Where are the M.I.A. Pastors? - 1 Timothy 5:8

“But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” - 1 Timothy 5:8.

    Yes, we need more prayers, but we also need our pastors to address our civil discontent and resistance against the Philistines who threaten our faith, our values, and our very existence. Our nation hasn’t been this divided since our last Civil War. There are open calls to make the preaching of certain Biblical sermons, “hate crimes.” It’s time our pastors rose up in the pulpits and addressed this growing anti-Christian sentiment. To remain silent on the subject of Christian persecution is the antitheses of boldly preaching God’s word! “A righteous man who falters before the wicked is like a murky spring and a polluted well.” - Proverbs 25:26
    Our pastors, however briefly, need to turn their attention from the wolves within the church to the barbarians at the gate because the wolves and barbarians are allies in the war against the truth! To effectively fight one, one must fight the other.
    There have been times in the past when Christian men and women were called to step up and defend themselves against the barbarians who neither know nor recognize almighty God. In their proud audacity, these barbarians scoff at and crucify Jesus Christ, again and again, fearing no recompense. And the wolves within the church? They twist the holy word of God to meet their desires. They turn Christ into an ill-fated stooge, rather than the Lion of Judah! And our pastors remain silent. Our pastors need to step into the pulpit with as great a fire in their hearts as burns within the words of Holy Scripture! “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.” - 1 Corinthians 16:13.
    We face unpredictable days ahead. The winds of change roar about us and it should come as no surprise that hatred for the faith rides in the gale. Our enemies surround us on all sides. Our God is both faithful and true. But there are times that even God calls us to place stones in our slings or to gird ourselves with swords. “Then He said to them, ‘But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.’” - Luke 22:36. So why are our pastors MIA?
    As God-fearing Christians, we must always remember to let a simple insult pass and try to keep the peace. “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.”
- Romans 12:18. However, when the threat of violence becomes imminent, we must remember that God has always used human agents to affect His will, i.e. Noah, Moses, Joshua, David, Samson, etc. The pastoral response should be to prepare the flock, just in case. “Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, ‘Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.’” - Nehemiah 4:13-14.
    Please don’t misconstrue what I am saying. I am not calling for our pastors to take up arms or call for us to. What I’m saying is simply this: pastors need to address the growing concerns of their congregations in this perilous political atmosphere. They do so when there is another tragic mass shooting or a hurricane or an earthquake. Why is this any different? I’m saying they should come into church on Sundays after hearing a week’s worth of anti-Christian rhetoric in every media form available and address it! Show the congregation that they are not oblivious to the noxious anti-Christian sentiment pervading the culture and nearly every institution. To do or say less is a sin of omission.
    Many of you may disagree with me, insisting that prayer is the only answer. Mind you, I called for more prayer in the opening sentence of this post. I firmly believe as our Holy Bible tells us, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” - Psalm 127:1. But that doesn’t relieve our pastors of their responsibility to zealously guard the flock! And that includes guarding our hearts, minds, souls, and bodies. And while I’m not calling on our pastors to jump on top of the grenade for us; I would expect that they would share in our trepidation and our desire for self-preservation. Yes, the Lord is my shepherd, and yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Praise the Lord for being our rock and our fortress. But where are our pastors?

No Celebration Of Life - Acts 4:12

  
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. - Acts 4:12

    Yesterday, I attended a memorial for a friend. Actually, he’d been a classmate of mine over 46 years ago. As I milled around with the mourners, I was taken aback by the dichotomy between those who wept for his eternal soul and those who were spiritually disconnected from anything remotely resembling a concern for his soul now that he was gone. I know there is a long-standing, albeit erroneous, axiom that we never discuss politics or religion in polite company but where, if not at a funeral or memorial, are we to discuss the spiritual aspects of the afterlife?
    For most, the event was what is commonly mislabeled today as a “Celebration of Life.” I have always questioned the thoughtlessness that accompanies such a title given that I’m not especially sure that every life lives deserves a “celebration.” This should be even more evident when the life we are talking about was lived in acknowledged sin, wanton excess and self-abuse which in no doubt lead inevitably to his passing. I would direct those who are overcome in their grief halt the histrionics for just one moment and ask yourselves that question you keep trying to avoid - “Do I really want to celebrate a life deliberately lived perilously close to a darkened grave?” Perspective, beloved, perspective! A life that comes at the expense of our eternal souls is not a life to be celebrated. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” - Mark 8:36.
    So as I wafted between conversations I hoped to hear at least a smattering of prayerful hopes that my deceased friend had accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior. After all, none of us can accurately determine what is in a man’s heart at the time of his passing. “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts.” - Proverbs 21:2.
    Mind you: the mere agreement that there is indeed a God is no guarantee of salvation. “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” - James 2:19.
    I would be remiss if I did not mention that I heard that oft-quoted and patently fallacious quip of reassurance - “Well, he’s in a better place now.” I’m happy to assure you all that I did not damage my neck as my head snapped in disbelief that real people still make such callously uneducated remarks in regard to the recent dead. Nor did I stutter out, “What?! Where?! Are you absolutely certain of what you just told this poor soul’s surviving family members?” My mother once told me that sometimes it’s just better to just remain quiet than to allow something inane to spill out of our mouths. I believe this “better place” remark was on her list.
    As the event neared its end I was feeling hopeful that I wouldn’t hear any further “nuggets of wisdom” from this basically unchurched crowd. Unfortunately, it was not to be. I overheard someone saying something about praying the “Hail Mary.” A wave of ice water seemed to flow down my spine, nearly paralyzing me in my place. I then remembered another adage my mother used to use, and quite frequently - “It is better to be merely thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” Why on earth would a Christian think to pray to anyone but Jesus Christ? “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time . . .” - 1 Timothy 2:5-6. As usual, I answered my own question when I realized that few Christians read their Bibles anymore. So “who” they pray to these days should come as no surprise. Now, while this may come across as taking a hard line, might I remind you all that we are instructed in both the Old and the New Testaments to avoid adding to or taking anything away from the Holy Scriptures. And in addition, adoration of and praying to saints for any reason directly violates the 2nd Commandment. Perspective, beloved, perspective!
    The message we Reformed Christians must try to disseminate to all in our spheres of influence should be this, for both the living and the dead - “yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.” - 1 Corinthians 8:6. We simply have to remind others in this life, before death, of what Jesus Himself said - “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” - John 14:6. Prayers for the dead do nothing; their sojourn is over. Their eternity has been decided by God. We must now pray for the living. We must now pray for ourselves.
    There is no celebration of life like that which we will enjoy knowing our eternal salvation lies in our faith in Jesus Christ and the assurance that only He can provide.

His Law - Hosea 8:12

I have written for him the great things of My law, but they were considered a strange thing. - Hosea 8:12

    One of the most common arguments made by unbelievers today is that the Ten Commandments are an ancient code, long out of date and hardly applicable anymore. How strange that anyone should even suggest following those ancient archaic rules. After all, they reason, what’s wrong with an occasional lie if it accomplishes our goal? Who indeed has the right to tell us who we may and may not choose as our partners in life? And where does anyone get off telling me what I can and can’t do with my body? Their wisdom is shrouded in both self-indulgence and iniquity.
    You’ve heard all the arguments. By now they all have that metallic clicking sound of a firing pin striking a spent casing. According to the unbelieving masses, no one has any right to insist upon a standard of behavior for anyone else! “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” - Judges 17:6. This particular verse says a lot about our own times. In the 21st Century, it seems the catchphrase is “No king, no master.” Oh, wouldn’t the masses be thrilled if that were true? But unfortunately for the foolish and the blind of modern times, their insistence on personal autonomy doesn’t change the reality that we all do indeed have both a King and a Master - “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them.” - Jeremiah 32:38-39.
    Still, the hardened hearts and stiffened necks will object and deny. To what end? “The foolishness of a man twists his way, and his heart frets against the Lord.” - Proverbs 19:3. Unregenerate man will continue as he has for millennia, always striving against the Lord. He knows no other way. His rebellion is as much a part of his fallen nature as is his desire to sin in spite of the conscience God has given him! Unregenerate man finds strength in numbers of his kind, even though all their souls are darkened by the shadow of death. In this we remember the old adage: misery loves company. Sinners love sinful company. They will do anything to encourage others to join them in their sinful pursuits. There are no strangers among sinners. They all eat of the same spoiled feast. “ . . .  who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” - Romans 1:32.
    I would ask that those who would be wise among them to examine themselves as we believers are called to examine ourselves. Seek true wisdom. Recognize the hopeless condition of the declaration, “no god - no master.” Search for the cross of our Savior, Jesus Christ! Do what we must but find Christ. Without Him, we have no hope. Recognize Him as Lord and Savior. Let this be our wisdom - “Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.” - Hosea 14:9.
    One of the most oft argued premises is that IF there is a God, there are many paths to Him. Such a view of eternity is hopeless at best and spiritually deadly at its worst. However, for the one who is discerning, the 14th Chapter of John eradicates the very notion that a person may be saved without accepting Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior - “If you love Me, keep My commandments. . . .  He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. . . .  Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.  He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.’” John 14:15, 21, 23-24.
    Keep His law perfectly? Not even a Pharisee is capable of such perfection and neither are we. But we strive to do so and in as much as we endeavor to keep God’s law in our hearts, minds, words, and actions, our sins are washed clean by the blood of Christ by faith through grace. Our imperfect adhesion to God’s law is evidence of our salvation in Jesus Christ. The impassioned rejection of His law is evidence of the inverse!

Within God’s Gate - Exodus 10:20

 
But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go. - Exodus 10:20

    How many times have you heard it? If God is sovereign and all powerful then how can we be responsible for our sinful behavior? Their position, in short, is this: either God is in control or He is not. If He is not, then He is not all-powerful.
    Think about it for a moment. Either we have free will or we don’t. If we do have free will then God cannot be sovereign. If we don’t have free will then God is ultimately responsible for all the evil in the world. Seems to make sense within the confines of our very small human minds. So the very first thing we need to establish is the finitude of the human mind. Rule #1 is simply this: since we are but human beings, there is no way for us to completely understand the mind of God. “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” - Isaiah 55:8-9.
    That having been established, we move on to Rule #2 - God does indeed have His limitations. There are things that God simply cannot do. For instance; He cannot act in opposition to His divine nature and attributes. God cannot lie is but one example. “For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.” - Psalm 5:4. The suggestion that God is not omnipotent because He can’t act in opposition to His attributes is the epitome of foolishness. Were such a suggestion not the fruit of ignorance it would be high heresy. Now, we know that God can do no evil because He cannot act in opposition to His attributes; so where then does evil come from?
    Rule #3, the total depravity of man, is profound because it places the responsibility for evil thoughts, words, and deeds squarely on our fragile human shoulders. “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” - Genesis 6:5.
    In fact, were it not for the common grace of God bestowed upon all of creation, ours at this very moment would be a dead planet! God’s restraining hand limits the extent to which evil plays out among mankind.
    We must constantly be reminded that we live in a Genesis 3 world. Evil exists in this world because of what took place in the Garden of Eden between the flesh and the devil. Consider the following: you have instructed two children not to leave the yard through the back gate. You have warned the children of the repercussions should they choose to disobey you. And then you leave the gate open. You could have locked the gate thus ensuring that the children would follow your dictate but you left them to their own recognizance. What the children do next will determine their world from that moment on. “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” - Genesis 3:6.
    God indeed had (and has) the power to stop evil from taking place because He is omnipotent, but He allows humanity to make the choice. He leaves the gate unlocked. What we choose to do exonerates God from all responsibility for our choices. He is therefore not the author of evil. May the Word of God reprove us in our thoughts, words, and deeds and give us strength to stay within the gate.

The Prayer That God Hears - Exodus 2:24-25

                               
So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them. - Exodus 2:24-25

    The Hebrew word for “groan” (neaqah) most closely matches synonymously the terms “moan, whimper, or cry.” In Ezekiel 30:24 it is actually used to describe the utterances of a gravely wounded man. So it should come as no surprise that when the Hebrews felt the crush of their Egyptian oppressors that they should cry out to their God. “Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.” - Exodus 2:23.
    The groanings of these Hebrews were not rote prayers or supplications. The description of their circumstances indicates that these were the earnest prayers of a heavily oppressed and tortured people. These prayers did not issue from second thoughts or incidental reminders to pray. These prayers were the appeals and pleas of a people locked in the slavery of cruel and brutal persecution. And God sent them Moses.
    This brings up the subject of earnest and fervent prayer in our lives. Do we just go through the motions and sigh in frustration when our prayers remain unanswered or our greatest fears come to pass? Remember the words of the Apostle James? “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” - James 5:16. Our prayer life must reflect the fervency of our needs and desires if we are to hope for an answer from God. Half measures and trite prayers will not even catch the ear of our sovereign Lord. There are simply too many people in desperate need of salvation for God to lend His ear to the prayers of trite desires. And while we may not always be as articulate as we would like to be, God will hear a sincere need regardless if articulation fails us. “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” - Romans 8:26. God is not interested in clever semantics or long diatribes; He is interested in what is in our hearts! Should we fail to properly express ourselves and our needs with eloquent phrases, God will still know our deepest fears and needs. And He will acknowledge us. “Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come to You.” - Psalm 102:1. This is the prayer that God hears!
    We must bring our humble and contrite hearts to God and accept His will for us regardless of our situation. Then He will hear our prayers; then He will answer us according to His will. “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” - Matthew 6:10. Let us make no mistakes: we will not order à la carte from our Holy God. We will accept His will for us in its entirety. Regardless of our vain imaginations.
    The Hebrews of Exodus were seeking freedom from bondage. God did not send them a warrior super-hero; He sent them Moses, a man unsure of himself but certain that God had a plan. God has a plan for our lives as well. We must reverently ask His will for us, certain that it too shall come to pass according to His providence.

The Meaning Of Our Lives - Romans 11:36

   
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.
 - Romans 11:36

    What is the meaning of our lives? Mankind has forever pondered the subject. Volumes upon volumes in the greatest libraries in the world have attempted to answer that mind-numbing riddle. So how can I hope to answer this most profound inquiry in a mere few paragraphs? Because the answer to that perplexing question has been with us since the dawn of man. The answer to this question lies ever before us. We just seem to overlook the answer in our egocentric drive for supremacy. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” - Romans 1:20-21.
    Certainly, if the question were parsed with “in our lives,” rather than “of our lives,” there would be ready responses. Giving my children and spouse a safe and secure home. Achieving my educational or financial goals within a set time frame. Such things may very well have meaning in our lives, but again - what is the meaning OF our lives?
    During our hurried day to day existence we never even pause for a moment to think beyond our immediate concerns. Get the kids off to school. Get to work on time. Get the laundry done. Get the lawn done. Get dinner on the table. Get the bills paid. The list of things that occupy our minds seems endless; yet we seldom, if ever, wonder what the meaning of our lives is. “So he answered and said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” - Luke 10:27.
    Worse are the answers you get from various people if you ask them, “What is the meaning of your life?” The very concept is too troubling for most people to even consider it. What? You actually want me to think?! Can’t I just “shoot from the hip?” I’m afraid not . . . not this time. I want you to think about it for a moment. Take your time and think about it - what is the meaning of your life? Are our lives significant? Do we have meaning? Or are we all subject to the dark finality of nihilism’s ‘black hole?’
Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more; it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
-Macbeth - Act 5, Scene 5

    I think not. You see, if Nietzsche is right and there is no God, life is meaningless and then we die. As I said, “I think not!”
    There are only three kinds of people in the world today. One kind believes in a spiritual cause and effect, but not a God. Unless they recognize the futility of their inane beliefs they will end up like the second group. That second group isn’t spiritual at all and doesn’t believe in God. Without acknowledging their God and Creator with due repentance their lot has been cast. Lastly, there are the few of us who recognize God’s saving grace for mankind. We not only believe in God; we believe He has designed us for a purpose so that we’re not just crawling along in the dust like so many maggots. Man has a place and a purpose. And like the Westminster Catechism says, that purpose, our chief, and highest end, is to glorify God!
    Think about it for a moment. How many people do you know that simply don’t believe man has a purpose other than to be born, eat, drink, reproduce (if he so chooses), and die? Is that the greatest aspiration of man? Is this our greatest hope? Because if climbing Mount Everest is our greatest ambition, or if traveling to other planets is our greatest goal, or if achieving the “three-minute mile” is our ultimate objective, then we have done no more than King Solomon predicted - “I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.” - Ecclesiastes 1:14.
    Life without meaning is like a paragraph without form - simple words strewn upon a page without point, without significance. All it amounts to is nonsense, as do our lives, without meaning! We become nothing more than insects or fish or birds - creatures without lasting influence. But Christ tells us we are more than that. “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” - Matthew 6:26.
    The meaning of our lives, the value, must be the exaltation of Christ the King. All glory and honor must be given to Christ if we are to ever achieve human significance and worth. We must lift Him up in worship. We must pray in His holy name. Then and only then will we realize the true validation of and meaning of our lives.

A Dying Thief - Luke 23:42-43

“Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’” Luke 23:42-43

    A sinner for life. A transgressor who only looked out for “#1.” A criminal in thought, word, and deed. Captured, tried and convicted in the highest court in the land. Sentenced to be executed for the crimes. An accurate description of a thief who would pay for his transgressions. But it could also be a figurative description of us all, could it not?
    On the last day of his life, this thief was hung upon his cross, a common criminal to be put to death by the Roman authorities in Judea, circa 33 AD. Guilty as charged, he would be crucified along with another criminal of his ilk. They were to hang together from their crosses until they were dead. Unrepentant, hardened, defiant, and unashamed, he hung in the noonday sun awaiting the inevitable. He was reconciled to his fate.
    But there was something else taking place that day; a third execution; a most curious execution of a man who by letter of the law shouldn’t have been there at all. Between the two justifiably deserving criminals hung our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. “And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center.” - John 19:17-18.
    From the Scriptural accounts, two thieves hung on either side of Jesus. One would go to his death without remorse and onto eternal damnation while the other would sit at the banquet table with Christ in heaven that very evening. Why? Why one and not the other? Why not both? They both shared their last moments on this earth with Christ the Savior; why was only one saved?
    Certainly, we know that at the time of their conviction the two thieves were unrepentant. Upon their being hung, both remained angry and arrogant, even heaping scorn at Jesus. “Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.” - Matthew 27:44. But something took place in the dying thief that redefined his status among God’s creatures. And it began with a simple rebuke of his fellow thief. “Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, ‘If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.’ But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?  And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.’” - Luke 23:39-41. This dying thief then turned to Christ and asked our Lord merely to “remember” him. His faith, much like that of the centurion (Matthew 8:8), did not require a majestic show of power on Christ’s part but merely to remain in His memory was all the dying thief asked.
    This thief could never have been justified by his works in this world as they were all sinful. The only thing that could save the dying thief was grace. The same grace that has saved all who shall be saved. The same grace of God without which none of us will see Paradise! This grace saved a criminal; this same grace can save us too. If Jesus could condescend to meet this criminal, He can condescend to meet us too.
    The truth that is Jesus Christ was revealed to this dying thief as he hung on his cross - “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” - Philippians 2:9-11.
    With his scandalous history, if this dying thief could come to the foot of the cross of Jesus, there is nothing keeping any of us from eternal salvation through repentance and faith in Christ. “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12. Less we forget that it is by grace and grace alone that we are saved. No matter how sinful our lives have been. No matter if we are in the throes of death, it is still not too late. But we must not wait nor hesitate. The next breath we take may be our last! We must repent and believe today so that we too can hear the sweet voice of Jesus saying to us - “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”