Friday, October 31, 2008

A Praise

The Lord has called my wife and I to minister in Spanish Fork, Utah. I will be the youth pastor of Faith Baptist Church, and my wife will work along side of me there. I want to take this post to mention that it is a tremedous blessing to have a wife that wants to help me in every way she possibly can. I believe this is vital in full time christian servants, that are married. I ask that who ever reads my post, would pray for us as we follow the Lord in this direction.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

What are the perimeters of our liberties in Christ?

Once again we have to remember that in everything we do we are to glorify God! I believe that the use of our liberties are to be judged on how they are going to affect those around us, saved and unsaved. If our aim is to glorify God, to edify believers, and to keep our testimony in condition to present a gospel message then our liberties will be in subjection to those things. So believe that when they are in Christ, they can go on to do anything and live in any lifestyle. I will exclude extremes like murderous behaviors, but it is the little things that kept us in bondage to sin that are being walked back into. I encourage you to read all of the passages that deal with our liberties/freedoms in Christ, look at the immediate context and see what it says. It speaks clearly to how we are to use these freedoms.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

an attachment for the last post

I want to get across the fact that I know that what I write will be a "challenge" to some, but I do not intend on it being an open challenge. My blog is more for teaching than debate and if you agree or disagree with me I will write back, but it may not appear on my blog. I like to reserve the right to post only comments that will be beneficial to the readers. I know that the flesh desires a good debate, but in our "reasoning" together we must have at the core a desire for unity and to reveal the truth in love. I personally struggle with that, I tend to take criticism as an attack on my person, but the Lord is working with me and I know my fault. We are all on this earth to bring glory to God in our words and actions and that also involves thoughts in our minds.

Watch what you preach

One thing that I have noticed over the past few years is that those of us who claim to be Dispensationalist have a fatal flaw. We do not carry our dispensational "beliefs" with us everywhere we go. I hear from different preacher a mixing of Israel and the Church, now it may be a very suttle mixing, but it is that very mixture that causes fatal error. I believe with this confusion that comes from our puplits is what makes it easy for seminaries and bible colleges that teach reformed theology to sweep our sheep astray, while they attend this institutions. We know how the best sellers in the Christian realm are the favorites of the immature and mature believers at our churches, but if they do not have the spiritual wisdom to separate reformed teachings from dispensational teachings then they will get swept away. The maturing mind thrist for spiritual wisdom, but that does not mean that they can discern every teaching and make distinctions between truth and heresies. Also I believe that we must be careful as we quote from the pulpit, if we like something that a writer from a different theological persuasion says, then let us be sure to give the credentials of that person so that our congregations will not assume that all that they have to say is truth. That is why we went to seminary or bible college, so that we may discern these things. We need to remember that they did not. In several of the general epistles, we learn that those who would teach false doctrine and even apostate teachings will creep into our churches and will try to subvert the truth, causing doubt in the minds of our congregations. It is easy for a Baptist to diswayed his congregations from believing a buddist, muslim, or hindu from teaching or even a charismetic. It is when the theologies that would come from baptist with reformed flare that can confuse and ultimately lead astray our concregations. I know that some of the things that I say are not comfortable to listen to and are quite frankly offensive to some, but I do not desire to attack those who teach reformed theology at a personal level, but a theological level.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

A desire I hope to soon be fulfilled

Once again I find myself aching to be with Christ, to have my sanctified body, removed from the world which is ruled by sin. But I realize that in the Lord's good and perfect and acceptable will His timing is best. I sat down to do my devotions this morning in the book of Philippians reading about Christ humbling Himself and further on about Timothy, whom Paul wants to send to the Philippian believers, because Timothy does not desire exaltation and praise of man 2:19-24 and Epaphroditus a real man who was "full of heaviness" (vs. 26) because the Philippian believers caught wind of the fact that he was "sick unto death" (27). I think of what Paul wrote to Timothy in his second epistle to him in 1:7,8. Timothy had every reason to be afraid in the human mindset. The ruler of that time was impaling christians in the colosium as lighting for the evening games, which was also a mass slaughter of Christians. To be bold held a new meaning, well to us it does, but frankly this was the way the times were during their lives. I struggle with boldness and all I face would be a debate or ridicule. I still long for the day when Christ raptures His people, when the blessed hope of the Church comes. I long for the day of the appearing of the Lord "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knowth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when He shall appear, we shall like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as He is pure." 1John 3:1-3 But I am here right now according to God's perfect will and timing and He would have me stand in boldness of the Holy Spirit and bring hope to a dying world lost in bondage to sin. I must be real like Timothy and Epaphroditus and Paul, and I must carry on even though I long to be free.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

a commentary on commentaries

In my last post I intended on making the point that commentaries are useful tools, but they are not the end all. I in no way was intending on putting across the idea that learning from preachers and teachers (past and present) are a was of time and a lack of faith and diligence on a bible students part. What I did intended on getting across was the cult following that some have for these theologians. I would be ignorant and fool hearted to say that you should not study from other men, I would not have gon to bible college to attain a degree if this was my heart. Just as many other things in society dumb down the abilities of a person, if you can't sit down with God's Word alone to study then, you are at a great disadvantage in your spiritual walk. Once again I am speaking of extreme position some one who takes a commentary alone with them and uses it like the cultist would use Mary Baker Eddy's works or the Pearl of Great Price. The Bible is the final authority it has the answers to all of life's questions. One thought that has entered my mind is what did the first century christians rely on and the apostles and those closer to them rely on when commentaries did not exist? We must rely on the Holy Spirit as all men and women were meant to do!