The Day of the Lord

Last week we began our new series in the Minor Prophets. We were looking at the Book of Obadiah and the danger that pride presents in the life of the believer. We also briefly touched on a common theme throughout many of the prophets, and that is the “Day of the Lord.” This week as we begin our study of the book of Joel we are again confronted with this topic. The book of Joel is wrought with imagery of a judgment so full and so complete that none had ever seen the likes. If there had been mass media in Joel’s day, the headlines would read “LOCUSTS INVADE THE LAND! NATION FACES CRITICAL ECONOMIC CRISIS! No Relief in Sight…”  

When I was in college years ago, I took a class on how to write my sermons and Bible study lessons, the metaphor we used was Hook, Book, Look, Took. Well, Joel has the people on the hook here.  Everyone was concerned about this economic catastrophe that was taking place…

 I love what the Bible Expositor’s Commentary has to say: “Joel wanted the people of Judah to understand what God was saying to them through the plague and the drought. In our own times, the nations of the world are experiencing severe droughts and famines, frightening epidemics, unexpected earthquakes, devastating floods, and other "natural disasters," all of which have greatly affected the national and global economy; yet very few people have asked, "What is God saying to us?" Joel wrote his book so the people would know what God was saying through these critical events.” (Wiersbe, 2003)

As we prepare each in our own way for the “Day of the Lord” may we bring glory and honor to God!

I hope that you will join us on Sunday as Pastor Craig leads us through the study of the Book of Joel!

Warren Wiersbe, Bible Exposition Commentary – Be Amazed (Hosea, Joel), (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor, 2003), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 334.

Minor Doesn't Mean Less Than...

An Introduction to the Minor Prophets

Many might ask why do we need to Study the Old Testament? What value is there to be found in these ancient antiquated writings of men before the first advent of Christ?

I would counter with the argument that while we today are no longer under the Old Testament as a system of justification that the Old Testament is of great value for us today for several reasons. First, the Old Testament was written for our learning, it is a source of comfort and hope for us today. Paul in Romans 15:4 states “For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures.” (HCSB, 2010)

The Old Testament was also written for our admonition so that we might learn from other’s mistakes and avoid them. (1 Corinthians 10:11) “Now these things happened to them as examples, and they were written as a warning to us, on whom the ends of the ages have come.”(HCSB, 2010)

Finally, as with all scripture inspired by God, the Old Testament is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:14-17 HCSB, 2010)

This holds especially true with regard to the writings referred to as the Minor Prophets.

My hope and prayer are that this post will serve a two-fold goal, first that it wets your appetite for studying these minor prophets and second that it will serve as your reference guide as we journey through the next months studying the proclaimed coming of Christ and his Gospel in these Old Testament books.

So, what are the Minor Prophets? Well, the short answer is that they are a collection of twelve books that make up the final part of the Old Testament. From Hosea to Malachi we have an eclectic collection of men from different walks of life, many of them overlapping, but each with a critical message from God.

If you are willing to take the time to study these books you will find your life enriched as you expand your knowledge and understanding of God’s holiness, righteousness, justice, and mercy. You will also grow in your understanding of God’s dealings with men.

As we prepare for our exploration of these writings, let’s spend some time answering some critical questions which will allow us to digest God’s word each week as we study.

So, we’ve looked briefly at WHAT the Minor Prophets are, but a slightly more pressing question is WHO were the prophets?

The Old Covenant had different voices in which it was recorded, five different types of instructors. You have Moses, the Lawgiver (Nehemiah 8:1,14; 9:13-14; John 1:17; 7:19). You also have the priests, these were those who administrated the law (Leviticus 10:8-11; Hosea 4:6; Ezekiel 22:26; Malachi 2:7) (Ellis, 1991). There were the wise men, who gave counsel (2 Samuel 14:1-24; 20:16-22). The psalmists, poets who were known as the "sweet singers" of Israel (Ellis, 1991) (2 Samuel 23:1; 1 Chronicles 6:33). And finally, there were the prophets, these were the communicators of the Word of God.

Literally, a prophet is a spokesman for someone else. The word prophet according to the Hebrew dictionary literally means “to boil up like a fountain.” Thus, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, a prophet being a spokesman for God (2 Peter 1:21) was given a message to be relayed, and they had no other option but to proclaim it! (Jeremiah 20:7-9). The prophets were primarily "forth-tellers," though sometimes they were "fore-tellers" in that God's word often pertained to future events. By the way, the fulfillment of these prophecies is a strong proof of inspiration!

There are a few other designations which define the role of a prophet. In 1 Samuel 9:9 they were called “seers.” 1 Kings 17:18 and 1 Samuel 9:6 they were referred to a “man of God.” They were known as a “servant of God” in 1 Kings 18:36 and 1 Chronicles 6:49. The prophet served as God’s “messenger” in Isaiah 42:19 and in Ezekiel 3:17; 33:7 they were assigned the role of “watchman.”

The prophets of the Old Testament were men, but they were also servants of God, men who were divinely appointed and inspired to proclaim the message they were given. There were times which the message applied to the then present day, as they served as watchmen of the people of God. There were still other times, God’s message pertained to the future, and as such, they were “seers” of things to come.

It is important to note that there are different classifications of prophets in that you have “oral” and “literary” prophets.

The oral prophets were those such as Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings 17; 2 Kings 2), Nathan (2 Samuel 12), Gad (2 Samuel 24:11), and Ahijah (1 Kings 11:29) who left no writings bearing their names.

Which leaves the “literary” prophets. These were those who left books bearing their names. The literary prophets are subdivided into Major and Minor Prophets. This traces back to Augustine (Ellis, 1991). The distinction between the major and minor pertains only to the length of the books.

The "major prophets" include the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel. The "minor prophets" consist of twelve books in all, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

Another important thing to note is that in considering the “literary” prophets is that when you look at the table of contents in your Bible the order of the books is not chronological. For the sake of establishing a sound basis in our Biblical understanding, we are going to move through them chronologically rather than as they are found in the Biblical Canon.

Now, any time you begin to assign dates to things in scripture you open yourself to controversy. Thus, for the purposes of this guide and the purpose of our preaching series, we will stay within the estimates agreed upon by most conservative scholars.

The dates for breakdown are extracted from The Bible Exposition Commentary (Wiersbe, 2002):

NINTH CENTURY (EARLY ASSYRIAN PERIOD)

      1. Obadiah (ca. 845 B.C)

      2. Joel (ca 830 B.C.)

      3. Jonah (790-750 B.C.)

      -- These three prophets were active during the period known as "The Divided Kingdom" in Israel's history. The empire of Assyria was just beginning to make its presence known in Israel.

EIGHTH CENTURY (ASSYRIAN PERIOD)

      1. Amos (755 B.C.)

      2. Hosea (750-725 B.C.)

      3. Isaiah (740-700 B.C.)

      4. Micah (735-700 B.C.)

      -- In 722 B.C., we know the northern kingdom of Israel was taken into Assyrian captivity. These four prophets were tasked with proclaiming God's message as the nation was being threatened from the north.

SEVENTH CENTURY (CHALDEAN PERIOD)

      1. Jeremiah (626-586 B.C.)

      2. Zephaniah (630-625 B.C.)

      3. Nahum (625-612 B.C.)

      4. Habakkuk (625-605 B.C.)

      -- The Assyrians were eventually defeated by the Babylonians; these four prophets served as God's messengers during the period the Babylonian empire threatened the kingdom of Judah.

SIXTH CENTURY (THE EXILE)

      1. Ezekiel (593-570 B.C.)

      2. Daniel (605-536 B.C.)

      -- Like many of their countrymen, these prophets were taken into Babylonian captivity; from Babylon, they served as God's messengers to both captives and kings

SIXTH AND FIFTH CENTURIES (POST-EXILIC PERIOD)

      1. Haggai (520 B.C.)

      2. Zechariah (520-518 B.C.)

      3. Malachi (ca. 440 B.C.)

      -- Following the return from Babylonian captivity, God used Haggai and Zechariah to encourage the people to rebuild the temple.  Sixty to eighty years later, Malachi was used as an instrument to bring about reform in the priesthood during the period of Ezra and Nehemiah which we studied last year in more depth. 

So, we’ve seen the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, let’s take a few moments in closing and examine our basis for understanding the message of the prophets.

In studying the prophets, there are three things in which you need to keep in mind.

     1. You must always seek to understand the political, social and religious conditions of the times. Any interpretation must consider how the message was relevant for the people to whom the prophet spoke. We often see the secondary fulfillment of prophecy in the New Testament, but this must be understood in context and should only be understood as applied by inspired writers of the New Testament. We must guard against making interpretations that are purely speculative. Also, any application to recent events must be carefully harmonized in light of the New Testament.

      2. You must also consider God's relationship to the nations of the day other than Israel and Judah. The writings of the prophets often revealed how God would direct their destiny and also how he judged them. Considering this can also provide insight as to how Christ rules the nations today (Matthew 28:18; Revelation 1:5; 2:26;27).

      3. The final thing you must look for is any teaching regarding the Messiah and His coming kingdom (Acts 26:6-7; 28:20). While the primary mission of most of the prophets was to facilitate the repentance of  God’s people from idolatry and wickedness many left a message of hope for the future, pointing to the advent of the Messiah who would ultimately arrive and establish a kingdom which stands for eternity.

The final thing I want to address with this post is six of the major themes that are developed by the Minor Prophets in their writings. We see them consistently throughout scripture and further elaborated by the New Testament writers, but the Prophets provide a unique perspective which benefits our study.  

      1. The holiness of God - God is absolutely pure, absolutely righteous, and absolutely just; he is unnecessarily merciful, amazingly tender, perfectly loving, and forever patient.

      2. The sovereignty of God – Simply, He rules the universe and is above all.

      3. The immutability of God's Word (I heard a great sermon by Dr. Al Mohler on the immutability (or unchanging nature) of God at the Jax Pastor’s Conference, so when we look at this theme in a few weeks I will share it with you!

      4. The wretchedness of sin, we tend in today’s culture to whitewash sin, but the truth is God abhors sin, and will not tolerate, overlook, nor excuse it. Graciously he is willing to forgive those who humbly repent.

      5. Repentance and righteousness are the clarion call of the prophets. God’s punishment for the wicked is severe, but his mercy is great in loving-kindness upon the righteous who approach the throne with a broken spirit and contrite heart of true repentance.

      6. The worship due to God -  We don’t worship for ourselves we worship. The prophets outline for us and remind us that the proper reverence, awe, and respect for God will inevitably cause one to praise Him and give thanks for His wonderful grace and mercy!

So, why do we study the minor prophets? Because in them we learn about the nature of God, His holiness, justice, righteousness, and mercy. We learn of the workings of God, as He deals with the nations, bringing judgment upon the guilty. Ultimately this can help us in our relationship with God today, giving us a comfort and hope to face the future, recognizing that God is in ultimate control.

I hope that you are as excited about this series as I am!

See you Sunday as we start with Obediah – be sure to read it and be ready!

References

(2015). Retrieved from Bible History Online: http://www.bible-history.com

BibleGateway. (n.d.). Retrieved 09 24, 2015, from http://biblegateway.com

Ellis, E. E. (1991). The Old Testament in Early Christianity. Germany.

HCSB. (2010). Holman Christian Standard Bible. Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

Keathley, H. (2004, May 19). Bible.org. Retrieved 09 2015, from https://bible.org/article/jacob

Wiersbe, W. (2002). The Bible Exposition Commentary. David C Cook.

Two Opposing Boasts

This week as we close our journey through the book of Galatians we see a critical contrast. We see two very different boasts. We have the boasts of the flesh and the boasts of the cross. Throughout his Epistle, Paul has been encouraging the churches not to cave into the primal desires of the flesh. The Judaizers brought a compelling argument, but their motivation was flawed. They sought to boast in the flesh for two reasons, first to avoid persecution for the cross of Christ (v12) and second to boast in the flesh of the Gentiles (v13) which boils down to pride. Those boasting in the flesh were trying to avoid a fight, and to put it in modern terms they were trying to brag about their numbers. In doing this however as we have seen elsewhere in Galatians (2:11-14) they were inconsistent. You see they were focused solely on the externals, but we know that God doesn’t favor us because of externals he has favor on us as his children because of what is on the inside.

                In contrast, we see the boasts of the cross. This was the boast of Paul. This boast stands against the reasoning of the day, and Paul knew it. 1 Corinthians 1:18 tells us “for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved.”  You see the cross for the Jewish people was a curse (Deut 21:23; Gal 3:13). Yet it is in this cursed cross which we are set free, and it is in this cursed cross in which Paul boasts. This was no easy task. It required a change in priorities for Paul. Circumcision, once important to him, has now become irrelevant (Gal 1:11-17) the only thing that matters now is the fact that he is now a new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17; Ep. 4:20-24). Paul has gone from boasting about himself and his accomplishments to boasting in the transforming power of Christ.

We need to be ever cautious that we don’t imitate the Judaizers. When we are faced with being ridiculed for our faith, do we accept for what it is a blessing? James 1 reminds us that trials lead to endurance which in turn leads to maturity in the faith, completeness. The threat of persecution and ridicule did not keep Christ from the cross nor should it dampen our passion for serving. We must also check our pride at the door. This simple human emotion has been the downfall of so many throughout the generations. Are we seeking to impress others with our accomplishments just for the sake of popularity?

 What do you boast in today? Do you boast in yourself, in the things that you have done to earn favor with God? Or do you boast in the righteousness of God, in the power of the cross of Christ?

(Galatians 6:11-18) “Look at what large letters I use as I write to you in my own handwriting. Those who want to make a good impression in the flesh are the ones who would compel you to be circumcised—but only to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even the circumcised don’t keep the law themselves; however, they want you to be circumcised in order to boast about your flesh. But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world has been crucified to me through the cross, and I to the world. For both circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing; what matters instead is a new creation. May peace come to all those who follow this standard, and mercy to the Israel of God!

From now on, let no one cause me trouble, because I bear on my body scars for the cause of Jesus. Brothers, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.”

Sowing Well

So, I wrote about reaping what you sowed a couple of weeks ago, but we never made it that far on Sunday morning. This week we are back on that passage, so I wanted to refresh our thoughts on the subject and go into greater detail on a verse that I had previously glanced over but hadn’t paid much attention.

The more I've studied this passage, the more uncomfortable I am preaching on it. Not because it is some complicated theological topic or a divisive doctrine but because of the right contextual subject matter of it. Read the passage and see for yourself:

The one who is taught the message must share all his good things with the teacher. Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, we must work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith. (HCSB Gal_6:6-10)

It would be real easy just to breeze right past verse six. I mean really easy. Verse 7 is such a great proverbial truth and is so easy to preach, but we can't leave out verse 6.

"The one who is taught the message must share all his good things with the teacher." (HCSB Gal_6:6)

I have to say I read this verse over and over and checked commentary after commentary just be sure because I couldn't believe what Paul was saying but sure enough, he was telling the churches in Galatia to pay their pastors. Now sure there are other lessons you could glean from this passage, but that is the verbiage that Paul uses.

Now to be clear Paul wasn't advocating six figure salaries for the elders/pastors of the church. Don’t miss Paul's primary concern in this passage; he is talking about money, but his concern isn’t the money

.
What was Paul’s burden? The furtherance of the gospel. Paul knew that the God-ordained means for accomplishing this was the steady proclamation of the Word of God by faithful teachers. But these teachers would be greatly hindered if they could not take care of their daily responsibilities. He knew they would have to make their rent payment or buy feed for their donkey. Therefore, Paul is recognizing that by caring for the needs of the teacher, the church says in effect, "We want the Word of God taught faithfully and effectively, so we will help support you."

This excerpt from the Bible Exposition Commentary explains it like this:

“We must realize the spiritual principle that lies behind this precept. God does not command believers to give simply that pastors and teachers (and missionaries, Phil. 4:10-19) might have their material needs met, but that the givers might get a greater blessing (Gal. 6:7-8). The basic principle of sowing and reaping is found throughout the entire Bible. God has ordained that we reap what we sow. Were it not for this law, the whole principle of "cause and effect" would fail. The farmer who sows wheat can expect to reap wheat. If it were otherwise, there would be chaos in our world.

But God has also told us to be careful where we sow, and it is this principle that Paul deals with here. He looks on our material possessions as seed, and he sees two possible kinds of soil: the flesh and the Spirit. We can use our material goods to promote the flesh, or to promote the things of the Spirit. But once we have finished sowing, we cannot change the harvest.

Money sown to the flesh will bring a harvest of corruption (see Gal. 5:19-21). That money is gone and can never be reclaimed.

Money sown to the Spirit (such as sharing with those who teach the Word) will produce life, and in that harvest will be seeds that can be planted again for another harvest, and on and on into eternity. If every believer only looked on his material wealth as seed, and planted it properly, there would be no lack in the work of the Lord. Sad to say, much seed is wasted on carnal things and can never bring glory to God.” (Wiersbe 2003)

To whoever might actually read this, please heed Paul’s plea and care for those who teach, not out of obligation or tradition, but because you love the Word of God and want to see it spread to the ends of the earth.

What are you sowing?

See you Sunday!



Bibliography
HCSB. 2010. Holman Christian Standard Bible. Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

Wiersbe, Warren. 2003. Bible Exposition Commentary – Be Free (Galatians). WORDsearch CROSS e-book. Colorado Springs, CO

Reaping What You Sow...

Context is so important when you read scripture. It is so easy to read a passage without proper context and thus twist the verse into something completely different than the intended meaning. You can look at passages such as 1 Chronicles 4:10 better known as “The Prayer of Jabez.” Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things” – when you look that these it doesn’t mean that God doesn’t want to bless you or that through Christ you can’t do anything you desire, but those verses in context don’t have the intent that we think they do. Another one of those verses that are so often taken out of context is found in this week’s passage in Galatians 6. Galatians 6:7b …for whatever a man sows he will also reap… I can’t tell you how many times someone has said to me trying to justify their own attitude toward someone well ya know they are gonna reap what they sow…

Well duh… Yes, in the technical sense of the use of this term you are right they will reap what they sow. BUT, and this is a big but, that isn’t what Paul is talking about in this passage.

Paul is alluding to salvation in this passage. And when you include the rest of the relevant passage and the context of the remainder of the book, the intended audience, culture, Paul’s other writings and so forth you see that Paul isn’t calling for judgment on someone.

Paul is exhorting his fellow workmen to one not give up on anyone, and two stop trying to fool God.

Matthew Henry’s thoughts on the matter while wordy are precisely on target:

The apostle here supposes that many are apt to excuse themselves from the work of religion, and especially the more self-denying and chargeable parts of it, though at the same time they may make a show and profession of it; but he assures them that this their way is their folly, for, though hereby they may possibly impose upon others, yet they do but deceive themselves if they think to impose upon God, who is perfectly acquainted with their hearts as well as actions, and, as he cannot be deceived, so he will not be mocked; and therefore, to prevent this, he directs us to lay down as a rule to ourselves, That whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap; or that according as we behave ourselves now, so will our account be in the great day.

We must be ever vigilant in our obedience to Christ that we don’t attempt to fool ourselves into thinking we are better off than we are thereby trying to fool God.

Context, Context Context…

Everything makes so much more sense when you keep it within its proper context. 

Fighting an unCivil War

From 1861 until 1865, America was torn apart by the bloodiest war in our history. Today we know it as the American Civil War, but much like the political culture today, there was nothing civil about it. The War Between the States was an uncivil war in which over 650,000 Americans were killed. To put that into persepective more American’s lost their lives in the Civil War than World War I and World War II combined (622,000 Americans died in the two world wars). It’s a miracle of God that our nation even survived that terrible war.

There is another war an internal war, and it’s not very civil either. It’s the war that rages between your two natures. Each of us has a sinful nature, we simply call it human nature. When we become a follower of Jesus, God places His Holy Spirit in our hearts, and the war begins. Our sinful nature is always pushing us toward sin, and the Holy Spirit is prompting us toward holy living.

Paul offers his readers encouragement and instruction in facing this inner civil war in Galatians 5:16-26. Look at what he says:

“I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other so that you don’t do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I tell you about these things in advance—as I told you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit. We must not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

Some people would argue that Christians shouldn’t have any inner conflict because our old sinful nature is dead and we now have peace with God.  But the truth is, we live in a sinful world. Because of this, we face temptation.  We are not immune from this.  In fact, often times the experience of this inner conflict can be much more intense or much more evident for Believers since we have a new nature.

Paul says the result of this conflict is that “you don’t do what you want.” You see, our spiritual and renewed nature desire to do good.  But what end’s up coming out more often than not is our sinful nature which pulls the other way – take this example, you want to apologize to someone for something, but then your pride gets in the way, and you ignore it.  Our sinful nature resists everything that is spiritual, even as a Christian.  The solution? To walk in the Spirit.

In verses 19-21 Paul lists off the works of the flesh. It doesn’t make very pleasant reading. But it serves an important purpose. To convince us of the corrupt and depraved nature of man.  Remember, we live in a fallen world it shouldn’t surprise us when we see these works of the flesh around us and in ourselves as well.

Paul doesn’t leave us there though with a list of stuff not to do. That’s not the Bible’s purpose nor is it Paul’s in these verses. How do we know this? Look at the next two verses (22-23) he gives us the “fruits of the Spirit” – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. 

So, we have a pretty good picture in these five verses of what we should and should not do. These acts of our sinful nature are a description of sin; whereas, the fruit of the Spirit is a description of the work of God’s grace.

And as Paul closes out this passage reminding us that “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Talking the talk is easy. It’s easy to say all the right things, have all the right answers. But we are not called to live an easy life, we are not to be about simply talk. We are called to walk the walk. That is why Paul said, “I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”

…Since we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit….

What does this mean for us? This means that we need to examine our lives, the way we live, the words we speak, things we do both in public and private and prayerfully ask ourselves where do they fit in the descriptions Paul has given us.

Are following the Spirit or are you following the flesh? Who is winning the inner civil war in your life today?

See ya Sunday!

Hard to Pass The Valleys

While I find, there are many blessings associated with being a Pastor there are days in which the role brings about unavoidable challenges. For me, one of those challenges is found in talking about death. This weekend I have the opportunity to speak at not one but two Celebration of Life services for longtime members of our community.  

It is hard to reconcile in our minds and our hearts the idea of celebrating a life that has been lost.  It is in moments like these, I am drawn to the words of King David in the Old Testament, Psalm 23, a Psalm written in a time of great pain and anguish. David wrote these words which you might be familiar with:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil;

Henry Ward Beecher, a pastor during the Civil War, called the 23^rd Psalm the Nightingale Psalm. He called it by this name because he said “the nightingale sings it’s sweetest when the night is darkest.”

The valley of the shadow of death literally means a “death-like shadow, or a deep shadow.”  It is a reference to all the dark and gloomy experiences of life through which we may have to travel. While this valley David speaks of isn’t limited exclusively to death, it most certainly includes it.

Now these valleys which we journey through are universal, every man, woman, and child who will ever walk this earth must walk these same paths. Just because someone is a Christian doesn’t mean they are exempt from anything this life throws at them.  Christians go bankrupt – Christians get cancer – Christians have accidents – and Christians die, just like everyone else.

Death comes to each of us. Having the Lord as our Shepherd does not grant us immunity from sorrow, it does assure us of his promises. The promise that we will be able to spend eternity with our Lord and Savior one day when he calls us home into his presence. I don’t know about you but that’s one promise I want to hold on to… 

Let's not repeat the past...

It is hard to believe that 2017 is here already! Where has, the time gone? As I sit here thinking back on the events that transpired over the past year and I look forward to the things yet to unfold over the course of the next; I am reminded of just how great our God is.

Paul did the same in Galatians 4. He steps back from his criticisms of their weakness and addresses them as brothers. Galatians 4:8-31 can be quite difficult for us to grasp yet it bears no less importance for us to understand. In this passage, we see several warnings, warning the churches to be wary of what they do and who they follow as things might not always be as they appear. The Judaizers he warns them in 4:17 are “enthusiastic for them” but not for any good reasons. Have you ever known someone who was very excited? Someone who seems very passionate about your well-being, about your beliefs? Yet, the more you learn about them you realize that they never really had your best interests at heart, they were looking out only for themselves and the things that concerned them?

This is what was going on in the relationship between the churches in Galatia and the Judaizers. Paul encourages his brothers in Galatia that it is good to be excited, it’s good to be passionate, but make sure your passions are in the right place. We should be enthusiastic for the truth.

Something else key that we see in this passage you have to back up a few verses to see it laid out for us. Looking at 4:9-11 Paul says: “But now, since you know God, or rather have become known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and bankrupt elemental forces? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? You observe special days, months, seasons, and years.  I am fearful for you, that perhaps my labor for you has been wasted. "

What on earth is Paul talking about? He is again expressing his bewilderment at their proclivity to wander. The Galatians were repeating the same mistakes, they were falling back into the same pattern however Paul here is addressing the Jewish special days, the elements of the Jewish faith.  The Christians in Galatia weren't Jews they were Gentiles, and yet Paul is calling these Jewish traditions “weak and bankrupt elemental forces” wow… That is a bit harsh, but it is true none the less. 

Now hear me on this, the observation of the special days, the traditions, the seasons in and of themselves are not the problem. It is the reason why they were attempting to adhere to them. They were pursuing these things with the goal of gaining favor with God. They went from pursuing pagan traditions for closeness to God to following the One True God, to following Jewish traditions... same mistakes, different approach... 

Think about it like this, Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, these are all important dates and seasons on the modern Christian calendar each year. Now if you were to approach any of these days or seasons with the mindset that by observing them you are gaining God’s favor you are falling into the same deception that the Galatians were in the first-century church. Take this a step further, though. Think about your daily walk. Your prayer time, your bible study, your trips to church to worship, your service at church or in the community. If you do any of these things for any other reason than to give glory to God, if you do them with the hope to make yourself more favorable in God’s eyes you are doing them for the wrong reason, and you have repeated the Galatian's mistakes.

It's not the day or the action it's the intent. Remember, God’s favor in you is not found in your performance for him. God’s favor for you is a result of the presence of Christ in you, made possible by Christ’s performance for you.

Embrace that with me this year as we grow together in our walk.

Remember it is:


Sola Gratia (saved by grace alone)Sola Fide (through faith alone)Solus Christus (in Christ alone)Sola Scriptura (according to scripture alone)
Soli Deo Gloria (for the glory of God alone) 

Sons of God

This time of year, much is made of the coming of the Christ Child and rightly so. We celebrate the birth of Jesus as we should because without the arrival of Christ mankind has serious a problem, we cannot be made right before a righteous God.

Galatians 3:26-4:7 is an amazing Christmas passage because it not only talks about the purpose of Christ’s journey it brings us into that picture. Take a look -

…for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ like a garment. There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise. Now I say that as long as the heir is a child, he differs in no way from a slave, though he is the owner of everything. Instead, he is under guardians and stewards until the time set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elemental forces of the world. When the time came to completion, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Notice something the Paul does not describe us here as sons and daughters of God; nor does it describe us as more gender-neutral children of God. We see that elsewhere but this text is expressly referencing sons, and there's a reason behind that.

This isn’t a male vs. female issue either, it is not that Paul is being chauvinistic and simply ignoring the ladies in the room.

Paul has a purpose, and that is to ensure his readers knew that the ground was equal at the foot of the cross. If you think about it, more it was common in the first century, and still is very common in many cultures around the world that it is the son who receives the inheritance in a family.  

If you look back over the rest of Galatians 3 what did you see illustrated? The promise carried from Abraham to Moses to Christ. How? It was carried by an heir. Abraham's son Isaac, son Jacob, and so forth.

So, when we get to Galatians 3:26-4:7 and Paul is talking about adoption and sons, he's talking about receiving an inheritance that would be reserved for a son.

Now I’ve heard many bloggers and authors attempt to pervert this passage in recent days, but the truth of what Paul is saying is that “it doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter what your gender is, it doesn’t matter what your socioeconomic status is, it doesn’t matter what your ethnic identity is.

All that matters is this, that you are, in Christ, a son; and as a result of being a son, in Christ, you receive an inheritance.”

The pure and simple fact here Paul is being counter-cultural here because he is saying that every follower of Christ has the same rights and privileges in the family of God. Those of a son. Does not matter if you are a man or a woman, does not matter if you are rich or poor if you have placed your faith in Christ Jesus you have the rights and privileges of a son, Paul is saying that we're all in this thing together.

This is not something that is just automatic, we are not just universally sons of God. This is a privilege that we can enter into because God sent His Son so that we might receive the position of sons.

This is what we see illustrated in Galatians 4:4, "When the time had fully come, God sent his Son..." You get on later, it says, "So we might receive the full rights of sons."

What an incredible promise for us to study on Christmas morning!

I hope to see you this week in worship! If you can’t make it be sure to log on to Facebook and stream the service.

Merry Christmas! 

What's the Purpose?

One of the joys of having young kids is you are always being asked why. Why this or why that. How does this work? Why do I have to brush my teeth? Why do I have to eat my vegetables? Sometimes it can get a bit overwhelming. 

This time of year we are always talking about things like what is the purpose of Christmas? Or what is the purpose of Advent? 

The last few weeks the Apostle Paul has offered three arguments revealing the shortfalls of the Law. This week Paul offers the real purpose behind the law.

Paul starts off asking a question which I imagine was purely rhetorical in nature. He asks those in Galatia "Why then was the law given?" He knew that they knew the answer but to be certain they were all on the same page he follows it up with an explanation. 

The law was given because of sin. Sin prevented Man from having a right relationship with God, and God needed the means of making man aware of his sinfulness in which they would understand the sheer impossibility of being justified on his own. 

Paul further explains that the law was not given to give life but to reveal the confining nature of humanity on our own apart from God. Paul states that the law in a sense is our "guardian until Christ" meaning that the law is our tutor or our teacher, a legally appointed overseer, authorized to train (bring) up a child by administering discipline, chastisement, and instruction.

Why then was the law given? To reveal our need for a savior to be born and to point us to him that we might be justified before God.

Hope to see you Sunday!

Galatians 3:19-26
"Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come. The law was put into effect through angels by means of a mediator. Now a mediator is not for just one person, but God is one. Is the law therefore contrary to God’s promises? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly be by the law. But the Scripture has imprisoned everything under sin’s power, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus."

Do you have a ticket to ride?

As I was in preparation for this week, I came across this illustration that fit so aptly in regards to the debate between faith and works to ascertain salvation.

I’ve heard it often said that “It doesn’t matter what you believe; it’s how you live that counts.”

Adoniram Judson Gordon, a Baptist preacher in the 1800's and founder of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, encountered this philosophy one time as he talked with a fellow passenger on a train. The man believed he could get to heaven by his good works. Pointing to the conductor who was making his way through the coach, Gordon asked his new friend, “Did you ever notice how carefully he always examines the ticket but takes no pains whatever to inspect the passenger.” The man immediately caught the significance of the question. He had just been saying that God was interested only in what we do and not in a “little bit of theological scrip called faith.”

“You see,” continued Gordon, “the passenger and the ticket are accepted together. If he doesn’t have one or has the wrong one, he will be asked to get off the train—no matter how honest he might appear to be. Just as the ticket stands for the man, faith stands for you.”

It doesn’t matter how many good deeds you do over the course of your life. In the end, if you don’t have faith the conductor won’t allow you to get on the train bound for glory.

This is what we see in the message that Paul taught in Galatians. Paul’s message echo’s what is shown throughout the rest of the Bible.

We see a lot in this week’s passage, take some time before Sunday to read it and come ready to explore its importance to our faith!

Galatians 3:15-18

Brothers, I’m using a human illustration. No one sets aside or makes additions to even a human covenant that has been ratified. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say “and to seeds,” as though referring to many, but referring to one, and to your seed, who is Christ. And I say this: The law, which came 430 years later, does not revoke a covenant that was previously ratified by God and cancel the promise. For if the inheritance is from the law, it is no longer from the promise; but God granted it to Abraham through the promise.

Redeemable Value

I have some very special collections in my office. If you come to see me, you will see my books dating back to the mid-1800's. All the Orange and Blue makes it evident where my sports allegiance lies. But there is one collection that you might miss upon first glance, and that is my
Coka-Cola bottles. In my travels on mission trips, one of the things that I always look for to bring home with is a glass bottle (or in the case of Cuba an aluminum can) of locally bottled Cola. 

Something you notice when you start looking at the glass bottles (even plastic bottles nowadays) is the detail that they provide. You get the product name and manufacturer of course. They also include the nutritional value, ingredients, often the bottling location. But there is usually one more little tidbit of information. How much that bottle is worth in redemption value to the manufacturer. 

My foreign made Cola bottles are printed in Creole, Thai, and Spanish thus it 's hard to know what their redemptive value is, however, the water bottles on my desk each are worth .5 cents each. Not very much but if you were able to collect enough of them you might be able to buy an ice cold coke. 

 In Galatians 3:13-14 Paul pens these beautifully powerful words:

"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written: Everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed. The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promised Spirit through faith."

This is of critical importance. Because just as those bottles have a redemptive value, you and I also have a redemptive value. What is your life worth to God you might ask? 

His Son. 

It's that simple. 

Your life, my life, the eternal lives of all those who have believed as Abraham from the beginning of time till the Lord comes back to claim His bride share the same redemptive value. 

The life of His one and only Son. 


This was a price that Jesus readily paid to redeem you to the creator that you might share in the eternal blessings of dwelling in the presence of The Most High.


Knowing this should significantly impact the way in which we live our lives.  The question you have to answer is has it? 

See you Sunday!

Something to be thankful for...

As we come off the Thanksgiving holiday many people have asked the question around the table of "what are you thankful for?" Many of the answers surely included family, new jobs, new loves, new toys, the list could be endless.

In Galatians 3:6-9 Paul reminds us of something very old that we should always be thankful for. 

Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, then understand that those who have faith are Abraham’s sons. Now the Scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and told the good news ahead of time to Abraham,saying, All the nations will be blessed through you. So those who have faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith.

Our source of justification is rooted in the covenant that God made with Abraham in Genesis 17 when he promised that ALL the nations would be blessed through him. Simply put, if we have faith in God, we have access to the same blessing of Abraham. 

If that isn't something to be thankful for this year I don't know what is.

How will you thank Him today?

We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks to you, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds. 

Let our souls bless the LORD, and let all that is within us bless his holy name; yes, let our souls bless the LORD and forget not all his benefits. (Psalm 75:1; 103:1-2)