The Implications of the Cross

Leave a Comment / April 3, 2015

cross-58376_1280

We lay out the plans for our own lives and say, “Now, Lord, it is nice to serve You and we love You, Lord, and let’s sing a chorus,” but we won’t change our plans in any way.  But, let me remind you, the cross of Jesus Christ always changes men’s plans. The cross of Christ is revolutionary, and if we are not ready to let it be revolutionary in us nor let it cost us anything or control us in any way, we are not going to like a church that takes the things of God seriously.  People want the benefits of the cross but yet they do not want to bow to the control of the cross. They want to take all the cross can offer but they don’t want to be under the lordship of Jesus.

The above is written by A.W. Tozer.  Again, I turn to him for wisdom.  This time regarding that most iconic of symbols in Christianity: The Cross.   Here are some further thoughts on the Cross and what it means for us as believers–

In every Christian’s heart there is a cross and a throne, and the Christian is on the throne till he puts himself on the cross; if he refuses the cross he remains on the throne. Perhaps this is at the bottom of the backsliding and worldliness among gospel believers today. We want to be saved but we insist that Christ do all the dying. No cross for us, no dethronement, no dying. We remain king within the little kingdom of Mansoul and wear our tinsel crown with all the pride of a Caesar; but we doom ourselves to shadows and weakness and spiritual sterility.

The old cross slew men; the new cross entertains them. The old cross condemned; the new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh; the new cross encourages it. The old cross brought tears and blood; the new cross brings laughter. The flesh, smiling and confident, preaches and sings about the cross; before that cross it bows and toward that cross it points with carefully staged histrionics—but upon that cross it will not die, and the reproach of that cross it stubbornly refuses to bear.

The cross stands high above the opinions of men and to that cross all opinions must come at last for judgment.

If we are wise we will do what Jesus did: endure the cross and despise its shame for the joy that is set before us. To do this is to submit the whole pattern of our lives to be destroyed and built again in the power of an endless life. And we shall find that it is more than poetry, more than sweet hymnody and elevated feeling. The cross will cut into our lives where it hurts worst, sparing neither us nor our carefully cultivated reputations. It will defeat us and bring our selfish lives to an end.

In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die.

The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ.

To any who may object to this [the cross] or count it merely a narrow and private view of truth, let me say God has set His hallmark of approval upon this message from Paul’s day to the present. Whether stated in these exact words or not, this has been the content of all preaching that has brought life and power to the world through the centuries.

Willingness to suffer for Jesus’ sake—this is what we have lost from the Christian church. We want our Easter to come without the necessity of a Good Friday. We forget that before the Redeemer could rise and sing among His brethren He must first bow His head and suffer among His brethren!  We forget so easily that in the spiritual life there must be the darkness of the night before there can be the radiance of the dawn. Before the life of resurrection can be known, there must be the death that ends the dominion of self. It is a serious but a blessed decision, this willingness to say, “I will follow Him no matter what the cost. I will take the cross no matter how it comes!”

At the heart of the Christian system lies the cross of Christ with its divine paradox. The power of Christianity appears in its antipathy toward, never in its agreement with, the ways of fallen men. The truth of the cross is revealed in its contradictions. The witness of the church is most effective when she declares rather than explains, for the gospel is addressed not to reason but to faith. What can be proved requires no faith to accept. Faith rests upon the character of God, not upon the demonstrations of laboratory or logic.  The cross stands in bold opposition to the natural man. Its philosophy runs contrary to the processes of the unregenerate mind, so that Paul could say bluntly that the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. To try to find a common ground between the message of the cross and man’s fallen reason is to try the impossible, and if persisted in must result in an impaired reason, a meaningless cross and a powerless Christianity.

 

Is my eternal destiny really dependent on invisible scales?

Leave a Comment / April 19, 2014

scales of destiny

When asked, many people–even those calling themselves Christians–will say that they think they are a good person. They believe the good things they do outweigh the bad things they do. And they hope that the scales is tipped enough to the “good deeds” side to get them entrance into heaven when they die. They often believe Christ died for the sins of the world. But, for some reason, they think that they still need to do enough good things before they can be reconciled with God and spend eternity with Him.

I know many, if not most, of my readers fully realize that there is nothing we can do to earn God’s favor. But if you have landed here and do not truly understand this, it seemed well worth the effort to write about it this week. On Good Friday we contemplate Jesus’s death on the cross. And then on Sunday we celebrate Easter, the glorious day that Jesus Christ rose from the dead to reign forever more! But why does it really matter, if I can be good enough anyway?

Do you truly realize the message of the cross? Do you realize that Jesus died on that cross for your sins? So that you can  be reconciled with God? To provide the ONLY way for reconciliation? In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

There are lots of vague, fuzzy beliefs out there right now. Beliefs that you can believe whatever you want. False teachers who tell us we can all believe differently and still get to heaven. But Jesus tells us in the Bible that we cannot all believe different things. He tells us that He is the only way.

And, lest you think you are tipping the scales pretty heavily on the “not guilty” side and in no need of a Savior, Romans 3:23 sets us all straight:“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. Our pastor said yesterday that our good deeds are akin to our taking dirty water and filthy rags and washing windows. Will you end up with clean windows? No, you will still have dirty windows.

Isaiah 64:6 says:

But we are all like an unclean thing,
      And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;

So, we can do all the good deeds in the world, and yet, we can never reach perfection. And so, God made a way for us. He sent His Son to die on a cross and to rise victoriously over sin! He sent His son so that we can stand clean–white as snow–before God (Isaiah 1:18). Instead of our sin, God sees Christ’s righteousness. Oh, the glorious cross! It made a way of salvation for you and for me!

So, you may say, if our righteousness is as filthy rags, why do anything good? Why bother? Why try to live a good life? I will tell you why! Because if you are truly a believer in Jesus Christ and if you truly understand what He did for you on the cross then you will love Him so much that you will want to please Him in all that you do. Your main goal in life becomes glorifying Him and sharing the wonderful good news of the gospel with others.

I am afraid that I have “preached to the choir” in writing this. If you have already repented and trusted Jesus for your eternal salvation, may you take this week to truly ponder and rejoice in what Christ did for you on the cross. But, if you have not, may I encourage you to search the scriptures, so that you may understand what it was that Christ did for you on the cross. And, although I do not know your name, please know that I will be praying for you.

AT CALVARY

  1. Years I spent in vanity and pride,
    Caring not my Lord was crucified,
    Knowing not it was for me He died
    On Calvary.

    • Refrain:
      Mercy there was great, and grace was free;
      Pardon there was multiplied to me;
      There my burdened soul found liberty
      At Calvary.
  2. By God’s Word at last my sin I learned;
    Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned,
    Till my guilty soul imploring turned
    To Calvary.
  3. Now I’ve giv’n to Jesus everything,
    Now I gladly own Him as my King,
    Now my raptured soul can only sing
    Of Calvary!
  4. Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!
    Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!
    Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span
    At Calvary!


Fear…does it control you?

Leave a Comment / April 14, 2011

Fear.  That scary, impending sense of doom.  The emotion that keeps us from doing things that might bring harm to ourselves.  But have you ever thought about this…does it keep you from doing things that might help you live your life to the fullest, as well?  Or, even more importantly, does it keep you from doing things for your Lord?

Dictionary.com uses this definition for FEAR: a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.

Did you catch that?  “Whether the threat is real or imagined.”

Many of us do not even think about how fear affects our daily choices.  Think for a moment about how some of these decisions are affected by your fear of the outcome–

~Your teenager desires to do something that you know is against scripture.  You choose to allow him to do it, because you fear losing his love.

~Your friend is living in sin.  You know scripture teaches that you should confront her with love, but you put it off because you fear losing her friendship.

~The stockmarket is diving quickly.  You trade all of your stocks.  You fear losing your financial security.

~You would like to start walking or running for exercise.  But you fear walking along the busy road.

~A trip to the city would be fun, but you never go, because you fear driving the highway. Or you fear getting lost.

~You believe the Lord is calling you on a mission trip, but you choose not to go because you fear traveling outside the United States.

Each day we make choices affected by fear.   Some of those fears are valid.   But may I suggest that, oftentimes, they are not?  Or if there is validity to them, we grow them into some unrealistic, enormous thing that they really are not.

When I was a young teenager, I developed a fear of throwing up.  Yes.  You read that right.  Throwing up.  This fear controlled me for probably over 15 years.  It dictated when, what, and how much I would eat.  It affected how I treated my kids when they were sick.   This fear gripped me, like no other ever has.

I pleaded with the Lord to remove this fear.  I knew it was not of Him.  I knew that I had grown this fear into something completely out of proportion to what it should be.  I knew that getting sick was just part of life.

The Lord answered that prayer.  Oh, not in a day.  Not in a month.  But, gradually, one small step at a time, I was able to overcome.   One of the best things for that fear was having children.  They inevitably get sick.  A lot.  Nothing like facing your fear head on!

Oh, I still cringe and feel a bit weak in the stomach when the stomach flu is going around.  But it is not controlling me anymore.  Why do I share this?

I share this because if you are controlled by fear, ask God to rescue you!  Ask Him to show you if that fear is valid.  He is faithful.  He will answer you.  You don’t have to live this way.

Psalm 34:4
I sought the LORD, and He heard me,And delivered me from all my fears.

Psalm 56:4
In God (I will praise His word),In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?

Proverbs 29:25
The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.


SVL

2 Comments / April 11, 2011

Sex. Violence. Language.  Do you care?  Do you even think about what you are putting before your eyes?  Or what is playing on your ipod?  Somehow there has grown a serious disconnect between our entertainment choices and our walk with God.  I am not sure how this happened, but I am certain it is connected to our taking some scripture very much out of context.   Something to do with not being under the law but under grace and skewing that to mean I can watch or listen to whatever I want.  It has gotten to the place that even pastors use films filled with things that God hates as examples to draw people in.   Again, I ask, how have we gotten to this place?  I cannot quite wrap by brain around it.

We have been subtly tricked into believing it doesn’t matter.   But it does matter!   So, maybe you are asking why does it matter?  Why can’t I do what I want, if I am free in Christ?   May I suggest a few reasons why it DOES matter–

~If we are Christians, we are beloved sons and daughters of Christ.   Just like a young child wants to please his earthly father, so we, too, should want to please our heavenly Father.

Ephesians 5 tells us:  1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. 3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you know,[a] that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Read that list again:  fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, filthiness, foolish talking, coarse jesting.   Think about the last movie you watched.  Did it have any of those things in it?    It has been my experience that almost everything coming out of Hollywood is filled with these things.  Of course, there are some exceptions.  But not many.   The Bible says we are to be imitators of God as dear children.  I have a hard time believing that God would watch or listen to anything that is filled with the things He hates.   Let’s fill our minds with entertainment that is “fitting for saints”.

~We are to set nothing wicked before our eyes.  Psalm 101 says:

3 I will set nothing wicked before my eyes;
I hate the work of those who fall away;
It shall not cling to me.
4 A perverse heart shall depart from me;
I will not know wickedness.

On the other hand, we are to meditate on good things.  Philippians 4:8-9 says:

8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

I know that when I watch a movie that is filled with things that are displeasing to God, my mind is not filled with good thoughts.  I am not leaving the theater praising my heavenly Father if I have filled my mind with filth.   Sometimes there are even movies that have great moral themes and yet they are still dotted with bikini-clad women that tempt men to lust or they are filled with unnecessary violence or bad language.  We truly need to be discerning in our entertainment choices.  We need to ask ourselves if this choice I am making will encourage me or hinder me in my walk with the Lord.

~Do you cringe when the character on the screen takes your Lord’s name in vain?  Or is dressed immodestly?  Or when there is a passionate, private moment between two unmarried people?  Or how about the blood and guts that horror films are filled with?  Do you cringe, if you choose to fill your mind with these things?  Or has your heart grown hardened?  You see, the more often we set unclean things before our eyes, the more hardened we become.  Perhaps, you don’t even think about it anymore.

Charles Finney says in regards to hardening hearts:

Sinners often harden their hearts by indulging appetite. For example: they are accustomed to the use of tobacco, or intoxicating drinks; or they are accustomed to indulge in the use of various luxuries. Now if the claims of God are presented to them, those claims come directly into competition with appetite. For example: I heard of a man, who, through the use of intoxicating drinks, was likely to lose his eye-sight. His physician told him that he must abandon the use of intoxicating drinks, or entirely lose the use of his eyes. Upon this information he girded himself instantly, and said, “Then fare you well, old eyes.” Thus he settled the question, hardened his heart, and probably lost his soul.

While we are not addressing the use of alcohol here, I think the same principle can be applied.  When we fill our minds with the things that God hates, we are basically saying we don’t care about what He thinks.   That we are going to do what we want.  And, all the while, we grow further and further from holiness and purity.

In conclusion, I leave you with these verses from Romans 12:1-2–

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Let’s run away from ungodly entertainment, instead of embracing it!  Let’s remember our high calling!  To present our bodies as a living sacrifice.  Pleasing God with ALL that we do.  Which includes how we spend our time and fill our minds.

May God bless you as you ponder these thoughts…

A Deadly Serpent Among Us

Leave a Comment / April 7, 2011

There is a sin that has been accepted by generations of Christians.   We rarely hear sermons on it.  We rarely read books or articles on this topic.  And yet…

It has destroyed countless churches.  Families have fallen prey to its merciless grasp by the thousands.  It is has ripped apart friendships.  It has influenced school boards.  It has  shaped government in a big way.  But it has also affected small children.  This serpent slithers its way through most of our lives, rearing its head at any given moment.

It reared its ugly head in Bible times, in the Middle Ages, and during the Civil War.  In fact, it has existed in many different forms throughout all time.

What is this sin?  Pride.  Pride has invaded, in one form or another, every relationship and every institution.  Think for a moment.   The last time you had an argument…what was it about?   Or the last time you grew stonily silent and angry…what was it about?    So often we are so full of ourselves.  We are so convinced that we are right.  We are so determined to get our own way.   And when we realize, oftentimes later, that we have messed up, do we humble ourselves and apologize?

Why is apologizing so hard?   It takes a lot of courage for a person to admit they were wrong.  It takes a lot of humility.  Humility can be rather elusive, can’t it?   It is so valuable in a Christian’s life and yet so few of us have genuine humility.  Oh, there is lots of fake humility going on…”You did great at such and such”….”Awww, shucks, no I didn’t”.  But that is not humility.

So what does humble mean, anyway?   It means “not proud, not arrogant; modest” according to dictionary.com.   And pride?  Pride means “a high or inordinate opinion of one’s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc.”

Humility requires thinking of the other person at the expense…yes, EXPENSE, of ourselves. Humility costs a lot.  It may mean we are tramped upon.  It may mean we are taken advantage of.   It may mean we need to forego our own advancement and our personal “rights”.  We cannot even come to the cross without humility.  Unless we realize just how sinful we are…how full of self…how depraved…we cannot begin to even comprehend what the Savior did for us on the cross.

As I am writing, I can think of dozens of examples of situations that could have been solved except for pride.  They were not issues of biblical doctrine.   People just couldn’t get along.  Husbands or wives who just could not admit that they were wrong and take steps to fix the issue, but instead decided to part ways.  Church leaders who held themselves aloft and would not admit to wrongdoing chose instead to split their churches into pieces.  Business owners who continue to claim they handled things well…even as their companies are in bankruptcy.

But, let’s bring it a little closer to home.  When I think of the last few times I have found myself in a disagreement with someone, I know that most times it was stupid.  Yes, I admit it.  It was stupid.  I was standing up for something because of my stupid pride.  It didn’t even matter.  And for the handful of times that it did matter…that it was truly important to express my viewpoint…well, how I went about it was prideful.

I think pride has so invaded our daily lives, that we give it little thought.  In fact, I think in our culture, we often condone it.  We hear that we should stand up for “our rights”.  We hear that we need to “love ourselves”  and increase our “self-esteem”.  But the Bible tells me we already love ourselves (Luke 10:27).  We are commanded to love our neighbor like we already love ourself.

I fear I have not done this topic the justice it deserves.  I fear that churches and families around me will continue to fall, unless we…one by one…kill this serpent within our own homes and churches.  It needs to start with us.

In conclusion, I leave you with a list of verses on this topic:

Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.

Proverbs 13:10 By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom.

James 4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “ God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

Psalm 25:9 The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.

Matthew 23:12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 29:23 A man’s pride will bring him low, But the humble in spirit will retain honor.

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.

Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.

Psalm 147:6 The LORD lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.

Psalm 18:27 For You will save the humble people, But will bring down haughty look.

Romans 12:16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

1 Peter 5:5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “ God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

Detour Tutorial

Leave a Comment / April 4, 2011

Detours.   They are annoying in any place…but they are especially annoying when it affects EVERY trip you make to town.  Our town is in the process of a major change on a major road.   This leads to a detour on the road that we take to town often.  It means there are 5 more minutes added to our trip.   We are told it will take several weeks, even months!?  With this constant road detour, my thoughts have turned to some of life’s detours.  They are really not so different in principle.  Here are a few thoughts I had–

1.  Attitude is key. When the person in front of me decides to go under the speed limit (which happens more often than not) on the back country road detour, it increases from a 5 minute detour to a 7 minute detour.  So what is 2 minutes, you say?   Well, when you put it like that…I guess it isn’t a big deal.  But when I am running late…or have a million things to do…well, it just adds up to frustration…that is…if I allow it to.  I have realized that I have a choice to make about my attitude.    And there is one very simple thing I can do to help my attitude:  Give myself extra time.   And so it is the same with life, isn’t it?  When I am faced with a detour in life…something is not going quite how I planned and God has me on an unfamiliar road…my attitude will make all the difference.  And that attitude can be helped by a very simple act: submitting to God’s will for my life.  Instead of ranting and raving and becoming depressed and angry, I need to submit with joy.  Oh, so simple, but so incredibly hard to do.

2.  Think outside the box. There is another option to get to town.  A second main road that takes us there.  But on the way back home, there is a light where I need to turn left to get home.  A couple of years ago they made some changes to the road that has increased the traffic considerably at that light.  But they did not adjust the light accordingly.   That means that there is usually a very, very long wait to make that left turn.  The wait has increased even more as the traffic has increased due to the detour.   But, there is another way!  We are able to wind our way through a couple of local developments and it does save several minutes, especially depending on the time of day.   So, I was thinking about this and realized that this, too, sometimes happens in life.   Sometimes God puts us on a detour.  And then we feel like we have to wait…and wait.  But sometimes there is another way to solve a problem.  Sometimes there is a back road to lead us to a solution.  Now, of course, we cannot set out on that road without prayer and meditation on scripture.  If you reach a dead end in a car, you just turn around and then check your smart phone or GPS to help you get out of your mess.  Not quite so in real life.  But sometimes there is another way.  Sometimes God will show us a way out or a solution that we never even dreamed of.   Sometimes we need to take a risk.   And sometimes He will tell us we just need to wait.   Of course, the key is waiting on Him to show you the direction to go.

3.  Sometimes we just need to patiently wait. For several weeks now, the road crew that is supposed to be working has not been working.  The big machines just sit there, while the whole south side of town is inconvenienced in their daily lives.   I don’t know if it has to do with weather or what, but the road is still in place and we could be using it.   But we can’t.  Sometimes in life this happens, too.  We feel like we are just waiting, but nothing is happening.  Nothing is changing.  We are taking this detour for nothing.  But, unlike the road work I am watching and can see with my eyes, sometimes God works in ways we can’t see.  Sometimes things–good things– happen that we will never find out about until we get to heaven.  We need to trust and keep doing what we know is right to do.

4.  Turn around immediately. When we leave church we always turn right out of the parking lot to go home.  But with this detour, we need to turn left.  We are having a difficult time remembering to turn left when we leave the parking lot and often end up having to turn around.  If we continued going, we would eventually get home, but it would take an awful lot longer.  Sometimes, life is like that, isn’t it?  We are convicted of a sin in our life, but life happens, and at the end of the day, we realize that once again we have succumbed to that sin.  We need to turn around and go the right way.   We should turn around right away.  Because if we don’t, we will need to take the very long (and often painful) road back home.  And sometimes, the sin may so ensnare us, that we never make it back home at all.

5.  Sometimes the detour is necessary to solve a problem. It is a temporary inconvenience to a permanent solution.  And so it is sometimes in our lives.  An infected wound needs to be painfully opened and dealt with before it can heal.  And so it is with our lives.  Sometimes we need to be painfully dealt with or inconvenienced or are told to wait…because we need to grow or heal in a certain area.  Sometimes we figure it all out…often we don’t.

6.  Maybe the detour is not about me. Obviously, this road detour is NOT about me…or any individual.  It is for the greater good of the community overall.  Perhaps some of the detours in our life are about others, as well.  We are taking them because of something in someone else’s life.  And it would be quite biblical to say that ALL detours allowed in our lives are to be used to glorify God.  Sometimes, when we turn the focus on ourselves instead of on God, we wallow in our despair and endless complaints instead of turning our hearts toward the One who made us and has given us breath.  We need to remember that all that God allows in our life comes from Him.  And, I guess we have come full circle from point one and I am repeating myself!  But it is a worthy point to repeat.  We have to submit to God’s will.  Whatever it may be.  And His will is about bringing glory to His name and reaching others for Him.  It is not about me.  Let’s get our focus off of ourselves today and place it where it belongs.

Job 23:10 But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.

2 Timothy 1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Psalms 4:8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.



The Inadequacy of “Instant Christianity”

Leave a Comment / March 31, 2011

Once again I am going to share with you from one of my favorite authors, A.W. Tozer.   I have found few authors more challenging than A.W. Tozer.  Unfortunately, most of the things he wrote are not being read by Christians anymore.  It seems appropriate to bring some of his wisdom to you through this blog–

It is hardly a matter of wonder that the country that gave the world instant tea and instant coffee should be the one to give it instant Christianity. If these two beverages were not actually invented in the United States, it was certainly here that they received the advertising impetus that has made them known to most of the civilized world. And it cannot be denied that it was American Fundamentalism that brought instant Christianity to the gospel churches.

Ignoring for the moment Romanism, and Liberalism in its various disguises, and focusing our attention upon the great body of evangelical believers, we see at once how deeply the religion of Christ has suffered in the house of its friends. The American genius for getting things done quickly and easily with little concern for quality or permanence has bred a virus that has infected the whole evangelical church in the United States and, through our literature, our evangelists and our missionaries, has spread all over the world.

Instant Christianity came in with the machine age. Men invented machines for two purposes. They wanted to get important work done more quickly and easily than they could do it by hand, and they wanted to get the work over with so they could give their time to pursuits more to their liking, such as loafing or enjoying the pleasures of the world. Instant Christianity now serves the same purposes in religion. It disposes of the past, guarantees the future and sets the Christian free to follow the more refined lusts of the flesh in all good conscience and with a minimum of restraint.

By “instant Christianity” I mean the kind found almost everywhere in gospel circles and which is born of the notion that we may discharge our total obligation to our own souls by one act of faith, or at most by two, and be relieved thereafter of all anxiety about our spiritual condition that we may discharge our total obligation to our own and we are permitted to infer from this that there is no reason to seek to be saints by character. An automatic, once-for-all quality is present here that is completely out of mode with the faith of the New Testament.

In this error, as in most others, there lies a certain amount of truth imperfectly understood. It is true that conversion to Christ may be and often is sudden. Where the burden of sin has been heavy the sense of forgiveness is usually clear and joyful. The delight experienced in forgiveness is equal to the degree of moral repugnance left in repentance. The true Christian has met God. He knows he has eternal life and he is likely to know where and when he received it. And those also who have been filled with the Holy Spirit subsequent to their regeneration have a clear-cut experience of being filled. The Spirit is self-announcing, and the renewed heart has no difficulty identifying His presence as He floods in over the soul.

But the trouble is that we tend to put our trust in our experiences and as a consequence misread the entire New Testament. We are constantly being exhorted to make the decision, to settle the matter now, to get the whole thing taken care of at once—and those who exhort us are right in doing so. There are decisions that can be and should be made once and for all. There are personal matters that can be settled instantaneously by a determined act of the will in response to Bible-grounded faith. No one would want to deny this; certainly not I.

The question before us is, Just how much can be accomplished in that one act of faith? How much yet remains to be done and how far can a single decision take us?

Instant Christianity tends to make the faith act terminal and so smothers the desire for spiritual advance. It fails to understand the true nature of the Christian life, which is not static but dynamic and expanding. It overlooks the fact that a new Christian is a living organism as certainly as a new baby is, and must have nourishment and exercise to assure normal growth. It does not consider that the act of faith in Christ sets up a personal relationship between two intelligent moral beings, God and the reconciled man, and no single encounter between God and a creature made in His image could ever be sufficient to establish an intimate friendship between them.

By trying to pack all of salvation into one experience, or two, the advocates of instant Christianity flaunt the law of development which runs through all nature. They ignore the sanctifying effects of suffering, cross carrying and practical obedience. They pass by the need for spiritual training, the necessity of forming right religious habits and the need to wrestle against the world, the devil and the flesh.

Undue preoccupation with the initial act of believing has created in some a psychology of contentment, or at least of non-expectation. To many it has imparted a mood of disappointment with the Christian faith. God seems too far away, the world is too near, and the flesh too powerful to resist. Others are glad to accept the assurance of automatic blessedness. It relieves them of the need to watch and fight and pray, and sees them free to enjoy this world while waiting for the next.

Instant Christianity is twentieth-century orthodoxy. I wonder whether the man who wrote Philippians 3:7-16 would recognize it as the faith for which he finally died. I am afraid he would not.

—Excerpt from That Incredible Christian

Tortured for Christ

Leave a Comment / March 28, 2011

**A group of armed Muslims opened fire on Christians at an open-air prayer meeting in Pakistan this week, killing two men.

**Anti-Christian violence has increased in northern Nigeria since January of this year, when 200 armed Fulani youths attacked churches and Christian homes. Sectarian violence between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria began in 2001 with a large-scale riot in the city of Kaduna.

**In Uzbekistan, six Christians leading a service at a nursing home on March 13 were detained by police and charged with resisting police orders and violating procedures for conducting a meeting.

**The battle over Bibles continues in Malaysia. In January 2011, port authorities confiscated 30,000 Bibles that a branch of Gideons International had ordered.

This is a sampling of some of the news stories regarding persecution against Christians going on right now.  I read another story this morning of an Egyptian Christian persecuted for helping Muslims who have converted to Christianity by hanging him upside down naked and beating him severely.

This is not hundreds of years ago.  This is right now.  In this world we live in.  Sometimes I feel we are so sheltered in our little American world.  Sure, we take some slander or we may even take some damage to our reputation if we stand for Christ.  There is a cost.  But the cost is minimal, if you think about many other parts of the world.

Thinking on this leads me down several different trails-

First, is my faith sure and certain, so that I will stand strong, if (some would say “when”)  that day comes?

Second, am I praying for my Christians brothers and sisters who are being tortured for Christ?  They are part of our heavenly family.  They need our prayers!

Third, am I living with a grateful heart for the freedoms I have?  For the freedom from hunger?  For the freedom to worship in church without interruption from the government?  For the freedom to own a Bible?

And fourth, I can’t help but think that many of the things that upset all of us…people things…circumstance things…job things…just wouldn’t be as big of an issue if we knew we might lose our life the next day.  Perspective is such a big deal, isn’t it??  What am I upset or disturbed about that would really matter if I may be imprisoned tomorrow for my faith?  What argument or debate (and there are some, but not as many as we think)  is worth destroying a relationship with a fellow brother, if we both may be killed tomorrow?

We are free.  And these questions do not haunt us the way they haunt our fellow believers.  And I thank God for that.  Let’s live with grateful hearts.  Let’s make sure it is God’s opinions directly from His Word that we take a stand for…not our own.  And let’s pray that God would give us a godly perspective on the trials and problems we face.

The above examples are from website persecution.com.  They also have a sister website, prisoneralert.com, which focuses on Christians who are imprisoned for their faith.  Both are a great place to go if you would like to read more about this topic.

 


Switching Boxes

Leave a Comment / March 24, 2011

Today is the day I switch boxes.   Okay, let me explain.  Think about the last survey you filled out.  You know…the ones where they ask for an age range.   I don’t really know any of them except for the one that says (35-44).  That has been MY box to check for 9 years.  Today I can no longer check that box.

I know it is inconsequential in the course of life.  I do know that.   But it turns my thoughts toward the brevity of life.  Our days are numbered. James 4:14 says whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

As we grow older there are some questions most of us ask.  Things like:  Am I accomplishing anything of true value with my days?  How important is physical beauty, anyway?  Am I a wiser person today than I was 25 years ago?

I am trying to decide how transparent I should be.  Okay, this is what I will say.  These questions, along with watching my children grow up so quickly, have weighed heavily on me at times.  Throw the hormonal issues in there (I read that the 40s can be compared to adolescence in how much the body is changing)…and, well, there have been some dark days.  The only reason I share this is because I truly wish someone would have told me how emotionally charged the 40s would be.   And just how much life would change.  How much my body would change.   And perhaps I am the only one who feels like this.  I really don’t know.

I do know, however, that when my focus is on what isn’t going right in my life, what is changing in my life….that is when the dark moments come.  When I turn my focus in the direction of others I don’t have time to think about these things.  It is all a growing and learning process.  But, according to my mom, I am half-way through it today!  She tells me the 50s are a lot better!  I hope so, but I am in no hurry to find out…

Once, very long ago, I was walking through a mall.   A plaque caught my eye.  I don’t buy a lot of plaques, but I did buy this one.  It said “Don’t regret growing older.  It is a privilege denied to many.” It has helped me keep perspective for many years about this growing older thing.   It is a privilege to be alive…and, I, for one, am grateful for that privilege.

On Entertainment

Leave a Comment / March 21, 2011

I can take no credit for what is written below.  It was written by A.W. Tozer somewhere in the mid-1900s.  It is hard to believe that, even then, entertainment was taking an inappropriate priority in the lives of believers.   This certainly challenged me.  I hope it will do the same for you.

The Great God Entertainment

A German philosopher many years ago said something to the effect that the more a man has in his own heart the less he will require from the outside; excessive need for support from without is proof of the bankruptcy of the inner man.

If this is true (and I believe it is), then the present inordinate attachment to every form of entertainment is evidence that the inner life of modern man is in serious decline. The average man has no central core of moral assurance, no spring within his own breast, no inner strength to place him above the need for repeated psychological shots to give him the courage to go on living. He has become a parasite on the world, drawing his life from his environment, unable to live a day apart from the stimulation which society affords him.

Schleiermacher held that the feeling of dependence lies at the root of all religious worship, and that however high the spiritual life might rise it must always begin with a deep sense of a great need which only God could satisfy. If this sense of need and a feeling of dependence are at the root of natural religion it is not hard to see why the great god Entertainment is so ardently worshiped by so many. For there are millions who cannot live without amusement; life without some form of entertainment for them is simply intolerable; they look forward to the blessed relief afforded by professional entertainers and other forms of psychological narcotics as a dope addict looks to his daily shot of heroin. Without them they could not summon courage to face existence.

No one with common human feeling will object to the simple pleasures of life, nor to such harmless forms of entertainment as may help to relax the nerves and refresh the mind exhausted by toil. Such things if used with discretion may be a blessing along the way. That is one thing. The all-out devotion to entertainment as a major activity for which and by which men live is definitely something else again.

The abuse of a harmless thing is the essence of sin. The growth of the amusement phase of human life to such fantastic proportions is a portent, a threat to the souls of modern men. It has been built into a multimillion dollar racket with greater power over human minds and human character than any other educational influence on earth. And the ominous thing is that its power is almost exclusively evil, rotting the inner life, crowding out the long eternal thoughts which would fill the souls of men if they were but worthy to entertain them. And the whole thing has grown into a veritable religion which holds its devotees with a strange fascination, and a religion, incidentally, against which it is now dangerous to speak.

For centuries the Church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was—a device for wasting time, a refuge from the disturbing voice of conscience, a scheme to divert attention from moral accountability. For this she got herself abused roundly by the sons of this world. But of late she has become tired of the abuse and has given over the struggle. She appears to have decided that if she cannot conquer the great god Entertainment she may as well join forces with him and make what use she can of his powers. So today we have the astonishing spectacle of millions of dollars being poured into the unholy job of providing earthly entertainment for the so-called sons of heaven. Religious entertainment is in many places rapidly crowding out the serious things of God. Many churches these days have become little more than poor theatres where fifth-rate “producers” peddle their shoddy wares with the full approval of evangelical leaders who can even quote a holy text in defense of their delinquency. And hardly a man dares raise his voice against it.

The great god Entertainment amuses his devotees mainly by telling them stories. The love of stories, which is a characteristic of childhood, has taken fast hold of the minds of the retarded saints of our day, so much so that not a few persons manage to make a comfortable living by spinning yarns and serving them up in various disguises to church people. What is natural and beautiful in a child may be shocking when it persists into adulthood, and more so when it appears in the sanctuary and seeks to pass for true religion.

Is it not a strange thing and a wonder that, with the shadow of atomic destruction hanging over the world and with the coming of Christ drawing near, the professed followers of the Lord should be giving themselves up to religious amusements? That in an hour when mature saints are so desperately needed vast numbers of believers should revert to spiritual childhood and clamor for religious toys?
—Best of A. W. Tozer, The

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