The Fundamental Blog

The other day, while in conversation with my wife, she related something that she had read in a book by one of today’s more popular evangelists. The statement raised the alarm concerning the way the message coming from the pulpit has, over the years, become weaker and weaker. As it often happens, I had just been reading the exact same sentiment in another book that very same morning. It seems that both books were wondering what had happened to the fire that used to burn in the hearts of the preachers that are supposed to be preaching the Gospel. Both books were written by well respected preachers but the one I was reading predated the one that my wife was reading by more than 100 years!

As I thought about this remarkable revelation, it occurred to me that the Word of God, the Gospel of Christ, has been steadily loosing ground since the time of Jesus, nearly 2000 years ago. If this generation can recognize the loss of power in today’s preaching and look back to ask what happened to the conviction of the preachers of the past like Chambers, Tozer and Spurgeon; and if these paragons of faith, in turn, call for the fiery past likes of Tyndale, Wesley, Bunyan and Knox, surely then even they must also have bemoaned the loss of authority in the preaching of their own day as well. This has probably been the trend since the apostolic times when, no doubt, someone may have remarked, “ Yeah, Paul and that fellow Peter aren’t too bad to listen to, but it isn’t nearly as powerful as when Jesus Christ spoke to the crowds along the shores of Galilee.”

My wife then remarked, “It seems like people today just don’t care about God, holiness, the Gospel of Christ or anything to do with true spiritual growth.” I responded, “You really can’t be too surprised, it’s hard for people to care about the church when the church doesn’t seem to care about the people.” Since Christ entrusted His message of salvation to the church, the message has been diluted, cut up, sanitized and re-packaged so many times that it’s a wonder that there is any meaning left in it at all. In some churches, the message is so totally corrupted that there is no value remaining whatsoever.

Now before anyone gets all upset, let me add; I’m sure that there are many good church congregations being led by amazing Spirit-led Clergy persons. The watering down of the Gospel is a broad topic and therefore requires a broad brush but I realize that sometimes generalizations cast too wide a net so if you find yourself in a church that is filled with the Spirit of God, I must not be speaking about you; to all the rest of you, you need to WAKE UP!

I have heard it said, and I believe it, that no group of followers will ever rise above their leadership. Proverbs 27:17 says, “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” ASV. Now a man who is not established in the Word of God can be no sharper in the pulpit than a crooked stick! How can one so dull ever hope to sharpen the countenance of their congregation? To preach effectively, they must believe that the calling on their life is the calling of God Himself and they must not allow anything or anyone to dissuade them from this calling. Our goal needs to be that we should all be established in the Word. Isaiah 7:9 tells us, “If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.” KJV, and turning to Romans 10:14, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” KJV.

To rightly divide the Word of God is no small matter. To stand in the role of leadership, one must know in whom they believe and the Spirit must have free reign to speak through God’s servant. God tells us Himself, in regard to His ways, “… thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children.” Deut. 6:7 ASV. It is unacceptable to teach error; especially when the result is the very destruction of those you are intending to save from damnation! Christ points out that, “It is impossible but that offenses will come; but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than he should offend one of these little ones.” Luke 17:1-2 KJV.

But year after year, generation after generation, the pulpit seems to steadily grow colder and colder. The people say, “Give us something new, more contemporary, a message that relates to us; we can not bear to hear the same old Gospel of salvation by grace through Jesus Christ. Teach us that everyone will be saved, that we are all God’s children.” And the pastorate listens to them. Rather than stand on the truth of God, they preach lies to ears that want only to be tickled because they know that if they do not, they may be likely to loose their position. Politics creep in and the board finds someone, anyone, who will tell them whatever it is that they long to hear. These preachers are likely then to hand-pick their future board members to ensure their own longevity. They are forgetting that James warns, “Be not many of you teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment.” ASV. Neither do they recall Ezekiel 5:11 where God admonishes, “… Surely because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thy abominations therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.” KJV.

The world is attacking the church from the inside. Worldlings are being set up in positions of authority and are demanding a Gospel that goes down easily, without any regard for the truth of God, the sacrifice of Christ, or the sinful nature of the human condition. They claim to be interested in increasing the kingdom of God but seem instead to be only interested in increasing the size of the congregation. They calculate success with worldly measures and prostitute their positions. They think that it’s fine to have a gathering of 20 or 30 who are on fire for God; but that 10,000 lukewarm bodies would be better. “We could quadruple our take, …I mean collection for missions, if we fill the seats and build bigger venues.” The mega-churches and lax principles of many of today’s congregations are doing to Christianity what managed healthcare did to medicine; they’re turning it into a business.

Matthew 6:24 explains, “No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” KJV. It is far too easy for the pastor who becomes popular to begin to cater to his own popularity instead of remaining solid in God’s Word. What can the church do to change anything, and why should they if they are enjoying the comfort of, “business as usual?” Without knowing that this topic was coming, I was given to write over the past few weeks, messages that begin to show that our faith is not meant to be comfortable; we are at war with our own sin natures; we can not customize Christ or His message to suit the desire of tingling ears; and that we all have a ministry and a pulpit that we, ourselves, fill. I love it when we can look back and see the providence of God in action.

It’s time to break the 20/80 rule which reveals that in any effort, 20% of the people carry 80% of the influence. If you are involved in a leadership position, re-dedicate yourself to that responsibility; if a layperson, get involved in your church. Go to the meetings and learn what’s going on. If things are happening that you find to be in violation of the Word of God, let people know about the burden of conviction the Holy Spirit has laid upon your heart. Resist hiring people for the pulpit just because they are likable, or popular and insist on doctrinal soundness. Reject the message that the un-saved will find things a bit uncomfortable in the life to come in favor of the message that declares eternal damnation in the fires of Hell for the unrepentant sinner! Get your church back to the basics of faith in Christ.

Some time ago, during the pre-papal visit to New York City, I saw some news interviews with area Catholics anticipating the pontiff’s arrival. They were excited that the leader of their faith was coming to New York. How impressed they seemed to be that the head of their church should travel all that way so that they might have the chance to meet him. Some evangelical Christians may admire a certain preacher and long to be a part of his church. I am sure that some of these men are sincere, God filled messengers of the Good News of Christ, who care only for truth, and preach Christ and Him crucified. The problem is that too often these figureheads get elevated to an unrealistic, un-wholesome, estate.

When I heard the Catholic woman say how wonderful it was that the head of her church was coming to New York, all I could think was that the head of my church came a lot farther, He came all the way from Heaven. I do not want to be joined to a church led by any man, not even the Pope; I want to find a home in a church led by Christ Jesus. We can never serve God in obedience, carry out the faithful works which are the fruit of our salvation, or walk in the steps of our Saviour if we are unwilling to get involved. We must first walk, work and serve before the quality of any of these evidences become important.

Demand sound doctrine and settle for nothing less! In closing, let me leave you with the words of Paul from 1 Cor. 15:58, “Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord…” - This is how you can be certain that in whatever you do, its…

All for the Glory of Christ

We rely on the Bible to teach us the ways of righteousness and truth, to point us to the Saviour and lead us in our faith. The Word of God is the roadmap in our daily walk, the lamp to our feet and the truth that we depend upon. So why then do we change what it says to suit ourselves? It’s an easy thing to proclaim that we trust our all to Christ Jesus; or is it? The popular credit card commercial asks, “What’s in your wallet?” Let me ask you, “Who’s your Jesus?”

Am I suggesting multiple Gods? More than one Christ? Not in as much as there can only be one true God, or one genuine Jesus, but in another sense, I suppose I am. The key hangs in the words, “true,” and, “genuine.” There are many gods held as deity throughout the world and yet, only One True God, the Lord God Almighty; all others are but worthless idols. But this is the difference between the major religions; what I want to focus on is differences within the framework of Christendom. Within the professing Christian faith there seem to be many different saviours called Jesus.

This one says that Jesus may be too busy to hear our prayers so we should pray to Mary as our intercessor, pro-tem. Another claims that Jesus could never turn anyone away because He is pure love. Another sees Jesus as the mighty warrior who reigns in power and with vengeance, chastening us this very day to abide or be struck down. Still another thinks that Jesus was no more than a good moral teacher and that the Bible, while entertaining, is primarily figurative and needs to be read today with a grain of salt and an eye toward metaphoric interpretation. So, “Who’s your Jesus?”

We all read, basically, the same Bible. Sure, we could argue that this one diminishes the power and glory of deity and that that one is simply too hard to read in it’s outdated use of language, but the fact remains that the Spirit can use them all to bring forth the truth of God and lead us to the redeemer. They all reveal the same Adam, the same Jonah, the same King David, the same Ahab… how can it be then that we end up with so many different depictions of Christ? It appears that instead of reading the Bible to see what it says, to take it as a whole, to receive the entire revealed Word of God as the foundation for our faith; we have somehow decided in our, somewhat limited, infinite wisdom to set up the Holy Scriptures as the great cafeteria plan of theology.

We walk into the local chapter of , “Jesus-R-Us,” take our tray and start down the serving line. We get to the fall of man and pick between literal and figurative as though it was no more than the beverage choice of regular or de-caf. Fruit, or apple? Talking serpent or presence of evil? We go on to the Doctrine Section and choose free will or predestination? Heaven, “yes please;” Hell, “No thanks.” Jesus beat the money changers with His whip of cords, or He stood in a position of non-violence and though angry, sinned not. The writings which God has compiled for us in His Word are sliced and diced until we have the pieces of faith small enough to allow us to concoct a charismatic coleslaw for ourselves the same way we choose toppings for a pizza!

Are there contradictions in the text of the Bible? No! Does it seem as though there are; undoubtedly. But all they really are, are opportunities for us to see that we can not possibly understand all the ways of God in our limited human state. God can not tolerate evil and yet we find Satan walking in Heaven, presenting himself to God in order to receive the challenge to try to tempt Job. How can this be? I don’t know the answers to these types of questions, but I do know that when it becomes necessary to God that I understand such things; the Spirit will reveal them to me. What it does not mean is that God is offering us a choice to decide which option we prefer. Since the Bible can not contradict itself, when these issues arise it means that we need to apply ourselves to study in order that we might reconcile the matter, not choose the thing that we think suits us the best.

I know some who are firmly rooted in the Old Testament and seem to deny the entire doctrine of grace, being chained to the law of the Sabbath, others find it acceptable to engage in polygamy. Some professing Christians adhere to the claim that, “they who live by the sword shall perish by the sword,” and others are convinced that Jesus calls us to arms by telling the Apostles to take a sword if they have one. One church sees baptism as the first act of obedience for the believer while another says that there is no salvation without the act of baptism. Then there is the dispute between the sprinklers and the immersionists. If there were a right understanding of the Bible, as a whole, then there wouldn’t be so many different denominations.

I believe that what we are seeing is the result of people who are looking for a religion that confirms the life that they are already living. These folks don’t really want to come to the cross, they want the local lumber company to deliver the cross to them after it is cut it up into planks that fit the use that they have in mind for it. But it can’t ever work that way. God is absolute, His Word is absolute truth, and the plan of redemption can never be altered. We must conform to God, not ask Him to bend His standards to bless the mess that we call our lives.

If we want to allow our witness to the world to be frequenting the bars and strip clubs, that’s one thing; if we want it to be that we take Christ and the truth to really mean something, that’s far better. But we can not hope to combine a sinful life with some religious trappings and expect that we will ever accomplish anything. What people want is to be comfortable; comfortable in their lives and comfortable in their faith, but faith, (while resulting in the highest degree of peace and comfort imaginable), is not meant to be comfortable. We are sinful by nature! The walk of faith is a war which rages against sin, so a genuine faith should be anything BUT comfortable.

When we take on the Christian faith we are mere infants who have stepped into a pair of adult shoes. They will protect our feet as we walk the path of righteousness but they will not fit well in the beginning. Though they will ultimately deliver us to our desired destination, we feel awkward in them and we are bound to develop some blisters along the way. We are wearing a pair of floppy shoes that requires that we grow into them. As we grow and mature in our faith, the shoes fit better and we learn to be more confident in our steps. We may still slip occasionally, but with each passing day, we clop and stumble a little bit less than we did the day before.

The Bible tells us that there will be many who appear before Christ claiming the works of driving out demons and performing all sorts of miraculous signs in Jesus’ name to whom He will say, “Depart evildoer, I never knew you.” The Christian faith is not something that can be entered into half way. If you choose to be out, then stay out; if you are going to be in then you must be, “All-In.” Pick one and move forward with your life, but let’s have none of this smorgasbord salvation. You can either accept the truth of God and believe His plan of redemption in the person of Christ Jesus, or you are free to reject it out-of-hand. What you can not do is select the parts you like and leave the parts that you feel rub you the wrong way. Jesus Christ can not be your sometimes saviour, either He is nothing in your life, or He is everything.

So I’ll ask again, “Who’s your Jesus?” Are you customizing Christ? Pull that dusty old Bible off the shelf and read it, study it, learn who Jesus is. Make sure that you are striving daily to work out the faith that God, through Christ, is working in you. Make sure that you are pursuing Jesus with all your heart, to find the beauty of the one who first loved you, to be able to rest in Him. There is really no other way to live…


All for the Glory of Christ