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What you will read below is a rough draft of a presentation that I am making to the Exchange Club in Waynesboro, Georgia. I would love comments and suggestions to make this stronger. Thanks a bunch.

These words are written in Psalm 33:12 [+/-]Psalm 33:12 [12]Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
, Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He has chosen as His heritage. There are at least three things that we need to know about this text in order to understand it. First, it occurs in a context that affirms the absolute sovereignty of God over all things, acknowledging that since God is the creator of all things He is the only one who has the right to control all things. And He does. So that secondly the nation that is blessed is the nation that recognizes this reality as the premise upon which we pursue our work and live our lives. Thirdly, the word blessed does not have monetary and material associations. It simply means that God gives to those people who acknowledge Him as Creator and Sovereign all that we need to function in the world so as to fulfill His purposes. Thus, this text has to do with any people at any place during any time who by acknowledging God as Creator and Sovereign are given by this God His blessing as they are used by Him to fulfill His purpose upon the earth. So, the blessing of God upon a people is tied to obedience to God by the people. Now in the light of what this text teaches I want to look briefly at our reality in our culture in the light of a historical recognition about our founders as a foundation for our reflection during this Thanksgiving week.

Let me begin with our reality. It is really simple: we are in serious trouble. Now I will leave it to others to address our economic woes and the health care crisis; I want to go to what is underneath all of that: the virtual moral collapse of our culture. Although there are all kinds of ways that we can come at this issue, I want to approach it by looking at the life of a child in our culture from birth into young adulthood and make clear what our culture is communicating. Let’s begin with birth and recognize that in our culture many births do not happen. We are the culture of choice who in the instance of killing babies in utero have not been influenced by the rest of the world but are influencing the rest of the world. We have killed more babies in America since Roe vs. Wade than Jewish people exterminated in the holocaust but would be aghast at any comparison of our culture to his. His was a culture of death for the development of the most fit; so is ours. And it is not only abortion that is the issue; many babies born in our culture are born to single moms without a husband or a father. Not to mention babies born to moms who were alcohol, drug, and nicotine users during pregnancy and would not stop because the centerpiece of our culture is radical individualism. I will be what I am going to be, think what I am going to think, and do what I am going to do because it is my right as an individual to do so.

But let’s get the baby here. And from day one in our culture our parenting is driven by the needs, wants, and desires of the child. The child is number one. And whatever the child wants the child gets. And we dare not discipline by way of corporal punishment lest we face the wrath of our peers who see that as abusive. So, we do not deprive so that the child can thrive. By the time the child is two, there are two things that are clear: he or she is surrounded by more stuff than is remotely necessary and the child has learned that he or she is the most important person in the universe. We call this in our culture the building of self-esteem; a psychological theory that did not even exist until the late sixties coming to full life during the seventies when Penelope Leach’s book Your Child’s Self Esteem replaced Spock and the theory to date has no data to demonstrate its viability. In fact, the pushing of the self-esteem agenda has produced frustrated parents, frustrated children, and frustrated teachers. And all of it because we tell lies to our children: you can be whatever you want to be. You can do whatever you want to do. You can do whatever you set your mind to. No child left behind. Every child deserves and education. I could go on. All of these fundamentally untrue and birthed by the self-esteem movement which in order to thrive requires a culture that is fully focused on the individual. Take Radical Individualism and marry it to Self-Esteem and the outcome is a culture of persons with rights who when those rights are violated become victims. And in our culture we have this in full force by the time the child hits school age.

Now let’s fast forward to adolescence where in our culture we are saying to children who cannot behave in school or at home that their problem is in the brain. They have a chemical imbalance. We are even treating young kids now for depressive episodes. So, we have a school population that is heavily medicated so as to be able to function but the message that they get every time they take the pill is that it is not their problem. It is in their brain. So when the boy gets to be fourteen and his brain sends signals of sexual attraction to the girl across the aisle, he just listens to his brain. Since the girl has been taught that she must feel good about herself and finds rejection so difficult, she just gives in. And what is the big deal? They are just doing what is natural and normal. So, sexual activity and sexual awareness starts earlier than ever. Unless of course in our culture you determine that you are genetically programmed toward male to male or female to female attraction, and that is just who you are. And by the time you get to middle school and high school you have learned that if this is who you are, you ought to express it: radical individualism plus self esteem leads to a plurality of ways of living and here is the real issue in our day: and the most backwoods, bigoted people are those who have not learned that the key to our life together is tolerance. We must tolerate all kinds of lifestyles. It could produce a culture in which we work hard to treat terrorists terrifically when they are at Guantanamo and show them the best in fine living when they come to New York City!

Let me very quickly now take our child turned teenager off to college or vocational school and into the work force. By the time they hit college they have learned that life is all about them and that they have a right to succeed. Early on in college they are indoctrinated deliberately with an overdose of evolution. It is made clear to them that only the ignorant believe in a world deliberately designed by God for His glory and brought into being by His word. It has always amazed me and still does and always will that a theory of origins that has increasingly less and less data to support it and has to keep stretching the time frame to make it work, even to the point of changing the dating procedures for fossils in order to make the procedures fit their practice; a theory that admits major flaws, gaps, and still cannot explain how one species becomes another is taught as intelligence by people to people who think themselves by believing it to be intelligent! It mystifies me. Yet, many of your children and mine who go to UGA or Georgia Southern or Georgia Tech or Mercer will be taught this theory as scientific fact. The result is an increase in self-centered, narcissistic living where life becomes increasingly about the person, about me; because in an evolutionary world the pinnacle point is the human and everything exists for him. Then finally you take this college grad and you send her into the work force and her focus is on how much and how often. How much am I going to make and how often do I get off? And the young adult enters the world of work driven by the promised fulfillment of their monetary and materialistic dreams that become the essence of human happiness. And when it doesn’t materialize instantaneously, frustration comes and brings with it a search for happiness wherever it can be found: alcohol, drugs, deception, sexual immorality, credit card abuse and increasingly self-inflicted death. What we are producing in our society is the inevitable outcome of lifestyles that are radically me-centered. A better economy is not going to change that. A better health care system is not going to change that. The finest of educational institutions are not going to change that. You would expect me to say what I believe with every fiber of my being will change that, but even our churches have become too consumed by the world and by the consumer mentality of the world.
Change will come in part I believe when we have some sense of recognition about our history as a country. Most of the founders of this country were not bible thumping conservative evangelicals. George Washington loved more than Mrs. Martha! Some of those guys whose names or on the Declaration were like some of us; they were scallywags! Some were very conservative in their Christian commitment; most were Deists who believed that God created the world and then handed over to us to run. That is why they were so careful at such an early stage in the establishment of the balance of powers in the operation of the government. But there was one thing that they all held dear and was the foundation for all that they said and did: the law of this land must be founded upon the law of God, and the law of God is given by God for the good of the people, plural. In other words, they believed that a country could not survive if it departed from adherence to the law of God. So, they established for example a pluralism that was to be expressed in the context of the affirmation of monotheism: there is one God and His Name is Yahweh; He is the Lord God Almighty the maker of heaven and of earth. Religious pluralism as understood by the Constitution was not the right to worship any God but the right to worship the one God in a variety of ways. Or, remember that our founders were committed to the sacred character of the Lord’s Day and feared violating that Day with any activity except the worship of God and the rest from labor. And even the penal system and the punitive laws of justice were rooted in the law of God. But they also believed that the law of God was for the good of the people and that the good of the people superseded in importance the rights of any one individual. You remember that Alexader de Tocqueville came to America to look at what made America great and his conclusion was that America is great because America is good, and America is good because the concerns of the individual are subservient to the concerns of the community. And it was DeTocqueville who would write prophetically in Democracy in America “the genius of America will be lost when she loses the focus on the concerns of the community and begins to focus on the rights of the individual.

We could see change even in our own community if those who lead our churches and our community and our schools and our law enforcement would recognize our rich history as Judaeo-Christian Country whose founders made it foundational that we acknowledge God by observing and obeying His Law both in our relationship to Him and in our relationship to one another. It would change the way we see life. It would change the way we live in relationship to one another. And it would be a great cause for giving thanks.

George Verwer, the former head of OM (see bio below) visited FBC Waynesboro this evening, to pray with us, and share some stories of great encouragement. Listen in as George speaks after our Church family mealtime!

George Verwer (born July 3, 1938) is the founder of Operation Mobilisation (OM), a Christian missions organization. Verwer has written several books on various Christian themes. He is a passionate advocate of radical discipleship as the only legitimate option for people who believe in Jesus.

Verwer’s first contact with Christianity was through his neighbor, Dorothea Clapp, who gave him the Gospel of John and also put him on her “Holy Ghost hit list.” Verwer attributes to her some of the reason that he made a commitment to Christ, and for what resulted in his life.

When he was a pupil at Ramsey High School in New Jersey, he went to a “Jack Wyrtzen” meeting in which Billy Graham spoke inMadison Square Garden, in New York City. There he was converted to become a Christian, at the age of 16. Within a year, about 200 of his classmates became Christians.

He had a growing conviction to evangelize on foreign soil. He started with distribution of the Gospel of John in Mexico in 1957 along with two friends, Walter Borchard and Dale Rhoton. They called this operation “Send the Light”. This continued with others during summer holidays. Afterward, Verwer used the name “Send the Light” for a book distribution operation to India based in the United Kingdom. This has since developed into Send the Light, the largest Christian book distributor in the United Kingdom.

After high school, he attended Maryville College and then transferred to Moody Bible Institute, where he met his wife, Drena, who was a fellow student. Commencement Speaker, Conferred an Honorary degree, Doctor of Divinity, May 22, 2009 at Biola University.

After graduation, they went to Spain. Once while taking Bibles into the USSR, George was arrested and accused of being a spy. He was deported, and back in Spain, after a time of prayer in 1961 the work of Operation Mobilization (OM) was born. George often refers to this calling himself “God’s Blunderer”, in reference to Brother Andrew, “God’s Smuggler”.

In August 2003, George handed over the international leadership of the work of Operation Mobilization to Peter Maiden, who was the Associate International Director for 15 years. George and his wife are now involved in Special Projects Ministries full-time. They still travel and take meetings around the world.

Drena and George had three children. Although born American, George became a naturalized British Citizen, and they live in Kent. (courtesy Wikipedia)

The Bible commands the children of God to pray.  Yet, I find that I always struggle with prayer.  I do not mean by this that I struggle to find the time to pray or struggle with investing energy in prayer; my struggle is with the issue of how to pray. It seems to me that I am always learning how to pray.  It is the one school from which I will never graduate and at this stage in my life I feel that I am still in elemenary school.  I am always on the lookout for good books written by godly people about the whole issue of prayer.  And what I am learning along the way is as much about what prayer isn’t as I am learning about what prayer is.  Let me share just a few of the lessons that I am learning.

Prayer is conversation with God but the part of that sentence that demands clarification and in our culture is the cause of much confusion is the definition of “God.”  It is not that we need help in talking, it is that we need help in understanding the God with whom we are speaking.  Truth is that if we understood the core characteristics of His character we would be reduced to silence in His presence. We would speak only when we sense that He was speaking, and even when we would speak we would do so with a sense of our inadequacy.  That we can come into His presence at all ought to overwhelm us and that our way of access is through Jesus ought to remind us every time we pray that His Son had to shed His blood in order for us to come to Him.  Our depravity ought not ever to be far from us when we pray.  It is what would produce a more genuine humility in our praying and would mitigate against some of our bold audacity.  One of my struggles is that some of the boldest praying I hear is from people whose boldness is not all about the glory of God but about their own needs.  Such praying reveals a heart that may not have been bathed in the blood of Calvary.  Going there reminds me when I pray that I deserve nothing and need mercy more than anything else.  I can write like this and pray like this when life is good but when it turns bad, I pray like that person who has not been to Calvary. I want help for me and I want it now.  That is why I am glad that the God to whom I pray is not only a God of great glory but also of God of infinite grace.

Prayer in the words of J. I. Packer is asking for our desires in accordance with His Will with the latter taking precedent and giving shape to the former.  Here is where I really struggle.  I hear so much about the prayer of faith put forth as asking boldly for what we want and desire and expecting (translate that demanding) that what we pray for is going to come to pass.  Hold on, brother; I am told. Keep praying and God will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37 [+/-]Psalm 37 [37:1]Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! [2]For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. [3]Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. [4]Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. [5]Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. [6]He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. [7]Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! [8]Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. [9]For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land. [10]In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. [11]But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. [12]The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, [13]but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming. [14]The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose way is upright; [15]their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. [16]Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked. [17]For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous. [18]The LORD knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever; [19]they are not put to shame in evil times; in the days of famine they have abundance. [20]But the wicked will perish; the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish--like smoke they vanish away. [21]The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives; [22]for those blessed by the LORD shall inherit the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off. [23]The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way; [24]though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand. [25]I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. [26]He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing. [27]Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. [28]For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. [29]The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever. [30]The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice. [31]The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip. [32]The wicked watches for the righteous and seeks to put him to death. [33]The LORD will not abandon him to his power or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial. [34]Wait for the LORD and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off. [35]I have seen a wicked, ruthless man, spreading himself like a green laurel tree. [36]But he passed away, and behold, he was no more; though I sought him, he could not be found. [37]Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace. [38]But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed; the future of the wicked shall be cut off. [39]The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble. [40]The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.
).  But what is the desire of the heart of any person who is devoted to Jesus?  Isn’t to live in such a way that our devotion to Him is both declared and demonstrated?  And where else is my devotion to Jesus more clearly declared and demonstrated than in the midst of the dilemmas of life?  So here is my dilemma.  If what I wrote just above is true then why am I praying in the midst of the difficulty for God to deliver me if in fact it is in the fire that His faithfulness is most fully known and felt?  Yet, if while in the fire I am not praying for the fire to go out, then I am perceived to be one who does not truly believe in God.  I am helped immensely by Gethsemane where Jesus prayed for deliverance while committing Himself to what He knew was God’s will.  He prayed His desires in the context of His devotion to doing the will of God.

And I by God’s grace just keep learning more and more about prayer.  It causes me grief when I recognize that so much of what we call prayer in the modern American Church is not prayer at all.  And it is not prayer because of our failure to see God as He is and see prayer for what it is.  So much of what we called prayer has turned God into Santa Claus and the one who prays as the one presenting his wish list to Santa, “Please, please do this for me . . . “  This way of praying is very popular in our day.  And very prevalent in the church.  It accomplishes little or nothing beyond its helpful revelation of where we really are spiritually.  Maybe I am not the only one who needs to be enrolled by the Spirit of God for the cause of the Gospel in the school of prayer.

 

 Grace on top of Grace [43:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 The Kingdom Singers - Bonus! [2:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Ephesians 2:1-10 [+/-]Ephesians 2:1-10 [2:1]And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2]in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- [3]among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4]But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5]even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- [6]and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7]so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8]For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9]not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10]For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)

Paul focuses on the church at the beginning of the letter to the Ephesians and finishes with his focus upon the church.  Listen to what he says in Ephesians 5:25 [+/-]Ephesians 5:25 [25]Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, (ESV)
, “husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up on her behalf that He might cleanse her by the washing of the water which is the Word and then present her to Himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that she would be holy and blameless.”  The church is precious to Jesus.  He purchased the church with His blood.  He planned the church from before the foundation of the world.  He planted the church in the world as His body over which He is head through which He does His work in the world.  He will gather His church to Himself upon His return, perfect her through His purging and purifying and present her to Himself and she will with Him rule forever in the new heaven and the new earth.

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!

I love preachers.  I love preaching.  Put that in place at the very beginning.  Anything that I say in this segment that seems to be a criticism is first and foremost a criticism of my own life and ministry.  Listening to other preachers preach causes me to reflect on my own life and calling so as to desire to be a better preacher and to do better preaching.  And this week at the Georgia Baptist Convention I heard some outstanding preaching from some outstanding preachers.  I heard for the first time a young thirty year old, David Platt; who may well be among the best preachers I have ever heard.  I heard Johnny Hunt and Steve Gaines.  I listened to Bucky Kennedy give a wonderful Convention sermon and Dan Spencer who is the new president of the Georgia Baptist Convention speak a really powerful word.  Yet, in the midst of all that I heard I was reminded yet again of two realities that I do not want to forget.

First, I was reminded that it is the Bible that is inerrant and infallible not those who preach the Bible.  His Word is absolute Truth; the word of the preacher is not.    Second, whether I like it or not, my theological perspective does more to shape my understanding of texts than I or any other preacher would care to admit; and the extent to which I get defensive about that is the extent to which that is really true.  The preacher had better get his theology or his thinking about God from the Word of God but having done that, the preacher must always be open to changes in his theology lest his theology become his textbook rather than the Word of God.  If we adopt a theological system too tenaciously we can become guilty of “always learning but not coming to a knowledge of the Truth.”  I may be very different in this regard but as God has grown me in my own sanctification, I have been all over the map theologically.  And I am convinced that God is not done with me yet.  I’ll write about this one later but right now He has me all mixed up about how much dispensationalism has effected me over against the clearly covenant theological teaching of the Bible.  Dispensation itself is a non-biblical term; Covenant (Testament) is a very clear biblical term.  So stay tuned for that one; God is doing a number on me about that one and it bothers me; I was “settled” in that one and now I am all “shook up.”  I’ll let you know where it leads when it all shakes out.

I saw an example of the above in an otherwise powerful sermon, one of the most powerful that I have heard.  But the preacher wanted to make the point about Jesus’ death being for all the world with the accompanying point that all the world could be saved with the implication that if they could be, they would be if we would just do our job.  There is some hopeful universalism in that kind of approach that is disconcerting to me in the light of what Jesus teaches.  Now it is true that Jesus died for all in the sense that nobody will be saved outside the way of Jesus through the shed blood of His cross.  But it is also true that when Jesus went to Calvary He was actually purchasing through His shed blood a people for Himself whom He knew from before the foundation of the world.  Now the names and identities of those people are known to God and not to us so that we go into all the world among every people group and preach the Gospel with the assurance that through the Gospel God will save His people.  This particular preacher obviously did not see it that way so he took us to the text in 2 Peter 3 [+/-]2 Peter 3 [3:1]This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, [2]that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, [3]knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. [4]They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation." [5]For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, [6]and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. [7]But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. [8]But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. [9]The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. [10]But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. [11]Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, [12]waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! [13]But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. [14]Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. [15]And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, [16]as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. [17]You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. [18]But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (ESV)
where Peter says that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.  Well, go read the text in context.  Do not ignore the context.  Peter is speaking to the church and his point is that God wants His church to live a life of complete and full repentance.  The term translated “come to” (choreo) means to “reach fullness.”  Peter is speaking to people who had fallen away and was exhorting them to come into the fullness of repentance.  Then he took us to 1 Tim. 4:10 [+/-]1 Timothy 4:10 [10]For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. (ESV)
where Paul says that Jesus is the Savior of all men, especially those who believe.  Now what does that mean?  Does it mean that Jesus saves everybody and then there is special salvation for those who believe?  Does it mean that Jesus died for everybody but His blood is applied only to those who believe?  Could be, or does it mean that Jesus died for “all kinds of men” and that is those who believe?  And the Greek text lends itself to one of the last two but the preacher did not make that point because it did not help him to make the point that he wanted to make.

I prayed this last Sunday, “Lord, do not let me ever mislead this people.”  I mean that for my preaching and for myself as a preacher.  And yet I learned again this week that preachers are fallible men handling infallible truth and that we (I) must always be vigilant that whatever theological system we adopt, we must let it be totally secondary and always subject to being changed by this inerrant, infallible and fully sufficient Word of the living God.

 

 Wednesday Evening - November 11, 2009 [34:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Genesis 3 [+/-]Genesis 3 [3:1]Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" [2]And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, [3]but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" [4]But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. [5]For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." [6]So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. [7]Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. [8]And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. [9]But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" [10]And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." [11]He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" [12]The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." [13]Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." [14]The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. [15]I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." [16]To the woman he said, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." [17]And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; [18]thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. [19]By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." [20]The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. [21]And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. [22]Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever--" [23]therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. [24]He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. (ESV)

 

 Union with Christ [42:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Ephesians 2:1-10 [+/-]Ephesians 2:1-10 [2:1]And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2]in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- [3]among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4]But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5]even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- [6]and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7]so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8]For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9]not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10]For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)

I want to give you three images to help us understand where we are when we start reading Ephesians 2 [+/-]Ephesians 2 [2:1]And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2]in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- [3]among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4]But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5]even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- [6]and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7]so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8]For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9]not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10]For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. [11]Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands-- [12]remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. [13]But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. [14]For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility [15]by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, [16]and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. [17]And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. [18]For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. [19]So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, [20]built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, [21]in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. [22]In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (ESV)
.  If this were a musical piece we could say that Ephesians two follows from a culminating crescendo.  If this were a speech we would say that Ephesians 2 [+/-]Ephesians 2 [2:1]And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2]in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- [3]among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4]But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5]even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- [6]and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7]so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8]For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9]not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10]For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. [11]Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands-- [12]remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. [13]But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. [14]For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility [15]by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, [16]and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. [17]And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. [18]For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. [19]So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, [20]built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, [21]in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. [22]In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (ESV)
flows from the center of what is being communicated.  And if this were a landscape we would say that Ephesians two comes just as we arrive at the peak of the highest mountain from which everything around us and below us is seen with clarity and correctly.  And the culminating crescendo, the center of communication, and the mountain peak is the church.

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Yep.  That is what the blowed back all teeth showing in my head smiling Osteen said.  Faith is “positive optimism.”  It is believing in whatever is in your life at the moment that you need and praying for that which you need and believing that it is yours.  It is positive optimism focused on whatever we fix our hearts on that would make our lives better.  He actually sat on the curvy couch with the hosts of Fox and friends and talked this way.  He never quit smiling.  He said that we have to have a positive approach to our desires, our ambitions, our goals, our wants and our needs and believe that it will be, and it will be.  Hocus pocus.  Cross my heart and hope I die, this is what I want and I do not lie.  What’s the difference?  He just turned one of the most precious gifts of God given to us into a fable and a farce.   And I suppose that it would be ok if so many thousands of professing believers (oops I almost wrote believers) saw him as the charlatan that he is rather than believing him to be the best thing since buttered biscuits.  Yet, he stands  before this culture Sunday after Sunday drawing in thousands as a living, breathing, verbal witness to the truth of 2 Timothy 3-4 [+/-]2 Timothy 3-4 [3:1]But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. [2]For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, [3]heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self- control, brutal, not loving good, [4]treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, [5]having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. [6]For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, [7]always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. [8]Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. [9]But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. [10]You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, [11]my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra--which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. [12]Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, [13]while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. [14]But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it [15]and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. [16]All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, [17]that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. [4:1]I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: [2]preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. [3]For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, [4]and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. [5]As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. [6]For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. [7]I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. [8]Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. [9]Do your best to come to me soon. [10]For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. [11]Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. [12]Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. [13]When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. [14]Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. [15]Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. [16]At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! [17]But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. [18]The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. [19]Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. [20]Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. [21]Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers. [22]The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. (ESV)
.

But wouldn’t you love for what he preaches to be true.  I am going to practice positive optimism toward my 38 inch (oops I almost lied) 40+ inch waistline.  I am sucking in right now and straining hard.  I am positively optimistic that by the time I finish this blog, I will be a bad boy 34 inches in he waist.  Believe with me brother and sister.  Join with me in this positive optimism so that we can see taller people and thinner waistlines.  And while I am at it I am believing with positive optimism for hair growth on my head and for psoriasis to pass away.  I would even be positive over one out of the two.  What about you?  Write like this and it all sounds crazy.  And I wished that that was all that it is.  It is far beyond crazy.  It is totally corrupt.  It is Rev. Osteen a complete and total perversion of the person and purpose of God.   I can only hope that my friends who are passing through dark valleys right now did not hear you and do not listen to you.  I can only pray that those who are so faithful to Jesus while fighting so many forces of darkness do not get deceived by the likes of you.  You may sound good and look great on the curvy couch but I wonder what it will be for you and for me when we stand before the Bema Seat of our sovereign God?

God has granted me the privilege to be preaching a revival this week at the Pine Grove Baptist Church in Metter.  I am having a blast.  I started on Sunday night and will conclude tomorrow night.  The church is small but the people of special.  I do not know that we have had any guests so far but the people who were present on Sunday night were for the most part back last night.  We sing the old songs with a worship format that is exceedingly simple with the primary focus and time given to the preaching of the Word of God.  Gotta love that.

I am preaching this week in the kind of church that gave me my start.  It was first at Tabor Baptist and then at Clark’s Station.  The first had about thirty members and the second about sixty.  Great people with generous hearts they loved me and listened to me preach.  They must have had very gracious hearts or some really tenacious skin.  I look back on those days and wonder how they did it.  They were too kind to me and trusted me to lead them.  Then it was on to another church in the same county where these two were located and then ten years in the wonderful church that God gave me during seminary days:  all of them relatively small and all of them very significant in shaping me into who I am today.  I tear up even as I write these words and think about the hundreds of saints of God who have touched my life and made me better.  From James Echols at Tabor to Earl Young at Christiansburg, from Martha Grimaud at Clark’s Station to Catherine Miller at Christiansburg, and too many in the current church to even begin to name.  God has been so good to me in giving me so many good and godly people in my life over the course of these years, and all of them have come into my life through the church.

I preach this week with a sense of great gratitude to God for the life He has given me and I preach this week with a deep sense of obligation to the smaller churches. Oh, how I would love to do more of this.  It is for me a way of giving back in part what these special churches gave to me when I was just beginning my ministry.  I love this calling that God has given me and I love His people.  How in the world someone could call themselves a Christian and not be a part of His Church is beyond my ability to believe.  I know that such a person does not belong to Jesus; that is basic biblical teaching.  And I grieve for people like that because their hearts must be so empty.  What do professing believers who try to live apart from the church do on Sunday morning or Sunday night, or Wednesday night?  I would be lonely if not lost without those precious times with my family.  I recently attended a conference where I arrived home on a Wednesday night and did not go to church.  I did not feel guilty, but I did feel empty.  I missed my family.  And this week has stirred in me once again just how much He loves the church and just how much I love her too.

 

 The Preacher's Place [42:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

2 Timothy 3:10-4 [+/-]2 Timothy 3:10-4:22 [10]You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, [11]my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra--which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. [12]Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, [13]while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. [14]But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it [15]and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. [16]All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, [17]that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. [4:1]I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: [2]preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. [3]For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, [4]and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. [5]As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. [6]For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. [7]I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. [8]Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. [9]Do your best to come to me soon. [10]For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. [11]Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. [12]Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. [13]When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. [14]Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. [15]Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. [16]At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! [17]But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. [18]The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. [19]Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. [20]Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. [21]Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers. [22]The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. (ESV)
:8

Paul was approaching the finish line. He could not see it, but he could surely sense it. He had a keen awareness that he was on his last lap in this long race and as he anticipated his crossing over he would write, “I am already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure is at hand.” He anticipated his death to come at the hands of the Roman government as they had accused him of treason against Rome and would execute him by beheading unless he would acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus. But it was because of the Lordship of Jesus that he could look death in the face even by beheading and know that it was only the departure from this world toward the world for which he had longed from the first moment the Lord Jesus made Himself known to Him on the road to Damascus. So, Paul could right about what he faced: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith,” and he anticipates receiving the reward from the righteous judge. Augustine reminds us that for Paul this crown of righteousness had importance only because of the One who gave it because “the crown given by the righteous judge could only be given because of the grace that had been given to Paul by the merciful Father.” So, it is not the crown that was the glory for Paul but living for the glory of the one who wears the crown as great God, gracious Savior, and generous Spirit poured upon and into all who believe. And Paul had lived his life under the guidance of this Sovereign God in order by the power of His Spirit to communicate the Truth of the Word of God the center of which is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is thus no surprise that at the very end, in the very last words that we have from Paul; he is teaching a young preacher whom he had been mentoring about the preacher’s place. It has been such a delight in recent weeks for me to be able to hear again what Paul says and it is such a sacred privilege to be able to share it with you today.

(This is also the ordination service for Michael Godfrey, Youth Pastor!)

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!