Change...again.

Another chapter closes.  A new one opens. 

Okay.  That's about as cheesy as I want to go.

Suffice it to say, we're moving...again.

It doesn't seem like that long ago I was writing about moving to Kindersley.  Now we're moving again as I start in a new position in Saskatoon.

We're leaving behind a pretty good church, and a great church family.  Some good co-workers and a VERY cool neighbor. 

May 1, 2014 is "The Day".  We have movers coming to pack us up a few days before and moving us in one day after.  So we'll be camping in our new digs for the first night, eating pizza and watching The Desolation of Smaug - good times!!!

We're looking forward to the change in a lot of ways...but I think leaving our church and church family is going to be harder than we think.

Another chapter closes.  A new one...yeah, enough cheese!

The Blessing, and the Curse, of Discovering John MacArthur

I've been giving some thought lately on my discovery of John MacArthur a few years ago. As I pondered this, I realized that this discovery has been a HUGE blessing to me in so many ways. However, I've also realized that this discovery came with a curse of sorts.

After completing two whole years of Bible College – each year at a different school and roughly six years apart – I felt I had a pretty good grasp on things. I sailed along for many years in this condition. Along the way, I was introduced to Calvinism by a group of people that began to attend the Church I was a part of. I couldn't stand their arrogance! There's just no other way of putting it. I did not agree with them AT ALL!, but a big part of this had to do with how they carried themselves. I went to my Pastor with my concerns about this only to discover that he was a Calvinist as well. All this time and he never said anything of the sort, neither in one-on-one conversations nor from the pulpit. I picked up “What is Reformed Theology” by RC Sproul and finally discovered, with all the snotty arrogance left out, what Calvinism was about. I realized that this is what the Bible taught and did a complete turnaround in my belief on this.  I'd like to think that the "snotty arrogance" in those who initially introduced me to these doctrines has remained with them.  

Both the Bible schools I went to never taught any specific Doctrines, except for one class. It was at the first school I attended. The class was the Doctrine of Salvation. The school's Director came to give us a talk before the teacher came, and one of the things he stressed was a warning for us not to get caught up in the “doctriney stuff”. I realize this now, years later, that I imbibed basically a “We love Jesus, not doctrine” mentality.

Fast forward many years later.

The night I discovered John MacArthur I was searching Bible teachers' names on You Tube. I had heard of MacArthur when I was a new Christian so I put his name in. There were a number of hits and some were with him on Larry King Live. For years prior to this I had watched numerous talk shows in dismay when they had a pastor giving the “religious perspective”. “Wishy-washy” is about the kindest term I can use to describe what those pastors would usually say. MacArthur was COMPLETELY different! Whatever question he was asked would be given an answer based out of the Scriptures. No matter how hokey or crazy the other participants thought he was, it didn't matter – his answers were based on the Bible. I respected that! I watched a number of those Larry King shows and my respect for him continued to grow. I went to the Grace to You website and discovered I could download his sermons for free – I did! I then discovered that he had whole sermon series from the books of the Bible. Galatians, Philippians, Romans – I could get them all...and I did. I began to listen to him teach from a book starting at chapter one, verse one and continuing all the way through the entire book. This was the first time I had ever experienced anything like that. I began to see what God had to say to these specific churches about what was going on in them. It was so eye-opening! ALL the sermons I had ever heard were more often than not based on verses taken out of their context and used to speak to an issue going on in our lives today. Hardly any effort at all was made to exegete a specific passage and teach what was actually being addressed. MacArthur was completely different - he did EXACTLY that!

Over many months I continued to listen and learn. In the process I began to grow in the Lord. My knowledge of His Word increased and so did my love of Him. I began to see that loving Jesus can never take place unless one begins to learn sound doctrine. Divorcing doctrine from Jesus is an absurdity! We must worship God in spirit AND in truth – John 4:24. The huge blessing of discovering John MacArthur has been my growth in the Lord, beginning to really love the Word, and starting to understand what the books of the Bible are about.

Almost on the heels of this blessing has been the curse. In my growing understanding of the Word I've come to see how enemic the teaching in the churches I've been a part of has been. When I began to see how completely ignorant of the Word I was, the term “Biblically Illiterate” came to mind. There I was, standing in my own arrogance (those two whole years of Bible College, don'tcha know!) while all the while being completely illiterate when it came to doctrine. I fit right in with pretty much everyone else because we all were/are illiterate. Two years of Bible school and very little understanding of any of the Doctrines of the Christian faith. Almost two decades in the Church and very little understanding of any of the Doctrines of the Christian faith. The shepherd digging into the Word to feed the sheep is foreign. Shallow and superficial, cultural relevancy, social justice – these are what spews from pulpits Sunday after Sunday. The church has become one more social gathering that meets together to make itself feel better and to help the community. The curse is in seeing this taking place and not being able to do anything about it. In learning the Word and beginning to understand the plumb line of Doctrine I am seeing how far from that plumb line the church has moved...and it kills me!

I am not being facetious when I say that I am thankful to God for these. Raising up John MacArthur, a faithful man who ministers the Word of God in the face of hatred, antagonism and jealousy – and these come from within the Church! Year after year he has taught the Bible, chapter and verse, to the sheep God has given him to shepherd. God has used him to open my eyes to the truth of Scripture, to see how far I am not, and to call me to repentance. Because of this I see more clearly the wretched state of the church today. But I also know that God is sovereign over all, and that He is continuing to save His own. For this I am truly thankful!

This has been the blessing, and the curse, of discovering John MacArthur. And I thank God for this discovery!

Doctor, Doctor Give Me the News. I Got a Bad Case of...?!?

 Luke 5:27-32 “After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

After reading this I asked the question, “How does one know he is sick?” A doctor examines the patient and then provides his diagnosis. Scripture is clear on our diagnosis – All have sinned and are dead in transgressions and sins (Rom 3:23; Eph 2:1,2). How about the examination? Has God in His Word given humanity the means enabling us to recognize our condition? I believe He has.

Luke 18:9-14 "He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

How many times have we seen, or been involved in, conversations about others? This group we see, or are a part of, is basically destroying the character of another and that person is usually not there. There is a self-righteous atmosphere amongst the people doing the talking. This other person who is not there is usually portrayed as the most vile, evil, stupid person to have ever breathed oxygen on this planet. The attitude portrayed by those doing the talking is one of smug confidence in their own moral greatness and virtue. They are masters at seeing every single fault, real or imagined, in other people, but lousy when it comes to recognizing their own. This attitude is summed up in the individual when they say, “I am a good person.” It is this principle that I believe is active in every single one of us. We are great at seeing sin in others, but lousy at seeing it in ourselves. We magnify it in others, but when it comes to our own lives there is very little to be seen. When we measure ourselves by Scripture (the examination) what do we see (the diagnosis)?

To recognize our condition we have been given a great tool – the Law. Romans 3:20 says, “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.” I'll repeat that - Through the Law we become conscious of our own sin. So lets look at the Law, particularly the 10 Commandments, and see how we do.

Even the most cursory glance causes the sinner to quickly realize the truth of Romans 3:23 – ALL have sinned!, and that “ALL” includes YOU...and it includes ME. But the sinner might look at these and not see what is really there. Jesus gave us more info on these, His interpretation.

Regarding the 6th Commandment, in Matthew 5:21,22 He says, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” Sure, you haven't killed anyone. Have you ever been angry with anyone? If you say you haven't, I'm pretty confident in saying that you've just broken the 9th Commandment.

How about the 7th Commandment? Jesus said in Matthew 5:27,28 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” If you've even looked at another person with sexual lust in your heart, even if you haven't committed the act, according to Jesus you're guilty of breaking the Law.

How about number 8? Have you ever stolen anything? Number 9? Have you ever lied? James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” So, based on this examination you are a murderer, adulterer, liar and a thief. That's just four of the Commandments that you are guilty of breaking in the sight of God. In the sight of God YOU are GUILTY of breaking His law!

We have now entered the realm of what is being described these days as “hate speech”. It is at this point that people react. You can't do this with a homosexual or lesbian without hearing “hate speech”, or “bigot”, or “homophobe”. But whether you do this with the aforementioned sinners or any other “sinner group” or the individual sinner, the Christian's desire is not to make himself appear better because he is so holy and righteous and wonderful. The Christian's desire is that the sinner will hear God's diagnosis of his illness and seek the Remedy, the Cure. This is how the sick find out they are sick. Jesus came for the sick (sinners) and to call them to repentance. The attitude of the sinner at this point should be like that of the tax collector in Luke 18.

Another aspect of the sinner's attitude I want to address has to do with the person who says in effect, “When I stand before God I'm hoping He will see the good things I've done and let me into Heaven.” I picture a person standing before a judge and presenting himself in this wonderful light, hoping the judge will make a judgement in his favor. The problem with this is that, using this scenario, the judgment has already been passed. The gavel has been pounded. There are no appeals. Jesus said in John 3:18 “He who believes in him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” When the sinner stands before God at the judgement that is it! Ezekiel 18:20 says, “The soul who sins shall die.” There is nothing that he can do but be tossed into the lake of fire (Rev 20:15). This is the default position of all humanity – guilty sinners on their way to the lake of fire. What can be done? How can you escape? Is there any hope for you? THIS is the very point of the Christian's desire. Not hate speech. Love speech! You now know you're sick. THIS is what Jesus was getting at. He came for the express purpose of calling SINNERS to repentance that He might save them!

To the ones who have heard and seen themselves in the mirror of God's Law and still remain as they are, there is this warning: “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works...” (Romans 2:5,6). “Storing up” in the Greek is thēsaurízō, and it is used in the sense of gathering and laying up, to heap up, store up: to accumulate riches. I live in an area of the world that has lots of farmers. Every Spring they plant their fields and in August they harvest. When they bring the seed from the field they store it in huge bins. My unrepentant friend, YOU are like a grain bin and you are continuing to store up wrath for yourself. Wrath that God will bring down on you at the Judgement. Instead of coming to Christ in repentance and having Him pay your sin debt, YOU will now have to pay it yourself, and this is a debt that you can NEVER repay. 

John 3: 16-18a says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned...” This call goes out to everyone! Salvation is for EVERYONE who believes in Him. It was these very verses that God used to open my eyes to His salvation. I thought that I was so awful that God would want nothing to do with me and these verses put those fears to rest. He came, not to condemn me (I was already condemned!), but to save me. He took my sin upon Himself and was nailed to the cross. In exchange for my sin His goodness, His righteousness was given to me, credited to me and because of what He has done God declared me righteous. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Philippians 3:9 says, “and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith...”

Ephesians 2:1-9 “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” 

Here's a great song by David Wesley to finish this off.

What is "The Whole Counsel of God"?

Acts 20: 26, 27 “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” Pastors and “would-be” Pastors, take a long, hard look at these verses and evaluate, and then re-evaluate where you are at.

I came across these verses in our church Bible study the other night and was struck by the warning and the clarity. Paul is innocent of their blood because he declared the whole counsel of God to them. That word “whole” in the Greek is pas. It means “everything, the emphasis of the total picture is on one piece at a time”. Paul declared to them, one piece at a time, ALL the counsel of God. This includes, much to the chagrin of the every-day pew warmer, the really hard stuff. The kind of stuff that makes today's Pastors cringe and shy away. The kind of stuff that makes the culturally aware church-goer recoil in horror...like Dracula drawing up his cape to protect himself from garlic. You know the kind of stuff I'm talking about: Sin and judgement and hell. The role of women in the church. Homosexuality. The kind of stuff that is not popular in today's culture and sadly, not popular in the church either. Paul, rather than shrink from telling them the truth, declared it all to them. If he didn't tell them the whole counsel of God, he would be guilty of their blood. He wasn't concerned with what was popular, or what was accepted, or people's feelings on these things. He was concerned for those in his charge and with the truth. I think the phrase “Fear of the Lord” meant something to him.

After reading these, I wondered what the condition of the church would be today if those who are Pastors would have these verses before them? I would hazard a guess and say the church would be small but strong. It would be small because sin would not be tolerated but confronted. It would be small because the Gospel would be proclaimed and the Gospel confronts sinners and brings to light their condition before God. People don't want to be judged. They want to be told that God loves them just the way they are and they can go on being just the way they are. Sin and Hell and Judgement are not popular, but those doctrines are a big part of the “whole counsel of God”. Those topics don't attract people or make them feel good. Paul didn't shrink from telling them about these.

If Pastors today would have these verses before them, there would be fewer church buildings, but these would be full of people who actually know what the whole counsel of God is – the church would be strong! Full of people who know sound doctrine - those essentials that make up the Christian faith. Full of people who could, in turn, teach others sound doctrine. Full of people who hunger after the true teaching instead of some show with a little “devotional” ditty or a short talk with an out-of-context Bible verse in it designed to make people feel good about themselves. The church would have people who hate having their ears tickled and who want to be fed, even with the coarse, hard stuff because they know THIS stuff will give them life and freedom and rest. This is the stuff that God has for them!

If Pastors had these verses before them, they would spend their time studying the Word, feeding on it, being broken by it, and in turn, being grown by God. They would feed their sheep, their flock, the flock that God has given them to care for and protect. The Pastor would tell his flock the whole counsel of God because he actually knows the whole counsel of God. He would do this because he knows the seriousness and feels the great weight of responsibility that God has placed upon him to do this. Knowing the truth and the many warnings in Scripture, he could differentiate between the false gospels in the world and those that have invaded the church. Being able to differentiate, he would feed his lambs the True food so that they would not be defenceless and could grow.

Because many Pastors don't have this word before them they instead allow into the fold this worldly pap which is lapped up by sheep who have no way of discerning truth from error because they are never taught it. The majority of sheep today are entertained, potlucked, programmed and psychologized, and they can't even articulate a core doctrine of the Christian faith to themselves, let alone to someone else. This is the tragedy of the time I live in. Bible schools and colleges and seminaries are unleashing men - and women - into ministry who are not qualified at all to be there. And the church, unbeknownst to those within its walls, becomes one more social gathering of people trying to make the world a better place while totally ignoring the Gospel of its Lord.

Ezekiel 3: 16-21 “At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself. Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

Ezekiel 33: 1-6 "The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.”

Hebrews 13: 17 “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

James 3: 1 “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.”

Titus 1: 9 – 16, 2: 1 An Elder...”must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine.”

Acts 20: 17 – 32 “Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. And when they came to him, he said to them:
“You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

The Accuser

Revelation 12:10 “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.”

I was listening the other day to John MacArthur. As a Road Adjuster I get to be in my car a number of times a week and one of the great blessings of this is being able to listen to awesome, sound teaching. In one of the sermons John made mention of Satan standing before God day and night accusing the brethren and this got me pondering.

Now, one of the other aspects of my job and, well life really, is that there are always complainers and people who seem to always enjoy pointing out the faults in others in a lame attempt to make themselves appear better. If I am truthful, I must confess this is something that I have done as well.

It probably isn't wise to do this, but I began to think of God as someone like me. Not that I think I am God, but rather how I would feel if, night and day someone stood before me accusing my children. It gets old for me REAL QUICK when I encounter the same person all the time “talking smack” about other people. “Is that ALL you know how to do? SHUT UP already!!!” There have also been moments when a person has said something about my family. This is a whole other level. When this has happened it has brought me to heights of...emotion, that is not a good place for me to be in. The person making these comments about my family was left with the distinct impression that harm would come to them if they continued in their foolishness. Thankfully, this is a very rare occurrence. Now, back to God.

This happens to God daily. DAILY!!! And, not just daily, but nightly. NIGHTLY!!! Day and night His children are being accused by one who is in no position whatsoever to take the “moral high ground”. What would I do to the person who did this to my family day and night, without rest, constantly? It staggers me to think on it. I think of how I would respond and contrast this with how the Lord responds in Zechariah.

Zechariah 3 “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.
And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured Joshua, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.”

The Lord is the one who has chosen. The Lord is the one who removes the filthy garments from the one He has chosen and then clothes that one with pure vestments. The Lord has made the filthy sinner whom He has chosen clean, and Satan stands before God accusing the one whom God has chosen made clean. All that He says to Satan is, “The Lord rebuke you.”, and then He solemnly assures the one whom he has chosen.

What is the lesson to be learned in this?

Tolerance, eh?

I've been amazed over the years to see how “tolerance” and “equality” has been playing out in our society. It's a confusing world we live in. I make no apology for the sick treatment of “people groups” in the past and present by other “people groups”. Isn't the very history of humanity rife with sin and darkness? One group cannot claim moral superiority over another, especially because of how they have been treated.

For years, I guess, women have been treated “poorly” by men. I've witnessed the behavior of certain men towards women in general, and certain women in particular. It's sick! It's perverse! It's sin. I have also witnessed the behavior of certain women towards men in general, and certain men in particular. Usually, though not always, this behavior in women towards men is overlooked or made to be less-serious than if the situation were reversed. We can understand why women feel and behave the way they do towards men because of the “way they have been treated”. No such understanding is allowed the men.

A girl I knew told me of her time at a Native American school. Now the “Natives” in the places where I have grown up are viewed as lower than anyone else – a more or less despised people group. Attending this school were “full-blooded” natives and Metis. Now the Metis are “mixed-bloods” - usually French/Indian, German/Indian or Scottish/Indian (by the way my wordings were not meant to be racist. Indian/French, Indian/German or Indian/Scottish – feel better?). The Metis were looked down upon by the full-blooded Natives and treated with disdain. I laughed at the absurdity of it. A “despised” people group in turn despising another people group. It's sick! It's perverse! It's sin.

My best friend is a black man. He has told me of some of his experiences, and these boggle my mind. He was continually pulled over by the police under the guise of “routine checks”. Three or four times a week, every week. He is married to a white woman and they have two, beautiful little boys. The questions they have fielded from family and friends regarding their relationship and their children has been...interesting, and hard for them. We talked one time about his kids and he said one of the things his boys are going to have to deal with as they grow up is how they are viewed by the white and the black communities. You see, having darker skin they will be viewed as “not white” by the white community. As they have a white mother, they will be viewed as “not black enough” by the black community. When he told me this I laughed – the stupidity of it all! It's sick! It's perverse! It's sin.

Dare we talk about the genocides, slavery, invasions, murders, rapes, occupations, conquerors and the conquered, etc.? All these have been committed by humanity against humanity, tribes against other tribes, religious groups against other religious groups, people groups against other people groups, countries against other countries, nations against other nations. These are sick! These are perversions! These are sin.

This now brings me to this news item, a not-unexpected change that is taking place within my country, this story on a recent Supreme Court Ruling

The definition of Tolerance:

1: capacity to endure pain or hardship : endurance, fortitude, stamina

2a : sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own

b : the act of allowing something : toleration

3: the allowable deviation from a standard; especially : the range of variation permitted in maintaining a specified dimension in machining a piece

4a (1) : the capacity of the body to endure or become less responsive to a substance (as a drug) or a physiological insult especially with repeated use or exposure tolerance

to painkillers>; also : the immunological state marked by unresponsiveness to a specific antigen (2) : relative capacity of an organism to grow or thrive when subjected to an unfavorable environmental factor

b : the maximum amount of a pesticide residue that may lawfully remain on or in food.

After reading this, definition #2, I think, pertains mostly to man. For the most part this is the attitude of humanity at large. But man is inconsistent at best and so, although this is an ideal that man today strives for, he never truly achieves it. You see, tolerance as #2 states will eventually be overruled in man by #3, for good or evil. Man is a moral being, having the Law of God written on his heart (Romans 2:15). Eventually, man in his quest to be tolerant will run into something that goes against that law and he must answer this question: What is right and what is wrong? Tolerance, in man, gives full reign to what is wrong and harnesses, cages and imprisons what is right. We are witnessing the results of this now.

God is the opposite of this. God does not allow deviation from His standard – we either meet it or we don't. And we don't! ALL humanity stands condemned (John 3:18) because we do not meet His righteous standard, because we have all sinned (Romans 3:23). In Genesis 1 God tells us the perfection of His original creation, and then the Fall. Ever since then sin has cursed this creation. Humanity is cursed and stands condemned by God because of sin. God, in His infinite mercy, sent Jesus to redeem and reconcile sinful man. And sinful man continues to pervert what is right, culminating in hatred towards God.

Recounting Genesis and the perfection of creation before sin Jesus said in Matthew 19:4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,”. This was God's original design – male and female. After the Fall, with regards to human sexuality, there are all kinds of perversions of God's original, perfect, intended design – incest, prostitution, rape, adultery, bestiality and, yes, homosexuality!  

God has His standard and man does not measure up to it. And so we are rightly and justly condemned as the sinners we are. But, Romans 8:7,8 says “the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.” And there you have it. Rather than come to Jesus Christ to be reconciled to God, to the One who took our justly deserved punishment on the cross, Who paid the penalty for my sin – rather than do this, sinful man justifies his sin and does what the prophet Isaiah described in Isaiah 5:20, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” And now, to call sinful, homosexual and lesbian men and women to repentance and reconciliation to God is hate speech! Hate speech! Someone who murders another person – is it “hate speech” to say that is wrong and call that person a murderer? Someone who tells a lie – is it hate speech to say that is wrong and call that person a liar? Is it “hate speech” for a parent to point out the sin of their children? Is it “hate speech”for a doctor to tell a patient that the patient has cancer and is going to die? In Mark 2:17 Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Every human being on this planet is sick! We are all sinners and need the Doctor. But if you continue in the belief that you are healthy, that you are righteous, that there is absolutely nothing wrong with you, that you don't require the Doctor, then your illness will prove fatal. In John 8:23,24 Jesus said, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” 

 

Not That I Agree With Everything They Teach

Lately, this phrase (the post title) has been showing up on my radar. Now everyone thinks and believes things that other people will not agree with, or hold to. But it seems a popular thing these days to have your own system of beliefs or your own way of looking at things. It also seems to be increasingly unpopular to bring the Bible to bear on these teachings and belief systems.

For example: I listened to a song on the radio during the Christmas season that went on and on about “family” and then ended with “that's what Christmas means.........to me.” The thing is, “family” is not what Christmas is about. Another radio excerpt had a person being interviewed who was praising the local food bank. “The food bank helps those who are less fortunate, and this is what Christmas is all about.” Again, Christmas is not about helping those who are “less fortunate”. This kind of reasoning is to be expected from the world. Look what it's done with Easter: An Easter bunny = Jesus death and resurrection???

Years ago, I attended a Bible School, and awhile ago I was in discussion on Facebook with a fellow- classmate of mine about Hell. He mocked the clear, biblical teaching about eternal torment, fire, etc., saying it was something the church invented. When I asked him to interpret some verses where Jesus used those exact phrases (Mark 9:42-48; Matt 13:40-43) he told me he didn't have time to get into a lengthy discussion outlining why he didn't believe these things, but pointed me to a website I could check out. He said they had some good teachings, but he had this caveat: “Not that I agree with everything they teach.” So, I checked the website out. From what I remember the link sent me to a church site that had a Sunday bulletin insert or Bible study page teaching on Hell and The Judgement. They appeared to also say that after one dies there appears to still be hope for salvation, and then they had some scripture references for this teaching. I sent a message to my friend informing him that he would have to clarify exactly what he agreed with and didn't agree with on this site because there were multiple areas of concern, and I couldn't pick out what wrong teachings he agreed with and didn't agree with. He never responded.

It is this kind of thing that is worrisome and troubling to me. It appears Christians are more than willing to tolerate unbiblical teachings and practices, attach this little phrase and it suddenly becomes okay. One must wade through the chaff to find the kernel of wheat. When these unbiblical teachings are challenged one is met with indignation and sometimes mockery. I do not find this attitude in the apostle Paul towards unbiblical teachings and false teachers (2Tim3:1-9; Titus 3:9-11).

This is also worrisome to me because it hits me where I'm at. I think the very root of the problem is an almost total abandonment in the church of teaching sound doctrine. One example: A Sunday school class where there is no teaching/exegesis on the text we're “studying”, but everyone around the room gives their opinion on what the text means to them. The text has as many meanings as there are people in the room and the actual intent and meaning of the text is lost.

If I don't know what sound doctrine is, I have nothing by which to measure what is being taught. I, then, develop my own weights and scales. As long as the teacher is nice or “loving” or funny, then this appears to be the only key to unlocking the hearer's heart and then that person accepts everything being taught. This is a long way from Acts 17:11!

I was lead into charismaticism when I was a relatively new Christian. I had little to no foundation in sound doctrine and those whom I gobbled up the teaching on tongues from were Pastors. BTW, they were also very nice people. How was I to determine if what I was experiencing was real or counterfeit? I was told, “Just love Jesus”, and “Don't entertain a thought that this could be counterfeit and you'll be fine.” I can't tell you how messed up I got after months and months of being involved in this. Straying from the Word of God and living by emotion, experiences, imaginings, and what I saw with my eyes almost destroyed me. What rescued me out of the nightmare? Actually learning what the Word of God says about the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit = Sound Doctrine.

Sound doctrine, by it's very nature, is divisive because it is a plumb line showing right from wrong. In our culture such a concept is anathema! The Apostle exhorts Pastors/Elders to teach sound doctrine (Titus 1:5 – 2:1), but it appears everything else but sound doctrine suffices. 2Timothy 4:3,4 is so applicable for our age: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths”.

“Not that I agree with everything they teach” may be a sign you're on the wrong road.