I am not quite sure how old I was the day that my world view was changed. My sister is seven years older than I am. And on this particular Sunday, as was the case whenever my sister came home from college to visit, my dad would have to drive her back to the college for the beginning of the next week's classes.
I do not remember if I was asked to go along, or was told I was going, but the trip to her college usually took about an hour and a half to drive. My sister, was the oldest sibling in the family. Her name was Marsha and I was very proud of her. I would have never told her so, however, since there was a little sibling rivalry taking place between us; at least there was in my mind. I was probably 12 or 13 years old and she was probably in her sophomore or junior year at Georgetown College.
Georgetown College was in Georgetown, Kentucky. Georgetown , at the time, was a small college town near Lexington, Kentucky. It has since grown in population and fame. Its population and fame changed practically overnight when the Toyota Motor Corporation chose to locate a new car plant there to make the Camry. However, before they chose to locate their newest car plant there, most people would have never heard of the town or the college.
I do not recall how the conversation on this particular trip was turned to the question of the existence of God, but it did. I was a very arrogant, know it all kid. I had become quite the bookworm by this time in my life. I had been introduced to a love for reading from a teacher in elementary school. And as with many endeavors in my life, when I do something, I do it to an extreme. The inflated opinion of myself ,intellectually, was won from the many victories, while playing head games with peers. There were very few that had read as many books as I had. I was the perfect walking example of the foolish kid "who thought he knew it all".
The arrogance and the smugness that I had about what I believed was in full display in the car that Sunday, once the conversation turned to the existence of God. I knew what I knew, and I was going to prove it. I knew there was no God. Somewhere along my journey of devouring all the books, I had become an atheist. My parents had quit attending church when I was nine or ten years old. So the only influence I was receiving about world view issues was through books, newspapers, television shows and school.
I started my case for the non-existence of God by telling my sister there was no proof that he did exist. I pointed out to her, that scientists could not find him, that he had no address where we could go visit him, or no phone number where we could call him. I went on to tell her that no one that I was friends with, actually believed in God.
My sister, easily defeated this assertion, she had already had a philosophy class or two at college. Arguing with her was not going to be as easy as arguing with my class-mates at school. She simply pointed out that I could not prove that he did not exist. Trust me, I tried. She replied, "have you been every where in the universe and made sure he was not there". Of course, I had no retort worthy to refute this simple statement of hers. I countered, well if he exists, how come he does not make himself visible to every one? She gave me no direct answer to this question, other than pointing out there were those in the religious community that believed he had revealed and made himself visible. My sister was not a practicing Christian either back then. But she did want to win the debate with me. We both were a little competitive. This is the point in the debate/conversation where she went on the offensive. It probably was relatively easy for her. After all, she had those classes in philosophy at school to augment her knowledge base and simple strategy to prove me wrong. My sister stated in basic terms the cosmological argument or causal argument for the existence of God. I am pretty sure she did not use those names for the premise to her argument, but she did ably present her case. The cosmological argument, stated simply, is that every effect has a cause. In our world, we can see constant confirmation of this simple premise. In nature, for example, if a predator is hungry, it motivates the predator to hunt for prey. If the animal is thirsty, it searches for a drink. If an acorn falls from a tree, and lands on good soil, with adequate rain, it will become an oak tree. If the tectonic plates shift hard enough and fast enough there will be a sizable earthquake. These four examples of effects, each have a previous causal factor that initiated the action. Hunger, thirst, the wind blowing through the trees and the shift of the tectonic plates are the immediate causal factors for the action that took place in our examples. My sister then made several observations of the relationship between cause and effect. She pointed out that the universe could not have created itself. There had to be a cause for it to spring into existence. I had no reply to her simple argument, other than to say, "well then, who created God"? Her comeback, though I did not like it, again was simple. She pointed out it would be irrational to believe that there was an endless series of regressions of creators creating the next creator. At some point, some entity outside of the chain of creators and creations, had to be completely and wholly other than the endless stream of regressions of creators and creations. This entity, this first cause, had to be the "uncaused" cause. She said this is what we call God.
So I had a choice to make. I had to decide if staying an atheist made sense. I asked her what did it mean to her that there had to be a first cause. She said that she felt that it made more sense to be an agnostic. I had never heard the word used before. To be an agnostic she stated, means to acknowledge that there is not enough evidence to disprove there is a God. She said an agnostic simply questioned his existence. So I became an agnostic that day.
I did not stay an agnostic for long, that changed a few years later, when I accepted Jesus as God and Savior, but that is another story.
If you want to read more about the cosmological argument simply insert the words into Google or click the title of this blog and it will take you to an embedded link that has an academic article.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
The Holy Ghost Bartender and Holy Laughter
It was circa 1993 at Louisville Trinity Church. My wife and I had been remarried for about two years. We both had become involved in serving in the church. Primarily, we both served in the nursery on a regular basis. But, I had decided to start helping with the altar ministry team. The task that I volunteered for was called “catching”. For most of you that are unfamiliar with the Charismatic and Pentecostal style worship services, the ministry at the altar where people are prayed for is one of the most iconic aspects of these churches. It is very common in these types of churches for the pastor or visiting evangelists to make an altar call. During these altar calls, several needs would be mentioned for people to be prayed over for. Usually, there was more than one need mentioned, to ensure the altar was full with people. The altar call is as much a part of a Charismatic/Pentecostal worship service, as preaching and singing. The regular attendees of these meetings would not believe they have actually had church, unless the show at the altar takes place somewhere in the service. Usually, at Louisville Trinity Church, the altar call was at the end of the service, but it could me made at any time the minister felt the leading of the Spirit or the anointing to do it. The anointing was a word that may have had a legitimate meaning in the Old Testament Jewish ceremonies, but as the word was understood in the modern Charismatic movement, the anointing was that special presence of the Holy Spirit that the minister sensed upon him when he was either preaching or praying. Specifically, the real meaning of the words to anoint meant to literally take oil and place it on the person being “anointed” to symbolize the setting apart of that person for a special task. For example, in the Old Testament, Samuel “anointed” both Saul and David to be King of Israel. The words to anoint also could be used in the sense of applying a healing salve to a wound. However, in the Pentecostal/Charismatic churches the word “anointing” came to mean the literal, and this is important, “transferable presence” of the Holy Spirit. So when the minister or ministers were praying for people at the altar, the belief was that when the ministers laid their hands on you, you received, “the anointing”, the presence of the Holy Spirit, to heal you, or meet whatever need you had come to the altar to receive ministry for. Subsequently the person being prayed for would be “slain in the Spirit”. To be “slain in the Spirit” meant that the power of the Holy Spirit had come on the individual being prayed for, so powerfully, that the person would fall back or collapse under the encounter with the Holy Spirit’s presence. So this “falling back” was why the “catchers” were much needed in the Charismatic/Pentecostal worship services. The unspoken truth was that if we were not back there catching people as they fell, they would be hurt, or even knocked out. In my experience catching people at the altar, you would see all sorts of strange ways for people to “fall out” under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Some of the people would fall back immediately, some after several minutes of praying would fall back, so you had to always be ready to catch, and some would either be pushed down, or just refuse to go down.
That was what I understood about the process up to and until Rodney Howard Browne was invited to hold a week long conference at our church in 1993. Mr. Browne was not well known at this point. He had emigrated from South Africa, because, as he said, God told him to. He was to bring the special anointing that God had placed on him to America and “impart” it to the church here. Mr. Browne’s ministry was already gaining attention within Charismatic/Pentecostal circles, but he still was not so big that he could not come to a church the size of Louisville Trinity Church. The sanctuary held 300 to 350 people. I personally had not heard of Mr. Browne. I do remember though, that we held special training sessions for the catchers before he came. I soon found out why. The plan was for Mr. Browne to hold meetings both morning and night for the best part of a week. There was one day that was planned as a rest day. I was working at the time, for a company called Blue Bird Pies and Cakes, as a route salesman. So, I was not able to be at the morning services. I remember the first meeting that I attended the first night well. I loved to hear great preaching. I still do. So after a very long and protracted time of praise and worship, with the mesmerizing and continuous repeating of verses to songs being accomplished, Mr. Browne stepped up to the pulpit. I expected a great sermon. I really did. I had heard what a great preacher he was. During the whole week that I attended every night service, I never saw him complete his actual sermon. The part of his ritual that he employed as he stepped to the pulpit every night that he did complete was the “offering sermon”. Mr. Browne, would preach the offering sermon, as long or longer, than most churches real sermon would ever last. He was so polished, and so persuasive in his offering sermons, that the offering that was received for that meeting was the largest that had ever been taken up for a visiting evangelist up to that point in the church’s history. It was well over 5000 dollars. Our weekly offerings barely came close to this amount, at the time. So, once the offering sermon was complete, Mr. Browne would announce his sermon passage, and we would turn to it, and then he would talk about all that God was doing in his ministry. He would tell us funny stories, tell us funny jokes, and then he would start laughing, or one of the congregation would start laughing, and that would start the next hour to hour and a half of some of the strangest sites I had ever seen any where. People would begin laughing in greater and greater numbers, and some would start to fall out on the floor, and roll in it, totally forgetting their dignity, laughing and laughing uncontrollably. Mr. Browne, would always begin with these first “drunk in the Spirit” individuals, and start interviewing them, asking them how they felt. He would get them to say silly things, and people would laugh all the more. Finally, when he would be done talking with them, or so you thought, he would lay hands on them, and say “be filled, be filled, be filled, and on and on until they reached an even more “drunken state in the Spirit”, and they would fall. Of course at this point, the catchers would catch the falling individuals. The “anointing” was so strong that even the catchers would start to fall out drunk in the Spirit. The “show” would go on, like I said for at least another hour and a half. Once this point in the service was reached, almost all the individuals in the congregation would be laughing uncontrollably. People would be lying all over the floor in the entire sanctuary, laughing uncontrollably. Whole pews of people would be laying all over each other laughing uncontrollably. This was the normal “manifestations” that you would witness every night, however, some of the people would behave even more bizarre than this, howling, mimicking women giving birth, with rhythmic gyrations, and others would be praying loudly in the tongues. It was a shear carnival of bizarre things to see. And this occurred in the sanctuary every night. This was better than anything you were going to see on network television, and probably anything you would see on cable too.
At the end of the bizarre service, Mr. Browne would make the final altar call for anyone who had any need. This was the point when the whole front of the sanctuary would be lined up with people seeking prayer. But, when Mr. Browne would pray for these people, they did not fall back like we were usually use to, they went down very fast and very hard.
One night Mr. Browne was moving so quickly we could not keep up with him. There was 5 to 7 of us catching and plus some of his team helping. He got ahead of his catchers, I was one of them, and a lady fell out and hit a metal chair with the back of her head. It was loud. And I could see she was hurt. We were all afraid to touch her. We were just hoping at that point, that it was really God, who took her down. It was the only way she would not be hurt after such a strike on her head. She laid there for at least 10 minutes. I now believe she was knocked completely silly. I know she was talked to later by the leaders of the church. They knew she was hurt. They were afraid she might sue them.
And this brings me to my summary of the whole affair. I doubted every thing that had taken place that week. I struggled with it for years. That is the sad part. I mean years. I meditated about what had happened and could come to no other conclusion than that it was all fraud using the power of suggestion or even worse demonic. I knew a little about mass audience dynamics and hypnosis techniques because I had read about it before. The only conclusion that I could possibly come up with is that Mr. Browne was the best hypnotist and audience manipulator ever, or it was not of God, and therefore demonic. Real bizarre things occurred, that were being done by very respectable people, who if they saw themselves on video tape would be forever embarrassed. I finally did meet with the Pastor and express my struggle with it all. He soothed me by asking me, do I want him to be my Pastor or my Pope? To restate it another way, he asked me, did I expect him to be infallible. He suggested that I “eat” what I like about his ministry, and spit out the rest. So I did. I wound up staying at the church all the way to 2008. By then the church had its third Pastor who started pastoring in about 1997. I will tell more about my journey through the Word of Faith/Prosperity movement in the next blog.
That was what I understood about the process up to and until Rodney Howard Browne was invited to hold a week long conference at our church in 1993. Mr. Browne was not well known at this point. He had emigrated from South Africa, because, as he said, God told him to. He was to bring the special anointing that God had placed on him to America and “impart” it to the church here. Mr. Browne’s ministry was already gaining attention within Charismatic/Pentecostal circles, but he still was not so big that he could not come to a church the size of Louisville Trinity Church. The sanctuary held 300 to 350 people. I personally had not heard of Mr. Browne. I do remember though, that we held special training sessions for the catchers before he came. I soon found out why. The plan was for Mr. Browne to hold meetings both morning and night for the best part of a week. There was one day that was planned as a rest day. I was working at the time, for a company called Blue Bird Pies and Cakes, as a route salesman. So, I was not able to be at the morning services. I remember the first meeting that I attended the first night well. I loved to hear great preaching. I still do. So after a very long and protracted time of praise and worship, with the mesmerizing and continuous repeating of verses to songs being accomplished, Mr. Browne stepped up to the pulpit. I expected a great sermon. I really did. I had heard what a great preacher he was. During the whole week that I attended every night service, I never saw him complete his actual sermon. The part of his ritual that he employed as he stepped to the pulpit every night that he did complete was the “offering sermon”. Mr. Browne, would preach the offering sermon, as long or longer, than most churches real sermon would ever last. He was so polished, and so persuasive in his offering sermons, that the offering that was received for that meeting was the largest that had ever been taken up for a visiting evangelist up to that point in the church’s history. It was well over 5000 dollars. Our weekly offerings barely came close to this amount, at the time. So, once the offering sermon was complete, Mr. Browne would announce his sermon passage, and we would turn to it, and then he would talk about all that God was doing in his ministry. He would tell us funny stories, tell us funny jokes, and then he would start laughing, or one of the congregation would start laughing, and that would start the next hour to hour and a half of some of the strangest sites I had ever seen any where. People would begin laughing in greater and greater numbers, and some would start to fall out on the floor, and roll in it, totally forgetting their dignity, laughing and laughing uncontrollably. Mr. Browne, would always begin with these first “drunk in the Spirit” individuals, and start interviewing them, asking them how they felt. He would get them to say silly things, and people would laugh all the more. Finally, when he would be done talking with them, or so you thought, he would lay hands on them, and say “be filled, be filled, be filled, and on and on until they reached an even more “drunken state in the Spirit”, and they would fall. Of course at this point, the catchers would catch the falling individuals. The “anointing” was so strong that even the catchers would start to fall out drunk in the Spirit. The “show” would go on, like I said for at least another hour and a half. Once this point in the service was reached, almost all the individuals in the congregation would be laughing uncontrollably. People would be lying all over the floor in the entire sanctuary, laughing uncontrollably. Whole pews of people would be laying all over each other laughing uncontrollably. This was the normal “manifestations” that you would witness every night, however, some of the people would behave even more bizarre than this, howling, mimicking women giving birth, with rhythmic gyrations, and others would be praying loudly in the tongues. It was a shear carnival of bizarre things to see. And this occurred in the sanctuary every night. This was better than anything you were going to see on network television, and probably anything you would see on cable too.
At the end of the bizarre service, Mr. Browne would make the final altar call for anyone who had any need. This was the point when the whole front of the sanctuary would be lined up with people seeking prayer. But, when Mr. Browne would pray for these people, they did not fall back like we were usually use to, they went down very fast and very hard.
One night Mr. Browne was moving so quickly we could not keep up with him. There was 5 to 7 of us catching and plus some of his team helping. He got ahead of his catchers, I was one of them, and a lady fell out and hit a metal chair with the back of her head. It was loud. And I could see she was hurt. We were all afraid to touch her. We were just hoping at that point, that it was really God, who took her down. It was the only way she would not be hurt after such a strike on her head. She laid there for at least 10 minutes. I now believe she was knocked completely silly. I know she was talked to later by the leaders of the church. They knew she was hurt. They were afraid she might sue them.
And this brings me to my summary of the whole affair. I doubted every thing that had taken place that week. I struggled with it for years. That is the sad part. I mean years. I meditated about what had happened and could come to no other conclusion than that it was all fraud using the power of suggestion or even worse demonic. I knew a little about mass audience dynamics and hypnosis techniques because I had read about it before. The only conclusion that I could possibly come up with is that Mr. Browne was the best hypnotist and audience manipulator ever, or it was not of God, and therefore demonic. Real bizarre things occurred, that were being done by very respectable people, who if they saw themselves on video tape would be forever embarrassed. I finally did meet with the Pastor and express my struggle with it all. He soothed me by asking me, do I want him to be my Pastor or my Pope? To restate it another way, he asked me, did I expect him to be infallible. He suggested that I “eat” what I like about his ministry, and spit out the rest. So I did. I wound up staying at the church all the way to 2008. By then the church had its third Pastor who started pastoring in about 1997. I will tell more about my journey through the Word of Faith/Prosperity movement in the next blog.
My Walk Into and Out of the Word of Faith Movement, Part 1
Louisville Trinity Church. The church was solidly in the Word of Faith camp in its theology. The church was founded in 1971, during the height of the Full Gospel Movement. A Southern Baptist preacher in Fern Creek, Kentucky was filled with the Holy Spirit and he chose not to hide it from his congregation. There were shock waves to say the least in this Southern Baptist Church. The fall-out led to a church business meeting to vote on kicking the newly Spirit-filled Pastor out. The whole affair was contentious to say the least. I know some of the history of this event for two reasons. First, years later I became a member of the new church that was born as a result of this meeting, and secondly my parents were members of the church called, Fern Creek Baptist, when it all took place. I later heard from an older member of the new church that my dad had lost it, at one point, and was out in the foyer, screaming, “throw those tongue-talkers out”. The vote that was taken, Southern Baptists have a congregational form of church government, actually came out in favor of the Pastor. There was a good majority of the members who stood with him. However, the Pastor chose to resign, even though he had won the vote, and start a new church.
The new church that he started immediately had many more people attending it, than the original Southern Baptist Church. They had a gathering place problem, right from the beginning. They eventually bought property on a country road off the main road, and began building their new church building. The church was first called Trinity Baptist Church. For ten years, the church was pastored by the original Southern Baptist preacher who had founded it. That was when the Pastor felt called to plant a church in his hometown of Whitehouse, Tennessee. The second Pastor of the church was a man who was highly educated. But his degree was not from a seminary. He had a doctorate of Organic Chemistry, and was a professor at Indiana University Southeast. This new Pastor had grown up Catholic. By his own testimony, he did not become a believer until he was 35 years old. When he was born again, he was immediately attracted to the charismatic movement, and sought to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit at a Kenneth Copeland meeting. It did not go quite the way he planned, though, he envisioned Kenneth Copeland laying his hands on him, and receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Kenneth Copeland did not lay hands on any one in the crowd that night. The newly converted believer got in his car, heartbroken, and then he remembered some of the teaching he had received, and asked God to fill him right there in his car. Before he made it home that night, he was praying fluently in the Holy Ghost. One thing led to another for him and he began attending Trinity Baptist Church in Fern Creek, Kentucky. Before long he was made one of the elders. When the founding Pastor resigned, the elder who was also a Chemistry professor, accepted the interim Pastor duties. Eventually he was voted in as the Pastor. Not long into his new tenure as Pastor, it was decided to change the name of the church to Louisville Trinity Church. The belief was that, the name Trinity Baptist Church, confused people, and they may not attend, thinking it was a Southern Baptist Church.
The second Pastor, pastored for a total of 17 years. He was one of the best teachers of the Bible I had met.
My story concerning Trinity Baptist Church and then Louisville Trinity Church began back at the point where the “church sowing “from Fern Creek Baptist church happened. Remember, I have already relayed my dad lost his temper and became extremely angry at those tongue-talkers. He was so offended and so angry at “religion” that he and my mother quit attending church all together in 1971. I was only 10 years old. So for the next 8 years, I never attended church. I was a little atheist, during those years. I remember spending my Sunday mornings watching reruns of the original Star Trek.
To move the story along a little more quickly, when I did meet Jesus, I was 18 years old. While I was a non-believer during my teen years, I did not settle for being just a non-believer, I was a passionate non-believer; I loved ridiculing those ignorant Christians.
When I became a Christian, I became a very, very passionate BELIEVER. The best way to describe my new relationship with Jesus was that I was the epitome of the old joke that every new believer should be locked in a room for several months. I witnessed to everyone about my new found savior. I “RELENTLESSLY” witnessed to everyone who would listen to me. I was so intoxicated with my new relationship with Jesus, I fully believed he was all powerful, and that the same miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit that were operating in the early Christian Church should and would occur in the modern church. Within less than a year, my new wife and I were members of Trinity Baptist Church, which was the same group of members and the same Pastor that used to belong to Fern Creek Baptist Church. These were the very people who my father had screamed at in the church foyer, “throw those tongue-talkers out” so violently years earlier.
I became fully engaged in the charismatic movement. I was seeking all the gifts and had already received my prayer language before I joined Trinity Baptist Church. There was one major problem however. I was never discipled. Yes, I was attending church regularly; really, I was there every time the doors were opened. I just never really learned the Word of God and took time to grow and mature as a believer. I was going a hundred miles an hour, doing every thing I could to work for Jesus, but I never really developed a consistent prayer life or Bible study time. And this proved to be my downfall. As I mentioned earlier, I married shortly after I started attending Trinity Baptist Church. I had just turned 19 years old when I was married. Oh, and one more thing, we married because my girlfriend was pregnant. My wife and I had a daughter by the time I was 20, and another one by the time I was 21. The strain of all the changes, the poor foundation as a Christian, and the difficulties of the new marriage and children led to the eventual break-up of my relationship with my wife. She had been my high school sweet heart since I was 17 years old. Officially, our marriage lasted for approximately five years, but truthfully, it was sick and dying well before that.
It was not long after the divorce that I stopped going to church for five full years. The first 3 years of the divorce involved me drinking to get drunk almost every day. I smoked a whole lot of marijuana during the first couple of years of the divorce, a whole lot! But, fortunately for me, and maybe by God’s providence, I was hired by a company, where I thought, I was going to get drug tested. I needed the money so badly, and I was so afraid I would lose the job, I actually quit marijuana completely. However, I still drank heavily, and binge drank on the weekends.
The turn around for me as a functional alcoholic occurred when I was arrested twice in a short period of time for drunk driving. Amazingly, my lawyer was able to get the charges amended both times where I never lost my license. But the second arrest and consequent night in jail led to the most serious thinking of my life. I would say for those of you, who know the prodigal son story, this was my pig pen. I was strip searched, given an orange jump suit, and sent up stairs in the county jail. The first time, that I was arrested for drunk driving, they just held me in the drunk tank overnight and released me in the morning. This second time, the trip upstairs may have been due to the fact that I refused the breathalyzer test. The hours in that jail were some of the scariest of my life; I was in a cell with 8 to 10 strangers. I know I was very, very drunk. That is why I refused the breathalyzer test. I should have passed out. But, I was way too scared too. All night I fought the urge to pass out, and all night I thought about how this never happened to me when I was not a drunk. The next morning, I was very surprised to be released again. That was the last time I have been drunk in my life. That was over 22 plus years ago. The fact that I described the experience as a pig pen experience for me may be misleading. I did not return to God or my ex-wife and ask forgiveness. But, the next two years were the first totally sober years of my life since I smoked my first joint at 14. Those two years were essential in my growing up. I was forced to cope with life without drugs, alcohol, a wife, or even a friend. I think God used those two years to prepare me for what He had planned to do next in my life. The next paragraphs will describe what God did.
In 1990, one weekend, I was returning the children to my ex-wife. I was allowed into the house for some reason. I do not remember why. While I was talking to her, I happened to notice my Christian rock albums that I used to own when we were married before. I asked her if I could borrow them, so that I could listen to them for a few days. That is what I told her anyway, I actually planned on keeping them. When we finally broke up for the last time, and I moved out, I took practically anything worth taking with me. The only things that I left behind for her, was the children’s beds, her clothes, and some broken down furniture that I did not want. I was not a nice person when the divorce took place. I still was not a nice person. So, I took my newly “borrowed” Christian Rock albums, and listened to them that night. I was only two songs in to some old Petra, before I started bawling my eyes out and crying out to God to forgive me. The first song I listened to was called “Chameleon”. It was about a Christian who could change and act like who ever they were around. That was me. I looked good on the outside to other Christians in the first years of my new Christianity, but inside I was still the consummate sinner. The second song was titled “Judas Kiss”. The song’s chorus was “what is it like when one of your children, willingly walk away, it must be just like Judas Kiss”! That was the night I repented. It was well over 5 years into my divorce; I had not attended a single church service during that whole time. I cried and cried. The very next Sunday, I was back in church. I was back in the same church that started out being called Trinity Baptist Church, and was now called Louisville Trinity Church. A few Sundays after that, I asked my ex-wife if she would allow me to take the children to church. And then I asked her if she would go to. The funny thing was, I wanted her to go and sit way over on the other side of the church. She probably thought she was supposed to sit by me. Because when she came, she did. I was so mad. I did not hear a word that the preacher preached that day. The nerve of “that woman” to sit next to me after all that we had been through. Within less than a year of this incident, God had restored our marriage. We were re-married June 15, 1991.
I will tell more of our story and of my testimony in the next blog.
The new church that he started immediately had many more people attending it, than the original Southern Baptist Church. They had a gathering place problem, right from the beginning. They eventually bought property on a country road off the main road, and began building their new church building. The church was first called Trinity Baptist Church. For ten years, the church was pastored by the original Southern Baptist preacher who had founded it. That was when the Pastor felt called to plant a church in his hometown of Whitehouse, Tennessee. The second Pastor of the church was a man who was highly educated. But his degree was not from a seminary. He had a doctorate of Organic Chemistry, and was a professor at Indiana University Southeast. This new Pastor had grown up Catholic. By his own testimony, he did not become a believer until he was 35 years old. When he was born again, he was immediately attracted to the charismatic movement, and sought to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit at a Kenneth Copeland meeting. It did not go quite the way he planned, though, he envisioned Kenneth Copeland laying his hands on him, and receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Kenneth Copeland did not lay hands on any one in the crowd that night. The newly converted believer got in his car, heartbroken, and then he remembered some of the teaching he had received, and asked God to fill him right there in his car. Before he made it home that night, he was praying fluently in the Holy Ghost. One thing led to another for him and he began attending Trinity Baptist Church in Fern Creek, Kentucky. Before long he was made one of the elders. When the founding Pastor resigned, the elder who was also a Chemistry professor, accepted the interim Pastor duties. Eventually he was voted in as the Pastor. Not long into his new tenure as Pastor, it was decided to change the name of the church to Louisville Trinity Church. The belief was that, the name Trinity Baptist Church, confused people, and they may not attend, thinking it was a Southern Baptist Church.
The second Pastor, pastored for a total of 17 years. He was one of the best teachers of the Bible I had met.
My story concerning Trinity Baptist Church and then Louisville Trinity Church began back at the point where the “church sowing “from Fern Creek Baptist church happened. Remember, I have already relayed my dad lost his temper and became extremely angry at those tongue-talkers. He was so offended and so angry at “religion” that he and my mother quit attending church all together in 1971. I was only 10 years old. So for the next 8 years, I never attended church. I was a little atheist, during those years. I remember spending my Sunday mornings watching reruns of the original Star Trek.
To move the story along a little more quickly, when I did meet Jesus, I was 18 years old. While I was a non-believer during my teen years, I did not settle for being just a non-believer, I was a passionate non-believer; I loved ridiculing those ignorant Christians.
When I became a Christian, I became a very, very passionate BELIEVER. The best way to describe my new relationship with Jesus was that I was the epitome of the old joke that every new believer should be locked in a room for several months. I witnessed to everyone about my new found savior. I “RELENTLESSLY” witnessed to everyone who would listen to me. I was so intoxicated with my new relationship with Jesus, I fully believed he was all powerful, and that the same miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit that were operating in the early Christian Church should and would occur in the modern church. Within less than a year, my new wife and I were members of Trinity Baptist Church, which was the same group of members and the same Pastor that used to belong to Fern Creek Baptist Church. These were the very people who my father had screamed at in the church foyer, “throw those tongue-talkers out” so violently years earlier.
I became fully engaged in the charismatic movement. I was seeking all the gifts and had already received my prayer language before I joined Trinity Baptist Church. There was one major problem however. I was never discipled. Yes, I was attending church regularly; really, I was there every time the doors were opened. I just never really learned the Word of God and took time to grow and mature as a believer. I was going a hundred miles an hour, doing every thing I could to work for Jesus, but I never really developed a consistent prayer life or Bible study time. And this proved to be my downfall. As I mentioned earlier, I married shortly after I started attending Trinity Baptist Church. I had just turned 19 years old when I was married. Oh, and one more thing, we married because my girlfriend was pregnant. My wife and I had a daughter by the time I was 20, and another one by the time I was 21. The strain of all the changes, the poor foundation as a Christian, and the difficulties of the new marriage and children led to the eventual break-up of my relationship with my wife. She had been my high school sweet heart since I was 17 years old. Officially, our marriage lasted for approximately five years, but truthfully, it was sick and dying well before that.
It was not long after the divorce that I stopped going to church for five full years. The first 3 years of the divorce involved me drinking to get drunk almost every day. I smoked a whole lot of marijuana during the first couple of years of the divorce, a whole lot! But, fortunately for me, and maybe by God’s providence, I was hired by a company, where I thought, I was going to get drug tested. I needed the money so badly, and I was so afraid I would lose the job, I actually quit marijuana completely. However, I still drank heavily, and binge drank on the weekends.
The turn around for me as a functional alcoholic occurred when I was arrested twice in a short period of time for drunk driving. Amazingly, my lawyer was able to get the charges amended both times where I never lost my license. But the second arrest and consequent night in jail led to the most serious thinking of my life. I would say for those of you, who know the prodigal son story, this was my pig pen. I was strip searched, given an orange jump suit, and sent up stairs in the county jail. The first time, that I was arrested for drunk driving, they just held me in the drunk tank overnight and released me in the morning. This second time, the trip upstairs may have been due to the fact that I refused the breathalyzer test. The hours in that jail were some of the scariest of my life; I was in a cell with 8 to 10 strangers. I know I was very, very drunk. That is why I refused the breathalyzer test. I should have passed out. But, I was way too scared too. All night I fought the urge to pass out, and all night I thought about how this never happened to me when I was not a drunk. The next morning, I was very surprised to be released again. That was the last time I have been drunk in my life. That was over 22 plus years ago. The fact that I described the experience as a pig pen experience for me may be misleading. I did not return to God or my ex-wife and ask forgiveness. But, the next two years were the first totally sober years of my life since I smoked my first joint at 14. Those two years were essential in my growing up. I was forced to cope with life without drugs, alcohol, a wife, or even a friend. I think God used those two years to prepare me for what He had planned to do next in my life. The next paragraphs will describe what God did.
In 1990, one weekend, I was returning the children to my ex-wife. I was allowed into the house for some reason. I do not remember why. While I was talking to her, I happened to notice my Christian rock albums that I used to own when we were married before. I asked her if I could borrow them, so that I could listen to them for a few days. That is what I told her anyway, I actually planned on keeping them. When we finally broke up for the last time, and I moved out, I took practically anything worth taking with me. The only things that I left behind for her, was the children’s beds, her clothes, and some broken down furniture that I did not want. I was not a nice person when the divorce took place. I still was not a nice person. So, I took my newly “borrowed” Christian Rock albums, and listened to them that night. I was only two songs in to some old Petra, before I started bawling my eyes out and crying out to God to forgive me. The first song I listened to was called “Chameleon”. It was about a Christian who could change and act like who ever they were around. That was me. I looked good on the outside to other Christians in the first years of my new Christianity, but inside I was still the consummate sinner. The second song was titled “Judas Kiss”. The song’s chorus was “what is it like when one of your children, willingly walk away, it must be just like Judas Kiss”! That was the night I repented. It was well over 5 years into my divorce; I had not attended a single church service during that whole time. I cried and cried. The very next Sunday, I was back in church. I was back in the same church that started out being called Trinity Baptist Church, and was now called Louisville Trinity Church. A few Sundays after that, I asked my ex-wife if she would allow me to take the children to church. And then I asked her if she would go to. The funny thing was, I wanted her to go and sit way over on the other side of the church. She probably thought she was supposed to sit by me. Because when she came, she did. I was so mad. I did not hear a word that the preacher preached that day. The nerve of “that woman” to sit next to me after all that we had been through. Within less than a year of this incident, God had restored our marriage. We were re-married June 15, 1991.
I will tell more of our story and of my testimony in the next blog.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
The Gospel of Jesus Christ
In many of the previous blog postings, I have been focusing on God's sovereign grace in the process of how an individual is brought into relationship with Jesus. I have had comments made as a result of some of these blog postings that deservedly point out the narrowness of my posts. In one of my replies to one of these comments, I had to clarify that I am focusing on the particular role (divine election) that God and His sovereignty play in salvation. I agreed with one of the comments, that there was more that was taking place as we enter into relationship with God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. So for the sake of clarity, and as a kind of disclaimer for future readers of my blog posts, all three of you, my current affinity for Reformed theology, reading it, listening to pod casts by reformed preachers and theologians, and writing passionately and often about it, stems from the fact that a large portion of my adult life as a Christian was spent in Word of Faith/Prosperity circles. The emphasis within WOF/Prosperity theology is not on God, even though they claim it is, it is on your own faith, your ability to exercise that faith based on proof texts from the Bible, and a misconstrued paradigm that there is some how a dualistic battle between God and His will and Satan and his will, and that it is "my faith" as a child of God that tips the scales of destiny. If my faith is strong, the desires and prayers that I pray will manifest, if my faith is weak, then obviously, due to the WOF/Prosperity theology of dualism (that God and Satan are locked in a cosmic wrestling match, which has its outcome securely attached to man's role in the battle of good vs. evil), Satan will have his victory. The realization (and God's sovereign grace to deliver me from the insane and illogical thinking of WOF/Prosperity teachings) a little over three years ago that the beliefs within the WOF/Prosperity movement were fraudulent, heretical, and have no basis of truth in any sound interpretation of the Bible, freed me to actually pursue God on His terms. I started listening to teachers and preachers that were free from the contamination of false doctrines and theologies, and quickly became convinced that the God of the bible is not limited in any way from accomplishing His will. The scriptures consistently teach that God is absolutely sovereign, He is in control fully over the affairs of man and all of His creation.
The sudden freedom that I experienced from the false concept of the Creator's sovereignty to a solid understanding of God's full authority, even over the smallest details of His creation, has captured my mind and my heart. The constant fear of not properly believing or exercising my faith in the proof texts that I had been taught in WOF/Prosperity meetings all those years was destroyed, and replaced with the truth that it all depends on God and His faithfulness, and not on me and my imperfections. So, yes, my posts may seem unbalanced theologically to those outside of Reformed circles, and quite narrow in their focus to most readers. But, and this is a big "but", all that follows and takes place in the process of a non-believer coming into a relationship with God, is His initiative, and is His work. Yes, there are scriptures that speak about the responsibilities of the non-believer as he becomes a believer. And there are scriptures that speak to the believer's new responsibilities after conversion, but all of what is required of us, is first given to us, and made possible by the God of all Grace.
Hopefully, as this blog continues to be written, there will be a more complete presentation of the Gospel, and the posts that I write will launch into the many awesome and beautiful aspects of God's attributes beyond His sovereignty. However, the joy of the newly found understanding of who He is and who I am not ( a little god) is still stirring my affections.
This is the one great truth that I want to leave you with as I complete this post, God rules, God saves, and God wins...absolutely!
The sudden freedom that I experienced from the false concept of the Creator's sovereignty to a solid understanding of God's full authority, even over the smallest details of His creation, has captured my mind and my heart. The constant fear of not properly believing or exercising my faith in the proof texts that I had been taught in WOF/Prosperity meetings all those years was destroyed, and replaced with the truth that it all depends on God and His faithfulness, and not on me and my imperfections. So, yes, my posts may seem unbalanced theologically to those outside of Reformed circles, and quite narrow in their focus to most readers. But, and this is a big "but", all that follows and takes place in the process of a non-believer coming into a relationship with God, is His initiative, and is His work. Yes, there are scriptures that speak about the responsibilities of the non-believer as he becomes a believer. And there are scriptures that speak to the believer's new responsibilities after conversion, but all of what is required of us, is first given to us, and made possible by the God of all Grace.
Hopefully, as this blog continues to be written, there will be a more complete presentation of the Gospel, and the posts that I write will launch into the many awesome and beautiful aspects of God's attributes beyond His sovereignty. However, the joy of the newly found understanding of who He is and who I am not ( a little god) is still stirring my affections.
This is the one great truth that I want to leave you with as I complete this post, God rules, God saves, and God wins...absolutely!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Jude 3: Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. ESV online
2 Timothy 2:15: Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, [2] a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. ESV online
Titus 2:1 But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. ESV online
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. ESV online
Psalm 1: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law [2] of the Lord,and on his law he meditates day and night.3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season,and its leaf does not wither.In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,but are like chaff that the wind drives away.5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Acts 17:10 The brother immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
I promised several months ago that I would speak to my testimony more in later blogs. Well, here is the beginning post of my testimony. Testimonies are good and helpful, only when placed in submission to the acknowledgement, that it is the gospel (the good news) of Christ that saves sinners. The Apostle Paul used his testimony in several instances in the book of Acts, but he always fully preached the gospel along with his testimony.
The first verses I learned and memorized after I was "born again" or converted was the opening verses in the Gospel of John
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life,and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. ESV online
The fact that I was taught these verses proved to be very helpful as a new Christian. A few weeks into my new walk as a believer in Jesus Christ, I had the "pleasure" of sitting down with three Jehovah's Witnesses and talking about God. I do not remember my motives or who initiated the discussion. After all, it was over thirty years ago. What I do remember was, that even though there were three of them and one of me, I was quite sure of who Jesus was. There was nothing they were going to say to wrest me away from that knowledge. I knew what my translation said, the King James Version, and that settled it. I did not care about the assertions that they were making from the Jehovah's Witness translation (The New World Translation) of the bible. I remember the discussion ended, and those particular Jehovah's Witnesses never spoke to me again, they probably shook the dust off their feet when I left.
This first encounter with what I saw, even then, as obvious error was a victory for me. Unfortunately, within a few short months, I was sucked into the Word of Faith/Prosperity movement. I was attracted to the fact that those in this movement that I had met, actually believed that God the Holy Spirit still moved just like He did in the book of Acts. In less than a year, I went from belonging to a small Southern Baptist Church, which was where I was baptized, to being a member of a congregation of about five hundred souls that were sitting under the teaching of a "full gospel preacher". That was the favored description we used for ourselves, after all, we still believed that God heals, that He still gave His children the gifts of Holy Spirit, that His children could still pray and speak in tongues, that the prophetic gifts still flowed, and that the five fold ministry was meant to still be completely active today (apostle, prophet, pastor, evangelist, and teacher). I immersed myself fully into the teachings that I was receiving. I sought to pray in tongues, like those around me in the congregation and soon, through the reading material that was given to me, received the "baptism of the Holy Spirit" in my bed room one evening. I read several books by the "teachers" of the Word of Faith/Prosperity gospel. My favorites were written by Kenneth Hagan and Kenneth Copeland. I thought that I was learning so much. I was really "full" of myself. I was preaching to just about everything that moved. I surely alienated all that were my acquaintances at the time, especially my parents. This introduction to the Word of Faith/Prosperity movement led to my being influenced by the beliefs that were taught in it for almost 28 years. Thankfully, by God's grace, He set me free in January of 2008. I will not go into the details of the intervening years between my joining and my leaving of the Word of Faith/Prosperity movement in this current post.
What I want to most passionately speak to in the rest of this post, is that true truth is ultimately important for a believer in Jesus Christ. Theological error, even slight theological error, can have dire consequences in the life of a believer. I opened this blog post by listing several scriptures concerning the importance of sound doctrine, the study of it, and the adherence to it. The fact that my theology was majorly wrong, affected my life severely. The fact that I and my family were being fed tainted manna for so many years surely did not help my marriage, the raising of my children, or the conduct of my life. For years, I faithfully prayed prayers of faith for various needs of my family,was prayed for and over by a boatload of pastors, elders, lay ministers and friends. I sought wisdom for my family's many troubles from books, radio sermons, tapes from my church's bookstore, and even directly from some of the stars of the Word of Faith/Prosperity movement. It was all to no avail. The many trials and tribulations we were going through as a family just seemed to keep coming. Even with all of the work that my wife and I were doing in all of these pursuits, we seemed to be no better emotionally than any one else that we knew. Sure, we had some great experiences in the charismatic worship services, some great highs emotionally, but these were all temporary.
My wife and I worked hard at the church,we volunteered for just about everything at one time or another, we even were leaders in some of the activities that we were involved in. But the fact is, even with all the studying, praying, and immersion into the activities of the church and the movement, we struggled.
I will speak more to some of these struggles in a later post. The simple fact is that the teachings and the teachers of the false doctrines in the Word of Faith/Prosperity movement failed my family and me. Since we left the movement, we have learned much about true truth at our new church, a Reformed theology church, received sound biblical counseling for months, and have become part of a healthy small group at our church. The best part of having left the false teachings, the lies and deceptions, is that now we are free to be honest. If we are hurting, we can tell someone. We do not have to make the positive confessions, pray the prayers of faith, and put on our "happy camper faces".
That is it for now, as I said I will write more later, but I do want to encourage you, if you are involved in the Word of Faith/Prosperity movement, be honest with God and yourself, repent of the lies and deceptions, and return as quickly as you can to a bible believing, bible preaching church.
2 Timothy 2:15: Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, [2] a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. ESV online
Titus 2:1 But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. ESV online
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. ESV online
Psalm 1: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law [2] of the Lord,and on his law he meditates day and night.3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season,and its leaf does not wither.In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,but are like chaff that the wind drives away.5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Acts 17:10 The brother immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
I promised several months ago that I would speak to my testimony more in later blogs. Well, here is the beginning post of my testimony. Testimonies are good and helpful, only when placed in submission to the acknowledgement, that it is the gospel (the good news) of Christ that saves sinners. The Apostle Paul used his testimony in several instances in the book of Acts, but he always fully preached the gospel along with his testimony.
The first verses I learned and memorized after I was "born again" or converted was the opening verses in the Gospel of John
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life,and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. ESV online
The fact that I was taught these verses proved to be very helpful as a new Christian. A few weeks into my new walk as a believer in Jesus Christ, I had the "pleasure" of sitting down with three Jehovah's Witnesses and talking about God. I do not remember my motives or who initiated the discussion. After all, it was over thirty years ago. What I do remember was, that even though there were three of them and one of me, I was quite sure of who Jesus was. There was nothing they were going to say to wrest me away from that knowledge. I knew what my translation said, the King James Version, and that settled it. I did not care about the assertions that they were making from the Jehovah's Witness translation (The New World Translation) of the bible. I remember the discussion ended, and those particular Jehovah's Witnesses never spoke to me again, they probably shook the dust off their feet when I left.
This first encounter with what I saw, even then, as obvious error was a victory for me. Unfortunately, within a few short months, I was sucked into the Word of Faith/Prosperity movement. I was attracted to the fact that those in this movement that I had met, actually believed that God the Holy Spirit still moved just like He did in the book of Acts. In less than a year, I went from belonging to a small Southern Baptist Church, which was where I was baptized, to being a member of a congregation of about five hundred souls that were sitting under the teaching of a "full gospel preacher". That was the favored description we used for ourselves, after all, we still believed that God heals, that He still gave His children the gifts of Holy Spirit, that His children could still pray and speak in tongues, that the prophetic gifts still flowed, and that the five fold ministry was meant to still be completely active today (apostle, prophet, pastor, evangelist, and teacher). I immersed myself fully into the teachings that I was receiving. I sought to pray in tongues, like those around me in the congregation and soon, through the reading material that was given to me, received the "baptism of the Holy Spirit" in my bed room one evening. I read several books by the "teachers" of the Word of Faith/Prosperity gospel. My favorites were written by Kenneth Hagan and Kenneth Copeland. I thought that I was learning so much. I was really "full" of myself. I was preaching to just about everything that moved. I surely alienated all that were my acquaintances at the time, especially my parents. This introduction to the Word of Faith/Prosperity movement led to my being influenced by the beliefs that were taught in it for almost 28 years. Thankfully, by God's grace, He set me free in January of 2008. I will not go into the details of the intervening years between my joining and my leaving of the Word of Faith/Prosperity movement in this current post.
What I want to most passionately speak to in the rest of this post, is that true truth is ultimately important for a believer in Jesus Christ. Theological error, even slight theological error, can have dire consequences in the life of a believer. I opened this blog post by listing several scriptures concerning the importance of sound doctrine, the study of it, and the adherence to it. The fact that my theology was majorly wrong, affected my life severely. The fact that I and my family were being fed tainted manna for so many years surely did not help my marriage, the raising of my children, or the conduct of my life. For years, I faithfully prayed prayers of faith for various needs of my family,was prayed for and over by a boatload of pastors, elders, lay ministers and friends. I sought wisdom for my family's many troubles from books, radio sermons, tapes from my church's bookstore, and even directly from some of the stars of the Word of Faith/Prosperity movement. It was all to no avail. The many trials and tribulations we were going through as a family just seemed to keep coming. Even with all of the work that my wife and I were doing in all of these pursuits, we seemed to be no better emotionally than any one else that we knew. Sure, we had some great experiences in the charismatic worship services, some great highs emotionally, but these were all temporary.
My wife and I worked hard at the church,we volunteered for just about everything at one time or another, we even were leaders in some of the activities that we were involved in. But the fact is, even with all the studying, praying, and immersion into the activities of the church and the movement, we struggled.
I will speak more to some of these struggles in a later post. The simple fact is that the teachings and the teachers of the false doctrines in the Word of Faith/Prosperity movement failed my family and me. Since we left the movement, we have learned much about true truth at our new church, a Reformed theology church, received sound biblical counseling for months, and have become part of a healthy small group at our church. The best part of having left the false teachings, the lies and deceptions, is that now we are free to be honest. If we are hurting, we can tell someone. We do not have to make the positive confessions, pray the prayers of faith, and put on our "happy camper faces".
That is it for now, as I said I will write more later, but I do want to encourage you, if you are involved in the Word of Faith/Prosperity movement, be honest with God and yourself, repent of the lies and deceptions, and return as quickly as you can to a bible believing, bible preaching church.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
For I am not ashamed of the Gospel
Romans 1:16-17
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, [1] as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (ESV online: http://www.esv.org/)
These verses are the entrance to some of the deepest, most clear and compact, chapters on the meaning of Jesus' gospel. The apostle Paul is indisputably the instrument that Jesus used to write the book of Romans. He was probably the most unlikely human on the face of the planet that you would have expected Jesus to choose, save, and consecrate to preach the Gospel. Paul,who was previously known as Saul before he met Jesus on the Damascus road, by his own testimony in scripture,stated that he sought letters of authorization from the Jewish council in Jerusalem, to capture and bring to judgement, the new followers of the crucified carpenter from Galilee. These followers of that crucified carpenter named Jesus, believed that Jesus was their Messiah, that he had risen from the dead, and were going every where preaching Him to be God's Son. Saul, later to be renamed by Jesus Paul, was a trained leader of the Jews, a pharisee of pharisees, blameless according to Paul's testimony of breaking the Law, as it was taught by man. He was consumed with passion and zeal for the traditions and beliefs of his fathers. But Jesus, changed all that when He sovereignly called Paul, to be an apostle to the Gentiles and preacher of the Gospel to them.
The conversion of Saul on the Damascus road (see Acts 9:1-31), demonstrates that the sovereign choice of God is not dependant on our works, our own goodness, or the current state of our spiritual journey. The newly converted Paul, obviously had a history of the vilest and most cruel treatment of the new sect of people who were claiming that Jesus was the Messiah, and that He was alive. He sought to utterly destroy this new sect. He pursued them with the official sanction of the high priest. The scripture itself testifies that Saul was present at the stoning of Stephen. He watched the garments of those that were doing the stoning (Acts 7:58).
Every believer is chosen, not based on their works, not based on their goodness, or even on their talents, they were chosen while in a state of rebellion. In Ephesians chapter 2:1-10 it reads:
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobience- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace and kindest towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before hand, that we should walk in them. ESV
God chooses us. It is not in any way based on our earning His favor, impressing Him with our knowledge, wisdom, or understanding, it is fully based on His prerogative as the Sovereign God. We are simply dead in our trespasses and sins, before He regenerates us, we are absolutely in rebellion to Him. In fact, you can not argue that it is based on what we may do in the future. There is no way that a spiritually dead sinner can do anything to please God. Without the sovereign intervention, regeneration, and sanctification of God, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, we would never change. We would continue in our sin, and never do anything for God's kingdom. Only after He chooses us, regenerates, and sanctifies us, are we ever going to do anything that brings Him glory. So, with that argument stated, we can not infer He chooses us based on future good. There would not be any good on our part without His Sovereign grace, forgiveness, and the gift of new life in Jesus.
I will write more in later posts about God's sovereign election.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, [1] as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (ESV online: http://www.esv.org/)
These verses are the entrance to some of the deepest, most clear and compact, chapters on the meaning of Jesus' gospel. The apostle Paul is indisputably the instrument that Jesus used to write the book of Romans. He was probably the most unlikely human on the face of the planet that you would have expected Jesus to choose, save, and consecrate to preach the Gospel. Paul,who was previously known as Saul before he met Jesus on the Damascus road, by his own testimony in scripture,stated that he sought letters of authorization from the Jewish council in Jerusalem, to capture and bring to judgement, the new followers of the crucified carpenter from Galilee. These followers of that crucified carpenter named Jesus, believed that Jesus was their Messiah, that he had risen from the dead, and were going every where preaching Him to be God's Son. Saul, later to be renamed by Jesus Paul, was a trained leader of the Jews, a pharisee of pharisees, blameless according to Paul's testimony of breaking the Law, as it was taught by man. He was consumed with passion and zeal for the traditions and beliefs of his fathers. But Jesus, changed all that when He sovereignly called Paul, to be an apostle to the Gentiles and preacher of the Gospel to them.
The conversion of Saul on the Damascus road (see Acts 9:1-31), demonstrates that the sovereign choice of God is not dependant on our works, our own goodness, or the current state of our spiritual journey. The newly converted Paul, obviously had a history of the vilest and most cruel treatment of the new sect of people who were claiming that Jesus was the Messiah, and that He was alive. He sought to utterly destroy this new sect. He pursued them with the official sanction of the high priest. The scripture itself testifies that Saul was present at the stoning of Stephen. He watched the garments of those that were doing the stoning (Acts 7:58).
Every believer is chosen, not based on their works, not based on their goodness, or even on their talents, they were chosen while in a state of rebellion. In Ephesians chapter 2:1-10 it reads:
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobience- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace and kindest towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before hand, that we should walk in them. ESV
God chooses us. It is not in any way based on our earning His favor, impressing Him with our knowledge, wisdom, or understanding, it is fully based on His prerogative as the Sovereign God. We are simply dead in our trespasses and sins, before He regenerates us, we are absolutely in rebellion to Him. In fact, you can not argue that it is based on what we may do in the future. There is no way that a spiritually dead sinner can do anything to please God. Without the sovereign intervention, regeneration, and sanctification of God, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, we would never change. We would continue in our sin, and never do anything for God's kingdom. Only after He chooses us, regenerates, and sanctifies us, are we ever going to do anything that brings Him glory. So, with that argument stated, we can not infer He chooses us based on future good. There would not be any good on our part without His Sovereign grace, forgiveness, and the gift of new life in Jesus.
I will write more in later posts about God's sovereign election.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Idolatry: Are we idolators?
Acts 17:16: Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.
Idolatry is defined in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary as: 1 the worship of a physical object as God. 2 immoderate attachment or devotion to something
Worship is defined in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary as: 4 extravangant respect or devotion to an object or a thing. The etymology of the word worship in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary is described as coming from the middle english word worshipe meaning worthiness, respect, reverance paid a divine being.
I heard a sermon series by Alistair Begg titled City of Idols ( you can find it on his website for free) several months ago, Mr. Begg put forth the premise that just like Paul was troubled in spirit while in Athens over their many idols, it was said there were more idols in Athens than there were people, Paul would equally be troubled if he visited the United States of our day. I agree with everything Mr. Begg spoke forth in his sermon series, and I especially agree with his main point that our country is saturated with idolatry. You, the reader might be saying to yourself, as you are reading this blog post, that our country is not full of idols that people are bowing down to and worshipping constantly, but I say au contrare, taking into account the above mentioned definitions, we our far greater idolators than the people of Athens. The people of Athens spent a good deal of their time just trying to live, they did not have all the modern gadgets we have to save time on the daily essentials of living. So the people of Athens, though extraordinary idolators in Paul's eyes, would pale in comparison to the amount of time that we, the citizens of the United States, devote to our idols. What are our idols here in the United States. Well, why don't we make a short list, not listed in any particular order: Money, recreation, television, sports and those who play them, movies and those who star in them, our children (we are constantly catering to their every imagined need), our cars, our homes, our success, our status, and many more objects or things that we elevate worthiness, respect, and devotion to that is far above the time we are giving to in our pursuit of God and His kingdom.
Exodus 20: 3 (ESV) states You shall have no other gods before me. This opening verse starts the listing of the Ten Commandments given to the children of Israel by God. God concerned for His worthiness, His absolute holiness, and His deserving of His creation's devotion, respect, and worship, listed this commandment first and foremost as the most important expectation of His creation. So in our modern day culture, we worship, devote time to temporal things, and respect everything else but our creator. We are guilty before Him of the worst sort of idolatry. Why is our idolatry worse than those in Athens, and all the other pagan cultures that went before, or since, because in our country, we absolutely should know better. We have more bibles than people in any other nation or culture, a church on almost every street corner, God's Word being preached constantly on t.v., radio, and the internet, and yet we serve our modern day idols with far more zeal than all those who have gone before us. We pay token lip service to God, making the occasional fly-by visit to one of His houses of worship, in pursuit of our real Gods of money,sex,power, status,pleasure and recreation, television, movies, sports, our children, and unfortunately, the list could go on and on. I have heard it said, that what we value most, is what we will worship. And many of us obviously value the previous listing of our modern day idols more than God. I encourage you, do a radical self-analysis of who or what you are worshipping. I did. And I was convicted that I needed to adjust how I was using my time. Make sure that you are not an idolator, a worshipper of things other than the Living and Eternal Creator of the universe, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. If you are, the place of repentance is just a few feet below your knees right now. Cast yourself on the ground and call out to God and ask His forgiveness, give Him His worthiness, His rightful devotion, and His just respect. And while you are there, knowing your fallenous, and your sin, ask Him for the help to start worshipping Him as He should be worshipped.
Idolatry is defined in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary as: 1 the worship of a physical object as God. 2 immoderate attachment or devotion to something
Worship is defined in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary as: 4 extravangant respect or devotion to an object or a thing. The etymology of the word worship in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary is described as coming from the middle english word worshipe meaning worthiness, respect, reverance paid a divine being.
I heard a sermon series by Alistair Begg titled City of Idols ( you can find it on his website for free) several months ago, Mr. Begg put forth the premise that just like Paul was troubled in spirit while in Athens over their many idols, it was said there were more idols in Athens than there were people, Paul would equally be troubled if he visited the United States of our day. I agree with everything Mr. Begg spoke forth in his sermon series, and I especially agree with his main point that our country is saturated with idolatry. You, the reader might be saying to yourself, as you are reading this blog post, that our country is not full of idols that people are bowing down to and worshipping constantly, but I say au contrare, taking into account the above mentioned definitions, we our far greater idolators than the people of Athens. The people of Athens spent a good deal of their time just trying to live, they did not have all the modern gadgets we have to save time on the daily essentials of living. So the people of Athens, though extraordinary idolators in Paul's eyes, would pale in comparison to the amount of time that we, the citizens of the United States, devote to our idols. What are our idols here in the United States. Well, why don't we make a short list, not listed in any particular order: Money, recreation, television, sports and those who play them, movies and those who star in them, our children (we are constantly catering to their every imagined need), our cars, our homes, our success, our status, and many more objects or things that we elevate worthiness, respect, and devotion to that is far above the time we are giving to in our pursuit of God and His kingdom.
Exodus 20: 3 (ESV) states You shall have no other gods before me. This opening verse starts the listing of the Ten Commandments given to the children of Israel by God. God concerned for His worthiness, His absolute holiness, and His deserving of His creation's devotion, respect, and worship, listed this commandment first and foremost as the most important expectation of His creation. So in our modern day culture, we worship, devote time to temporal things, and respect everything else but our creator. We are guilty before Him of the worst sort of idolatry. Why is our idolatry worse than those in Athens, and all the other pagan cultures that went before, or since, because in our country, we absolutely should know better. We have more bibles than people in any other nation or culture, a church on almost every street corner, God's Word being preached constantly on t.v., radio, and the internet, and yet we serve our modern day idols with far more zeal than all those who have gone before us. We pay token lip service to God, making the occasional fly-by visit to one of His houses of worship, in pursuit of our real Gods of money,sex,power, status,pleasure and recreation, television, movies, sports, our children, and unfortunately, the list could go on and on. I have heard it said, that what we value most, is what we will worship. And many of us obviously value the previous listing of our modern day idols more than God. I encourage you, do a radical self-analysis of who or what you are worshipping. I did. And I was convicted that I needed to adjust how I was using my time. Make sure that you are not an idolator, a worshipper of things other than the Living and Eternal Creator of the universe, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. If you are, the place of repentance is just a few feet below your knees right now. Cast yourself on the ground and call out to God and ask His forgiveness, give Him His worthiness, His rightful devotion, and His just respect. And while you are there, knowing your fallenous, and your sin, ask Him for the help to start worshipping Him as He should be worshipped.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Free Will, Man's sovereignty, God's Intervention
I received an excellent e-mail from a Pastor in southern Indiana, named Rick Lauterbach, that I consider worthy of posting on my blog. I met Rick several years ago at U.P.S. and he immediately impressed me with his knowledge of Christianity. At the time, he was not a Pastor yet, but he was attending school to serve Christ more effectively. Now he is a bi-vocational pastor, he still works at U.P.S., pastors his congregation in southern Indiana, and now is attending Southern Seminary in Louisville to attain another Master's degree, and he hopes a doctorate. You can see from his e-mail, he knows his doctrine. So please read his reply to the subject of God's sovereignty in salvation, man's free will, and our ability to achieve relationship with God on our own ability.
Kevin
The idea of free will as the bible depicts it is quite different from the concept of free will as most people hold to. A fully sovereign God does not have to bow before the will of his creatures as many suppose. Libertarian free will is outside of the biblical understanding. Men are held responsible before a holy God for their sin, while at the same time being unable in their fallen estate to cause their own rescue. God holds them guilty of their own sin, not the sin of someone else. Every soul is in its original estate is damned. The grace of God rescues those he has by his election set aside for redemption according to his purposes. The only problem someone could have is that they would say it is unfair not to offer salvation to everyone. The problem is if he did so and left everyone to their own conscience all would perish and none would be redeemed. Is God unjust because he has saved some and allowed others to perish? God is judging sin in both the elect and the non elect. Christ suffered an eternity for each of his beloved and those that have not been atoned for will suffer through out eternity. Is God unjust because he acts according to his will and not as a man? Proponents of libertarian free will believe in someones right to choose, just not the right of God to choose. Everyone believes in limited atonement - we just differ on who is doing the limiting. Libertarian free will ultimately believes those that come to Christ were somehow either smarter, better, or more deserving of Gods grace. I hope I didn't make it less clear.
Blessings
Rick Lauterbach
Pastor of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church
Kevin
The idea of free will as the bible depicts it is quite different from the concept of free will as most people hold to. A fully sovereign God does not have to bow before the will of his creatures as many suppose. Libertarian free will is outside of the biblical understanding. Men are held responsible before a holy God for their sin, while at the same time being unable in their fallen estate to cause their own rescue. God holds them guilty of their own sin, not the sin of someone else. Every soul is in its original estate is damned. The grace of God rescues those he has by his election set aside for redemption according to his purposes. The only problem someone could have is that they would say it is unfair not to offer salvation to everyone. The problem is if he did so and left everyone to their own conscience all would perish and none would be redeemed. Is God unjust because he has saved some and allowed others to perish? God is judging sin in both the elect and the non elect. Christ suffered an eternity for each of his beloved and those that have not been atoned for will suffer through out eternity. Is God unjust because he acts according to his will and not as a man? Proponents of libertarian free will believe in someones right to choose, just not the right of God to choose. Everyone believes in limited atonement - we just differ on who is doing the limiting. Libertarian free will ultimately believes those that come to Christ were somehow either smarter, better, or more deserving of Gods grace. I hope I didn't make it less clear.
Blessings
Rick Lauterbach
Pastor of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church
Sunday, April 18, 2010
What about Free Will?
It did not take long for my blog posting on the doctrine of sovereign choice or as it is more commonly called the doctrine of pre-destination to elicit the question "What about free will?". There are multiple scriptures and whole passages within the bible that speak to the subject of the free will of man. However, I believe that it must be stated at the front of this blog that the answer to the question,"What about free will?", needs to be addressed directly and very emphatically. MAN DOES NOT HAVE FREE WILL! I was convinced of this after reading a book by R.C. Sproul several years ago,one of the most famous and well respected theologians in the modern Evangelical church. The book was titled "Willing to Believe". I read that book shortly after I had read another book by R.C.Sproul titled "Faith Alone". At the time I read those books I was a member of a Word of Faith/Prosperity gospel church. My views on the process of salvation were poorly grounded in teachings by non-seminary educated preachers. My understanding at that time, was that for a person to be saved or to be "born again", all was needed was a passioned presentation of the gospel by a witness using the Roman Road set of scriptures. Although those kind of Gospel presentations actually work, most of us do not know the why and the how of how it actually works. I did not know at the time that there was any real theological debate that was on-going among theologians over the process of salvation and the dynamics of all that the process actually entails. After my first reading of both books,my paradigm for understanding the salvation process was obliterated and forever changed. Dr. Sproul eloquently and comprehensively presented the different views of the salvation process, listing their strengths, and ultimately disproving all but the historical Reformed understanding of the salvation process.
Dr. Sproul pointed out that the main issue about the free will of man in choosing God can be reduced to this argument. Is man able to cooperate with God using his own determinate will in his own conversion or is man totally depraved, a slave to rebellion, blind to the presentation of the Gospel, and incapable of comprehending the words of Jesus Christ without initially being regenerated? The bible teaches that man is spiritually dead. And logically if you are spiritually dead you cannot communicate with the Living and Eternal God. The famous passage in John chapter 3:1-21 details the encounter between Nicodemus and Jesus and is the best starting point to discuss biblically man's participation in his own salvation. Every Christian is familiar with this passage, and a good many can even quote it, but the exposition of this passage is usually straight forward by most preachers and is not thoroughly unpacked in a complete and comprehensive way. In verse 8, Jesus speaking to Nicodemus, states: The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.(ESV) I must point out that just as the wind blows where it wishes,(another word for a determinate will), the wind's "will" is compared to the will of the capital S Spirit, which is referring to God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings new life where He wishes. Simply stated God chooses who is born again. You cannot even approach God with out Him first choosing you and drawing you (John 6:65). Jesus states emphatically in verse 3: Truly, truly,I say to you,unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God (ESV). To describe the vista and the beauty of the Rocky Mountain National Park to someone who was born blind is impossible. They have no frame of reference of vision, or of seeing at all to base their interpretation on. In the same way, without out God acting in a monergistic way to "open and heal our spiritual blindness", there is no frame of reference for a spiritually dead man to choose Him. So, to conclude my part of the argument for man's will being free in the choosing of God, dead men do not choose. Only men who have already been regenerated by God will believe.
See Romans chapter 9, Ephesians chapter 1,John chapter 3, John chapter 6, Romans chapter 3, Romans chapter 5, the calling of Abraham in Genesis chapter 12, an idolater from the land of Ur, the story of King David's anointing by Samuel to be King, David was the 8th son of Jesse, and he was a sheepherder, read the story of Jacob and Esau in Genesis, the calling of the disciples of Jesus, the conversion of Paul on the Damascus road, Acts chapter 13, and verse 48 specifically as some beginning readings to meditate and understand God's sovereignty in choosing who serves Him. Also, there is an excellent link at http://monergism.com/ that has many articles on classical Reformed theology. Dr. Russell Moore's paper at predestined-to-what-why-the-doctrine-of-election-is-so-hard-to-believe at Moore to the Point web page. Dr. Moore is an associate Pastor at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville and an academic Dean at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. See all the sermons on Romans chapter 9 by John Piper at http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/.
Dr. Sproul pointed out that the main issue about the free will of man in choosing God can be reduced to this argument. Is man able to cooperate with God using his own determinate will in his own conversion or is man totally depraved, a slave to rebellion, blind to the presentation of the Gospel, and incapable of comprehending the words of Jesus Christ without initially being regenerated? The bible teaches that man is spiritually dead. And logically if you are spiritually dead you cannot communicate with the Living and Eternal God. The famous passage in John chapter 3:1-21 details the encounter between Nicodemus and Jesus and is the best starting point to discuss biblically man's participation in his own salvation. Every Christian is familiar with this passage, and a good many can even quote it, but the exposition of this passage is usually straight forward by most preachers and is not thoroughly unpacked in a complete and comprehensive way. In verse 8, Jesus speaking to Nicodemus, states: The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.(ESV) I must point out that just as the wind blows where it wishes,(another word for a determinate will), the wind's "will" is compared to the will of the capital S Spirit, which is referring to God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings new life where He wishes. Simply stated God chooses who is born again. You cannot even approach God with out Him first choosing you and drawing you (John 6:65). Jesus states emphatically in verse 3: Truly, truly,I say to you,unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God (ESV). To describe the vista and the beauty of the Rocky Mountain National Park to someone who was born blind is impossible. They have no frame of reference of vision, or of seeing at all to base their interpretation on. In the same way, without out God acting in a monergistic way to "open and heal our spiritual blindness", there is no frame of reference for a spiritually dead man to choose Him. So, to conclude my part of the argument for man's will being free in the choosing of God, dead men do not choose. Only men who have already been regenerated by God will believe.
See Romans chapter 9, Ephesians chapter 1,John chapter 3, John chapter 6, Romans chapter 3, Romans chapter 5, the calling of Abraham in Genesis chapter 12, an idolater from the land of Ur, the story of King David's anointing by Samuel to be King, David was the 8th son of Jesse, and he was a sheepherder, read the story of Jacob and Esau in Genesis, the calling of the disciples of Jesus, the conversion of Paul on the Damascus road, Acts chapter 13, and verse 48 specifically as some beginning readings to meditate and understand God's sovereignty in choosing who serves Him. Also, there is an excellent link at http://monergism.com/ that has many articles on classical Reformed theology. Dr. Russell Moore's paper at predestined-to-what-why-the-doctrine-of-election-is-so-hard-to-believe at Moore to the Point web page. Dr. Moore is an associate Pastor at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville and an academic Dean at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. See all the sermons on Romans chapter 9 by John Piper at http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Appointed to Believe
In Acts 13:48 in the ESV translation it states: And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed(italics mine) to eternal life believed. The context of Acts 13:13-48 describes the preaching of the Gospel to the people of Antioch by Paul and Barnabus. The passage details that when Paul and Barnabus first entered Antioch, they entered the synagoge on the Sabbath day, and Paul preached the Gospel, beginning with the earliest days of Israel's history declaring the activity of God in bringing about His purpose for His people, Israel. Paul rehearses the work of God in the people of Israel's life right up to the story of Jesus and His resurrection. Those who heard the Gospel begged Paul and Barnabus to come back and preach again at the next Sabbath. The text states that the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. In verse 45, though the text states that when the Jews saw the crowds, they were moved with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul. So Paul and Barnabus boldly spoke to them that it was necessary that the word of God be spoken to the Jews first, but since they refused the Gospel, they would go to the Gentiles and preach the Gospel. And that is how the text arrives at Acts 13:48 describing the rejoicing of the Gentiles and their glorifying of the word of the Lord. The last part of the verse states: as many as were appointed (italics mine) to eternal life believed.
The word appoint is defined, in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, to mean, to fix or to set officially or to name officially. This part of our text in Acts 13:48 serves to establish and communicate the doctrine of election. The doctrine of election, simply stated is the sovereign choice of God, based on His right as the Creator God, to choose or elect who will believe in the Gospel and who will not. In Ephesians 1:11 in the New Internation Version, it states: "In him we were also chosen (italics mine), having been predestinated according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will," further attests to the same right of God to choose who will believe and who will not. Another verse giving even more weight to the absolute need for God to make it possible for a person to believe is John 6:65, where Jesus is teaching his disciples states: ... "that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."(ESV)
I hope this post helps to stimulate the reader, to search the scriptures for themselves, and to see if what is written by this author on the doctrine of election, or to be said another way, the doctrine of the Lord's choosing, is true.
The word appoint is defined, in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, to mean, to fix or to set officially or to name officially. This part of our text in Acts 13:48 serves to establish and communicate the doctrine of election. The doctrine of election, simply stated is the sovereign choice of God, based on His right as the Creator God, to choose or elect who will believe in the Gospel and who will not. In Ephesians 1:11 in the New Internation Version, it states: "In him we were also chosen (italics mine), having been predestinated according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will," further attests to the same right of God to choose who will believe and who will not. Another verse giving even more weight to the absolute need for God to make it possible for a person to believe is John 6:65, where Jesus is teaching his disciples states: ... "that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."(ESV)
I hope this post helps to stimulate the reader, to search the scriptures for themselves, and to see if what is written by this author on the doctrine of election, or to be said another way, the doctrine of the Lord's choosing, is true.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Sovereign Grace
This is the first post on my blog. So to set the tone for the blog, I will state that first and foremost, I desire to serve Jesus Christ through any writing or information displayed here. I hope that the postings that are found here prove to be thought provoking and will stir passion in the readers. I hope that the passion that is stirred encourages the readers to pursue Jesus more diligently, study more diligently, and serve Jesus more diligently.
My background as a believer begins at the age of 18 as far as the point in time that I first professed Jesus as my Lord and Savior. But, I believe, based on a Reformed understanding of theology, that the Lord chose me before the foundations of the Earth somewhere in eternity past. I believe that He pursued me and drew me to Himself based on His sovereign grace alone and on nothing that merited any favor from Him based on my worth or actions. In fact, my life testifies that God did not choose me based on my works. My works were definitely deserving of eternal separation from God and punishment for eternity in Hell. I would go further to say that any thing that I did that would be considered good was done for the wrong motives and for selfish reasons. So to state it in another way, I was depraved, bankrupt of any righteousness, and just plain "basically evil"( thanks Daniel Montgomery for that vivid descriptive term, http://sojournchurch.com/ ).
In later postings I will more thoroughly recap my testimony. I want this blog to exalt Jesus every time it is written and read. I owe Jesus everything, not because I could ever pay Him back, because I could never do that, I owe Him everything because He is my God and Savior. He is worthy of my best praise, my eternal worship, complete respect, and every honor. He is all that is beautiful, He is the lifespring of all that is, He is eternally sovereign. He is Alpha and Omega. He is Lord. He is the First-born from the dead, He is the cornerstone that the buiders rejected, He is, was, and forever will be God, with God His father and God the Holy Spirit.
Kevin L. Rhea
My background as a believer begins at the age of 18 as far as the point in time that I first professed Jesus as my Lord and Savior. But, I believe, based on a Reformed understanding of theology, that the Lord chose me before the foundations of the Earth somewhere in eternity past. I believe that He pursued me and drew me to Himself based on His sovereign grace alone and on nothing that merited any favor from Him based on my worth or actions. In fact, my life testifies that God did not choose me based on my works. My works were definitely deserving of eternal separation from God and punishment for eternity in Hell. I would go further to say that any thing that I did that would be considered good was done for the wrong motives and for selfish reasons. So to state it in another way, I was depraved, bankrupt of any righteousness, and just plain "basically evil"( thanks Daniel Montgomery for that vivid descriptive term, http://sojournchurch.com/ ).
In later postings I will more thoroughly recap my testimony. I want this blog to exalt Jesus every time it is written and read. I owe Jesus everything, not because I could ever pay Him back, because I could never do that, I owe Him everything because He is my God and Savior. He is worthy of my best praise, my eternal worship, complete respect, and every honor. He is all that is beautiful, He is the lifespring of all that is, He is eternally sovereign. He is Alpha and Omega. He is Lord. He is the First-born from the dead, He is the cornerstone that the buiders rejected, He is, was, and forever will be God, with God His father and God the Holy Spirit.
Kevin L. Rhea
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