Month December 2017

WHEN YOU READ…

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…ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ [Eph 3:4]. The beginning of a year is a great time to press reset, and to evaluate how our year went and to plan for the next. James reminds us that our plans should first be aligned with God’s [James 4:12-16]. The only way to know the will of the Lord is through a continual study of His word.

As we’re making our resolutions, let us include the reading of God’s word. There are several reading programs available. Whichever one you choose, here are a few suggestions…

Tips on Reading the Bible Daily

1 – Start today — there is no better time. This time next year will you be wishing you had started today?

2 – Schedule it. Find a time that works best for you. I like reading in the morning, but you decide what’s best. A friend of mine cannot read the bible at night, as the things he learns excites his mind preventing sleep. Others might find that it calms the mind, allowing God’s word to comfort. Whatever time you pick, just do it. Nothing ever gets done until a deadline is set.

3 – Read for the sake of understanding, instead of just trying to plow through that days reading. Before you begin, say a prayer, asking God for wisdom [Jas 1:5]. Then read, allowing His wisdom to grow inside of you.

4 – Keep a Bible handy, EVERYWHERE. We have bibles placed throughout the house, in our cars and on our phones. This does two things. First, they act as reading reminders as we go about our day. Second, having the bible within reach allows us to pick it up during those moments of waiting. It’s amazing how much time we spend in waiting rooms, or simply waiting for someone else.

4.5 – Replace some of your Facebook time. The average person has five social media accounts and spends around 1 hour and 40 minutes browsing these networks every day. This 100 minutes is accumulated over the course of the entire day. Reading at pulpit pace, aloud, not too quickly, it only takes 960 minutes to read the entire New Testament. This means that you can read the NT in just 10 days using our social media time. I’m not telling you to give up Facebook, but what if you just used SOME of your social media time to read the bible on your phone? You’re already looking at your phone anyway.

Whatever system you decide, let the word of God dwell in your hearts.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. [Eph 6:17]

Conversing at the Lord’s Table

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We all know, that on the night of Jesus betrayal, He implemented what is commonly called the Lord’s supper: “He said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. 20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” [Luke 22:15-20; cr. Matthew 26:26-29]

A most important topic but, have you ever considered what ELSE He taught at that last supper? When we read all the gospel accounts regarding the supper, we find 5 other topics of discussion.

1 – The Hurt of Betrayal Among them. [Matthew 26:20-25] As they sat down for supper, Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.” They all wondered aloud, “is it I?” Jesus goes on to say, “woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.” So many lessons could be drawn, but one question keeps haunting me, “Is it I?” Could we betray our Lord? The Hebrew writer expresses this idea when he wrote about “crucifying afresh” the Son of God when we fall away. [Hebrews 6:6]

2 – The Value of Service. [John 13:3-17] While the twelve are all still there, Jesus humbles Himself and washes each of the disciple’s feet, INCLUDING JUDAS. Jesus tells them, “For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.” He is not commanding us to perform a ritual of foot washing, (that was a custom of that day), rather He is demonstrating service toward one another. To love one another. After this example He said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” [John 13:36]. The lesson is clear, have we such a love for each other?

3 – The Promise of Comfort. [John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13] At this supper He was telling them about His coming departure. As they wondered where He would be going, and how they might follow Him, He said, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” He then spoke about a Comforter who would come to “guide them into all truth.” He was speaking about the revelation of the New Testament scriptures, brought to them through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Today, we have the complete word of God. Can we still find comfort in them, just as the Apostles? I’d say we can.

4 – The Need to Bear Fruit. [John 15:1-8] As He was telling them of the Comforter, He also gave an illustration about being profitable disciples. He spoke of “bearing much fruit.” Connected with His word, and the words the Holy Spirit shall speak, the disciple can abide in Jesus, and He in us. Just as a branch bears fruit when attached to the vine, we too can bear fruit when attached to Jesus through His word. But there was also a warning, “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” What a terrible thought, to be cast away and burned for failing to bear fruit. We can only bear fruit through obedience to His word. [cr. Matthew 7:21-29]

5 – The Power of Spiritual Unity. [John 17:11-23] Prior to their departure to the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed to the Father in their presence. He prayed, “Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.” Some today have the false notion that unity is found in just getting along and overlooking sin. This can never be right. Spiritual Unity is also called “fellowship.” Scriptural fellowship with God is achieved through heartfelt obedience to the Word of God. Jesus said it this way, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” [John 14:21].  Do you and I love Jesus? Then we shall keep His commandments and have spiritual fellowship.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. [1John 1:7]

What an amazing supper that must have been. These are the final words of the Master to His disciples before He is betrayed and crucified. They are important words with valuable lessons. Let us study them, learn from them and apply them into our lives.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

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The weather is cooler, no longer are we suffering from the oppressive heat of our Texas summer. There’s excitement in the air, anticipation of the holiday.

The stores are filled with new and unique items found at no other time of the year. They’re offering deals and discounts to attract us to buy.

Happier greetings and if you’ll listen closely, you might hear a carol or two. I look forward to the mail this time of the year as cards with news and pictures arrive of family and friends from afar.

It’s the happiest season of the year, because folks are talking about Jesus. All the other times of the year, His Name is not to be uttered, anywhere. Every other time of the year, to speak of Jesus places you into the “bible thumper” category.

Of course, the conversations about Jesus are usually wrong, erroneous and flat out blasphemous. As you listen to people talk about the birthday of Jesus, you can’t help but think, “everything about that was wrong.” God didn’t reveal to us the date of our Savior’s birth.

At least they’re talking about Him. That’s why it’s a wonderful season. For a whole month, people won’t flinch when you mention His name. It’s a fabulous opportunity to have a conversation about Jesus. No, Christians don’t celebrate the day of His birth, we celebrate His death. Perhaps that’s where we can begin…

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. [1Corinthians 11:26]

Jesus is not coming back…

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…to sit on a throne in Jerusalem

On Thursday, President Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. This had been a broken campaign promise of each of the last 3 presidents dating back to the 90’s. With this announcement comes renewed interest in Jerusalem and the supposed 1,000-year reign of Jesus.

Jesus is not coming back…to reign from Jerusalem.

The doctrine that Jesus will reign on a throne in Jerusalem for 1,000 years prior to the Judgement is called “PREMILLENNIALISM.” To understand it requires a lot of squinting and taking very complex liberties with the Biblical Record. As a result, answering this error has been just as complex. Fortunately, it has a very simple solution.

Before we look at the answer, a little bit of background is necessary. Premillennialists hold many variants, but this is the one held by most: Jesus will first come invisibly, unknown by all except the righteous in an event they call the “RAPTURE.” Following this will be a 7-year period called the “tribulation.” After the 7 years the battle of “ARMAGEDDON” occurs and Jesus will visibly return to defeat the forces of evil and to establish His kingdom, physically upon the earth in Jerusalem, and reign as King for 1,000 years from Jerusalem. After this ‘millennium’ Jesus will raise the wicked to face the judgement.

3 Simple Answers

FIRST, it contradicts the prophetic Word of God. If this theory is true, then God goofed when He told Jeremiah,  “Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.” [Jer 22:30;]. This was a prophecy regarding the last king of Judah, Coniah (also called Jeconiah & Jehoiakim). This man is also found in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:12. No descendant of this man, which would include Jesus, could sit on a physical throne in Israel. At Pentecost, Peter preached, by the Holy Spirit, that Jesus was on a throne and that throne is in Heaven. [Acts 2:34, Psalm 110:1, Mt 22:44; 1Co 15:25; Eph 1:20; Heb 1:13].

SECOND, it has been promised that the next time anyone sees Jesus it will be very visible and incredibly loud. Just before Pentecost in Acts 1, Jesus ascended into heaven. As the Apostles stood gazing at the clouds, 2 men in white apparel said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” [Acts 1:11]. Later, the Apostle Paul wrote: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:” [1Thessalonians 4:16]. The context continues into chapter 5 where it points out that the arrival of Jesus will bring destruction [5:3].

THIRD, all of mankind will be raised to face the judgement at one time. When premillennialists say that only the righteous will be raised, they’re in direct contradiction of Jesus. He said, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which ALL that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” (emphasis mine) [John 5:28-29]. Paul thought that everyone, the just and the unjust, would be raised at once [Acts 24:15].

I would encourage everyone to continue to study the truth about the 2nd coming of Christ, but I believe these are sufficient proofs. Sometimes the best answer is the simplest.

Bonus answer: Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.” [Mark 9:1]. If His kingdom has not been established already, there are some very old folks walking around!

Who Knew?

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Over the last few weeks, sexual misconduct allegations have rocked the news & entertainment world (Sometimes I wonder if there’s a difference between news and entertainment today).Then just this week we saw the firing of Matt Lauer from NBC’s the Today show. The earthquake has shaken everyplace far beyond just Hollywood. Trembles are being felt in the workplace, in sports and at the highest levels of government. The pervasiveness of sexual harassment in the workplace has begun to shift our countries mindset.

Women are now boldly coming forward to shine the light on crude conversation and lewd behavior. Let’s be honest guys, we’ve known about the vulgar way men tend to joke with each other when we’re not in mixed company. Many have heard stories (as it turns out they’re more than just stories) of ‘playboys’ taking advantage of innocent female coworkers. Many men, and even some women, would say, “boys will be boys.”

Who knew that this sort of sordid activity was wrong? WE ALL DID!! We all know that the harassment of women is wrong. We all know that sexual assault is wrong. It’s not wrong just because it is coming to light and our society finds it detestable. It was wrong long before these times. Who knew?

God did, for He deemed it wrong when He revealed His will to mankind for how we ought to behave. From the very beginning God began to show us how He expected us to behave toward the opposite sex. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” [Gen 2:24]. In the desert, He commanded us, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Then He said, “…Thou shalt not covet neighbour’s wife,” [Exodus 20:14, 17]. He then revealed to us in Leviticus 18 what ought not be revealed.

Who Knew? Jesus did. In Matthew 5:28 He said, “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Then He said, “And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.” [v19].

Who Knew? the Holy Spirit did. The inspired Paul warned us through the 1 Corinthian letter, “…It is better to marry than to burn.” [1Cor 7:9]. Paul warned Timothy, “Flee also youthful lusts” and to “be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” [2Timothy 2:22, 1Timothy 4:12]. Paul wrote for us to know that, “fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as becometh saints;” [Ephesians 5:3]. Who knew that sexual harassment is wrong? God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit knew, and He expects us all to know it as well.

I wonder what the world would be like if there was more concern given for God’s word. Perhaps these allegations and admissions will awaken us to the truth of God’s word, or at least remind Christians that our behavior is to be far above that of the world. That’s what Paul meant, “let it not even be named among you.”

But there’s more…

Did you also know that the joking we excuse as locker room talk is wrong? In the same passage above, Paul continued, “nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, or jesting, which are not befitting: but rather giving of thanks.” [v4 ASV]. We ought to have known that the ‘locker room’ talk is never befitting of a Christian regardless of the company. Who knew?