A Handful of Earth

 I consider myself to be a nostalgic futurist. 

As I am writing this, my wife, Christine and I are enjoying a week at the old family farm near Mankato, Minnesota. My mom lives in the old farmhouse that she grew up in. And when we come up to visit we stay with her. 

NOSTALGIC:

It never fails to bring back memories from my childhood. I can honestly say that the very happiest memories growing up were when we could travel back to Minnesota and stay a week or two on the family farm with our Grandma Woods and Aunt Doris. We would spend the time exploring the farm, walking to the Blue Earth River. Of course, the best part was getting to see our aunts, uncles and cousins. Usually during our visits the entire family would come out to the farm. Aunt Doris would saddle up the horse, Pal and we would take turns riding. We would often make a fire and have a hot dog roast too. Sometimes a couple of years would go by between visits but it was always something we looked forward to and hated when we had to leave.

As a child I often dreamed that I would come back and actually run the farm and restore it to a fully functioning family farm, maybe as a ‘U-pick-it’ vegetable farm. I wanted to have sheep, chickens, and maybe a milk cow as well as a sizable vegetable garden. Of course, I would make the fields into pastures and huge produce fields. 

But for some reason after a visit around my eighteenth birthday I never made it back. 

It would be seventeen years before I would return with my own growing family just long enough for my sister’s wedding. It was the last time I would see my Grandma Woods as she went to her heavenly home just a few years later at the ripe old age of 95. 

Fifteen more years passed. 

In the autumn of 2016 just after my marriage of 24 years ended I made the drive from Florida back to the old Woodvale farm. Coming down the old gravel road brought back bittersweet memories of vacations spent with our grandma and relatives. Grandma wouldn’t be here now. The farm is still beautiful and Mom has really done a fantastic job keeping up the old farmhouse and yard. But it isn’t the same.

Since then I have made it back every year. The last five times I have come back with my wife, Christine. Every time we turn down the gravel road and head into the woods I have vivid memories of making the long trip from wherever we happened to be living and realizing the trip was almost over. Coming to the farm literally felt like coming home. I always felt like I belonged here.

As I walk the farm property I can remember sheep in the pasture across the road. I remember the horse, Pal and the pony, Sally. I remember walking down to the old swimming hole on hot summer afternoons to cool off in the fresh cool water of the Blue Earth River.

If I sit on the old swing in the yard and close my eyes I can almost see Grandma walking along the sidewalk to do a little work in her garden, either picking some vegetables to add to supper or some flowers to put in a vase. If it was winter she would be walking towards the chicken house in her long overcoat and scarf to feed Pal and Sally. And none of us can ever forget the wonderful music that came from the old upright piano when Grandma would sit down and play.

This morning I walked up to the mailbox and looked over to what once was the old Hanel farm. Herbert Hanel was my grandma’s younger brother. Usually visits to Minnesota included having supper with Uncle Herbert and Aunt Leona. Uncle Herbert had taken over the family farm from his parents. It was where my grandma grew up.

She literally married the boy next door. 

But Uncle Herbert and Aunt Leona have been gone for many years and their farm has long since been sold. Today as you walk towards the mailbox the pond Uncle Herbert made is obscured by mature trees and the farmhouse was torn down and the new house is barely visible from the road.

Most of the old buildings on the Woodvale farm are deteriorating and have fallen into disrepair and are no longer in use.The fences were taken down years ago and some of them are rolled up by the old corn crib which is falling apart.

This farm was purchased by my great great grandfather, Isaac Woods in 1856 and it has been in the family ever since. The farmhouse where my mom still lives was built back in the 1870’s. It’s sad to think that someday the farm may no longer be in the family.

But it is reality. 

FUTURIST:

I fully understand that the generation after mine doesn’t have the same kind of nostalgic attachment to the Woodvale Farm that my cousins and I do. Many in the next generation never met Grandma Woods and those that did, remember her very differently. I remember a strong farm woman who would sling hay over the fence with a pitchfork. By the time the great grandchildren came along she was old and frail. Most of them never heard her play the piano. They never rode Pal. They don’t remember the barn. They didn’t spend the time out here and do the things that we did. Grandma has been gone now for more than eighteen years. Three of her four daughters are now in their eighties, and most of us cousins who played out here as children are past middle age.

This is where the ‘futurist’ in me comes in.

Years ago I heard a wise man say, “If your dreams don’t come true, dream new dreams. And if you fail to achieve your goals, set new goals.” I dreamed I would one day come and run the farm. That dream didn’t come true. So I’ve had to dream new dreams and set new goals. And I’ve done that. The fact is life goes on and time doesn’t stand still. The only thing in life that is permanent is change.

And it will change.

I realize each trip I make back here may very well be my last. One day the farm won’t be here to come back to. Someday there may not be a compelling reason to come back to Minnesota at all.

It’s not a bad thing. The fact is farming is so different today that it would not really be practical to attempt to restore this farm to what it once was. It is not a bad thing that the next generation may not care to keep the farm in the family. Their experiences growing up were very different…and that’s OK. Life goes on and time flies.

The property that was affectionately nicknamed ‘Gracie’s Woods’ is finally being sold. It is a 40 acre woodlot located across the river from the farm. It’s main purpose originally was to harvest firewood for use on the farm and to sell in town. We hiked there earlier this week. I believe the last time I was there was when I was 16. That was over 40 years ago. One of my cousins is actually buying it so that part of the property will technically remain in the family…at least for now. In many ways I believe it should have been sold years ago. It hasn’t done much except cost the farm money in property taxes. At least by being sold now it won’t be something the next generation will have to be concerned about. I really hope it turns out to be a very good thing for my cousin.

I am now 56 years old. If 56 represents ⅔ of my life then I will live 28 more years. That will make me 84 when I cross the finish line. That would be old and full of days. In a blink, me and my generation will be ready for our departure. Then it will be up to those who come after us.

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

Isaiah 43:18‭-‬19 NIV

Maybe it’s time to let things go. We still have memories and we remember them fondly. But that’s all they are, memories. Life is going on, time is flying, things have changed and the future is coming soon, to a theater near you.

In the meantime, we are still here, walking the sod and we have work to do. My wife and I have jobs, two duplexes and some farmland acreage in Tennessee that need to be maintained and developed. We both have ministries and people there who need and depend on us. So we need to get back to the task at hand until God calls us home. 

"It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns."

Matthew 24:46 NIV

So we will be heading back to Tennessee and our home near the Great Smoky Mountains. Hopefully, we will be back next year but just in case we aren’t, I am taking a handful of earth home with me.

Yep, still nostalgic.

You Think it's Tough Now?

 “If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?"

Jeremiah 12:5 NIV

Many years ago I heard a message from a visiting pastor and he imagined what any one of the apostles or disciples of the early church would think if they came back today and could hear us talk about our struggles in the western world. They would be embarrased and ashamed of us. These were people who were literally signing their own death warrants just by uttering the phrase, 'Jesus is Lord,' and yet continued to proclaim Jesus as their Lord and continued to meet together and spread the gospel in spite of constant threat of persecution. Often it meant imprisonment and or death.

In our country we have not had to worry about the threat of persecution on a systematic scale. Our country was founded on the principles of freedom which included freedom of speech, freedom to bear arms, freedom to own property, etc. That does not mean freedom from responsibility or consequences of our actions. Yet somehow we have adopted that idea in our modern culture. 

What has the result been?  

We have gone from 18 year old young men having the courage to storm the beaches of Normandy to needing a 'safe place' to protect themselves from being triggered by someone who simply disagrees with them...all within a lifetime.

In the words of G. Michael Hopf: “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”

Since World War 2 we have had relatively good times and we have created weak men. 

The church has not fared much better. Persecution has always strengthened Christianity so it stands to reason that lack of persecution has weakened it. I forgot where I heard this quote: "It seems you can't swing a dead cat in any direction without hitting a church steeple." Yet we are having almost no effect on our culture. During my lifetime (56 years) We have gone from looking at same sex relationships as being deviant to completely normal and acceptable. When I was in high school if a man decided he identified as a woman and wanted to join the women's swim team he would have been put through psychiatric evaluation and likely committed. A person who has lost touch with reality is insane. But now, saying such a thing is considered hate speech.

And what do we hear from the church? Crickets.

In 2020, we had shutdowns from a 'mysterious' virus. With few exceptions, the church in America voluntarily allowed themselves to be shut down. And what was the driving force behind the shutdowns?

FEAR!!

And what does scripture say about fear? Do NOT be afraid!

Christians from the first century through the Reformation met under threat of having the door kicked in and being hauled off to prison, even death. What would they think of us? Would they even consider us being worthy of being called Christians? 

Now some of you might be upset or offended that I would suggest such a thing. In response I would suggest that we all take the admonition in 2 Corinthians 13:5:

"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?"

This is something followers of Christ should be doing constantly.

The irony is that even with the masks, shutdowns, and social distancing, most of us still got sick...and most of us completely recovered. So what were we afraid of?

Now you might say, "Well somewhere in the neighborhood of a million people in this country died from this virus." 

Answer: The mortality rate in percentages was slightly more than the previous year but was lower that the year before that. Most of the tabulated deaths were actually from other causes. There was no pandemic.

Objection: If they hadn't gotten this virus they would still be alive.

Answer: We can't possibly know that.

To conclude, I'll requote the lead off verse: 

  “If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?"

Or:

If you were afraid of a cold virus, then...?

My Mountaintop Experience. What God Showed Me.

It was early November, 2017, when I was on my way to hike to the top of Mount Cammerer in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A friend I went to church with said she thought I would really like this hike because there is an old fire lookout station at the top which provides amazing panoramic views. Apparently there is a trail up that allows for horseback riding, or at least did at one time.

I moved to Tennessee after my divorce was final in 2016. I fell in love with the mountains and I tried to go hiking as often as I could. Hiking was significant for me because a few years earlier I had been in a hospital bed with chest pains. Tests showed that I had not actually had a heart attack but I needed to make some changes or I would. I really believe that the symptoms were caused by the tremendous stress I was under during the last few years of my troubled marriage.

This hike was going to be challenging because during the first two or three miles the trail climbs over 2,800 feet. Then it meets the Appalachian Trail the rest of the way to the observation tower. Up and back would be a total of 11 miles -- not for the faint of heart.

It was an absolutely beautiful morning as I drove on Interstate 40 towards the North Carolina border where the exit was. However as soon as I got off the freeway I found myself driving through a dense fog that I can only describe as creepy. Mount Cammerer was in my GPS. I was following it deeper into the forest and farther from civilization. After a time my GPS said, "You have arrived." I was on the road in the middle of nowhere with the slope going up to my right but no trailhead or anything that even looked like a trail.

I realized I had simply put Mount Cammerer in my GPS but not the trailhead. I hadn't even looked up to see where the trailhead was. Of course I had no cell phone signal, so I had to find my way back into town where I could get enough signal to find out where the trail began and then find my way there.

The trail actually started at the Cosby Campground in North Carolina. By the time I got there, it was about 9:30 in the morning and the sun was fairly high. I was actually hoping to be on the trail by around 8:00 because I knew the days were getting shorter and I didn't want to be stuck on the trail after dark. The strange thing is I never made this mistake before and was shaking my head and even thinking about how creepy the fog was that morning. As I was musing over all of this, I suddenly sensed the 'still small voice' say something to me:

"I'm going to show you something when you get to the top."

It could not have been more real if it had been an actual audible voice. Now I was filled with excited anticipation. I also had a little bit of trepidation because I thought of God taking Moses up to the top of Mount Nebo to show him the promised land but then he died up there. I somewhat wondered if this was how it was going to end for me. I figured if it was, then I would simply be ushered into the presence of my savior so it would be fine. 

About halfway up, the trial meets the Appalachian Trail and continues for another 2 miles or so. Once you are on the trail it levels out a lot which is good because after 3 miles and climbing nearly 1,000 feet per mile I was feeling my knees. At this point I caught up to a couple of women. One of them seemed to be about my age and the other quite a bit older. We hiked together for a bit and then I noticed that the older lady dropped back a ways leaving me with the younger woman who I learned was her daughter. She seemed to be enjoying hiking with me and we were having some really good conversations. I began wondering if this was what God was intending to show me. 

We continued together the rest of the way to the observation tower and when we arrrived we somehow ended up separated. I went inside and looked around. It hasn't been used as an observation tower for a long time but it is maintained for trail hikers to be able to stop for the night. I went outside on the outer deck and looked around. The views were quite amazing but I found myself wondering about the voice I heard. Maybe God just wanted to show me some beautiful scenery or maybe I had simply imagined it all. I was convinced that a future wife was not what God intended to show me. She was nice and attractive but I was still licking wounds from my broken marriage and just didn't have it in me to have a relationship at this point. I didn't know if I ever would be able to and in reality, I was enjoying my single life and had no interest in changing that.

Generally people get to the tower about lunch time so there was quite a group of people there eating lunch. Some of the hikers had come up another way and told us that the trail they had come up started in the Cosby campground as well. It was a couple of miles longer but the slope was more gradual and therefore easier on the joints. That kind of appealed to me but I didn't want to be alone on the trail. There was another couple that decided they would take the Lower Cammerer Trail down and we agreed that while we wouldn't actually hike together we would keep each other in sight. 

So we started down the other way which meant another few miles on the Appalachian Trail. At around 2:30 we got to the trail where the homeward trail branched off. I reached it first. I read the sign which said, "Lower Cammerer Trail, Cosby Campground, 7 1/2 miles." I turned to the couple behind me and said that we had a long ways to go and only about 3 hours of daylight left. We were going to have to hustle! 

We didn't waste any time! We maintained a very brisk walk and didn't stop to take pictures or enjoy the vistas. The gentleman was somewhat upset because we were told it was a couple of miles longer when it reality it was five miles longer. One thing was true, the trail descended much more gradually which did make it easier on the joints. 

We kind of 'leap-frogged' the rest of the way. Sometimes they were in front and sometimes I was in front, depending on someone needing to step of the trail briefly. Towards the end we actually were hiking together. I found out the lady was a marathon runner and the gentleman regularly worked out. They commented that I seemed to be in pretty good shape and asked what I did. I kind of joked that I sometimes drive past a gym. The fact is that I mainly I work a physical job which helps me stay in shape.

We finally made it back to the campground just after the sun had gone below the horizon. In another 30 minutes it would be dark. There were still some cars in the parking lot so I said goodbye to the couple and said I was going to wait and see if there were more people on the trail. After some time people started coming to their cars and it was apparent they were picnickers and fishermen just hanging out nearby, so I decided it was OK to leave.

It was dark on the way home and I could barely feel my legs by this point. After I got onto the interstate I started musing about thinking I had heard the 'still small voice' tell me he was going to show me something at the top. All of a sudden I heard the voice again, clear as a bell:

"I did show you something. I showed you another way down."

I was puzzled, but the voice continued:

"Three years ago you were in a hospital bed with chest pains not sure if you had a heart attack or not. But today, at 51 years old, you just hiked 16 miles, climbed and descended more than 2,800 feet in just over 7 hours. Not bad for an old bull. The truth is, you have a lot of life and a lot of living left in you. You are not even close to the finish line."

It was a little hard to drive the rest of the way home with tear filled eyes. I had not realized how much the previous several years had taken out of me but I knew I was feeling better and stronger than I had in a long time. I also felt encouraged that God wasn't finished with me yet and I was now looking forward to what he had in store for me next.

Well that was 5 1/2 years ago and I'm still going strong. I met the love of my life (not the woman on the trail) and married her a year after this hike. God has given both of us health and vitality and a good bit of work to do so it is good that he has kept us as strong as he has.

I am totally convinced that God does speak to us. Generally, I am skeptical when I hear someone, even myself, say that God told them something. We shouldn't discount it but we do need to test any word we might get. In this case, I think time has shown that this really was a word from the Lord and he took me up to Mount Cammerer to show me that my story wasn't finished yet.

I hope you are encouraged and inspired by this story of mine.

Modern Revivals, Part 3, "Preach The Gospel!!!"

"He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.'" - Mark 16:15 NIV

The very first time we see preaching in the New Testament is in Matthew chapter 3. John the baptist was the 'Elijah to come' who was sent ahead of the Messiah to prepare the way for him. The very first recorded words of the baptist are found in Matthew 2:3:

"In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.' "

Similarly when Jesus Christ began preaching after his baptism and temptation in the wilderness, his message was the same

REPENT!! (Matthew 4:17)

True Revivals Have Always Been Driven By the Gospel Call To Repent.

There are two enormous revivals mentioned in scripture. The first and most massive one is the one that happened when Jonah went to Ninevah. He preached and the entire city repented. The book of Jonah records that Ninevah was a city of more than 120,000 people.

The driving force was the PREACHING of Jonah.

The second great revival, or awakening, was on the day of Pentecost when Peter preached. His sermon in Acts 2:14-36 can be summed up in one sentence;

"Jesus the Nazarene was the Lord's Christ and you murdered him."

Then it follows in verse 37:

"When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?' "

Notice that there was no altar call and no sinners prayer. There was no strategy being employed to try and 'reach' the people. No praise band playing worship songs trying to bring the people into a mountain top experience. Though singing is mentioned in the New Testament, it is interesting how little the historical accounts actually talk about singing in the context of our worship services. 

The point is that Peter preached the simple, hard truth. He didn't sugarcoat the message. He preached it straight and the people responded from being convicted. It was AFTER the people responded to the message that Peter tells the people what they should do.

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call." - Acts 2:38‭-‬39 NIV

 Apparently Peter wasn't finished because it says:

"With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, 'Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.' Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day." - Acts 2:40‭-‬41 NIV

The message of the early church was one of warning. As Martin Lloyd Jones said, "The gospel has one message to the unrepentant sinner; judgment!" Jesus himself warned about coming judgment using some tragedies that had occured possibly recently:

"Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, 'Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." - Luke 13:1‭-‬5 NIV

It's the same warning. Judgment is waiting for the unrepentant sinner.

The next verse in chapter 2 shows something characteristic about the early church that the modern church has all but lost.

"They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." - Acts 2:42 NIV

The very fist thing on the list that they devoted themselves to was the apostles teaching. In other words -- DOCTRINE. The doctrines of the New Covenant were very important in the early church. As one reads through the New Testament epistles it is astonishing how much verbiage is spent correcting bad doctrines and warning against false teachers. In an age where doctrine is glossed over and in some cases ignored, is it any wonder that the average church goer cannot articulate the very basic doctrines of the Christian faith. 

The First Great Awakening

I already talked about the first Great Awakening in the first blog in this series so I won't spend too much time on it. 

These men were known for their sermons. Preaching the gospel was what drove the First Great Awakening.

One point of interest is that the actual revival only lasted a few years, from the late 1730's to the early 40's. But the effects of the revival lasted well into the next century. One reason for this is that many of those who were saved during the awakening became ministers of the gospel and continued in the work of the Great Commission. 

Another point of interest is that the 2 most well known preachers of the awakening, Jonathon Edwards and George Whitefield, preached for decades afterwards but were never able to duplicate the same type of revival. It was clearly the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Second Great Awakening

The Second Great Awakening occured roughly between 1796-1835, about a 40 year period of time. Like the first great awakening, the impacts of this awakening lasted way beyond the time of the actual revival itself. It was during this time that many things changed as far as ideas about how we evangelize and conduct our worship services.

The name most commonly associated with this awakening is Charles Grandison Finney. He introduced methods of evangelism in order to make it 'more effective.' He is regarded as a hero by many of the more well known contempory evangelists, which includes such names as Jerry Falwell and Billy Graham.

Finney is problematic because he rejected the doctrine of total depravity, original sin, and substitutionary atonement, among others. Consider this quote from his Systematic Theology: (Page 249)

"Sinners are under the necessity of first changing their hearts, or their choice of an end, before they can put forth any volition to secure any other than a selfish end. And this is plainly the everywhere assumed philosophy of the Bible. That uniformly represents the unregenerate as totally depraved and calls them to repent, to make themselves a new heart."

In other words, Finney believed that man, in his nature, had the capacity to choose the right way and change himself. This was the view espoused by the 5th century heretic, Pelagious. The problem with this view is as Martin Luther pointed out in his essay, The Bondage of The Will, the fact that nobody except Jesus Christ has ever emerged from the womb deciding to never sin proves that man cannot, in his own nature, choose good.

Because he believed that man inherently has the capacity to make a decision and change himself, he believed that the gospel message should be to call people to make the decision to change. This led him to come up with methods of evangelism that are not seen in the New Testament nor church history until around the 1850's. He introduced the 'anxious bench' which was a precurser to the modern altar call. He pushed people to make a 'decision,' which eventually gave way to the modern invitation and 'sinner's prayer.' His ideas also bacame the foundation of 'church growth strategies.'

Now some may say, "OK, so he taught and believed things that are unscriptural and maybe he was in fact a full blown heretic. But that doesn't mean he didn't have some good ideas that we can incorporate in our methods today." It is true that you can learn from almost anybody but consider this; his methods came directly from his doctrinal beliefs. Contrast the first awakening. Those preachers understood that because of man's depraved nature and unless the Holy Spirit moved in ressurrection power to regenerate a person's heart they were not capable of receiving the message of the gospel. Therefore they simply preached the undiluted message of the cross.

WHAT YOU BELIEVE DOCTRINALLY DETERMINES HOW YOU DO MINISTRY!!

If you truly believe in the dapravity of human nature then you understand that conversion is something only God can accomplish. We are not responsible for the result, only responsible to preach the undiluted gospel.

If you believe, as Finney did, that conversion is simply an act of the will, then you will look for methods to try and obtain results even to the point of altering the message -- making it no message at all.

True and False Revivals: The Need To Discern and Verify 

In the book of 1 Kings chapter 18 we have the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal and the challenge to see which God was the one true God. When the one true God sent his fire to burn not only the offering but also the altar and dried up the water in the trench it says in verse 39:

When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!"

This a picture of a massive revival. In verse 37 Elijah had prayed that God would show that he was God and "You are turning their hearts back again," and it appeared that it was happening. By the end of the day all 850 false prophets had been killed. It was a new day in Israel. BUT...

There was no revival.

When the smoke cleared, literally, it was business as usual and Elijah found himself running for his life. Even though Elijah finds out that 7,000 people had not bowed down to Baal there is no indication that a single person actually repented and returned to God. They had simply responded emotionally to a fantastic move of God and then went back to what they had been doing.

This same scenario plays out in the evangelistic crusade movement of today. There is a euphoric mountaintop experience. When the invitation is given to come and receive Christ a crowd comes forward, is led in a 'sinners prayer' and then welcomed into the family of God. The problem is there is no verification as to whether or not anything really happened or not. 

I have spoken to several foreign missionaries who have actually lived in these areas about the crusades and they have all said the same thing, "Thousands of people got saved at the crusade on Saturday night. Try to find any of them on Monday morning!" But by Monday morning the crusade has moved on to the next town. I remember someone once saying that over 6,000 people got saved at a crusade. A missionary responded that if 6,000 people truly got saved it would have a major impact on the city. At last report things were pretty much the same.

Revivals need to be verified. And that takes time to see what the actual fruits are.

Before There Can Be True Revival We Need A Reformation.

It is estimated that here in the United States about 63% of the people identify as Christian. That is an overwhelming majority. With such a majority, why are we having so little impact on our culture? 

As you look at the religious landscape one can tell very quickly that people's beliefs are all over the map.  Most people who identify as Christian can't even articulate the basic tenets of the faith. One wonders if they knew what the doctrines really are if they would still identify as Christian. The fact is most modern Christians today have gotten saved because they responded to an unbiblical gospel call. While I am sure that some have truly gotten saved, because God often saves in spite of our methods, we have to realize the very real possibility that many, if not most, professing Christians today simply are not truly saved. 

Very likely we have more goats than sheep in the fold.

Many are expressing that the solution is we who call ourselves Christians need to set aside our differences and come together in unity.

That is impossible!

The only kind of unity you can possibly have with people who believe all these different ideas is a very superficial unity. The unity would depend entirely on people agreeing not to discuss things (especially doctrine) -- just get along and love each other. But the moment a 'hot-button' topic comes up, and it will, everything will fall apart.

That is why I truly believe that without a reformation we will never have a true revival. By reformation I mean a 'reset.' 

A 'reset back to factory settings.'

If your cellphone or computer starts acting up because it has a lot of garbage app data or malware, there is a function you can use that will reset your device back to the factory settings. Basically it lets you start over.

That is what the church needs -- a reset.

We need to go back to the basic teachings of the apostles. Until we have that, any revival we can possibly have will be short lived at best, and completely false and deceptive at worst.

Yes, we need revival. But first we need a reformation.

Modern Revivals Part 2; When The Salt Ain't Salt

 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot." - Matthew 5:13 NIV

The chemical composition of table salt is sodium chloride. Because of it's simple elemental composition salt cannot actually lose it's flavor inherently. The only way salt can lose its flavor is if it becomes contaminated with another substance. This is what Jesus was warning against when he described his people as the salt of the earth. We lose our flavor when we allow ourselves to be contaminated by the world. Just like actual salt loses its usefulness when it becomes contaminated, we become useless when we become contaminated. 

All throughout the New Testament we are told things like, 'Do not love the world or the things of the world' (1 John 2:15); Keep ourselves from being polluted by the world (James 1:27); and many others.

Just like we as individual Christians lose our saltiness when we allow other worldly influences to shape and define us, the corporate church body also loses its saltiness when we allow the church to become contaminated by unbiblical philosophies AND... by allowing goats into the fold. Now it is true that we want unbelievers to come to our churches and hear the gospel and become Christians too. But our hope is that they will come into the church and become believers,... not remain unbelievers. However, if we are not holding close to the word and keeping ourselves from being polluted by the world we will lose our saltiness, and we will fill our sanctuaries with unconverted worldly people.

Doctrine divides, Jesus unifies. True or false?

This has become a driving philosphy in the modern church. We have learned, rightly so, that focusing on doctrine tends to turn people off. (The truth is unless someone is truly being regeneratied by the Holy Spirit, doctrine will turn them off.) Therefore much of the church today has the idea that we don't need to focus on the doctrines but just learn to love like Jesus did and people will come.

But is that what the early church taught?

Is turning people off by teaching the doctrines of the faith something we should be concerned about?

In Titus 2:1, the apostle Paul instructs us that we are to teach sound doctrine. In the modern western church doctrine has become a bad word and it seems that we are more focused on creating an atmosphere where we not only welcome all people but we are welcoming and striving to accomodate all viewpoints. 

It is the doctrines of the church that unifies the church.

But what about the idea that Jesus unifies?

The fact is, Jesus the Nazarene was one of the most divisive men who have ever walked the face of the earth. In Matthew 10:34-36 Jesus explained this was intentional:

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn “ ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

In Luke 2:34-35, the man Simeon prophetically said this would be true about the Christ child:

'Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” '

Jesus even went on to say that the world would hate his followers as well:

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." - John 15:18-19

To those who think, "if we can just show people the real Jesus they would love him", remember, God DID show the the real Jesus to the world and they crucified him.

So to answer the question, does doctrine divide and Jesus unify:

You cannot separate Jesus Christ from the doctrines of the church.

They BOTH unify those who truly belong to him and they BOTH divide those who are his from those who are not.

The Danger of Striving to Be Relevant to the Modern Culture

I believe the worst thing that has been brought into the modern church are 'church growth strategies.' They are shaped by the social scientists of our day. These are ideas that are based solely on worldly philosophies. They are not found anywhere in scripture. Often they focus on things like style, formats, offering 'goodies' to attract newcomers. Trying to be 'relevent' to the culture is a major goal of church growth strategies. In doing so we are encouraged to adopt the styles of the prevelant modern trends so we can fit in. We have taken their advice to make the message more palatable to the average person in hopes that we might lure them into our fellowship. We talk about the 'benefits' of giving our lives over to Christ rather than talk about sin, judgment and the need to repent. 

Because the doctrines of the faith are not front and center we are letting the world impact the church rather than the church impacting the world.

Recently, one of the pastors at our church commented how the early New Testament church made such tremendous impact in the world. But today, in spite of there being a church on every corner, we are not making much of an impact at all. He cited Act 17:6 where it said they had 'turned the world upside down.' In our day it seems just the opposite; the world has turned the church upside down. Maybe it is because we have abandoned the teachings of Jesus Christ and the apostles and have relied on the worldy philosophies of the social scientists. 

One thing that seems to be coming more and more in vogue is the idea that outsiders don't want to come to a 'church.' So we try to make our fellowships as much unlike a 'church' as we can. Often our churches look more like rock concerts and amusement parks than church meetings. 

We should be mindful of what Charles Spurgeon said, "The time is coming when instead of pastors feeding sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats." Those words were truly prophetic and it speaks of our time now. As Paul warned Timothy:

"For the time will come when people 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." - 2 Timothy 4:3 

The modern church does not want sound doctrine and we have been more than accommodating.

We must understand, if we need to use worldly means to get people to come to our church, we will have to continue to use worldly means to keep them there. And we will have a building full of worldly people -- goats -- keep them entertained.

The writers of the New Testament made no effort to be relevant to the society in which they lived. They understood that their job was to preach the gospel and make disciples. It is NOT our job to get people saved. That is the job that God accomplishes through regeneration, the new birth. The only thing God has ever promised to bless is the unaltered preaching of the gospel. 

"...so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." - Isaiah 55:11

Part 3 will discuss what brings true revival.

Blessings.

 

What is The Christian Sabbath?

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." - Exodus 20:8‭-‬11 NIV

"There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his." - Hebrews 4:9‭-‬10 NIV

Several years ago after my painful divorce, I made a trip to Minnesota to reconnect with my extended family. On the way, I stopped to meet up with a man who has been a mentor to me for more than 20 years. Before I left to continue my journey, I asked him a question: 

"You have been my teacher and mentor for 18+ years. It is possible that we may not see each other again on this side of eternity. What do you want to say to me?"

He thought for a moment and replied,

"Finish well, knowing who you are in Christ and REST. Rest in the work that was completed on your behalf by Jesus Christ on the cross."

In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said these words:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

The Old Covenant Was The Shadow of The New 

The Sabbath command is the one commandment that generates a lot of confusion today. The rest of the Ten Commandments are very straightforward and clear. But somehow we get puzzled with the fourth command. Should we be observing the Sabbath as it was commanded in the old covenant? Did the apostles actually change the Sabbath to Sunday? And if the Sabbath was changed to Sunday, should we completely abstain from work on that day? 

To wrestle with such questions speaks to a deeper issue. Many in the church do not understand what it means that the old covenant was merely the shadow and not the reality. In Hebrews 10:1:

"The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship."

Jesus Illustrated this on the Sermon on the Mount when he spoke about the commands to not murder and commit adultery. The law could not change the sinful heart, it could only restrain it. Paul repeated this idea in the first few chapters of Romans that the law could only condemn and that justification was through faith.

The writer of Hebrews emphasized that the new covenant REPLACED the old covenant. This was nothing new. Jeremiah prophecied that this would be the case in Jeremiah 31:31-34:

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

The all important point in verse 31; Jeremiah said this new covenant would NOT be like the old covenant. The old covenant was about rules and regulations. It was actually the constitution that governed the nation of Israel. The new covenant would not be about rules and regulations. It would be about the new heart and the new spirit which would be acoomplished in the rebirth which was prophecied by Ezekiel:

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." - Ezekiel 36:26‭-‬27 NIV

It is important to understand what exactly the old covenant was. Moses explains it in Exodus 34: 28:

"Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments." - Exodus 34:28 NIV

The Ten Commandments were the foundation of the old covenant. This is what has been replaced by the new covenant. Now some have objected to this by saying, "If the the Ten Commandments are done away with is it OK to murder or cheat on your spouse?" First of all, for someone to seriously ask such a question would cause me to question whether they are truly saved or not because they obvioulsy don't understand what the gospel accomplishes through the rebirth. But it is important to understand that God's moral law is in no way done away with. There is still a standard of righteousness that must be met. The problem with the old covenant is that righteousness could not be achieved by keeping rules and regulations. The writer of Hebrews says in chapter 8:6-7:

"But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another."

In a nutshell, the Ten Commandments have been replaced by something that is much better.

The Old Covenant Sabbath Observance Was a Shadow of The New.

The old covenant Sabbath was an observance that was repeated every week. It hearkened back to creation where it tells us that after the 6 days of creating God rested on the seventh day and set it apart. God did not rest because he was tired. He rested because his work was finished. In Exodus 31:13 it explains that the Sabbath was a sign to the Israelites.

“Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy."

The purpose of this sign was to remind them of who God was and it was HE who made them holy.

The Sabbath in Hebrews 4 has a similar reference to the creation:

"Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ” And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” (10)for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience." - Hebrews 4:3‭-‬4‭, ‬10‭-‬11 NIV

It is important to note that when God rested on the seventh day he didn't go back to work creating on the next day. His work was finished. And we must finish our work just as He did his. Someone once told me that when the new covenant came into reality it wasn't the Sabbath that was done away, it was the other six days. When we are saved we enter His rest. Unlike the Israelites who went back to doing THEIR work on the first day of the week and repeated the cycle, we FINISH our work and rest in Him. 

That is the reality of the Sabbath.

May God richly bless you all and may you enter his rest. 

Modern Revivals Part 1; Are We Fooling Ourselves?

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

1 Corinthians 1:18 NIV

Many years ago I was attending a church in South Florida. Every Tuesday morning they had a men's prayer meeting that I tried to attend whenever my work schedule allowed. The church was about 6 miles from my house. Along the road to the church I would pass at least half a dozen churches. 

One morning it hit me. With all the churches around why is our country in the mess it is in? It seems that there is a church on every corner and yet the slide toward everything immoral and ungodly seems to be continuing unabated and the 'church' doesn't seem to be making any real impact at all. Today it is far worse than it was 25 years ago when I was driving to the prayer meeting. Abortion on demand, biological males competing in women's sports because they 'identify' as women, and the list goes on. Not only does it seem that the church is not making any impact on the culture, it seems that the laity in the church is as confused about many of these issues as the outside world is. Some believe the problem is that in our discipleship we are not teaching new believers to have a proper Christian worldview. 

I believe the problem is much worse.

In the following paragraphs I am going to do a brief comparison of modern evangelical methods and the first Great Awakening and perhaps we will be able to see where the problems lie.

In the last 50 years or so we have had a number of 'revivals' or apparent moves of the Holy Spirit. You may remember the Jesus Movement of the 70's, the Pensacola revival and the Toronto revival. They all had something in common. While a good number of people did come to saving faith in Jesus Christ they eventually fizzled and made very little impact on society in general. By contrast, the Great Awakening of the early/mid 18th century, while it only lasted for about 3 years, made an incredible impact that lasted into the next century.

What was the differrence?

The main players were very deep theologians

The three main players in the Great Awakening were Jonathon Edwards, George Whitefield, and John Wesley. They all understood the doctrine of total depravity. They understood that unless the Holy Spirit moved in resurrection power in a person's heart that it was impossible for them to be saved. When they preached the gospel to a group of unbelievers they were just like the prophet in Ezekiel 37. They were preaching to the residents of an old cemetary and apart from God performing a miracle nothing was going to happen. 

Music style didn't matter. Preaching style didn't matter. There was no church growth strategy or technique that they could employ to cause the dead to rise. 

DEAD PEOPLE CAN'T HEAR!!

As such these men knew that because they could do nothing to get dead people to hear the gospel they had to depend completely on God for there to be any spiritual harvest. They understood that preaching the gospel and making disciples was simply what God commanded them to do. Nowhere does it tell us to save people. That is strictly the job of the Holy Spirit.

So these men simply did what they had been doing all along, preached sound doctrine:

"You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine." Titus 2:1 NIV

Perhaps the most famous sermon ever preached in America was Jonathon Edwards', Sinners in The Hands of an Angry God. In it, Pastor Edwards painted a vivid picture of how detestable our sin is to a perfect, holy God. Let's imagine that 2 people walked into a colonial church one morning where he happened to be preaching that sermon. And let's imagine that God is saving one of them but not the other. To the person not being saved this sermon was simply the mad ravings of a lunatic. To the person being saved it had the deep convicting power of sin and their desperate need for a savior. As it says in 1 Corinthians 1:18:

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

Here is an excerpt from an evangelical sermon by George Whitefield entitled, The Holy Spirit Convincing The World of Sin, Righteousness and Judgment:

"And did the Comforter, my dear friends ever come with such convincing power as this into your hearts? Were you ever made to see and feel that in your flesh dwelleth no good thing; that you are conceived and born in sin; that you are by nature children of wrath; that God would be just if he damned you, though you never committed an actual sin in your lives? So often as you have been at church and sacrement, did you ever confess that there was no health in you; that the remembrance of your original sin and actual sins was grievous to you, and the burden intolerable? If not, you have been offering to God vain oblations; you have never yet prayed in your lives; the Comforter never yet came effectually into your souls: consequently you are not in the faith properly so called; No, you are at present in a state of death and damnation."

We don't hear such statements from the pulpits today. Is it possible that we have entered the time spoken of by Paul in 2 Timothy 4:3:

"For the time will come when people 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."

Compare Pastor Whitefield's message to the following 'gospel invitation' from Rick Warren's best seller, The Purpose Driven Life (pp. 58-59):

"Right now, God is inviting you to live for his glory by fulfilling the purposes he made you for. It's really the only way to live. Everything else is just existing. Real life begins by committing yourself completely to Jesus Christ. If you are not sure you have done this, all you need to do is receive and believe. The Bible promises, 'To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.' Will you accept his offer?

First, believe. Believe God loves you and made you for his purposes. Believe you are not an accident. Believe you were made to last forever. Believe God has chosen you to have a relationship with Jesus, who died on the cross for you. Believe that no matter what you have done, God wants to forgive you.

Second, receive. Receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Receive his forgiveness for your sins. Receive his Spirit, who will give you the power to fulfill your life purpose. The Bible says, 'Whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever!' Wherever you are reading this, I invite you to bow your head and quietly whisper the prayer that will change your eternity: 'Jesus, I believe in you and I receive you." Go ahead.

If you sincerely meant that prayer, congratulations! Welcome to the family of God! You are now ready to discover and start living God's purpose for your life."

Notice that there is nothing about the condemned state of the unsaved. There is nothing about the coming judgment for the unrepentant sinner. While sin and forgiveness are mentioned, they are not defined. There is no conviction of one's inherent sinfulness and there is no call to repent. The fact is, the gospel call in Pastor Warren's book has absolutely no resemblance to what Jesus Christ and the apostles preached. Therefore it is NOT the gospel and it logically follows that if an individual responded to this call it is most likely that they are no more saved than they were before. 

The majority of the church has embraced this type of evengelical message.Often the message focuses on the 'benefits' of accepting Jesus as your personal savior; "Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." "He wants to heal your brokenness, your health, your marriages, your finances, etc."  Sin, if it is mentioned at all, is treated as something unfortunate, a mistake, or something that keeps you from finding your true destiny. 

The problem is that this message is very appealing to carnal people, not just those who are being saved. And because of this it only follows logically that a lot of people who are responding to these 'gospel calls' are not truly saved but are pronounced saved because they repeated a prayer and are being welcomed into the body. 

And now there are more goats than sheep in the fold.

That is why the church is making so little of an impact on the culture. It's not that we aren't doing a good job of discipleship, although that is a problem. YOU SIMPLY CANNOT DISCIPLE A GOAT INTO A SHEEP!!

Now some of you may be saying, 'But I got saved at a crusade or revival meeting when I prayed a similar prayer.' That is possible because God is sovereign and he saves those who he has elected regardless of the circumstances. But I would also implore you to follow the admonition in 2 Corinthians 13:5:

"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?"

Look at Pastor Whitefield's message again as if it were a mirror. Is that what you see when you look into it? This is not just for those who may have responded to an unbiblical gospel invitation. This is an imperative for all believers. We are to regularly examine ourselves. As it says in 1 Corinthians 10:12:

"So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!"

 In Part 2 we will look at how salt loses it's flavor.

May God bless each and every one of you and may you all "make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble." (2 Peter 1:10)