The Fundamental Blog

When we were born, one of the very first things that happened to us was that we were carried to a basin and washed with water. Our newborn selves were given a clean start and no sooner than we were washed, we began to get dirty again. The cycle of becoming dirty and getting washed is one that must be repeated over and over again, because we can not live in this world without picking up some of it’s dirt. The fascinating thing is that the cleaner we are, more quickly we seem to get dirty; almost as though the dirt has an especially urgent duty to keep us from remaining clean.

Similarly, Satan does not like us to be clean; if he had his way, he would keep us in a continual state of self condemnation, thinking that we can never be truly clean and therefore unworthy of Christ. OK, there is some truth in that, we can never be worthy of Christ. The good news is that He came to us in our filth and saved us while we are yet sinners, but not because we deserved it. Granted, there seems to be a lot of folks who would like to think that they deserve the gift of God’s grace, but they don’t. You see, if we were deserving, if we could show just cause for the reason why we deserve the grace of God then it would no longer be grace, but rather the proper payment for a perfect life. If even one person could have lived such a life, then Christ was a waste! If salvation was something that could have been earned through personal effort then of what use was the death of Christ for the cleansing of our sins, or the resurrection which gives us hope for eternity?

Now let’s imagine that we are in a dry and dusty place for a moment. We are reasonably clean but in the dust that is blowing around, we naturally pick up some of it. We look at ourselves and slap at our clothes and say, “I’m pretty clean, certainly better than some,” and even though we know that we are not truly clean, we think that we’re passable. But when we come to Christ, having already made our saving confession of Jesus, we come to the baptismal through the dust storm and when we rise out of the water, the dust sticks to us. We get dirtier faster and now instead of being only dusty, we see that we are muddy! This is how our walk is as we work at living out the faith that is in us. Doesn’t it seem as though the more diligent we are in striving to walk in the Word, the more active and harsh are the attacks of the enemy?

The closer one gets to Christ, the closer Satan is to losing someone that he thought he had, and even though we are Christ’s at the point of our confession of faith, Satan keeps trying to keep us as dirty as possible. As if he could, by keeping us dirty, destroy the salvation that is once for all in Christ, Satan keeps throwing us opportunities to sin so that we might doubt, or even turn away thereby grieving the Spirit. What we must keep foremost in our minds is the truth that Satan can not, (nor can anyone), snatch the true believer from the hands of the Father. Sure, we might stumble from time to time but that does not mean that we lose the gift of grace. Satan is only playing at a game he has already lost.

When Christ overcame death Satan was undone. He may still cause a lot of trouble for the faithful and faithless alike, but the end game is the same; Christ will take those who are His, home. Satan’s best trick is to get people to believe that there is no Satan, followed closely by the idea that every church that claims to be Christian is the same. Many folks will tell us that they have no problem with Satan because he doesn’t exist. Their logic tells them that if Satan were real, they would have had encounters with him, but a wise writer once noted that if you are not confronted by Satan, you should check to be sure that you are not both walking in the same direction. And to some who think they follow Christ, but it is not the Christ of the Bible, they will be the ones who hear, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.” Matthew 7:23.

These are mud balls that are thrown at the faithful to dissuade them from the truth. This is why it is so important to know the lessons in the Bible and to realize the truth concerning the nature of God and exactly who Jesus Christ is. If your God is all warm and fuzzy, and you end the sentence there, you need to think again! “God is love.” Yes, but He is also wrath, justice, righteousness, jealous and a whole host of things that far exceed love, alone. If Jesus Christ is a gentle shepherd with a kind message to be followed, then you need to look at the severity of some of the accusations He threw at the feet of the Pharisees. How about the Christ, the same Christ, found in Revelation, the warrior King of kings and Lord of lords?

If you want to believe that we are all God’s children and that there are many paths to the top of the mountain; if you think you can speak to your checkbook and command it to be filled with money; you need to spend some time in the Word for yourself to find out exactly what’s what! These are the types of things that Satan, and his minions, sling at the unwary as dust, trying to keep them dirty. They throw huge clouds of dust in the air and as we choke our way through it, they lay stumbling blocks in our path to make us fall. The Bible tells us that the Word is a lamp to our path and a light for our feet, but how can that be if we don’t take the time to see what it says?

My motivation for reading the Bible, (the first time), though perhaps not as altruistic as some was this… I imagined a conversation with God at the pearly gates that went something like this; god asks, “Did you read My book?” I answer, “No.” He asks, “Why not?” I had no answer! For starters, He is going to know the truth anyway so its pointless to say something like, “I was way too busy.” I figured that the only thing to do was read the book, so I did. Afterward, I wanted to read it again, and again to learn more about God, His plan of salvation in Christ Jesus, and the life He intends that we should live. Have I mastered it? I should say not! I fall all the time, but I rely on His grace to stand me back on my feet and help me start again.

The things that didn’t make sense to me, “When I am weak then He is strong,” became clear. I know that there is nothing that I can not do if God is in it, and there is nothing I can do if He is not. I am compelled to write because I want to share the Word I have come to love and continue to grow in. I don’t pretend to be perfect nor to be qualified by University degrees to preach anything to anyone. I am like all of you, learning to walk daily. When we fall in the dirt we are going to get dirty, so we have to wash up and set out again. Satan is not going to stop trying to win a game that is already lost so we have to be ready to face the challenges that come our way. Sometimes this Christian stuff is dirty work, so let’s roll up our sleeves and get down to it. No matter how dirty it gets in the trenches we can depend on the blood of the lamb to clean us up again. Even though it can be dirty work sometimes, its work we do because its…

All for the Glory of Christ

Easter is the time of year when all Christendom celebrates the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. This is the central plank of the Christian faith and the most important observance that we, as Christians, hold dear. This year there is more to consider though, there are people committing offences in the name of Christ who ought to not be left without comment being made against them. In this 2-part piece let me begin with the good news that Christ is risen! Afterward, we’ll deal with the distasteful reality that surrounds us.

The Christian faith is all about the resurrection, Paul preached endlessly on this topic and it is the very thing that caused him to be so badly persecuted. Still, he maintained, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is in vain; you are still in your sins.” 1 Corinthians 15:17. To the believer, this is the good news of the Gospel because it is the one reason that we can believe in Christ as the Son of God through whose death our sins are forgiven. To the non-believer it is little more than a fairy tale without consequence. But we know the truth and have given ourselves over to it.

There is some controversy over the day of Christ’s death though; Some say He died on Thursday, while most believe that it was on Friday. I have not committed to one side or the other yet but I admit that I struggle with Matthew 12:40 which reads, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” I have heard the explanation that in those days, partial days were counted the same as full days so a death and burial on Friday, Saturday, and resurrection on Sunday would equal three days. But not three nights; no matter how you count it, there are only two nights if Jesus died on Friday.

This is one of the things that I am exploring and I hope to make a committed statement before too long but the reality is that it doesn’t matter. This is secondary, the thing that matters above all else is that He rose. This was to prove that He is God and that His testimony is true, one we can devote our lives to, one that gives us confidence that we will also be raised up on the last day. Easter is the time when we can rejoice because we know our eternal destiny is to be with Christ forever in Heaven. But not all who claim to be Christian actually are, (and this brings me to the, “Lunatics,” part).

Earlier this month, (March, 2010), a group of people were arrested in Michigan for plotting to kill police officers in an attempt to start an armed uprising against the government. What disturbs me more than the planned act itself is the fact that they are touting themselves as a radical Christian group. I know that there are a lot of people in this country who are not too happy with the things going on in Washington D.C. I’m one of them! The thing is, as a Christian, I am to be obedient to the Word first and then submit to the ruling authority second. What those mis-labeled militants in Michigan neglected was the Word of God. These are not Christians. I say this because we are not to make random judgments on our own, but to be discerning in the claims of false prophets and deceivers. In Matthew 7:20, Jesus warns us about the false prophets who would lead us astray by telling us, “Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”

What should be our response to a collection of worldlings that want to claim that they are trying to initiate jihad in the name of Christendom? Pray for them! We must practice what they neglected; the answer is in Romans 12:19-21. “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink… Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

I am rarely pleased with most of the things that go on in our government: I was no big fan of King George II, and I sure don’t like the socialist leanings that seem apparent now, but that does not mean that I think we should all take up arms against God’s anointed. By the providence of God we have a president and God has, even this, under His control. If we take the view that some things happen randomly, then we are saying that there are some things which are out of the control of God; that can not be. So then, like it or not, this is the, “king,” which God has placed on the throne. It is fine to support a candidate to replace any politician we might disagree with, but this is the bed we have to lay in right now.

To plot to kill the police in protest for actions of the government is absurd; for starters, it isn’t their fault, and secondly, murder is morally wrong. How does such an act make any more sense in the name of Christianity that it does in the name of other faiths who are desirous that the infidels should die? We may need a revolution in this country but even so, it is a revolution that needs to be expressed peacefully at the ballot box, not one in which the innocents are violently slaughtered. The subway system in Moscow was bombed this past week, did it create sympathy for the terrorists? No! There is a right way and a wrong way to handle disputes; we are a nation of laws, we need to effect real change through the system we have set in place and if necessary, legislate changes in the system to make it operate as effectively as possible; then use it!

What is the most damaging about the whole ordeal in Michigan is that so much of the good work that has been accomplished in the name of Christ has been tarnished in the eyes of the world, in the eyes of those who need to be able to believe in Christ the most! We have talked about our individual ministries before, and we all have them. Events like this only underscore the importance of maintaining our witness with truth and integrity; it’s all we have to show the world! It is wrong to murder; abortion is wrong, but so is bombing a clinic; the things that are being forced upon us may be wrong, but so is killing the authorities that have been set above us.

“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” Romans 13:1-2. This does not mean that we should simply roll over and accept what we believe to be wrong, but there are proper ways to address these things but murder is not the way.

This is the Easter season and we should be in celebration of the promise of new life that Christ has begun in us. Let’s check ourselves and be sure we are in the word, go forth and spread the Good News and encourage one another in these difficult times to be a proper witness for the Gospel. He is Risen! Do something that tells the world that a real Christian means something when he claims that his life is…


All For the Glory of Christ.