Do converts & church equal Christ & Christianity?

From today’s Blackaby devotional titled “Not in Word but in Power”, the Blackabys remarked about the Apostle Paul’s ministry and the evidences of God’s power in his life:

Paul responded with a reminder that the test of a citizen’s authenticity was not the persuasiveness of his words, but the spiritual power of his life. Paul candidly acknowledged that some did not find him eloquent in speech (2nd Corinthians 10:1). Yet they could not question God’s power in his life. He had seen many people converted, and many churches were started through his ministry. He had been used to heal the sick and raise the dead through God’s power. Regardless of whether his words were eloquent, they carried spiritual power and authority that came from God.

In the event that some readers have come under the assumption that the Blackabys are implying that masses of converts, size of a church, and or other signs of a “healthy” ministry are explicit proofs that the power of God is active in a person’s life, I wish to offer up some additional thoughts,/advice regarding that specific section of their devotional. 

I want to begin by stating that I don’t believe that we should automatically apply these arguments and observations of how God used Paul when observing someone’s ministry and life.  I don’t believe that the Blackabys were implying this at all, however I felt obligated to follow-up with my own comments, since the statement seemed to unintentionally invite one to interpret the Blackabys thoughts as a standardized spiritual checklist.

What I’ve observed over the years by some Christians is a quickness to try to rationalize and justify a false teacher or teaching by diverting to the same evidences that the Blackabys described concerning Paul’s ministry, specifically numerous conversions and new churches started.   I suggest that in a broader Biblical view we also need to consider the words of Christ and Paul:

Matthew 24:4-5
4Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

2nd Timothy 4:3-4
3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

As the Blackabys later mentioned in the devotional, “If a person talks of the power of God but gives no evidence of victory in her life, her words are empty. It is much easier to talk about the victorious Christian life than it is to live it.”

So how do we discern?  What is or are the evidences of victory (a Christ-centered life)?  In Matthew 7 Christ tells us that regardless of external appearances, whatever is the state of a man’s heart, it will be reflected by what he produces…

Matthew 7:15-20
15"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Paul, speaking more straightforward reiterates Christ’s words by laying out “the obvious” bad fruit and good fruits…

Galatians 5:19-26
19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

The point is this… conversions, church growth and multiple ministries are not Biblical reasons to defend a favored teacher,pastor, “evangelical” message, method, or philosophy.  To “quote” Christ, Christians need to be looking at the “root” of the situation. Is it planted in Christ or in man?

John 15:1-8
1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Grace and peace be with you

Do converts & church equal Christ & Christianity?

From today’s Blackaby devotional titled “Not in Word but in Power”, the Blackabys remarked about the Apostle Paul’s ministry and the evidences of God’s power in his life:

Paul responded with a reminder that the test of a citizen’s authenticity was not the persuasiveness of his words, but the spiritual power of his life. Paul candidly acknowledged that some did not find him eloquent in speech (2nd Corinthians 10:1). Yet they could not question God’s power in his life. He had seen many people converted, and many churches were started through his ministry. He had been used to heal the sick and raise the dead through God’s power. Regardless of whether his words were eloquent, they carried spiritual power and authority that came from God.

In the event that some readers have come under the assumption that the Blackabys are implying that masses of converts, size of a church, and or other signs of a “healthy” ministry are explicit proofs that the power of God is active in a person’s life, I wish to offer up some additional thoughts,/advice regarding that specific section of their devotional. 

I want to begin by stating that I don’t believe that we should automatically apply these arguments and observations of how God used Paul when observing someone’s ministry and life.  I don’t believe that the Blackabys were implying this at all, however I felt obligated to follow-up with my own comments, since the statement seemed to unintentionally invite one to interpret the Blackabys thoughts as a standardized spiritual checklist.

What I’ve observed over the years by some Christians is a quickness to try to rationalize and justify a false teacher or teaching by diverting to the same evidences that the Blackabys described concerning Paul’s ministry, specifically numerous conversions and new churches started.   I suggest that in a broader Biblical view we also need to consider the words of Christ and Paul:

Matthew 24:4-5
4Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

2nd Timothy 4:3-4
3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

As the Blackabys later mentioned in the devotional, “If a person talks of the power of God but gives no evidence of victory in her life, her words are empty. It is much easier to talk about the victorious Christian life than it is to live it.”

So how do we discern?  What is or are the evidences of victory (a Christ-centered life)?  In Matthew 7 Christ tells us that regardless of external appearances, whatever is the state of a man’s heart, it will be reflected by what he produces…

Matthew 7:15-20
15"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Paul, speaking more straightforward reiterates Christ’s words by laying out “the obvious” bad fruit and good fruits…

Galatians 5:19-26
19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

The point is this… conversions, church growth and multiple ministries are not Biblical reasons to defend a favored teacher,pastor, “evangelical” message, method, or philosophy.  To “quote” Christ, Christians need to be looking at the “root” of the situation. Is it planted in Christ or in man?

John 15:1-8
1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Grace and peace be with you

The irony “lies” in the details

When the story initially broke about Representative Joe Wilson calling President Obama a liar during a joint session of Congress (over President Obama’s claims of what health care reform will cost and cover); my thoughts were that if Wilson’s accusations are true then he shouldn’t on principle, apologize.  If they’re true accusations there’s nothing to be apologetic for.  Who apologizes for speaking a truth?  If Wilson wanted to apologize or was coerced into making an apology, my opinion is that it should have been for losing his cool in making an accurate statement.  That said:

Exodus 20:16
"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

Instead of jumping on the Wilson outburst in Congress story ASAP, I took some time off to let things marinate for a while.  Interestingly, another incident in the political arena, fueled by events taking place in the “entertainment” industry, would soon follow and so the turn of events seems to have come full circle. 

Following Joe Wilson’s accusation of President Obama being a liar, “mr.” Kanye West, a hip-hop artist and entrepreneur, stormed the stage of the MTV Video Music Awards, just after the first award, for Best Female Video, was presented to Taylor Swift. In a turn of events that I found shocking and which appeared even visibly so in the footage of the audience’s reaction, West rudely interrupts Swift (a teenage singer), grabs the microphone from her and initiates his personal agenda by protesting in support of Beyoncé.

Galatians 5:24-26
24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

A few days later, and to come full circle though; President Obama is recorded in a conversation overheard by ABC news employees.  In his response to a question of his reaction to “mr.” West’s conduct, President Obama gives his opinion of “mr.” West….

What I find ironic about these events, particularly those dealing with Joe Wilson, President Obama and the “public opinion” is that consistency and a sense of what is right seems to be missed.

As for  Wilson’s outburst; I follow the argument that Wilson may have been out of line given the circumstances under which he flung his accusation.  The flip side of the coin though is this…, as a representative of the people, is he not “right” in watching out for the interests of his statesmen? Provided that stewardship of his duties is or was a motivating factor and not one of political maneuvering.  If, that is the case, is there not a precedence of doing what is ethically correct over what is politically correct?  I’m thinking more in the spirit of Jeremiah calling Judah to repentance.

This past Wednesday a friend and co-worker left a comment on FaceBook; replying to the initial post I added about the President’s opinion of Kanye West sparking a debate.  The gist of their comment is that they “loved the fact that there’s a President in office that will call it like it is”.  As “profound” as that statement may appear, President Obama’s remarks have very little if anything to do with honesty or truth.  I note that the comment my friend left,doesn’t make a comparison of the actions between President Obama and Representative Wilson.  I however am making one on the basis of both being politicians, that have vocally expressed their opinions.  in which case I have to differ with the sentiment of my friend’s comment on the following principles:

• What bearing does a politician’s opinion of an entertainer have to do with governing?
• What benefit does the public gain in knowing that the President is just like “Joe average”?

Going back to my days in the Army, I recall the transition that had to be made once promoted to Sergeant.  Being entrusted with duties to train, lead and develop subordinate soldiers in doctrine and military protocol, I could no longer be their buddy due to regulations against fraternization i.e. socialize, mingle, mix, consort, hobnob.  Perhaps readers will relate better in the context of working as an associate for a company and then receiving a promotion to a managerial position?  Because of the new position and authority, associations with fellow employees and conduct that may have been “acceptable” while on the bottom of the totem pole, are now more detrimental to effective leadership.  Feelings, personalities and emotions have a tendency to get in the way of making right decisions as called for by the authority given.

So it all leads me to wonder how and when did it become acceptable to think that as one entrusted to govern, it’s alright to overlook Presidential conduct that mimics conduct expected of “Joe Average”?  Was President Obama making a truthful statement or is opinion?  Other than the MTV misconduct, I know nothing about Kanye West, so instead of drawing conclusions of his character, I’ll go from what Scripture says:

Luke 6:43-45
43"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

Earlier in the
week I posted some thoughts concerning honesty in the context of personal relationship with God and with others, a case of being confronted to tell the truth,whereas with the President’s remarks, it’s a matter of someone stating their opinion.   Thoughts and commentary in today’s post have to do with responsibility,integrity, and character of those in a position of authority.  I hope it’s understood that the intention is not to bash President Obama, nor to apologize for Representative Joe Wilson; rather to ask readers to look at the deeper implications of the actions of all involved in this ironic twist of events.

 

Grace and peace be with you.

Exposing Dead Faith – MacArthur devotional (20090628)

Exposing Dead Faith

"What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself"
(James 2:14- 17).

Jesus said, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). Your righteous deeds illuminate the path to God by reflecting His power and grace to others. That brings Him glory and proves your faith is genuine.
Your deeds also serve as the basis of divine judgment. If you practice righteousness, you will receive eternal life; if you practice unrighteousness, you will receive "wrath and indignation" (Romans 2:6-8). God will judge you on the basis of your deeds because what you do reveals who you really are and what you really believe. That’s why any so- called faith that doesn’t produce good works is dead and utterly useless!

James illustrates that point in a practical way. If someone lacks the basic necessities of life and comes to you for help, what good does it do if you simply wish him well and send him away without meeting any of his needs? It does no good at all! Your pious words are hypocritical and without substance. If you really wished him well, you would do what you can to give him what he needs! Your unwillingness to do so betrays your true feelings. Similarly, dead faith is hypocritical, shallow, and useless because it doesn’t put its claims into action–indeed, it has no divine capacity to do so.
I pray that your life will always manifest true faith and that others will glorify God because of your good works.

Suggestions for Prayer:
Perhaps you know someone whose claim to Christianity is doubtful because his or her life doesn’t evidence the fruit of righteousness. If so, pray for that person regularly and set an example by your own good works. For Further Study:

Read John 15:1-8.

• What illustration did Jesus use for spiritual fruitfulness?
• What is the prerequisite for fruitfulness?

From Drawing Near by John MacArthur Copyright © 1993. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com.

 

Grace and peace be with you.

Sunday Morning Tidbits (20080816)

It’s been yet another busy week at  work, church and all the extra things that keep a fella busy until the wee hours of the morning.  Pheww!!

Tech stuff:

I spent the past two or three evenings upgrading yet another WordPress install.  This time for my church’s blog, which was still on the old WP2.3 install  And yet again not quite the 5 minute painless install that "they" say it is. No database corruption this time, just a problem with Permalinks not working. and we lost our PodPress functionality in the upgrade process.

Oh well, on the bright side, I came across two sweet themes that anyone looking for an update may want to check out.  The themes offer a ton of customizations without having to dig into code:

Check out the theme titled Mandigo if your looking for “an elegant widget-ready one/two/three-column WordPress theme, available in two widths, SEVEN color schemes and 38 languages!”

If your looking for "Fluid width, 2 or 3 column theme for WP 2.2 – WP 2.6, with rotating header images, customizable logo and options page. Plug & Play for various plug-ins" then check out this 2 or 3 columned theme titled Atahualpa.

Need a media player for all of the multiple media formats out there in Internet land?  Try VLC, it’ll play .mp4, m4v etc.  A nice feature is VLC’s playback support of RealMedia (arrgghh!) streams, something I found out while visiting the following site  listed under…

Christian PodCast/Broadcasts:

From their tagline, Pirate Christian Radio claims: "This station proclaims "Christ crucified for our sins" and exalts and defends THE historic Christian faith."

Apologetics.com is one of my more favored sites to visit for informative broadcasts on a variety of Christian topics.  Apologetics.com, has a fairly laid back forum… must be all of that that California sunshine. 🙂

Another site that I only recently visited (known about it for a while, just busy,lazy, forgetful…), Slice of Laodecia, also has an interesting forum that’s caught my attention.  For the Podcasts check out the top center portion of the page.

Memorable Readings:

I recommend reading Mark Carlton’s post on The God of The Old Testament (Part20): Genocide or Justice, a nice refresher for our perspective of God and His divine justice system.

Lashawn Barber’s 2 cents worth on Why did God make Different race?

By it’s fruit you will know it:

For those that have followed the Lakeland Florida Outpouring closer than I have,there now appears to be more to Todd Bentley’s recent problems.  Link found via Apostasy Watch.

Matthew 12:33
33 "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.

 

Grace and peace be with you.