“Some are habitually on time, others are habitually late; no one can be on time all the time, and no one needs to be always late.  If five people have agreed to meet at a certain time and place, and one if fifteen minutes late, he has used up one hour in terms of manpower, for he has taken away fifteen minutes from each of the others against their will.  If they are wise, they will spend that time in reading or in some other useful way, but the latecomer ought not to presume on their good will if he can possibly help it.  He might have the boldness to think–or to say–that they need to learn patience, that they are to be anxious in nothing–all of which is true, but he is not the man to tell them that.  What he needs to remember, long before the appointment, is ‘rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way’ (Rom. 14:13); that he has no right to waste others’ time.

Of course, no one can keep the phone or the doorbell from ringing just before he leaves home, nor can he prophesy what will happen on the way; but it is always a good rule to start just a little earlier than you think you need to. 

Every Christian worker can discipline himself to be habitually on time, by careful management and foresight.  It relives other people of much anxiety, helps them not to waste time and thus makes life easier for them.  It is a matter of common honesty and Christian courtesy, and is in line with the in junction to ‘let all thing be done decently and in order’ (I Cor. 14:40). ”                               —-Elisabeth Elliot’s Father

I’m convinced.

6. A Christian yearns for spiritual knowledge.

Paul tells us in Philippians that he used to strive to be a good person and he claims he was more righteous in himself than anyone. He’s saying that to prove the point that no matter how righteous he was it wasn’t enough. He then says this in

Philippians 3:7-8  ⁷ But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  ⁸ More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…

A Christian wants to know about this God who called them out of a life serving sin to a life serving God. Once a person is truly saved, nobody taps them on the shoulder and says, “you know what, it might be a good idea to read your Bible.” A Christian devours the Lord’s Word. Do you know why the Bible is boring to you? It might be because you are not a Christian.

It’s like if I were to give you a thousand-page book that was written by Abraham Lincoln and said, ‘this is a great book, I’d love it if you would read it.” You may try to read it, but let’s face it, not one of you cares enough about Abraham Lincoln to sit through a thousand pages reading about him. But let’s say you find out that he’s your great-great grandfather. Suddenly you have a desire to meet him. You are going to devour that book from cover to cover in order to find out all you can about him.

The Bible is boring to you because you have no desire to meet the Author. A Christian yearns for spiritual knowledge.

7. A Christian has purpose.

Colossians 1:28-29  ²⁸ We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.  ²⁹ For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

There’s one thing that really convicts me about lost people. Sometimes I feel sorrow that they are going to hell, sometimes I feel sorrow that God’s not getting the glory He deserves from them, but there are hardly any times that I remember thinking about the lost and not feeling much sadness because of how vain and pointless their lives are.

The other day I heard about a guy that I know who’s about 30 and has recently moved into an apartment with his sister who’s a few years older. They were both in and out of drugs but are clean now. They both work and that’s about it. When I heard of this I immediately thought about how pointless life was to them. There’s nothing. At thirty there’s a chance that neither will get married or have kids, they don’t have a house to their name and I can’t think of any reason they would want to live.

But what about the president of a huge company, is he living for anything either? He might make millions but in the end what will he have that my friends don’t have? Nothing…has it hit you yet that nothing in this life matters a bit outside of your relationship with God?

Solomon was the wisest man on earth and also the richest man on earth. He had hundreds of beautiful wives and had fame that stretched across the known world at that time and at the end of his life, guess what he said about all of it?

Ecclesiastes 12:8   “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “all is vanity!”

Solomon had everything we could want in this life and ended up saying that it was all pointless. If you live for anything outside of God you will come to the same conclusion. Only a Christian has true purpose in life.

8. A Christian knows that all power comes from God and because of that is a man of prayer.

In Mark 9 we have a story of a demon-possessed boy who’s father brings him to the disciples to be healed. The disciples can’t help the boy and crowds gather as Jesus comes off of a mountain. Jesus ends up healing the boy and after the crowd goes away the disciples ask Jesus why they were not able to heal the boy. The answer is found in

Mark 9:29  ²⁹ And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”

Think about this. The disciples had seen Christ cast out demons before, they knew how He did it and could even recite the words that He said. But the power was not in His words, it was in the Spirit’s anointing of His words. Even the exact words of Christ are powerless if the Spirit’s blessing is not upon them.

When I preach, I try to put a lot of time into my sermons and really try to pack some great things into all of them. Sometimes I feel that I really did the best I could possibly do and like I just nailed it. Do you know what those sermons get…compliments. Do you know what Spirit blessed sermons get…converts.

A true Christian knows that even his best actions aren’t good enough to win anyone over to Christ. Because he knows that he is inadequate in himself he looks for help in another, specifically God. He knows what it means to cry out to God with tears. He knows what the word anguish means. A Christian is a man of prayer.

9. A Christian loves people.

Matthew 5:43-45 ⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’  ⁴⁴ “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

A Christian has a hard time hating people. I don’t think it would be accurate to say that it never happens, but that’s generally not the feelings that Christians have for others. A Christian knows that nothing separates him from the worst of sinners than the grace of God.

A Christian also loves that annoying guy that nobody likes. What separates you from him? “I take showers and I’m not annoying.” So you were blessed with people skills, he wasn’t and you’re going to hate him because of it. The only thing that separates you from him is the grace of God.

A Christian loves people.

10. A Christian desires for others to become Christians.

Romans 9:1-3   I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit,  ² that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.  ³ For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,

Paul says that he has great sorrow and unceasing grief for the lost. Do you have that kind of burden or do you go most days without thinking any about the lost? A Christian has a burden that wants others to come to a saving knowledge of Christ.

Let’s say you had cancer and were living in St. Jude’s Hospital in Memphis, TN. You live on a floor where there are nothing but other kids your age with cancer. They’re going through the same therapy that you are and you get pretty close to them. One night, while everyone else is asleep, you can’t get any rest so you turn on the TV.

As you’re watching, they have one of those breaking news flash things and some guy from ABC comes on and says that a laboratory in China today has announced that it has just found a cure for cancer and it will be ready for use in the next month. What do you think you’re reaction would be? You’re going to wake everyone else up and tell them.

I know it’s not a perfect analogy, but if you truly think that you have a cure that will save all of your dying friends, then you will have a great desire for them to know. A Christian desires others to become Christians.

So here are the 10 attributes that I’ve come up with, feel free to discuss.

What would make someone a Christian in your eyes? What would a person have to do to make you think that they were on their way to heaven? What actions would they have to be doing if they were going to prove to you that they were Christians?

There’s lot’s of answers you could give but I think that most of the answers would fit into one of two categories. We can see these two categories in Ephesians. The book breaks down in a very organized manner; chapters 1-3 deal with who God is and what He’s done to set a sinner free and to make him alive. I counted 22 times that Paul makes reference to something like this in these chapters.

In chapters 4-6, Paul deals with the Christian’s response to God’s goodness and gives us all these things we can do for the Lord because He has saved us. Chapter 4 opens up with “therefore I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling that the God we just talked about called you to.” And from there goes on to give 70 instructions for holy living.

These are your two categories.

The Ephesians 1-3 kid is a guy who knows a lot about God. He’s got all the answers, he knows how to stump the evolution teacher, he understands the Bible, but his Christianity stops there. He’s not a very nice person. He’s promiscuous, he’s selfish, he reeks with arrogance. No one cares one bit how much he knows because no one likes him enough to talk to him for very long.

The Ephesians 4-6 kid is a guy who’s a nice guy. Everybody likes him, no one has anything bad to say about him and he’s earned it. He’s a guy who has kept his head on straight and he’s done others right. He’s outwardly humble and unselfish. On the outside, he’s a nicer person than most Christians.

But the reason he’s so nice has nothing to do with the Lord. He’s nice because the ladies like him. He follows the rules because he’s scared to get in trouble. He acts humbly because he’s built up this reputation and he can’t let that go, he likes who he is and he likes the kind of person he’s known as.

Neither one of these kids are Christians. The proud smart one is producing no evidence that he’s been changed by an all-powerful God. The nice humble one is simply mature enough to know that there are many benefits to being nice to people and even though he goes to church, God is no more real to him than Santa Clause.

A true Christian has right actions with right motivations. He has godly behavior and the reason he acts that way is because God has magnificently done great things for him. It’s not simply a knowledge of God that he uses to make fun of others. It’s not simply friendly behavior and a nice attitude. A Christian is a person who has been drastically changed in an unexplainable way by God.

What I’m going to do the next few posts is very dangerous. I’m going to give you 10 characteristics of a Christian. The reason that this is so dangerous is that some people will try to take this list and say, “all right, as long as I do what this list says, I will be a Christian.” That’s false. You could convince yourself that you are keeping this list with no fault and still remain unconverted.

So without any more delay, here’s the list that I’ve made.

1. A Christian is careful in his approach to God.

In our Sunday school class we just got through going over the Ten Commandments and reading how God used Moses. Moses was a man greatly used by God. He had led the nation of Israel out of the land of Egypt and ultimately to the Promised Land. In Deuteronomy 32 you can read a song that Moses sang worshiping God. After the song is over God wants to speak to him and we read this in

Deuteronomy 32:48-52  The LORD spoke to Moses that very same day, saying,  ⁴⁹ “Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel for a possession.  ⁵⁰ “Then die on the mountain where you ascend, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people,  ⁵¹ because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel.  ⁵² “For you shall see the land at a distance, but you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving the sons of Israel.”

So after 40 years of leading these people for God, Moses is punished for not treating God holy in the midst of His people. Reader take warning from that. God is not your homeboy. You can’t just approach him anyway you want to. He must be approached in reverence and Christians understand that.

To illustrate this point better, imagine a bunch of pastors at a pastor’s conference. The speaker is very good and very bold and he says this: “There are many of you here today that have no business being the shepherd of souls. You don’t have a clue how to run a biblical church.” Now a young wordling will get very upset at that and start defending himself. “Who are you to tell me I don’t know what I’m doing?”

But a Christian pastor will hang his head and say, “I know, I need to do better.”

The difference is that this man knows Who he is dealing with. God is not a god you can figure out and this man understands that. Because the other man has not seen God, he has a very high view of himself and is not careful about how he approaches God. He thinks: I’m approaching God, isn’t that good enough? So a Christian is careful in his approach to God.

2. A Christian loves Christ.

There can be doubt about this one.

Song of Solomon 3:4…When I found him whom my soul loves; I held on to him and would not let him go…

When a man sees the love of Christ specifically for him, his love for Christ will overwhelm him. How could he do anything else with his time but serve the One who gave up so much to come and love him? He is willing to be a slave to Christ for the rest of his life. He loves Christ and will live in gratitude to him for the rest of his days.

A Christian loves Christ and will stop at nothing to get Him. It’s like a merchant that’s looking for pearls and finds an extraordinary one. He will sell all that he has in order to buy that pearl. A Christian cannot be content without Christ. Thomas Watson said this

“What scorn and contempt they put on the Lord Jesus who prefer a damning pleasure before a saving Christ.”

What is your joy in this life? If Christ is not at the top of the list you need to be careful about claiming you’re a Christian. You might be a Christian who’s either young or struggling, but I wouldn’t boast too loudly that you know the Lord.  A Christian loves Christ.

3. A Christian pursues holiness as an act of worship.

Because a Christian loves Christ he strives to please him in every deed.

John 14:15 If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.

A Christian not only loves Christ with his lips, but he loves Christ also with his actions. A Christian longs to be more and more godly and less and less worldly.

It seems that most churches always present worship as if it is done only through singing songs. Most churches call the man who leads the hymns a worship leader. He’s not a worship leader, he’s the song director. Churches mess up when they do this because it portrays a picture to the congregation that the only time they can worship God is when they are singing songs.

If worship is showing love to God and love is manifested by obedience, I can worship the Lord in whatever I do and that is a more biblical time to worship.

1Cor 10:31 Whether then you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

I’m going to do my homework for the glory of God, I’m going to wash dishes for the glory of God. I’m going to honor my Mother as a way of showing honor to God so that He may get glory. A Christian strives to be holy so that their actions might bring honor to God and He may be continually worshiped in their lives.

4. A Christian hates sin.

Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Romans 7:24

Do you know who said these words? You would think that it would be someone like Hitler who finally saw all the pain he had caused. You might think it was Bin Laden who finally feels remorse for killing people. No it was Paul the apostle late in his ministry. He’d been walking with the Lord for probably close to 15 years and he says something like this.

There are two extremes we can believe about this and both are dangerously wrong. The first extreme is to think that Christians don’t sin. That will lead to legalism and hypocrisy. Legalism is when you think you do everything right and set up these rules that you think others have to keep in order to be right with God like you are. If they keep the rules, they’re a Christian in your book, but if they mess up on these man-made rules they’re not.

To think that Christians don’t sin would also lead to hypocrisy. If you’re claiming Christians don’t sin what are you going to say whenever you fall into sin? You would never say that you’re not a Christian so what you will do is make a new definition for sin and water it down so that it doesn’t touch you. You go blind to your sin and walk around calling others sinful while you can’t see any sin in yourself.

The other extreme would be to think that a Christian has no chance not to sin and because of this it gives you basically a license to do what you want because in your book, you can’t help it. You’ve gotten used to your sin and actually you’ve also grown quite fond of it.

A Christian has sin in his life and quite a bit of it. But he hates it. It makes him sick. He mourns that he sins, something a non-Christian knows nothing of. A non-Christian celebrates their sin, they don’t repent of it.

There is as much difference between sin in the wicked and the godly as between poison being in a serpent and in a man. Poison in a serpent is in its natural place and is delightful, but poison in a man’s body is offensive and he uses antidotes to expel it. –Thomas Watson

A Christian hates sin.

5. A Christian loves discipline.

Proverbs 3:12 For whom the Lord loves He reproves even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

Usually that discipline we get is hated at first and the Bible even tells us that.

Hebrews 12:11   All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

It’s like the discipline of training for sports. Running and training is hardly ever enjoyable. However, once the training is over and you get to play in games you find that it was well worth it to be in shape.

When God disciplines us it shows us that he loves us. Picture it like this: Suppose a father is in the kitchen and sees his toddler son reach for a knife. If he loves his son he will discipline him and teach him not to play with knives. If he doesn’t love him he will let the boy play with the knife and probably end up hurting himself. When the Lord disciplines us, it proves that we are His children and that He loves us.

A Christian wants to please Christ so when he finds out that he is doing something that offends his Master he wants to know and he wants to change. Listen to Thomas Watson

A godly man loves the menaces of the Word. He knows there is love in every threat. God would not have us perish; he therefore mercifully threatens us, so that He may scare us from sin. God’s threats are like the buoy, which shows the rocks in the sea and threatens death to such as come near.

A Christian loves discipline.

These are half of the 10 attributes of a Christian that I’ve come up with and we’ll try to cover the others in the days to come.

Peace Too Soon

I’m ready for them to die off. The only problem is, their ideas have already been planted too deep in our minds to be erased. In the name of Christ they have put their well-intended methods in place advising all who listen to conform to their methodology. There’s a little in you and me and it needs to die as well.

It’s this attitude that the worst thing in the world is an offended brother. Whatever you do, don’t offend anyone. Jesus was the Prince of Peace. He died so that you and I might have peace with God and a man that goes around sewing discord is not pleasing God. We’ve got so much pain in the world we need to be relieving it and not delivering it.

It sounds good, but let me communicate it. “Let them walk blindly down their path, but don’t offend them. “ I’ll even be fair and quote it this way, “If you offend them, you’ve lost them and you might blow any chance you might have had down the road. You’re better off keeping the relationship so don’t ruffle any feathers.”

We’ve been taught to water things down so much that a misunderstanding is nearly impossible. If you make a bold comment, follow it up with a joke and a smile and back off if you need to.

We’ve spent more time developing our thoughts on how not to offend a person than we have on not offending God.  

Like I said, people do this in the name of Christ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.” Matthew 5, but how about Matthew 10? Jesus says, “Don’t think I came to bring peace, I come bringing a sword.” Apparently Jesus was not a son of God? Does anyone else follow that logic? Maybe the understanding of peace is misinterpreted.

Let me give you an example from this week that happened to me.

I had a friend tell me that my former pastor had to go behind my back and fix messes that I caused when I was a youth minister. He said, “Nathan doesn’t realize how many bridges he burned when he was here.” Listen, I’m a flake and there were probably several occasions where it was all my fault. My bad, I’ll pay for that. But I feel pretty certain that there were some incidents where it was the Gospel’s fault.
For instance, once a man in our church came to me and the pastor after a service and after he heard that I was preaching, got angry and said, “I don’t like it when you preach. Every time you preach I feel like I’m going to hell.” Only to hear my pastor say, “Well, Nathan will mature and get better at preaching.”

 If that man doesn’t repent he’ll be in hell for a million years, but at least we’ll spend the next few months in peace right?

The way I see it, there are times when a deep sword is necessary. Pain is an absolute necessity and sometimes God calls me and you to do it.

Many people have seen that there are problems in the church, but not all have found the correct solution. The answer is not to push the problems under the rug and claim everything’s fine, the answer is the Gospel. God doesn’t think of these ministers as helpful at all. Jeremiah 6:14 God speaks to them, “they have healed the brokenness of my people superficially, saying Peace, Peace, but there is no peace.”

We’re all different and God has given each person a different personality to do His will. There are times when an attitude  of peace and silence is the correct response, but there are also times when offence is the necessary response.

 NN

*Here is a link to a news video about it and as well a more full article from Operation Rescue.

** I would also encouage you to click on the link in the article about abortion mills that have been shut down as of late…..its pretty shocking as to some of the reasons why….then again….its not. I just praise God they got shut down. May He shut more of these butcher houses down….

video:   http://www.whas11.com/video/index.html?nvid=255814&shu=1

article:   http://www.operationrescue.org/?p=976

We’re in the minority gentlemen. The world has figured out things that we can’t know in our narrow-minded Christian worldview. We believe in a fairy-tale and they believe in proven facts. We’re stuck in the stone-age using an ancient book as authoritative while they are moving forward to bigger and better things. The world gives others the freedom to live as they want to live and do as they want to do and we’re prudes who want to impose our beliefs on others.

Is there any hope for Christians? Where is God at a time when the world is throwing stones at His name and His reputation? It seems we’re outnumbered and outsmarted. But let’s step back and think about some of these things that our world is saying and put them under a slight microscope.

1. You are an absolute idiot to think that an animal was made by Someone. Yet, you are respected if you think that an animal mutated from mud. You really don’t even have to believe that, you just have to say anything but “God did it”. “We don’t exactly know how the first life-form made it to earth, but we’re positive that God didn’t do it.” Well I guess that makes sense to the world.

2. If you think there is an absolute truth, then you are insane. The only absoute is that there is no absolute. Doesn’t logic have to enter somewhere into the conversation? Let me make it clear, my way claims that it is the only way. Therefore, you cannot believe that I am right and you are right. Somebody’s got to go to hell. Because of the teachings of my King, I must reject whatever you say that contradicts what he has said. If you’re right, I’m going to hell. If I’m right, you are. Don’t miss the point I’m trying to make: We can’t both be right.

3. Christianity suppresses women. If Christians had their way women would never have any fun, they wouldn’t work outside of the home and they couldn’t be pastors, and they couldn’t run for president. But thanks to the feminist movement everything is great in America. Premarital Sex in down, Divorces are down, and children growing up without parents is down. All False. I’m sure that the feminist movement has righted some wrongs that were done in the past, but the attitude that it has produced must catch some of the heat for broken homes. Feminists will not allow a biblical family. A woman submitting to her husband is unacceptable. So now, instead of a Husband looking out for the family, there are now two heads, and those heads clash.

4. Virginity is out. How can you expect to live life to the fullest without having sex with more than one person in your life? It doesn’t take you long to figure out that life is mainly about getting some. Watch MTV for 10 minutes. Watch every sitcom, drama or reality TV show and you will see something that draws your mind to our ultimate goal of having sex with whoever we can. You can’t even watch a super bowl without seductive enticements. Where has this landed us? Now, we can justify killing another person. If you get pregnant with a child, just head down to a local clinic and they can murder it for you…and it’s perfectly legal.

It seems that Psalm 2 is right, “the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his anointed.” As unintelligent as popular opinion has become, it seems that people would rather die and go to hell than to give any kind of credence to Christianity. The world is against us, what can we do?

For one thing we can read the rest of Psalm 2 and find out how God responds. Do you think that the Lord is in the heavens biting his fingernails? Verse 4 says that he laughs at this kind of action. This does not worry him. It’s like an ant marching up to the owner of the Dallas Cowboys (Jerry Jones) and telling him that his team can’t play on the field anymore because the ants were on it first. No matter how much he threatens Jerry Jones with his army, Jones will simply laugh.

So in times where you recognize how outnumbered we are, remember the laughter. There is coming a Day when our Lord is coming to right the wrongs and clear his name.

Check out this sobering list from Southern Seminary (Louisville, KY) student Derek Brown on how to waste your theological education.

http://fromthestudy.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/how-to-waste-your-theological-education/

JB

John MacArthur one time said that the most important job in the world is that of the minister. I would have to say that I agree. I am but a small child when it comes to ministry and already I can see the great responsibility that comes with the calling. The true minister of Jesus Christ is called to preach the most important message in the world, that is, the gospel. Ministers have the greatest calling in the world and we know this because (a) the bible says that the minister will receive greater judgment and (b) would it not be the most important job in the world to preach the most important message in the world? It is a privilege. When you speak, you speak on behalf of God Himself. Therefore, everything you say should be said with such fear and reverence. Shouldn’t ministers more carefully discern what they are saying? Ministers should stand in a constant fear because of the greatness of the job they have before them. They are called to attend to God’s flock. They are the under shepherds that God Himself has assigned. They should take the care of souls with the utmost seriousness! And that is what God calls them to do; to walk in His ways, above reproach, and to preach truth, teach truth, be ready in and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort! That is our job and it is the most important job, although I do not consider it a job. A minister is called to follow these guides from 2 Timothy regardless of situation, persons, or emotional circumstances. That is a hard job, especially in a society that is built like ours where everyone is supposed to ‘deal’ with everyone else with political correctness. We must do this though it is tough, because that is what we are called to do, because it is what brings God the glory.
The ministry is strenuous, laboring, and sometimes overbearing. The minister is always at fault when things go wrong and is always having to stave off the wolves when it comes to getting everyone not to hate him. And to steal another MacArthur quote, “it’s the only job in the world where you get all the blame when things go wrong and get none of the glory when things go right”. The ministry is a rough place. Paul lived out possibly the hardest life known to man, being beaten, stoned, castaway and a lot of other terrible things in his life. Every single apostle was martyred except for the likes of John, who was beaten then abandoned on an island of thugs and criminals. Its also a rough place for the family, just ask O.T. guys like Eli and Samuel, whose families were full of wickedness and cared nothing for the things of the Lord. You have missionaries like Adoniram Judson, who lost numerous children and 2 different wives, and pastors like John Bunyan, who lost a child and a wife while spending 12 years in prison. Ministry is a tough place.
The world outside isn’t the only place that endangers the work of the minister. Our churches are full of false prophets. Tele-evangelist and easy-believism pastors have made the gospel a very laughable idea that only promotes a free ticket to heaven. Ravenous wolves are preaching from the pulpits and churches are leading people down the broad path by the thousands. There is no church discipline, there is no repentance and there is no holiness. 2 Timothy 4 is very accurate when it proclaims the wandering of men’s souls: “They will not endure sound doctrine; but want[ing] to have their ears tickled…and will turn away their ears from truth, and will turn aside to myths.” Today the ministry is considered to be a big joke throughout this nation. I suppose that’s what happens when you preach a soft gospel.
Its hard to preach truth. Its hard because a lot of people think you are a legalist or way to conservative because you preach a narrow, hard-nosed gospel. They will gossip about you constantly. I’ve lost unconverted friends who I knew would leave me and then I’ve lost friends who I thought were saved but turned out to abandon the faith just the same. It isn’t pleasant to watch someone you once called ‘brother’ stab you in the back and walk away from the gospel. My unsaved parents constantly question everything I do and the school I attend is full of people who claim Christ as their king but do everything they can to keep the true gospel out. It seems as a daily occurrence to hear of a young ‘preacher‘ falling into sin and corruption. These are not the same sufferings as Paul or Peter, but the gospel is no less hated today than it was when it was written. You will be hated if you preach the truth of Christ.
So what is there to look forward to? What is the joy I have in the ministry? I can only say that there are times when I wonder, then I read the hope that Paul had in Romans 8. In verse 18 he says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed.” And what is that glory to be revealed? The grand and wonderful glory that we have in Christ! I can only say these words with a joyous heart that I have in my King. Oh how my heart is anxious to see my Savior and delight in Him! This is the hope that Paul is talking about in verse 24! Oh the hope we have in Christ! And then he tells us of how God is taking care of us right now. Paul reassures us again in verses 28 and 31 that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God…” and again, “If God is for us who can be against us?”
So I say to ministers and myself alike to keep the faith! Alas, God is for us! Take joy in the things that you do have in Christ. Take joy in the grace that God has given you to walk in His path and in His ways. Take joy in the Christian brothers of like faith that you do have. Take joy in the ministry that you have, to be able to preach God’s gospel.

To God be the Glory,

bawillett

So the word on the street is that New York is about to redefine marriage and allow 2 people of the same sex to get married. I guess it’s truly not redefining it anymore, since (by my count) it’s the third state to do such a thing. Without getting too deep into arguing against gay marriage, let’s just accept that it’s happening and deal with that.

If New York goes forward with their gay marriage allowance, this movement will be on both coasts. But what about the area in between? I haven’t heard of any more states that are thinking of allowing gay marriages, but anyone with their eyes open can see that the movement is gaining influence. Everywhere you look businesses are proudly giving credence to these anti-biblical relationships.

I’m sure Josh could give you a list, but we can pretty much recite their stance. “we at ______ are supportive of alternative lifestyles and feel as if all men and women should be treated equal no matter what their sexual preference…” It seems as if the trend of the times is to support the beliefs of those living in sin. You’ve seen on this blog that McDonald’s is supporting it, and last year I remember Arkansas based Wal-Mart giving a portion of their proceeds on their busiest shopping day of the year to the homosexual movement (they have “rolled back” their stance since, but not enough see artcle below)http://money.cnn.com/2007/06/22/magazines/fortune/pluggedin_gunther_walmart.fortune/index.htm

If you read the article, it seems clear that the only reason Wal-Mart did pull back support of the homosexual movement is that they felt it would cost them money if they continued to support the movement.

Here’s my take:

Do they not realize that their life is over within 50 years? That is a poetic vapor in time. They will lose more than money if they continue to ignore biblical truth. They don’t realize this, but keep in mind that we  Christians live expecting our King to return. California, Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, the company you work for, they will all regret these decisions when He comes.

Just picture a high-up at Wal-Mart explaining to King of Glory why they thought this was a good idea. It seems like they always have an answer to any question, but my guess is that on that Day, in the presence of our King, if they speak they will stammer and beg for mercy in repentence.

If I can give you any advice, Mr. New York legislator, let me just suggest to you that you reject this movement and stand for the literal Word of God. You will not regret that you did.

I just want to retell a story that was told this weekend at the New Attitude conference in Louisville, KY.

John Piper was speaking and he told a story about a speaking engagement he had a conference with RC Sproul in Orlando. He said that Mr. Sproul concluded his sermon with an illustration of faith in Christ being like faith in a chair. It’s a common illustration, and it’s exactly what you’re thinking. We are not exercising faith until we sit in the chair.

Mr. Piper spoke next and (knowing that Sproul was watching from the back) posed a question to Mr. Sproul. He said, “what if the chair’s ugly and I don’t want to sit in it?” The point he was making was that it’s more than simply exercising faith, it’s desiring something and then exercising faith. He concluded the story by saying that Sproul came back around, put his arm around him and said, “the chair…is…beautiful.”

Yes, the chair is beautiful, but Piper went on to say that what if the chair has two dozen marksmen standing around it with arrows pointed at your face so that if you sit in that chair they will fire?

I just thought this was an interesting story, thoughts?

NN