as just another day of the week which happens to be the day the church has services. We rarely prepare. We often rush in late. We tend to be overly casual in our dress. We often do not approach in godly fear and reverence but rather let our thoughts drift to what we will have for lunch afterward.

So honestly, who do we reverence more the tax man or Almighty God?

Soli Deo Gloria!

Propositional Truth

2006-04-11T08:50:00.000-05:00

Jesus said, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." To this statement Pilate mockingly asked, "What is truth?" That was the end of the conversation but Pilate did say Jesus's handlers, "I find no fault in Him at all" (Jn.18:37-38).

This passage underscores the fallacy of postmodernistic relativism trumpeted by the emergent church movement. Its leaders deny propositional truth by asking the question, "What is truth" while at the same time, they find no fault with the One who is the source of all truth. Perhaps Pilate was an ancient postmodern?

Mark Dever has posted an excellent analogy of this line of relativistic thinking at TFG:

We must be largely charitable,
and leave this brother to his own opinion;
he sees truth from a different standpoint,
and has a rather different way of putting it,
but his opinions are as good as our own,
and we must not say that he is in error.

Truth is truth. It is not dependent upon circumstances, personalities or culture. Truth transcends. Truth descends from God. Truth is declared in Scripture. Ultimately to argue against propositional or absolute truth is to argue with God.

What happens with those who attempt to argue with God? They lose, "that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God" (Rom.3:19).

For further reading on the relativism of the emergent movement, look here and there.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God

2006-04-10T10:18:00.000-05:00

Have you read J.I. Packer's classic book Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God? It is a must read for the maturing Christian. There is a good review of the book and an engaging discussion of Arminian versus Reformed viewpoints of evangelism going on at this blog over at Challies Dot Com.

If you believe everyone has the same ability to choose or not choose Christ, how does that belief impact how you share your faith? On the other hand if you believe that God acts sovereignly in salvation and no one is saved unless God calls them to salvation, how does that belief influence the way you present the gospel?

Leave a comment. Let's work out the faith together.

How Does Hell Motivate Us?

2006-04-09T00:13:00.000-05:00

Last Lord's Day, I posted some links to the first four of my sermon series on the doctrine of Eternal Punishment. This has been a gripping study for me. Yet we don't study Scripture just to gain a head full of knowledge. We study that we might not only have greater understanding but fuller obedience to the will of God.

Later on today, I will preach the last message in this series, How Does Hell Motivate Us? Basically, what we know about hell should motivate us to passionately share the gospel of Christ. Why? Two reasons. First, there is only one way to be saved. The gospel is exclusive. We are either saved by faith in Christ or we are not saved at all. Second, there is only one way to hear the gospel. It must be proclaimed. I blogged on this earlier in the week.

Here's a snipet from the message:

When I was about 7-years-old, my mom lost me in an airport. This was back in the late 60's when Love Field was the Dallas airport. My mother, father and I had gone to the airport to pick up my new sister-in-law because my brother was serving in Viet Nam. I had never been to an airport before and was fascinated by all the people, the escalators and the shops along the concourse. In the midst of all this hustle and bustle, I was separated from my mother. I knew my dad was waiting in the main lobby and I knew how to get back to him so I took off down the concourse by myself. My mom went into a panic. She notified security and everyone was looking for me. They found me about the time I found my dad. Why did my mother panic? She feared for me. She feared what would happen to me. So she dropped everything and began to search. Nothing was more important to her than to find me. Her love for me and fear for my safety made finding me her first priority.

I think that is a fitting illustration of how the doctrine of eternal punishment should motivate us in evangelism and missions. We not only fear for what will befall a person who dies without Christ, we know what will happen to him. We know he will descend into the flaming torment of hell. He will go to Gehenna where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched. He will be cast into outer darkness far from the presence of the Lord. The smoke of his torment will ascend forever and ever. After he has been there ten thousand years he will not have reduced his sentence by one second. He will remain in that awful place in that awful condition forever and ever and ever.

You can read the message in its entirety here.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Worshiping Worship?

2006-04-08T19:41:00.000-05:00

In a blog at Challies Dot Com, you can find an interesting and balanced article with much feedback about the fact that sometimes it seems we are worshiping worship. Here's a taste:

I listened to some of the worship albums I have accumulated over the past years and was struck by how true Carson's words are. Carson also writes, "Despite the protestations, one sometimes wonders if we are beginning to worship worship rather than worship God. As a brother put it to me, it's a bit like those who begin by admiring the sunset and soon begin to admire themselves admiring the sunset." It is all too easy for us to engage in "worship" which does not worship God.

Soli Deo Gloria!

John Piper: Praying the Bible

2006-04-08T19:00:00.000-05:00

John Piper, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis and Desiring God Ministries was recently interviewed by Decision Magazine. You can read the full interview, but here's a great quote on praying the Scriptures:

Q: So we use the Word of God in combination with prayer? A: The Word and prayer to me are constantly interwoven. I don't read the Bible longer than a minute without praying, and I don't pray longer than a minute without some Scripture on my mind. If I start churning out prayers that aren't informed pretty explicitly by the Bible, I'm probably going to wind up praying carnal prayers; and if I try to read the Bible extensively without constantly sending my heart up to God, it will become an academic exercise that doesn't move my heart. I'm not just reading a document about a historical man, I'm reading an inspired Word from a living Christ, and my prayers are to a real, living person. This is a conversation. God is telling me what to do and I'm saying, "Yes, yes!" I'm crying out to Him for help and I'm pleading for insight and I'm laying all my burdens before Him, and He's able to bear them. 2 Chronicles 16:9 says, "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him" (ESV). I love to think of prayer as giving God an occasion to show off how broad His shoulders are.

Have a blessed Lord's Day tomorrow and may your worship be a foretaste of heaven.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Preparing for the Lord's Day

2006-04-07T22:07:00.000-05:00

The Lord’s Day, from the earliest days of the church, believers have gathered on the first day of the week in celebration of Christ’s resurrection for prayer, Scripture reading, the preaching of the Word, singing praises and celebrating the ordinances. Yet how easy it is to let the day become part of our weekly routine and give little thought to its relevance. We worship poorly when we fail to prepare for worship.

Archibald Alexander (1772-1851) was the first president of Princeton Theological Seminary. In his A Brief Compend of Bible Truth (1846), gave some thought provoking instructions on how believers ought to spend the Lord’s Day. You should read the full article but here is a great quotation to stir our thoughts:

Let the whole day be consecrated to the service of God, especially in acts of worship, public and private. This weekly recess from worldly cares and avocations, affords a precious opportunity for the study of God's word, and for the examination of our own hearts. Rise early, and let your first thoughts and aspirations be directed to heaven. Meditate much and profoundly on divine things, and endeavour to acquire a degree of spirituality on this day which will abide with you through the whole week. Consider the Lord's Day an honour and delight. Let your heart be elevated in holy joy, and your lips be employed in the high praises of God. This day more resembles heaven, than any other portion of our time; and we should endeavour to imitate the worship of heaven…

Let all be careful to attend on the services of the sanctuary on this day. And let the heart be prepared by previous prayer and meditation for a participation in public worship, and while in the more immediate presence of the Divine Majesty, let all the people fear before him, and with reverence adore and praise his holy name. Let all vanity, and curious gazing, and slothfulness, be banished from the house of God. Let every heart be lifted up on entering the sanctuary, and let the thoughts be carefully restrained from wandering on foolish or worldly objects, and resolutely recalled when they have begun to go astray. Let brotherly love be cherished, when joining with others in the worship of God. The hearts of all the church should be united in worship, as the heart of one man. Thus, will the worship of the sanctuary below, be a preparation for the purer, sublimer worship in the temple above.

Soli Deo Gloria!

The Necessity of Preaching

2006-04-06T10:30:00.001-05:00

"How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!"(Romans 10:14-15a).

Think about this. The only ones who "call on Him" are the ones who have "believed in Him." They cannot "believe in Him" unless they have "heard" about him. They will not "hear" about him unless God sends someone to "preach."

If we reverse the order, it goes like this: If God did not send preachers no one would hear about Christ, if no one heard about Christ, no one would believe and if they didn't believe they would not call upon the Lord, and if no one called upon the Lord, they would not be saved. Let me add, if they are not saved, they will suffer torment forever.

Thus we see the absolute necessity of preachers in the redemptive plan of God. No one is saved apart from the gospel and no one hears the gospel unless it is preached. That's why God has always sent preachers. In the Old Testament, He sent His prophets. In the New Testament, He sent His Son, then His apostles, then others. God is still sending preachers the farthest reaches of the earth today.

Yet preaching isn't limited to pastors. In this context a preacher is one who proclaims the gospel. That is the calling of every believer. That is why God leaves us here on earth and does not immediately call us home to heaven after we have been saved. Are you active in proclaiming the gospel to those who need to hear?

1 Corinthians 1:21, "For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe."

Soli Deo Gloria!

Unstirred in the Flames

2006-04-06T01:04:00.000-05:00

Dr. Robert Farrar was another notable martyr to Blood Mary's fires. He was bishop of St. David's in Wales and under the charitable reign of Edward VI spread the Reformation in England. Like other brave pastors he spoke out publicly against the mysticism of "popish idolatry" and the Roman mass.

When Edward died and his half-sister and devoted Catholic, Mary Tudor ascended to the throne, Farrar was soon arrested and tried on fifty-six counts of heresy. After a long and tedious trial he was sent back to prison, only to be examined several more times and degraded by the Catholic court. Finally officially pronounced a heretic, he was sentenced to die at the stake on March 30, 1555.

A friend, Richard Jones came to him the day before the execution and expressed sorrow that he would face such a painful death. Farrar replied, “If you see me stir in the flames then give no credit to the doctrine I have preached.”

Witnesses stated that he stood like a stone while the flames licked around him holding his arms outstretched until they were burned to stumps. In mercy someone struck him dead.

"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable" (1 Cor.15:19).

Soli Deo Gloria!

Blessed Assurance?

2006-04-05T23:53:00.000-05:00

Do you know for certain that you are a Christian? Can anyone know for sure that they have been saved? In my pastoral ministry I have met with many people who struggle with assurance in their relationship to the Lord.

Recently a good and trusted friend told me about Gardiner Spring. No, that's not a new bottled water, but a theologian, writer and pastor of the same congregation for 63 years. My friend told me how much had profited from Spring's writings on The Distinguishing Marks of Christian Character. This booklet, published by Spring in 1829 deals with the out-working of 2 Corinthians 13:5, "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?; unless indeed you are disqualified." What's even better, it's available with one click of your mouse.
In reading through some of Distinguishing Marks, I find Spring's writing to be amazingly contemporary. Consider this quote from the chapter on The Time of Your Supposed Conversion:

It is no certain evidence that a man is born of God because he can specify the particular time when he believes he was converted. I have no doubt that there are those who can tell the period of time when they passed from death unto life. And this may be deemed a happy circumstance in their religious experience. When the love of God is so sensibly shed abroad in the soul, and the light of His countenance so sensibly descends upon the heart and the glory of God so sensibly fills the mind, that the time of its influence can be distinctly discerned, it may well be the source of grateful rejoicing. But this is by no means the experience, even of the great body of God’s people.

Much of Spring's writings are available online and can be much help to believers struggling to work out the faith in the 21st century.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Miscellaneous Musings

2006-04-05T22:45:00.000-05:00

I've been blogging for a little over a week now. I am enjoying the process. My tracking software tells me that many of my visitors are from right here in Amarillo and surrounding communities. This must mean that a lot of you are church members and friends of our church. That's wonderful because you are specifically the group to whom I write. However, others from all over the United States and several different countries have dropped by. To you I bid a big Texas "howdy."

Many of you are unfamiliar with blogdom, so here's some basic instruction. Please leave some comments. If a particular post is helpful, if you have a question or if you think I am nuts and want to disagree publicly with me, click the comment link underneath that post. This will open another page where you can read other's comments and where you can add your own. You'll be asked to verify that you are a real live person and not a machine by typing in what appear to be funny-looking letters, but that's just for security. If you don't leave your name, I have no way of knowing who you are, so be sure to give me at least a hint!

What I am enjoying most about my blog is the ability to deal in some detail with subject matters that I should not address from the pulpit or may have no opportunity to address from the pulpit. I plan to write more about particular doctrines I am studying like Eternal Punishment. I want to write more on church history, particulary the stories of the English Reformers like John Rogers. I also want to comment on church life, particularly how we approach worship in this consumer-driven age. Also I'll be dealing with trends, goofy theology and some personal thoughts from my private life. More Stupid Pet Tricks are sure to follow.

If you are interested in the post on Science Studies Prayer, you may want to follow up with this and this.

So again, thanks for stopping by. Bookmark the Sky Pilot so I'll be easy to find and I'll be back with more to chew on later.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Flight at Dawn

2006-04-05T08:36:00.000-05:00

Here's a poem by my friend Dr. Dave Rowlett. He wrote these words on a recent plane trip as he watched the sun rise from above the clouds.

Flight at Dawn

As I gaze from far on high,
A thousand sunbeams lace the sky.

Lord, awaken the beauty of your new day,
Seen before eye was created.
With delicate shafts of light survey,
Your wondrous glory unabated.

Lord, give me eyes to truly see,
The boundless grace that rests on me.
And give me voice to ever praise,
Your mighty works throughout my days.

C. D. Rowlett,
3/22/2006

Where is Thy Sting?

2006-04-04T21:16:00.000-05:00

I don't know why, but over the last two or three years God in His providence has allowed me to be in the room with several believers as they passed from this life into the presence of the Lord. It happened again today.

2 Corinthians 5:8 tells us "to be absent from the body" is "to be present with the Lord." The Good Shepherd walks with us "through the valley the shadow of death" so we should "fear no evil" (Psa.23:4). Jesus says of the death of Lazarus, "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom" (Lk.16:22). I wouldn't be dogmatic about this but perhaps angels do escort believers into the place of eternal comfort. These were my thoughts today as I watched my friend Frank draw his last breath.

Such a death is a mixture of sadness and joy, sorrow and peace. Our emotions are drawn to the surface as an unstoppable force. We weep and mourn because death brings separation. Yet at the same time we rejoice in that God has called His elect into His presence and we have peace in the thought that we will be reunited through our common faith in Christ.

Frank was an "eleventh hour" Christian (cf. Mt.20:1-16). God's grace came to him in the sunset of life. This rugged rancher was humbled before the Lord just four years ago. However, his family and those who knew him give testimony to the remarkable change the gospel had on his life. In our last meaningful conversation, he assured me that he was trusting in Christ completely. Now he sees face to face what we see through a mirror dimly (1 Cor.13:12).

Truly the believer can say with Paul, "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades [the grave], where is your victory?"(1 Cor.15:55).

It is indeed a precious privilege to accompany a brother-in-Christ on his final earthly voyage. "Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints" (Ps.116:15).

Soli Deo Gloria!

01:02:03 04/05/06

2006-04-04T10:57:00.000-05:00

The latest internet trivia buzz is that for one second in the wee hours of the morning our clocks line up in this sequence: 01:02:03 04/05/06. Interesting, eh? I remember the summer after my 7th grade year the date 7/7/77. Of course I also noted 8/8/88 and then 9/9/99. We won't see anything like that again until 1/1/11.

I don't know why this interests me. I noted the exact mile when my car turned 22,222.2 and then 33,333.3, etc... Those numbered sequences whether on the clock or odometer seem like milestones to me.

To retain some bit of spirituality in this blog, consider Moses' words in Psalm 90:12, "So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom."

Soli Deo Gloria!

PS: Postlog to Stupid Pet Tricks, the same reader who forwarded video sent this one about Faith.

Mightier than the Sword

2006-04-03T22:25:00.000-05:00

I have always loved fountain pens. In the first half of the 20th century, almost everyone carried a fountain pen of some type. In the days before the ubiquitous ball point and computer keyboards, people communicated the written word in style and grace through a fine nib and ink from a bottle. The only difference between fountain pens and their forerunners, dip pens and quills was the fact that ink could now be stored and carried inside the pen. Luther wrote his Ninety-Five Theses with a nibbed pen. Calvin wrote his Institutes with a nib. Edwards likely wrote his sermons with a fine turkey quill. I feel part of that history when I use a fountain pen to make notes in my study journal or write the rough drafts of my sermons.

I own two good quality modern fountain pens but in the last few months I've bought several vintage pens from ebay and in local antique stores. I am learning the craft of restoring them to their original beauty and function.

This evening I sit at my desk writing a draft of the second point of next Sunday's sermon with this lovely Sheaffer's Balance 1000 from the late 1930's. I found it in a junk store a few weeks ago. After a careful cleaning, resacing and polishing, it looks and writes like it did in the days before World War II. I wonder who bought it originally. I wonder in whose pocket it rode all those years ago. I wonder what documents it signed and what letters it wrote. I wonder why it was laid aside. This evening it is resurrected and writing an exegesis of Romans 10 and the necessity of proclaiming the gospel.

Who needs a ballpoint, a rollerball or a gel pen when there are elegant writing instruments like this one waiting to be restored and put to use. If you are interested in fountain pens, you might want to browse The Fountain Pen Network or check out Richard Binder's excellent site. If you have some old pens you don't want, I'd be happy to take them off your hands. If you would like some help with restoration, let me know.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Reverence for the Word

2006-04-03T00:31:00.000-05:00

"Of this we can be certain - no congregation will revere the Bible more than the preacher does." - Al Mohler in Give Praise to God.

It is late on Sunday evening or actually early on Monday morning as I write these lines. Often my Sunday evenings are a time for me to reflect up on the Lord's Day, the sermons I've preached, the conversations I've had and the worship I experienced among the Lord's people.

One thought that struck me in the midst of corporate worship was thankfulness for our people's reverence for the Word of God. It so blesses me that almost everyone in our congregation will rise to their feet without being asked when we open the Scriptures. There is a sense of reverence like that found in the days of Nehemiah when the people stood as Ezra read the Book and gave the sense of it (Neh.8:1-12).

When we read the Bible publicly and preach its truths we are hearing the very words of God. We should have the same awe, holy fear and reverence that the children of Israel had when God's presence thundered from Mount Sinai. We should remind ourselves and teach our children that God is speaking.

The biblical sermon is to be respected, not because of the preacher's wit, creativity or eloquence, but because preaching is the medium through which God is pleased to communicate divine truth. We rise not in respect of the preacher but in reverence for the message he delivers.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Eternal Punishment

2006-04-02T00:09:00.000-06:00

I started this blog a few weeks after beginning this sermon series on Eternal Punishment. For anyone interested in catching up on the whole series, here are the links to my manuscripts. I also have hundreds of sermon manuscripts and mp3 recordings on our church sermon page.

What the Bible Says About Hell as the title suggests is an overview of the subject and a survey of many of the biblical texts dealing with this doctrine.

Is Hell Just? is the second in the series and it argues the justice of hell not only for the most heinous sinners like Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin but for seemingly good people who reject God's revelation and grace through Christ.

Questions and Answers About Hell really only deals with two questions: "Should the descriptions of fire and other torments in hell be taken literally or metaphorically?" and "Are there degrees of punishment in hell?"

Does Hell Really Last Forever? will be preached a little later on this Lord's Day morning. It examines the viewpoints of universalism, annihilationism and purgatory.I am planning at least one more message in this series for next week to discuss how the doctrine of hell should motivate believers and local churches in their efforts in evangelism and world missions.

May you have a blessed Lord's Day,

Soli Deo Gloria!

Lessons from the Links

2006-04-01T19:29:00.000-06:00

Last Wednesday was an amazing day. My 15-year-old daughter called me from school from her cell phone between classes with a very important question, "Dad, can I join the golf team?" If this is not evidence of God's grace, I don't know what is. The only better question she might ask is, "Dad, can I take up the banjo?"

I'm not the golf addict I was when she was younger. Church ministry, study, bluegrass and chauffeuring kids have taken most of my golfing time and budget. But I'll make time and maneuver the budget, yessiree. My daughter wants to play golf and she wants her dad to help teach her.

We spent a couple of hours Thursday evening on the driving range and putting green. Today we played our first round together. Though I've played only half a dozen times in the last three or four years, the old muscle memory was still there and I did okay. My short game stinks but if you don't use it you lose it, right? The real joy was watching her undergo the rub of the green for the first time. There was joy at shots that unexpectedly landed on the dance floor and putts that actually fell. There was frustration over whiffs, duffs and worm-burners. One time I instructed her to throw the offending club to get it out of her system. Proper etiquette requires a thrown club to be hurled forward, not backward (see, she learned something there too).

We finished up with the sun setting and the shadows growing long. The grass took on that special iridescence color that can only be seen at sundown. It was with great satisfaction that she triple-bogeyed the last hole and announced that her back nine score was indeed lower than her front nine score.

Perhaps the best moment of the day was as we were unloading at the club house, "Dad, can we come back next week?" Life is good.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Stupid Pet Tricks

2006-04-01T00:12:00.000-06:00

It's officially April 1st. Let's take a break from theology, church history, the doctrine of hell, apologetics and have a little fun.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Science Studies Prayer

2006-03-31T12:11:00.000-06:00

"Does praying for a sick person's recovery do any good?In the largest scientific test of its kind, heart surgery patients showed no benefit when strangers prayed for their recovery." So writes Malcolm Ritter of the Associated Press in a recent article entitled Prayer Has No Benefits for Patients in Study.

According to Ritter, reseachers spent $2.4 billion to study a 1800 patients at six medical centers. Some patients knew for certain prayers were offered for them, others may or may not have been prayed for and others were not prayed for. Those who prayed asked "for a successful surgery which a quick, healthy recovery and no complications." The results were that 59% of those who knew they were being prayed for developed complications while 52% of those who did not know they were being prayed for developed complications.

While the researchers emphasized that such a study cannot scientifically determine whether or not God exists or whether God answers prayers on behalf of others, it fails to consider even the most basic understanding of the Sovereign Lord who reveals Himself in Scripture. I could go on and on but for now consider a few relevant thoughts:

God is sovereign. He acts according to His own purposes for His own glory. Psalm 115:3 says, "But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases."
God allows suffering. The Word of God is laden with examples and explanations of God using suffering to instruct, correct and conform His own to the image of Christ.
Prayer changes us, not God. God invites us to pray to Him. James 5:16 says, "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." James 5 also instructs us to call for the elders of the church to pray for the sick. However, prayer is never to change God's will to ours but our will to His.
The Bible's emphasis is primarily on eternal life. Even though we are to pray for healing, we realize that eventually all our bodies deteriorate and die. The ultimate concern of Scripture is not the preservation of the earthly body but the salvation of the soul by faith in Christ's propitiation on the cross. Even so God will one day raise up the body and transform it from an earthly body to a heavenly body.

Perhaps the worst part of this study is that it seems to portray Christianity through the lens of the health and wealth philosophy, that believers' only interest in God is that He make prosperous and free of bodily ailments. Contrast that with the Apostle Paul's testimony:

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (Phil.3:8-10).

Soli Deo Gloria!

The Emergent Elijah

2006-03-31T09:09:00.000-06:00

If you've got a couple of minutes to spare, and you must have since you are reading this, check out this retelling of Elijah's showdown with prophets of Baal through the lens of the Emergent Church movement and Brian McClaren.

For those unfamiliar, the emerging church is the so-called "new wave of evangelicalism" and seeks to adapt itself to the relativism of postmodernism. Brian McClaren is the most articulate and prolific writer and speaker of the movement.

If you want a serious explanation and examination read this article by D.A. Carson. I am reading through and also recommend Carson's new book Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Osteen's Millions

2006-03-30T21:59:00.000-06:00

In a recent post on his Blog, Albert Mohler takes to task the Houston pastor and "prosperity gospel" preacher, Joel Osteen. Two weeks ago Osteen signed a contract with Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, that could bring him as much as $13 million for a follow-up book to his debut spiritual guide, Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential, which, since it was published by Warner Faith in 2004, has sold more than three million copies.

Some readers may remember when Osteen's wife Victoria threw a hissy fit and delayed a Continental flight for two hours because a flight attendant didn't immediately clear liquid from her pull-down tray prior to take-off. The lady sitting behind here said, "She was just abusive. She was just like one of those divas."

Osteen writes, "I believe God wants us to prosper." He says he is not shy about calling on the Lord. He writes of praying for a winning basket in a basketball game, and then sinking it; and even of circling a parking lot, praying for a space, and then finding it. "Better yet," he writes, "it was the premier spot in that parking lot."

The defining characteristic of any pastor is not how much money he makes or whether he has a good parking spot or not, but rather how faithful is he to the Word of God. Do the thousands who gather in Lakewood Church each week hear a clear, accurate proclaimation of the Word? Do the tens of thousands or more who watch his weekly program hear the undiluted gospel? Is the emphasis eternal life through Christ or comfort in the culture?

Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away (1 Pet 5:2-4).

Soli Deo Gloria!

Sealed with Blood

2006-03-30T14:01:00.000-06:00

While the Reformation swept through Germany and Switzerland in the 16th century, Henry VIII reigned in England. As religious reform crept into his kingdom, he petitioned the pope for a divorce. He desperately wanted a son and his wife Catherine of Aragon had only produced a daughter (Mary) in twenty years of marriage. When the pope refused his request, he divorced anyway, divided England from Rome, established the Church of England and named himself “Defender of the Faith.” He then married Anne Boleyn who gave him another daughter, Elizabeth. Henry convicted Anne of treason and had her beheaded. He then married Jane Seymour who finally gave him a son to reign in his stead, Edward VI. Henry died in 1547 and Edward ascended to the throne when he was only nine years old.

Young King Edward was surrounded by men of the Reformation who desired to see England through off the superstitions and heresies of Rome. During his brief reign, many English Reformers returned to their home country to preach the biblical gospel and further break English ties with Catholicism. The Bible in English was widely published. In churches and cathedrals where the Catholic mass had been said for centuries, biblical Christians worshiped around the Lord’s Table. But these freedoms would not last long. Edward died in 1553 at only fifteen. He was persuaded to pass the throne to his cousin, Lady Jane Grey. This pious young woman is remembered as the “Nine Day Queen” because she was deposed by Mary I, Edward’s sister Henry’s daughter by his first wife Catherine. Some months later Lady Jane was beheaded. She was sixteen.

Queen Mary is better known by the name “Bloody Mary” for in her zeal to return England to Catholicism she had 227 men and 56 women burned at the stake as heretics. The first was John Rogers.

Rogers (1500-1555) was converted from Catholicism under the discipleship of William Tyndale. He was instrumental in helping complete the work of William Tyndale in translating the Bible into English. He published the complete Bible in English under the pseudonym of Thomas Matthew in 1537 which is known as The Matthew Bible. He found no basis in Scripture the clergy were to remain celibate so he married and had 10 children. He left England to study in Germany and pastored a church there. During Edward’s reign he returned to preach the gospel in his homeland. When Mary ascended the throne he was one of the first Protestants arrested.

He was imprisoned for a year in Newgate Prison and not allowed to see his family at all. In January 1555 he was sentenced to death for denouncing the Roman church and its doctrine of transubstantiation which taught that the bread or host of the mass actually was transformed into the literal body of Jesus.

Finally he was condemned to be burned on February 4, 1555. He sang Psalms as they led him through the street to the stake at Smithfield. He walked past St. Sepulchre, the church where he pastored and his congregation lined the streets, praying and calling out words of encouragement to him. In the crowd he had a brief glimpse of his wife and children. The French ambassador, a Catholic witnessed this and wrote that he walked to his death as though he were walking to his wedding.

At the stake the sheriff asked him to recant and accept the Roman mass on promise of pardon. Rogers said, “What I have preached with my lips I will seal with my blood.” He washed his hands in the flames until they were burnt to ashes.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt.5:10).

Soli Deo Gloria!

More than Music

2006-03-29T23:59:00.000-06:00

The worship wars rage all around us. Some claim that they cannot worship God with antiquated songs and archaic lyrics. To them, worship music must be relevant to the culture. Others claim modern praise and worship music is synonymous with a particular chain of convenience stores 7-11... Seven words sung at least eleven times. Yet ultimately what you think about worship music or what I think really doesn't matter. What truly matters is what God thinks and His Word teaches us that worship is more than music.

The Reformers stated that God has mandated within His Word five element of public Christian worship: public reading of Scripture, public prayer, expository preaching, singing and the ordinances of the Lord's Supper and baptism. Worship is to be saturated in the Word. Quite literally we are to read the Word, pray the Word, preach the Word, sing the Word and see the Word.

Singing is an important part of worship but only one part in five, one-fifth, twenty percent of the whole. Why should we be hung up on one part and ignore the rest?

If we will focus our efforts on what God wants rather than what we want and return music to its rightful place of "teaching and admonishing" (Col.3:16), perhaps we will find an end to the worship wars. Elevating God's Word doesn't inhibit our worship, it frees us. James Montgomery Boice said it well:

The wonder of Christian worship is that when we come to God in the way He has established, we find Him to be inexhaustible and discern that our desire to know and worship Him further is increased.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Falling Words

2006-03-29T11:12:00.000-06:00

1 Samuel 3:19 says, "So Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground."

That line struck me during my devotions a couple of days ago. God answered Hannah's prayer for a child. As soon as he was weaned, little Samuel was dedicated to the Lord and "ministered before the Lord, even as a child, wearing a linen ephod" (2:18). The Lord called to Samuel and he faithfully delivered an indicting message to his mentor, Eli. Samuel reported to Eli God's judgment against his house because of the sin of his sons and because he did not restrain them. His first prophecy, his first sermon if you will, was directed at the man who raised him. "Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him" (3:18).

What an example this young preacher is for preachers of all ages. We are tempted to not tell people everything and to hold back the most offensive parts of divine truth. Yet when we are faithful to the message and rightly divide the Word, God will let none of our words fall to the ground either, for like Samuel, our words are His words, we are just the messengers.

Soli Deo Gloria

Is Hell Just?

2006-03-28T21:09:00.000-06:00

Here are my notes from a recent message I preached in a series examining the doctrine of Eternal Punishment at Cornerstone Baptist Church where I am pastor-teacher.

Eternal Punishment: The Biblical Doctrine of Hell
Is Hell Just?
Selected Passages

Last week I began this brief series on eternal punishment by examining a survey of what the Bible teaches about hell. We learned that the Old Testament merely gives a foundation but not much detail on the subject. The Hebrew word sheol translated “hell,” “the grave” and “the pit” may refer to physical death but sometimes refers to suffering in the afterlife.

On the other hand, the New Testament tells us much about the nature of eternal punishment. In fact, most of what we know about hell comes to us from the lips of Jesus. The Lord taught more about hell than all the other biblical writers combined. He taught more about hell that about heaven. Using the imagery of the desecrated garbage dump gehenna, He described hell as a “furnace of fire,” “an everlasting fire,” a place where “there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

Other biblical writers like Paul and Peter describe hell with words like corruption, wrath, condemnation and judgment. To the Apostle John it was revealed that hell was a place “where the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever and they have no rest day or night” (Rev.14:9-ff). John also writes that all those who were “not found written in the Book of Life were cast into the lake of fire” which is called “the second death” (Rev.21:11-15).

From the testimony of Scripture we can conclude that hell is a real place of unspeakable torment. People who reject God’s grace through Christ will suffer there eternally.

There have been times in history in which the doctrine of hell was widely taught. The preaching of eternal punishment has launched many large revivals in days past. However, in recent times, the teaching of hell is largely unpopular. Even in evangelical circles, you would be hard pressed to find many sermons declaring the biblical doctrine of hell. Why? We speak little of hell because we don’t like to think of people going there.

To our human reasoning, hell seems a just punishment for some people. We don’t have a problem with Hitler, one of the most evil men in human history suffering eternal torment. The same could be said of Stalin or Pol Pot or modern-day terrorists who plan the destruction of so many innocent civilians or mass murderers like Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer or Dennis Rader, the BTK killer. From Scripture we could add the list Judas Iscariot, the traitor who sold Jesus to be crucified. Hell certainly seems a just destination for such evil men.

However, there are many people who are not Christians who don’t seem so bad. In fact, some of them seem quite good. Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence and promoted religious liberty in the founding of our nation. He did much good for all mankind, yet he openly denied faith in Christ and even wrote his own version of the Bible without Christ’s miracles or His resurrection. Is hell just for him? Mahatma Ghandi was a great leader in India who peacefully led his nation to independence from British rule. Even though he was not a Christian, he accomplished much good. Is hell just for him? Abraham Lincoln was arguably the greatest president in American history. He led the nation through the Civil War. He often quoted Bible passages. Yet he made no claim to orthodox belief. Is hell just for him?

While we cannot state with certainty the eternal destination of any man, what about other people that we have personally known, people who were good neighbors, good friends and family members who died without a personal faith in Christ? Is it just that they must suffer the same fate at Hitler?

What about others both in ancient times and today who live their entire lives without every seeing a Bible or hearing the name of Jesus? Is it fair that they are condemned to a devil’s hell when they never heard the gospel?

Let’s admit it, these and other similar questions trouble us. In seems just for some but not for others. We struggle with our human sense of equity and fairness as we consider the eternal decrees of God.

Yet we must not look for eternal truth in our flawed human thinking. To understand the justice of hell we must look to divine revelation in the Scripture. The Bible teaches us that hell is fair and just for all who go there for at least three reasons: because man is utterly sinful, because God is absolutely holy, and because God is amazingly gracious.

I. Hell is Just Because Man is Utterly Sinful.

The primary reason why we struggle with the justice is hell is our flawed understanding of man. Most tend to see man as basically good with a proclivity toward evil. They see man as having a free will to either choose evil or choose good, and that most men choose good more than evil. However, the Bible paints a far different picture of humanity.

- All Men Are Without Excuse (Rom.1:18-21).

Romans 1:18 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” “Wrath” is from orge the root from which the English word “orgy” comes from. It denotes not elicit sexual passion but passionate anger. God has a righteous indignation, a holy fury. He is livid, provoked and vehement.

Most often in our thinking God is kind, merciful and benevolent. We struggle to think of Him as having a white-hot fury, a passionate anger against anyone, much less everyone.

What could provoke a gracious God to such wrath? His anger is directed against “all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” which is revealed in the fact that they “suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” “Suppress” comes from katecho which means “to hold down, hold fast, repress.” Imagine a giant spring that I might try to compress. The spring struggles to be released and I struggle to suppress it. The truth of God has been revealed and all mankind struggle to suppress, hold back and deny that revelation.

Every man intuitively knows that God exists and that He is powerful and holy. How does he know? Verse 19 says, “Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.” He has CLEARLY revealed Himself.

· He has given them an INWARD witness. The truth is “manifest in them.” 2:20 speaks of the “law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness.”
· He has given them an OUTWARD witness. Verse 20 says, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead…”
· He has given them a WRITTEN witness. To some men God has even further revealed Himself in Scripture.

Therefore no one, not even someone who has never seen a Bible can claim he doesn’t know about God. Agnosticism is foolishness, a weak form of atheism. The person who says there is a God but refuses to serve Him suppresses the truth. Every man in His heart knows the truth. The creation evidences God’s might. No man can claim he didn’t know. Verse 20 says, “…so that they are without excuse.”

God is not angry with man because he merely ignores the truth but because he willingly, intentionally suppresses it. Verse 21 says, “Because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

Hell is just; God’s “wrath” is just because all men in various degrees sinned against heaven as they have “suppressed the truth” and are all “without excuse.”

- All Men Are Guilty (Rom.3:9-19).

Man not only suppresses the truth but he willfully sins against God. This is true of all men. Paul writes in verse 9, “For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.” Verse 10 says, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” We are all sinners. We are all “without excuse.”

Verse 11 says, “There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.” Men’s minds are corrupted. We are self-centered. We don’t want to understand God. We don’t seek after the true God. We prefer to design a God in our own image. Man doesn’t seek God; God seeks man. Jesus said in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Verse 12 says we have “all turned aside.” That means we have gone out of our way to avoid God. Remember how Adam hid from the Lord? As a result we are “unprofitable,” useless.

Verse 13 says our “throat is an open tomb,” we have all “practiced deceit,” poisonous venom is under our “lips.” What comes from our mouths: lies, curses, slander, spite all evidence our rotten hearts.

Verse 15 says our feet are “swift to shed blood.” Verse 16 says our pathway is strewn with “destruction and misery.” Verse 17 says we have not known “the way of peace.” We are consistently violent.

Verse 18 says, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” We don’t fear the fact that we dangle over the gapping jaws of hell by a spider’s web because we suppress the truth about God. We go about our own selfish way as if God doesn’t exist.

Verse 19 summarizes by telling us that no one will be able to plead his innocence before God, “every mouth may be stopped.” Every man is declared “guilty before God.”

- All Men Are Condemned (Jn.3:16-21, 36).

As we turn to John’s gospel we find familiar words in verse 16, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Because God is loving and gracious, He sent His only Son into the world to pay the price for sin we could never pay. He became our substitute. He accepted the “wrath of God for us.” Verse 17 says that He did not come to “condemn” or judge us but to save us.

Ye note specifically verse 18, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Apart from Christ, we are “condemned already.” We don’t do anything to deserve hell; we “already” deserve it.

Verses 19-20 make this very clear, “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” We do not come to the light; we suppress the truth because we are utterly sinful.

Verse 36 sums this up by telling us there are two categories of people in the world, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

If we think God unjust to condemn men to hell, it is because we have a wrong view of man and a wrong view of God. If we have a wrong anthropology we will have a wrong theology.

When we elevate our understanding of God and lower our view of man, we magnify the grace of God. Conversely if we elevate our view of man and lower our view of God we trivialize the grace of God.

The distance between man and God is not small but wide. Hell is just because man is utterly sinful but also because God is absolutely holy.

II. Hell is Just Because God is Absolutely Holy.

If we don’t understand hell it is because we don’t think highly enough of God. The Lord says in Psalm 50:21, “These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before your eyes.” God is not like us. He is far above us. He is holy.

- A Definition of Holiness.

1 Peter 1:16 commands the believer, “Be holy, for I am holy.” What do we mean by the word “holy?” When we speak of God’s holiness we understand it in two ways:

· God’s nature is holy. This refers to God’s apartness, His otherness. He is set apart from man. He is higher. He is transcendent. 1 Timothy 6:16 says He “dwells in unapproachable light.” He is far, far above us.

· God’s actions are holy. What He does is pure, perfect and just. He never sins. He never denies His own holy character.

How do we apply the holy character of God to our understanding of hell? The Word of God gives us a picture of God’s holiness in Isaiah 6.

- A Depiction of Holiness.

In Isaiah 6 we find a graphic illustration of God’s holiness. Isaiah tells us in verse 1 that this took place “in the year that King Uzziah died.” It was a time of national morning. The prophet went to the temple of God to pray, worship and mourn. He had lost his earthly king but he saw the King of Kings seated on the throne. He says plainly, “I saw the Lord.”

The Lord was “sitting on a throne.” He was “high and lifted up” and “the train of His robe filled the temple.” These three phrases speak to the majesty of God. Any earthly king is a shadow of His majesty.

These words should cause us to shudder in awe. We can scarcely imagine the terror than must have run through Isaiah. This is why Israel was forbidden to make an image to represent God. No carving, no sculpture, no painting could ever capture His glory – any attempt to visualize this scene falls short.

Verse 2 says, “Above it [above the throne] stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.” The two wings that cover the face symbolize the fact that God is so holy that even ministering angels cannot look into His face. The two wings that covered their feet symbolize their creatureliness, their humility. And with two other wings they flew about.

These angelic creatures “cried to one another.” They sang an antiphonal hymn, repeating the lines, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” In Hebrew there is no exclamation point. If you want to emphasize a word, you repeat. God is not love, love, love but He is holy, holy, holy. God has many wondrous attributes but above all He is holy, holy, holy.

At this moment, verse 4 says, “And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.” The whole place was moving as in an earthquake. Eerie smoke filled the room. I promise you at this point Isaiah was not thinking that God is love. He was terrified. He was shaking in his sandals. He was scared spitless!

Verse 5 tells us he cried out and said, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.” “Woe” is a pronouncement of judgment. Isaiah didn’t say, “Woe unto you,” but “Woe is me.” He said “I am undone.” Literally this means “coming apart.” This vision of God’s holiness was causing him to come apart at the seams! He immediately recognized that he had “unclean lips” and that his people had “unclean lips.” This reminds us of the “open tomb” in Romans 3. Out of the mouth the wickedness of our hearts is revealed.

You see, when Isaiah saw the holiness of God he also saw how truly sinful he really was. He was a prophet, a statesman, by all accounts a good man and well respected – yet all he could say in the presence of Almighty God was “Woe is me!”
Scripture reveals that others had similar experiences.

JOB was a good man. God Himself said of him, “There is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8). He says of his own life:

“I delivered the poor who cried out, The fatherless and the one who had no helper. The blessing of a perishing man came upon me, And I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind, And I was feet to the lame. I was a father to the poor, And I searched out the case that I did not know. I broke the fangs of the wicked, And plucked the victim from his teeth” (Job 29:12-17).

In man’s view, Job was a wonderful person. Yet when He encountered God in His transcendent holiness he said, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). He said, “Behold, I am vile; What shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth” (Job 40:4).

JEREMIAH was the “weeping prophet.” He was such a righteous man that his ministry is often compared with that of the Lord Jesus. Yet as he meditated on the sins of Israel and identified with them He said, “For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken; I mourn, dismay has taken hold of me” (Jer.8:21, NAS95).

PETER was the mouth of the Apostles. He preached on Pentecost and was the central leader of the church in the early days. Yet soon after he met Jesus, the Lord asked to speak from his boat and Peter obliged. After the sermon, Jesus told Peter and his friends to go out and put down their nets. They argued that they had fished all night but caught nothing. Yet at Jesus’ word they obeyed. To their astonishment, they caught so many fish their net was breaking. Luke 5:8 says, “But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, ‘Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’” Peter knew that same fear Isaiah felt in the presence of holiness.

PAUL was a “Hebrew of the Hebrews.” He said he was “concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” Yet this proud man met Jesus on the Damascus road. He said in 1 Timothy 1:15, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

JOHN was the “beloved disciple.” He leaned on Jesus’ breast at the last supper. Into his care, Jesus gave his mother. He was one of Jesus’ closest friends. Yet as an old man exiled on Patmos, long after the resurrection, he heard Jesus’ voice again:

Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength (Rev.1:12-16).

What was John’s response? Revelation 1:17 says, “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.” John who knew the earthly Jesus so well was paralyzed by one glimpse of Him revealed in all His holiness.

Are you better than these great men of the Bible? Are you more pure, more righteous and less sinful than they? Of course not. If they were shaken by their sins in the presence of God’s holiness, how much more shall we be terrified because of our great guilt?

- A Discernment of Holiness.

Think with me a moment. If you were to punch me in the nose, what would be the result? I might punch you back. If you punched a police officer there would be more serious consequences. You would be arrested. What if you punched the President of the United States in the nose? Likely there would be very serious consequences. The severity of the consequences depends upon whom you attack.

Your sin is not against me, a police officer or even the President. Your sin is against a holy, transcendent God who reigns over all creation. Hell is just not because how much or how badly you sin but because of Whom you have sinned against. John Gerstner paraphrasing Jonathan Edwards wrote:

An offense against an infinite being is greater than an finite degree of badness
and is therefore an infinite degree of badness. If one adds greatness to a being
he adds greatness to an offence against him. Thus he adds infinite badness since
the offense is against an infinite being.[i]

So hell is just not only because all men are sinners but because of Whom we have all sinned against. It is our insensitivity toward our sin and our ignorance of God’s holiness that prevents us from understanding just how hell-deserving we really are.

III. Hell is Just Because God is Amazingly Gracious.

Scripture portrays man as being much worse, much more guilty than we think He is. It also portrays God as being much higher, much more holy than we think He is. Through the Fall, sin has left a great distance between man and God. Again, the Lord says in Psalm 50:21, “These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before your eyes.” God is not like us. He is far above us.

Man can never span that distance. We can never make up for our sin by good works, religion or sincerity. Yet what man cannot do, God has already done. He has given us grace.

Grace is often defined as “unmerited favor” or “unearned blessing.” We don’t merit forgiveness. We can’t earn heaven. Yet because God is amazingly gracious, because of the love that He has for us, He sent His Son to bridge the gap by dying for our sins on the cross and offering salvation to all who will believe.

- God’s Grace is in Spite of our Sin.

In Ephesians 2, Paul describes natural man apart from Christ:

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others (Eph.2:1-3).

One of the most beautiful verses in all the Bible is verse 4, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us…” The words “But God…” are drenched in grace. We were depraved sinners, “by nature the children of wrath.” We were worthless. We were God’s enemies… “But God…!” Because God is “rich in mercy,” because He has loved us with “His great love,” He sent His only begotten Son to bear our sins to the cross. As verse 5 says, “Even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).”

As the hymn-writer says:

O the love that drew salvation’s plan!
O the grace that brought it down to man!
O the mighty gulf that God did span
At Calvary.

- God’s Grace Adds to Man’s Judgment.

Let’s consider one more passage of Scripture, Luke 20:9-18. This is known as The Parable of the Vinedressers. Jesus describes a man who “planted a vineyard” and then “leased it to vinedressers” and went away “into a far country for a long time.” This was a business deal. The owner prepared a vineyard. The vinedressers leased the vineyard by promising him a portion of the harvest.

At harvest time, the owner sent a servant to collect his share of the harvest. Shocking as it may seem, “the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty handed” (v.10). The owner then sent another servant. Verse 11 says “they beat him also, treated him shamefully and sent him away empty handed.” When a third servant was sent, verse 12 says, “they wounded him also and cast him out.”

In verse 13, the owner of the vineyard considers how to respond. He could have called in the law and had the vinedressers put in prison. He could have hired mercenaries to beat them or even kill them. However, he says, “I will send my beloved son. Probably they will respect him when they see him.” Does this sound familiar?

When the wicked vinedresser saw the owner’s son, they said, “This is the heir. Come, let us kill him that the inheritance may be ours” (v.14). They did just that. They “cast him out of the vineyard and killed him” (v.15a).

Jesus then asks, “Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do?” (v.15b). That’s a good question. What would you do? What should be done? What does justice require? Jesus says, “He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.”

Can you see that this is a picture of God’s dealings with man? God sent His servants, His prophets to warn man about sin and judgment. One by one they abused and killed the prophets. At just the right time God sent His “beloved Son.” Man poured his vile hatred on Christ and nailed Him to a cross. How should God respond? Even now man continued to “suppress the truth” about Christ. God’s nature requires that He act with justice and the only justice suitable for such sin is eternal hell.

Who did Jesus speak theses words to? Verse 1 tells us He was teaching in the “temple” and was interrupted by “the chief priests, and the scribes, together with the elders.” These were the religious leaders of Israel all gathered together against Him. They knew He was comparing them to the vinedressers. Verse 16 says, “And when they heard it they said, ‘Certainly not!’”

Verse 17 says, “Then He looked at them…” Can you imagine how His all-knowing eyes penetrated them? He then quoted Scripture, “what then is written.” Speaking from Psalm 118:22, He said, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.”

Of course, Jesus is the great Cornerstone. Yet notice what He adds in verse 18, “Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”

Do you see grace here? “Whoever falls on that stone will be broken…” The gospel is a stone of stumbling, skandalon. It is an offense. But when we stumble and fall and are “broken” before God, we receive His great grace in salvation.

Do you see judgment here? “…but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” Anyone who would reject so great a salvation, anyone who would suppress such glorious truth deserves hell because He has trampled and mocked the amazing grace of God.
Hebrews 10:28-30 says:

Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.”

Sure, Hitler in hell seems just. Evil dictators, serial murderers, child abusers, we can see hell as just punishment for the most evil among us. But the man who is a good neighbor, a good friend and a nice person deserves hell too if he tramples the sacrifice of Jesus as a common thing. His insult to God’s grace makes him worthy of such awful judgment.

What about us? How shall we as believers respond? We should fall on our faces and praise God for His grace that saved us. You may have sung these stanzas from the hymn Amazing Grace thousands of times but in light of Scripture, listen to John Newton’s words with fresh ears:

Amazing grace!
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

[i] John Gerstner, Jonathan Edwards on Heaven and Hell, p.79.

First blog - Spurgeon on Books

2006-03-28T20:48:00.000-06:00

Since this is my first attempt at blogging, I thought I would share a quote I ran across recently from Charles Hadden Spurgeon.

During his last days in imprisonment in Rome, Paul wrote to Timothy , "Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come; and the books, especially the parchments" (2 Timothy 4:13). Of this verse Spurgeon said: ...he was inspired, and yet he wants books! He has been preaching at least thirty years, and yet he wants books! He has seen the Lord, and yet he wants books! He has been caught up into the third heaven and heard things which it was unlawful for man to hear, and yet he wants books! He had written the major part of the New Testament and yet he wants books! The apostle says to every preacher, "Give thyself to reading!"

If Paul could be so passionate for reading and study how much more should we!

Soli Deo Gloria!