Is Judgement Coming?

 

“The Lord waits so long in His graciousness

that people think He cannot judge…” Iain Duguid

  
  In his book about the Old Testament book of Daniel, Thriving in Babylon, Larry Osborne shares an illustration that caught my attention. He writes:
  “It was the end of a long day. We were all tired and hungry. My wife, kids, and I settled into the restaurant booth and looked over the menu. We placed our order and soon began to eat. Then it happened. The kids snapped. One took a couple of French fries off his brother’s plate. That merited a quick shove, which warranted a return push, a loud yelp, and flailing arms. In a matter of seconds, Coke was spilled everywhere. Then the third one started to cry. As a dad, I knew what I had to do. I jumped out of the booth and dragged them outside. I gave the boys a quick and controlled swat to the seat of learning and a stern lecture, and then I informed them that their behavior was unacceptable. They’d blown their opportunity to eat. There would be no more food tonight and maybe not in the morning either. The fighting stopped. We went back into the restaurant. I figured I’d done my dad duty…that was until the cops arrived. They pulled me aside, questioned me, and then they placed me under arrest. I spent the night in jail.
  You see, the kids weren’t mine. They were seated two booths over. Apparently, you’re not allowed to discipline someone else’s kids.”
  Osborne continues, “Now before you stop reading, wondering what kind of jerk I am. I need to let you know that this event never really happened. I can assure you if anything close to it had occurred, my wife would have killed me long before the police arrived. But it illustrates an important point: A father disciplines his own kids, not someone else’s.”
  He makes a powerful point; one the Church and Christians desperately need to hear. As believers, we see the growing debauchery in this world. Just when it seems that it can’t get any worse, it does. As I look at the spiritual decay of our culture, that warning by Isaiah comes to mind: “Woe to those who call evil good  and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (5:20).
  When we see evil growing, we forget that God the Father disciplines those who are His children first. His correction always begins with those He calls His own. It was true of ancient Israel and it’s true of the Church today. As 1 Peter 4:17 states, “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
  Beginning in Genesis we know that Israel was God’s chosen people. He made a covenant with them and gave them the Promised Land. But when they blew off His covenant and worshiped idols, God judged and punished them. God used some of the most wicked nations of that day, Assyria, and Babylon to take Israel into captivity. These were some of the evilest nations in all of history. Yet, God gave Israel another chance and brought them home to the Land but then they rejected His Son and crucified Jesus, so He punished His people again. Rome destroyed Jerusalem in 73 A.D.
  Can we truly expect the Lord Jesus to let His Bride, the Church, be unfaithful to Him? In modern times we’ve seen the Church in Germany judged by God. Theological liberalism was born in Germany. By the mid-1900’s the German Church had become the Nazi Church. One of the German Church’s leaders, Gerhard Hahn, wrote: “The cross of Christ and the swastika do not need to oppose each other, and must not do so, but rather they can and should stand together. One should not dominate the other, but rather each should maintain its own meaning and significance. The cross of Christ points toward heaven and admonishes us: Remember that you are Christian people, carried by the eternal love of the heavenly father, free through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, sanctified by the power of God’s spirit. The swastika, however, points to the world as a divine creation and admonishes us: Remember that you are German, born in German territory to parents of German blood, filled with the German spirit and essence, formed according to German nature…Remember that you are German Christian people and should become ever more whole German Christian people, and remain so!” Judgement began with Christ’s Church.
  Jesus has called His Church to obey Him, to live according to His blueprint as outlined in Scripture. But most churches in Western Civilization rarely open the Bible. It’s an icon with little relevance for what the Church believes or how it functions.
  The New Testament is clear, Christians are to be more than Sunday church attenders. New life in Christ is to revolutionize our lives from the inside out. Our lives are to be so different (not perfect) that we shouldn’t have to tell those who know us – at work, in our neighborhoods and community that we’re Christ-followers. Our marriages, families, work ethic, our care for others should distinguish us as it did those first believers that “we have been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). When we blow it, which we will because we’re sinners saved by grace, we don’t make excuses but own it, repenting and seeking anew to live in a way that honors our Lord.
  The Lord Jesus gave His Church a mission before He ascended into Heaven. We are to live as He commanded and share the gospel in our world, making new disciples. What a tragedy that the average gospel-preaching church is little more than a “religious social club” with little concern for the Christless and hopeless outside of its doors.
  While we can’t change the Church, we can change our church. We can commit as a church family that we’ll be transformed from the inside out, reaching out to our community with His love and message of grace.
  Judgement is coming. Like ancient Israel, Christ will judge His own first. By His grace let’s be faithful together as His church seeking to please Him!

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Truth or Consequences

 

“The teaching of a false prophet cannot withstand scrutiny under the divine light of Scripture.” John MacArthur

 
It’s a case that’s scandalized Kenya and has thrown a global spotlight on the too often deadly consequences of bogus religious teaching. Please don’t think it’s just the 3^rd world. It seems nearly every year there are sincere people following a false teacher that can result in deadly consequences.
  This time the preacher was prominent Kenyan ­televangelist, Ezekiel Odero, who described himself as “God’s chosen one.” Last April authorities arrested Odero along with another prominent pastor, Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, after finding more than 100 dead or starving people on Mackenzie’s property. Mackenzie, the founder of Good News International Ministries, had asked his followers to fast until they died and met Jesus. Prosecutors linked the two charlatans as business associates who led their followers in some cases even fatally astray.
  More than 85% of Kenya’s population is “Christian.” Ministers, like Odero in a country where poverty is widespread, prey on the desire for health and wealth. Those in dire poverty are easily victimized by charlatans promising “God’s relief.”
  2 Timothy 4:3-4 warns us, “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, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” While most false teaching doesn’t have such dire consequences, it’s still spiritually deadly. How can we protect ourselves from it?
  We must test everything by the standard of Scripture. False teachers like to use phrasing “God told me.” Or “I have a word from the Lord.” They use this as a cover because if God is saying something, how can you question it? But you can question it and are encouraged to in the Bible. God’s Word is always the yardstick. At Grace, we believe in Sola Scriptura. That simply means the Bible is the only infallible source of authority for our faith and practice.
  In the book of Acts the “the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11). The Bereans were being taught by the Apostle Paul himself, yet they didn’t take what even an apostle taught at face value. They examined the Scriptures to see if what he said was accurate and true.
  That should be done with whatever is taught that claims to be God’s message. Every sermon, lecture or a claim of divine knowledge must be measured by what the Bible says to determine if it’s true.
  Don’t be intimidated by someone’s celebrity status or the size of their platform. In social media there’s something known as “social proof.” It’s the idea that if many people like it, it validates the person or what they’re saying. That doesn’t work for biblical truth. Just because the one saying it has a large following, it doesn’t mean that what they’re saying is true.
  Sometimes the bigger the platform gets the less people want to tell the truth because they’re worried about losing fans or financial support. As a result, they may be tempted to say what they believe their followers want to hear so they’ll keep coming back. The size of the following is not a validation that the message is true. It often only means that the message is popular. Popularity and truth rarely go hand in hand.
  Study God’s Word personally and be a part of a community of believers committed to faithfully studying God’s Word. The most important words when dealing with any teaching is to ask, “What does the Bible say?” When we read a book, even from a trustworthy source, we must ask that question. When we listen to a sermon or someone teaching a group, we need to do that. Even when we read books, blogs, tweets and other things, it’s the question we must ask. And when we do this, when we’re committed with the help of the Holy Spirit to seek to understand the Scriptures to the best of our ability, and when we hold all teaching—even good teaching—up to the light of God’s Word, there’s no place for false teaching to hide.
  There is safety too in a community of committed believers. All of us have preconceptions and prejudices. Partnering and studying with those who love God and His Word help protect all of us.
  Half-truth is one of Satan’s most dangerous weapons. A tragic example is – Does God want us to be moral and “good” people? Does He want us to obey the Ten Commandments and other commandments in Scripture? Yes! But will that gain us God’s forgiveness and entry into heaven? No, it’s not what the Bible teaches. It’s a half truth. We’re to seek to live as good people and obey God’s Word because we’ve been forgiven and committed our lives to Christ but not to gain points with God or entry into heaven. We do it because we’re His children not to become His children.  
  As Martin Luther said, “The most damnable and pernicious heresy that has ever plagued the mind of man was the idea that somehow he could make himself good enough to deserve to live with an all-holy God.” Just this half-truth has led many to believe that if they’re relatively good, attend church, have been baptized, do nice things or give away lots of money, etc., then they’re on their way to heaven. But it’s not what the Bible teaches. Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
  If we could be “good” enough for heaven, would God have sacrificed His Son Jesus on the cross to pay our sin debt? Yet Satan loves half-truths. Tragically, many will go into a Christless eternity because they believed that lie and didn’t check God’s Word for themselves. There’s only one yardstick for spiritual truth – God’s Word. Please use the right measure of truth, not just what someone says is the “truth” because believing a lie could kill you. Be like those Bereans. Check it out for yourself!

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Friends are Stars

 

“One cannot always choose his vocation or surroundings in the world but one can choose his friends.”  Clarence Macartney

 
  Do you love looking up and seeing the night sky filled with stars? All night long we can see the stars shining down on us. It’s easy to forget because we can’t see them that those same stars also shine down on us all day. It’s not like they adjust the brightness of their burning to our sleep cycles. They shine on, always the same, always contributing something to our light. The big difference for us is just that one local star, our sun, which comes around each morning and shines so brightly that the light of all the other billions of stars in the universe can’t compete at all.
  Scientists tell us that our sun is not a large star, as stars go. It’s bigger than some, but there are many stars far bigger than it is—some of them more than 100 times larger. But those super-massive balls of burning light only look like tiny pinpricks in the sky to us. They’re easily drowned out by our average local fireball whenever it comes around.
  It’s not the size of the star that matters most, from our perspective: It’s the proximity. Those huge suns truly are huge, but they’re too far away to keep us warm. They’re too distant to pull us in and shape our calendars and seasons. They’re too far removed to fill the face of our moon with reflected light at night. It turns out that what we need down here is not a good view of the biggest star in the universe. What we need is just an average sun to be near enough to us to give us warmth and light and life. 
  Isn’t this true of our relationships as well? The most popular “star” to see in concert this year is Taylor Swift. Her concerts sold 2.4 million tickets on the first day that they went on sale, breaking the single-day record. The average cost for a ticket is $1600.00. Taylor Swift’s concert tour has its own subculture, with fans dressing up as very specific moments in her music career and trading friendship bracelets featuring insider acronyms and jokes only true Swifties can decode.
  We tend to be mesmerized by human stars and look up in wonder at the shimmering brightness of music stars, film stars, sports stars, and so on (there are a lot of stars). Yet no matter how brightly these human stars shine for us, there will always be important things that their far away light can’t do for us. It’s not really their fault. They’re just too far away. 
  This is why an average, ordinary friend who is next to you can bring warmth and light to your life in ways that no star influencer ever could. This close proximity is how a brother or sister in Christ can light up our darkest nights like a moon, reflecting back to us the light of God’s goodness and promises even when we’ve lost sight of them. A far away human star, no matter how bright they may be, simply can’t do the simple, vital, life-giving things that are easy for the ordinary people around us—the people who love us and share life with us. The people who are close.
  Proximity then is more important than size. It’s more important than magnificence. You don’t have to be the biggest and brightest in the universe to bring warmth and light to those around you. You can be merely average, like our sun, and do the job quite well.
  Most of us though are more concerned about having friends than being one. It’s amazing though that when you work at being a friend, God also blesses you with friends.
  So how can you and I bring warmth into someone’s life? We must first understand that true friends are built. You don’t make them overnight. Friendships are not toadstools; they’re oak trees. Jesus said,  “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). That’s how friendships begin – you begin by loving with God’s love. Let me share though some key principles that will help make you a great friend.
  Accept. Proverbs 17:17 “A friend loves at all times.” We discover that the best friendships are those who know and accept our weaknesses and imperfections. If we’re easily offended or hold on to wounds or bitterness, we’ll have difficulty keeping friends. Friends don’t keep score. No one is perfect. We all sin. If we take an honest look at ourselves, we’ll admit that we bear some of the blame when things go wrong in a friendship. A good friend is quick to ask forgiveness and ready to be forgiving.
  Acknowledge. Recognize people. Give them your full heart and attention. When you talk to people, listen to them. Ask follow-up questions. Put away your phone. Look them in the eye. The impact of time spent with people can’t be overestimated. Understand that people are important. They’re a soul for whom Christ died. As we acknowledge others, we’re saying, “You're important to me. I acknowledge your importance.”
  Appreciate. Think about a time when a friend appreciated you and how good it felt to hear that they were grateful for your presence in their life. Often, we wait too late to appreciate our friends. Scottish writer, Thomas Carlyle, lived on a farm in Dumfriesshire, which he called “the loneliest nook in Britain.” Each day he climbed a ladder to his attic, where he worked until dark. His devoted wife Jane was left alone. One evening at dinner, Jane asked why he’d never expressed appreciation for the food she lovingly prepared for him. “Woman,” Carlyle barked, “must you be paid for everything you do?” With that, he stamped off to his attic workshop.
  Years later after his wife died, Carlyle found her diary. On tear-stained pages, he read this recurring refrain, “Oh, I wish you would say a kind word or give me a compliment now and then about the things I try to do to make you happy.”
  Assure. Assure your friend that you understand. All of us want empathy. Find ways to let your friend know that you’re aware of what they feel and what they're going through. Assure them that you're there, and to your limited ability, are seeking to understand what they're going through.
  Can you imagine our world without the light of the sun? Someone without friends is living in the dark. But friendship is costly. You must invest in it to keep it healthy. Finding a true friend and being one in return is a way to be Jesus’ light in someone’s life and sharing the light of your life in theirs.

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Was Jason Aldean right or wrong?

 

“Thinking Christianly is thinking by Christians about anything and everything in a consistently Christian way – in a manner that is shaped, directed, and restrained by the truth of God’s Word and God’s Spirit.”   Os Guinness

 

  We live in a culture where Christians are continually pressured to choose sides, yet for the Bible-believer there is only one right side – Jesus Christ’s.   Thus, when something hits the cultural landscape, Christ-followers must step back from the fray and first ask: What does God’s Word teach? What are the scriptural principles that would apply here?
  A biblical worldview must come always before being red or blue, or any other division…even before family. Yet because the pressure is to conform and fit in with a group, seeing life with that worldview, it will often mean we’re unpopular and even irritate those who are loyal to a certain “group.” But we have no options. King Jesus must reign supreme in our loyalty and thinking. Our first group then is family, our brothers and sisters in Christ.
  The issues at stake are often complex. They require God’s wisdom and serious contemplation. That came to my mind as I watched sides being taken over the song by Jason Aldean, “Try that in a small town.” While you don’t have to agree with me, if you’re a Christ-follower please take time to think through cultural issues biblically. Here’s what I think…
  First, Aldean is right in that large cities are places of increased crime and violence. All of his examples are from more recent times. Yet from the dawn of time cities have been places of violence and debauchery.
  After Cain murdered his brother, Abel, in Genesis 4, though he was cursed by God to be “a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth” (Genesis 4:12), one of Cain’s first acts in his continued rebellion against God was to build a city which quickly devolved into a place of growing violence and evil as recorded in the succeeding chapters of Genesis.
  Those who live in cities are not more or less moral than those who live in rural areas or small towns. One of the major differences is accountability in crime and violence. In a city where there is an increased population there is anonymity. If you think that you have less chance of ever getting caught, you’re more likely to take a risk and make an evil choice.
  Hollywood knows this. It’s rare to have a popular crime show that takes place in a rural area or small town. Part of the mystery is peeling back the layers of anonymity of a larger population to find the guilty perpetrator.
  It’s why the Church must see, as Tim Keller exhorted us, cities as needy mission fields in need of church plants. The early church radically transformed their culture because they focused on urban areas where it wasn’t safe and evangelism often met resistance and persecution. Yet the Church today has too often abandoned our cities. It’s why I appreciate Moody Church in Chicago and Bethlehem Baptist in Minneapolis. They’re serving in the heart of their cities and seeking to make a difference.
  God never called Christians to be safe. Like the early church, believers run in when everyone else runs out. The light shines brightest where it is darkest. Our own country’s “War on Poverty” proves that education, jobs, and housing are not the solution to societal change.
  Second, Aldean is right that small towns are wonderful…if you’re like nearly everyone else. Small towns are welcoming unless you’re different. Twice in my life I’ve been the minority in a community. In my formative years, ours was one of a few Caucasian families in our neighborhood in Atlanta. In Odessa, Texas, I learned for the first time I was an “Anglo.”
  If you want a small taste of what it’s like to be different, wear a Chicago Bears sweatshirt in Green Bay when the Bears aren’t playing the Packers and you stick out. When I worked in commercial roofing, we often did projects in very small towns where there might be only one place to grab lunch. Everyone knew that you were not a local.
  Imagine what it’s like for someone from a minority ethnic group to live where another ethnic group is the majority. If you adopt a child or marry someone not from the majority group, you’ll often receive stares or ignorant comments. We, humans, like people like us and often disdain or even show outright bigotry to those who are different.  
  As Christians, we’re to be distinctly different. It is level ground at the foot of the cross. There are no differences in our universal need to be rescued from ourselves and from sin. God’s Word rebukes manmade groupings and divisions that are sometimes found even among believers.
  Many years ago African-American pastor, Tony Evans, horrified some in his audience at a Promise Keepers’ Rally when he said, “Some of you would be more bothered if your white daughter married a black man than if she married an unbeliever.” Christ-followers have more in common with believers from any other group than with those who don’t know Jesus even if they’re from our own “group” whether it’s racial, economic or political.  
  Finally, Aldean is dead wrong by assuming some are “raised right.” It’s relativistic moralism. It categorizes sin as little and big. The Bible doesn’t give us that option. For example, my Grandfather was a moonshiner and an adulterer yet was from a small town of probably less than 1,000.
  Are some sins worse than others? It’s what the song is suggesting. It’s not true. Adam and Eve lost Eden because they disobeyed God’s one command in eating the forbidden fruit. Aldean himself committed adultery before divorcing his first wife and marrying the woman he’d had an affair with. Is that what it means to be “raised right?” The Bible teaches that no one has been raised right (Romans 3:23).
  We may be raised to live according to what’s acceptable in our culture. But just because it’s accepted, it doesn’t mean it’s right. According to God’s Word, we’re all a big mess.
  I see the worst sinner I know each morning when I look in the mirror, and so do you. It’s why we all desperately need a Savior and someone to pay our sin debt. As the angel told Joseph, His name is Jesus “for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). 

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.