Atheist Saved by The Truth of The Sovereign God

The following testimony from a former atheist warmed my soul.  It reminds me of when I was a skeptic.  The constant battle I fought against God to avoid the consistency of my own atheism was relentless and like Michael, God used it to draw me to Himself.  Thanks to Jesus for sovereign regeneration!

"Truly, truly I say to you, unless a man is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." (John 3:3)

"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day."  John 6:44

HT:  Illbehonest

How does a Christian respond,.. to bad news?

"We provide a Deacon Minute each Lord’s Day to encourage you from God’s Word to serve the body AND to keep you informed of service opportunities in the body.

We serve a Sovereign Master, who controls all things, and it is this fact that provides the comfort necessary when sorrowful circumstances occur. As most of you know, six weeks ago today, we buried my father-in-law. My wife lost her father and my children lost their Paw-Paw. A couple of weeks ago Alison & Micah lost their first child & the VanDerwerker’s grieved the loss of their first grand-child. As many of you have read, the 2012 Budget for Shepherd’s Fellowship is drastically different from last year’s budget, and yesterday I was informed of the death of my friend and former co-worker, Ed Carmichael.

So how does a Christian handle difficult and sorrowful circumstances? How does a Christian respond when there is multiple announcements of what appears to be “bad news”? The only hope rests in the Sovereignty of God, for it is there that the Christian finds comfort. I will never convince anyone that it is going to be OK. Comfort and the strength to persevere, come only from God and His written Revelation.

Listen to the following verses, and join me in the comfort that comes from God’s Word.

Psalm 9:9 The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble;

Psalm 18:2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 23 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.  He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.  Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 27:4-5 One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple. For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.

Psalm 34:18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Matthew 6:25-34 For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

"Ready for Christmas?" Now What Does That Mean?

“Are you ready for Christmas?” I hear this question many, many times each year working in retail. It seems to be a question that customers will ask to prompt conversation. Maybe you are like me and you don’t know quite how to respond. For me, I don’t know how to respond, because I don’t know what they are really asking.

For example, do they mean, do I have all my shopping completed or am I prepared to worship Jesus on the day we set aside to celebrate His birth? Do they mean am I ready for it to be over or do they mean am I ready to take time with my family and focus on who Jesus is, what He did in his time on earth and what His birth means to a child of God?

How about you, are you ready for Christmas? Are you ready to worship Jesus? This is a GREAT year, because Christmas is next Sunday! What better day of the week to have Christmas on than Sunday? Are you ready, that is prepared, to demonstrate to your family and friends why we give gifts on Christmas? Would you consider saying a few short words before presenting your gifts this year? Consider saying, “Just as God gave His Son, Jesus, out of love for His children, to live, die and rise again, so I too give you this gift out of love for you.” Are you ready to teach your family and friends about the true account of Jesus?

For many in this body, the past few months have been a difficult and sorrow-filled time, but through Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit we can have joy unspeakable! We can reflect on the time when Jesus was born in a humble manger, to lowly parents and announced to some smelly shepherds. There is Good News of Great Joy which shall be to ALL people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord!

I pray that you will have a very, Merry Christmas. I also pray that you will look for opportunities to worship Jesus and focus the attention on Him. Not the baby in the manager, but the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!"

Well done Deacon Wilson!

Pastoral Implications of the Death of Christopher Hitchens

Introduction:  Some would wonder what could possibly be the pastoral implications of the death of a gifted God-hater.  That's a fair question, but before answering that, let met briefly bring the not so informed readers of this blog up to speed as to who Christopher Hitchens was.

A Brief History

Christopher Hitchens met his maker on Thursday, December 15, 2011.  He was a brilliant social and political commentator during his professional career, but what interested evangelical apologists most about him was his open, unashamed hatred for all things religious, especially Christian.  Whether believer or unbeliever, foe or friend, anyone who really knew anything about Hitchens would admit that he was a very gifted writer and speaker.  Sadly, he used those God-given gifts to war against the very God in whose image he was created.  Given his interest in politics, his unapologetic criticism of religion, and the promotion of "free-thought" he was very much like a modern Voltaire.

Interestingly, he shared some common views with Christians (he was pro-life) and in some political respects was in agreement with many evangelicals. However, he was an outspoken enemy of religion and spent the latter years of his life attacking various forms of it, especially Christianity.  Here's an example of clips from his fight against what he considered to be the "ultimate wickedness and the ultimate stupidity":

The Pastoral Implications of the Death of a God-hater

As far as I know, Christopher Hitchens died a God-hater.  In light of that, I want to specifically focus on what this means for churches that believe in the doctrine of reprobation.  What should be the Christian response to the death of Christopher Hitchens in light of this doctrine? How did he help us understand this doctrine better?  Yes, you read that last question correctly, how did Hitchens' rage against God help the Christian and the cause of Christ?  I have waited to publish this article because I wanted the Reformed evangelical world to have a few weeks to reflect upon Hitchens' death and then I wanted to listen to their responses.  As expected, even among Reformed bloggers, none of them have discussed the implications of what is glaringly evident to all of us who believe in sovereign grace:  Hitchens was a reprobate. 

What is Reprobation?

Before offering pastoral comments on the implications that the doctrine of reprobation has for Christian congregations, let's consider a few definitions:

Louis Berkhof said,

"Reprobation may be defined as that eternal decree of God whereby He has determined to pass some men by with the operation of His special grace, and to punish them for their sins, to the manifestation of His justice."  Quoted in Curt D. Daniel, The History and Theology of Calvinism, (Springfield, IL:  Good Books, 2003), 297.

Wayne Grudem defines it this way, adding an element of God's sorrow to his definition,

"The sovereign decision of God before creation to pass over some persons, in sorrow deciding not to save them, and to punish them for their sins and thereby to manifest his justice."  Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology:  An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, (Grand Rapids, MI, 2000), 684.

Section III of the 1646 London Confession defines election and reprobation this way,

GOD hath decreed in Himself, before the world was, concerning all things, whether necessary, accidental or voluntary, with all the circumstances of them, to work, dispose, and bring about all things according to the counsel of His own will, to His glory: (Yet without being the author of sin, or having fellowship with anything therein) in which appears His wisdom in disposing all things, unchangeableness, power, and faithfulness in accomplishing His decree: And God hath before the foundation of the world, foreordained some men to eternal life, through Jesus Christ, to the praise and glory of His grace; and leaving the rest in their sin to their just condemnation, to the praise of His justice.

Section V of the 1646 Confession's appendix says this regarding reprobation,

We affirm, that as Jesus Christ never intended to give remission of sins and eternal life unto any but His sheep (John 10:15, 17:2; Eph. 5:25-27; Rev. 5:9); so these sheep only have their sins washed away in the blood of Christ: The vessels of wrath, as they are none of Christ's sheep, nor ever believe in Him, so they have not the blood of Christ sprinkled upon them, neither are partakers of Him: And therefore have all their sins remaining upon them, and are not saved by Christ from any of them under any consideration whatsoever; but must lie under the intolerable burden of them eternally. The truth of this appears unto us by the light of these Scriptures compared together. Heb.12:24; 1 Pet. 1:2; Heb. 3:14; Matt. 7:23; Eph. 5:6; 1 Tim. 1:9; John 8:24.

The Westminster Confession of Faith states regarding reprobation:

"The rest of mankind, God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of his own will, whereby he extendeth or withholdeth mercy as he pleaseth, for the glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass by, and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glorious justice." (III:7)

So, in summary:  Reprobation is non-election.  According to Curt Daniel, 

"Reprobation has two stages in God's eternal decree.  first, there is preterition.  This is His eternal decree to pass some men by.  The men, of course, did not yet actually exist, but God first decreed that they will exist and then that He will permit them to fall and incur His wrath.  Then God chose some men to be saved, and left the rest behind.  Second, there is predamnation.  Having left some sinners in their sins, He then ordained that they will suffer divine wrath for their sins.  Preterition is a purely sovereign act of God, whereas predamnation is an act of pure divine justice."  Daniel, 297.

This means the following: 

• Reprobation is unconditional, just like election.  It doesn't depend upon anything in man but rests in God's sovereign decree.  This means that people aren't reprobated because they are sinners, but because in God's sovereign will He chooses to leave them in their sin.  
• God sovereignly planned to withhold salvation from some sinners.  He foreordained to withhold some or all of the things necessary for their salvation (i.e., hearing the gospel, effectual calling, faith and repentance unto salvation, regeneration, etc.).  He further decreed that their final end be eternal punishment so that He would be glorified in giving them His powerful justice and wrath.
• God's election of some sinners means He didn't choose the rest.  God's choice to save some sinners means that He didn't choose to save the non-elect but chose to leave them to the self-destructive effects of their own sin. 

Considering a few Scriptural Examples

Proverbs 16:4 - The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil. 

• Indeed, God has a purpose for making the wicked, for they are prepared "for the day of evil." 

Matthew 11:25-27 - "At that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. 26 Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." (Matthew 11:25-27)

• In general, the Father is pleased to not reveal truth about Jesus to the "worldly wise" and Jesus praises God for this (v. 25-26).
• Jesus says that the only way He is revealed to a person is if He Himself makes it happen (v. 27).  Apart from that, no one will come to the Son in faith.  Indeed, Jesus affirms this teaching elsewhere (John 6:44, 65). 

Romans 9:6-25 - But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; 7 nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: "THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED." 8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. 9 For this is the word of promise: "AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON." 10 And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 11 for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, 12 it was said to her, "THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER." 13 Just as it is written, "JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED." 14 What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! 15 For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION." 16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH." 18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. 19 You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?" 20 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? 21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

• Though Paul quotes from Malachi 1:2-3, this doesn't refer to only nations (i.e., Edom and Israel), for Paul co-opts Malachi's statements to go on and use an obvious pagan individual (Pharaoh) to point out that God raises people up for His own sovereign purposes, either for saving or for damning.
• According to v. 15 (quoting Exodus 33:19), the question as to why God loved one savingly and not another is answered with this, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." (Romans 9:15)  Paul then says that all of this doesn't depend "on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. (v. 16)  God is the cause of why men receive mercy. 
• Then Paul points to a pagan individual to show that God didn't create Him for salvation, but to show off God's power and to make God's name known throughout then then known world:  "For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, 'FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.' 18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires."  (vv. 17-18)  Paul concludes from this the following: "So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires." (v. 18)  
• Then come the usual objections: "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?" (v. 19) In other words, how can God blame me for what He's created me to do?  The divine answer brings a rebuke and an answer:  "On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? 21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles." (vv. 20-24)  In other words:  "Who do you think you are to talk back to God, cannot God do what He wants with His creation?  God has prepared some people for destruction so as to show forth His justice and created some to show forth His mercy, and He's called both from among Jews and non-Jews. 
• The take-home point:  Many Jews rejected Jesus because they were created for damnation.  This is because God takes the mass of sinful humanity and creates some of them for salvation and some of them for damnation.  It's all done for His glory (Romans 11:36); the reprobates glorify Him in the justice they receive from God in their damnation and the elect glorify God in the unmerited grace, divine favor, and forgiveness of sins they receive in their salvation.   

1 Peter 2:8 - "For this is contained in Scripture: 'BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.' 7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, 'THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,' 8 and, 'A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE'; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed."  

• The word "doom" isn't in the original Greek text, but the concept is certainly there, for those who reject the gospel were appointed to always reject the gospel and ultimately end up in eternal perdition.  This is a sobering truth. 

2 Peter 2:12 - "But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed . . ."  

• This is a sobering verse.  It says that reprobate false teachers are like cattle that have been created to be fattened up for the slaughter of God's justice. 

Matthew 11:25-26 - "At that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. 26 "Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. 27 "All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."

• Notice that Jesus praises His heavenly Father for being well-pleased not to spiritually reveal Himself to the religious hypocrites standing in front of Him.  
• Jesus says that no one knows God unless Jesus Himself wills to reveal Him to them.  Thus, it logically follows that Jesus doesn't desire to reveal Himself to everyone in the sense of causing them to embrace the gospel via regeneration.  Indeed this is affirmed by other passages (John 6:44, 65). 

Revelation 13:8, 17:8, 13 -  "All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain" (Revelation 13:8); "And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come" (Revelation 17:8); "For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled." (Revelation 17:17)

• Revelation 13:8 and 17:8 both affirm that those whose names were written in the book of life were so written before the universe was created.  17:8 affirms that those who have not had their name written in this "eternal register of the elect" will not only marvel at the "beast", but will also follow after him because "God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose . . . until the words of God will be fulfilled."  Everyone has a purpose for their existence, including the reprobate.

Some Important Implications

1. Many people you witness to will never be saved.  This is because by divine decree, the way to eternal life is very narrow, and there are few that find it.  The only reason some do find it is because God brings the gospel to them through some type of Christian witness and then causes their hearts to positively respond to the gospel (Matthew 7:13-14; John 6:44, 65; Romans 10:14-17). 
   
2. We can't change the number of the elect or reprobate.  The number of the elect and reprobate is eternally fixed, and so instead of overly worrying about not having all of your evangelistic and apologetic "i's" and "t's" crossed, trust God to use your well-prepared and faithful (yet imperfect) witness to bring the elect to faith in His time, not yours.  Just do what you're Biblically responsible to do, then leave the rest to God (Proverbs 16:31; 1 Corinthians 3:6-7).   
3. When you're faithfully preaching Christ, don't become overly concerned if people don't regularly respond to the gospel.  According to Jesus, the majority of mankind will reject the gospel (Matthew 7:13-14).  Assuming that you are behaving in a godly manner while evangelizing, knowing this fact beforehand will enable you to have a confident, mature, patient, and settled understanding that people are rejecting the message and the messenger because of the content of the message, not because you didn't smile enough.  What causes people to embrace the message isn't ultimately tied to how white your teeth were when you smiled at the unbeliever or how sweetly you spoke when witnessing to them, but in the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit.   
4. Don't fool yourself in thinking that someone came to Christ because you were smarter than other Christians they encountered in the past.  The natural man cannot embrace the things of the Spirit of God, no matter how eloquently you articulate them.  This doesn't discount the use of means in conversion, but affirms their usefulness in exposing the falsehood of unbelieving systems (i.e., apologetics and polemics) and provides a platform for proclaiming the gospel (evangelism), which is the God-ordained means whereby the unsaved elect hear, receive, and believe the gospel (Romans 10:14-17).  
5. Don't wrangle with unbelievers.  I've done my fair share of this through the years, and I'm sad to say that much of what goes by the name of on-line "debate" and "apologetics" is nothing more than the sin of wrangling.  There is a place for well-reasoned scholarly debate with unbelievers, but I question whether debating God-haters who have openly stated that Christianity is better ridiculed rather than reasoned against qualifies as scholarly debate.  We are commanded to avoid factious people after a first and second warning knowing that such are perverted and sinning, being self-condemned (Titus 3:10-11).  We are to avoid quarreling and instead, we should be "able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who oppose themselves, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil having been held captive by him to do his will" (2 Tim. 2:23-26).  When we display those godly qualities and the unbeliever continues to wrangle after two or three attempts, we should look for someone who will listen.  This is because unbelieving "wranglers" are simply looking to waste your time by making you look stupid through ridiculing your faith.  Such hacks aren't interested in intelligent interaction but only in stoking the flames of their burning hatred of God.  They have heard the truth over and over again and have access to the same excellent online information that you do but they still reject it.  All unbelievers who never come to faith in Christ do so because they're reprobates and God is in the process of hardening their hearts so that He can display His judgment against them on the Great Day (Romans 2:5; 9:18).  Thus, be discerning so as to avoid casting your pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6).    
6. The reprobate have an important part to play in God's creation.  All people have a God-given purpose for their existence.  As it pertains to the reprobate, some of them will cure diseases, create helpful inventions, and do amazingly wonderful things that benefit the world at large and the elect especially.  Thus, they have a God-ordained function in the overall scheme of God's plans for history.  Ultimately, their denial of God will serve to glorify God not only in their damnation as God gives them over to their just deserts, but their rejection of Him also creates a playing field in the here and now that causes believers to respond to their arguments wherein they show the folly of their unbelief, the truth of Christian theism, and the unconverted elect hear and seeds are sown that eventually bring forth salvation in the lives of God's elect. 

If Christopher Hitchens got his wishes, he died as an unbeliever.  He was one of those people whom God created for damnation; he was a reprobate.  He was exposed to some of the best argumentation that Christian apologetics has to offer, yet he consistently rejected it.  In his debates with Christian apologists, I have heard other Christians wonder why the same arguments that tend to strengthen our faith and really make sense to us proved totally unconvincing to him all the way to His grave.  Why was this the case?  It ultimately had nothing to do with the arguments themselves, but instead it was rooted in an inability to spiritually receive the love of the truth so that he might be saved.  I lost count of how many times I heard Hitchens say that he was spiritually unable to understand and embrace the gospel when he told debate attendees and interviewers that hearing believers attempt to explain the faith was, to him, like listening to "white noise".  Indeed it was "white noise" to him.  Its high-time that Christians pay careful attention when the reprobate speak like this.  They are telling you exactly what the Bible says about them.  They can't hear the gospel, can't receive it, can't embrace it, and it's simply foolish nonsense to them (1 Corinthians 1:18).  Unless the Son of God sets them free, they'll die in bondage to self and sin (John 8:32).  As far as I know, this is what occurred to Christopher Hitchens. 

IN CONCLUSION, without the sovereign grace of God opening our eyes to the truth of Christ's glorious gospel, every one of us would do just as Christopher Hitchens did by using our gifts to fight against our Creator.   For His own eternal purposes, it appears that Jesus didn't choose to savingly reveal Himself to Christopher Hitchens, and in light of that sobering fact, we all would all do well to consider the implications of this in our evangelistic, apologetic, and pastoral work. 

Preaching Montage at Raleigh Abortion Clinic 12-20-2011

Christ, Our Example

Each Lord's day our deacons and deacon candidates (those who have been called and are being taught and examined, a 15 month process) encourage our church body to serve the needs of our local body. We hope the following is beneficial to you, encouraging you to serve your local church!

"For this morning’s deacon minute, I would like to remind all of us about who our ultimate example of service is. As I was thinking about speaking this morning, I considered talking about a pastor from Barnstaple, England whose biography I read in college. While I am sure that would have been profitable, I realized that there was another Servant whose biography all of us have read and whose example of service is far more perfect than any others. This is the Servant whose birth we celebrate this time of year.

The Servant that I want to point us to is Jesus Christ. As our elders and the elders in training preach through the book of Mark, we will see over and over again Christ described as a servant. In the Old Testament, the prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah all speak of the Messiah as a servant. The quality of being a self-giving servant is part of the very nature of Christ. This is the very reason that the Jews rejected Him. They were expecting Messiah to come as a conquering King - instead, they received a humble Servant who came as a baby. During the course of His earthly ministry, this Servant told His disciples, “I am among you as the one who serves,” and, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

While Christ was among his disciples, He demonstrated his Servant’s heart even through actions like washing his disciples feet. Imagine that - the very God who created the entire universe washing the dirty, stinky feet of just an ordinary person like you or me. And of course Christ’s ultimate demonstration of servant-hood is displayed in the cross, where He bore the wrath of God the Father in our place. That is the extent to which Christ served us. This Servant also called us to follow His example and serve one another.

And you know what? We, if we have been regenerated, have been born of the Spirit of Christ, and we have been given servant’s hearts. We can still be disobedient, but as Christians we have been given the ability to serve one another in a Christlike way. There are countless ways that we can serve one another, even within our small congregation. If you are already faithfully serving, then praise the Lord, and seek to excel still more. If you are not regularly serving the body, then please come and talk to one of the deacons, and will help you find a place to serve.

So, Christian, let us follow in the example of the Lord our Savior, Jesus Christ, and serve each other in joy and in love!"

Deacon Candidate Meredith
Deacon minute for Sunday, Dec. 11th, 2011

The Old Gospel for a New Generation

INTRODUCTION:  Are you part of Generation Z?  In other words, were you born sometime between 1991 and the early 2000s and characterized by the following things?

• You have grown up using savvy technology such as the World Wide Web, instant messaging, text messaging, MP3 players, mobile phones, iPods, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and YouTube.
• You essentially carry the internet in your pocket on mobile devices such as iPhones or iTouches. 
• You or many of your friends enjoy gaming, blogging, and vlogging.

Whether you know it or not, your generation has also been born completely into an era of postmodernism, religious pluralism, and relativism.  You may not know what all those big words mean, but the point I'm making is that those big words represent mindsets that affect the way you and the rest of your compadres think.  Let me give you a few examples:

• Postmodernism:  How many times have you been in a conversation about the Bible or religion and kind of got "stuck" in the conversation when someone said, "that's just your interpretation?"
• Religious Pluralism:  How many times have you been in a conversation about religion when you heard someone say something like this, “All the religions of the world basically teach the same things and get you to the same god”?
• Relativism:  Or have you ever heard something like this when it came to arguments over religion? - “Look man, you’ve got your truth and I’ve got my truth.  There is no one truth for all people, so stop trying to push your religion on other people!”

The Problem

Since the 1960’s, America has been a post-Christian nation.  The truth is, we never really were a Christian nation per se (as if the New Testament actually envisioned one of those), but before the 1960’s, public expressions of Christianity were accepted as part of the warp and woof of American society.  But since the sexual revolution of the 1960s, that has all been turned on its head.  While putting chewing gum under desks was one of the biggest discipline problems in public schools in the 1950s, gang violence and school shootings are the biggest problems now.  So what happened?

The 1920s through the 1960s were a time of great social, philosophical, and religious upheaval; both in society in general as well as the educational system and evangelical churches in the United States.  After the Scopes “Monkey” Trial of 1925, American Christianity was labeled as backwards and dimwitted with the help of the media after John Scopes, a high school substitute science teacher was fined for teaching evolution, which at that time was illegal to teach in the state of Tennessee.  When evangelical Christian statesman William Jennings Bryan failed to give credible Biblical and scientific refutations of the supposed evidence for evolution offered in the interrogations of agnostic ACLU lawyer Clarence Darrow at the Scopes trial, the news media promoted this as a sure sign that fundamentalist Christians were backwards, dim-witted, narrow-minded, obscurantist, anti-intellectuals that were in a war against scientific truth.  Almost a decade later, the founders of modern public education were well into training the next generation of educators in their educational philosophy that implicitly promoted a godless humanistic ideal.  These students eventually founded educational departments at major universities throughout the United States and thus public education in America has been formally secular ever since then.  When the “space race” of the late 1950s and 1960s proved successful, Americans began to generally trust the conclusions of the professional scientific consensus.  This paved the way for a greater acceptance of evolutionary theory for up and coming university students.  All of that, combined with the assumption of naturalism[1] laid the foundation for skepticism regarding claims of divine involvement in the world and the Bible being accepted as God’s revealed truth to mankind. 

When husbands went off to war in World War II, the wives had to take to factory jobs to provide income for the family while dad was away.  Before, the wives were stay at home moms while dads worked to provide.  However, when the dads came back from war, many moms stayed on the job, and for the first time in American history, many families became dual income households.  Thus, the consistent loving care of mothers in the home was replaced by day-care workers, after school programs, and the hunger for that second income that mommy now provided.  This was a clear step away from the Biblical pattern that women were to be known as “workers at home” (Titus 2:5).

The evangelical church of the mid to late 1950s saw its lightening rod appear in evangelist Billy Graham. Billy started well and strong as a young evangelist, but due to ecumenical[2] pressure, he eventually caved into religious pluralism[3].  Sadly, the watered down nature of Graham’s ministry has also been reflected in various evangelical denominations since the 1950s.  As a result, many large churches today look more like a shopping mall or Starbucks coffee than they do the church that we find in the pages of the New Testament.  This has all been caused by a pragmatic desire to do what works to bring in more people through the front doors of a church building than it does to protect and proclaim the truth of the gospel while promoting holiness in God’s people.  Such is the case when success is measured by man’s standards rather than God’s (Psalm 118:8).  

The civil rights movement of the early 1960s, combined with the influences of postmodernism coming from the secular universities of the mid-1960s caused a massive social and philosophical upheaval; some for the better (i.e., ending racism), and some for the worse (i.e., promoting the acceptance of open societal wickedness).  The rapid spread of rock-and-roll music and the promotion of the drug culture fostered a rampant hedonism that developed among many young people in American society from 1965 to 1969.  This set the stage for the hippie movement, “free-love” (i.e., the sexual revolution), the famed “Woodstock” concert that occurred in the late summer of 1969, and the open acceptance of what was heretofore considered evil and unacceptable behavior.  The post-Christian era had dawned and the older era of societally accepted Biblically based morality was gone. 

That very brief outline of historical events explains why Generation Z doesn’t have the philosophical and religious foundation to believe in truth, certainty, or absolutes.  Worse yet, combine that brief historical overview of philosophical and spiritual meltdown with a 30 second sound-byte mentality that has been programmed to subconsciously think “you can’t hold my attention longer than 10 seconds without me being entertained via fast, flashy images and sounds” and suffers from an internet information fog[4], we wonder why Generation Z seems to be a little “distracted” and skeptical when it comes to religious truth claims.  Thus, regardless of form, many older, mature teens and college students I've talked to have told me that most Christian churches they have visited seem fake, trite, and irrelevant to answering the world's problems.  At best, many of them view professing Christians as people who work hard in trying to solve the world's problems by going about in all the wrong ways.  I’m sad to say that I agree with many of these types of objections.  So, if the problem is that the Gen Z’ers lack truth, certainty, and absolutes because of their spiritual and philosophical baggage, what is the solution? 

 

The Solution

The solution is simple but profound.  It’s so simple that it’s scandalous, and it’s so profound that theologians and philosophers are still overwhelmed by it.  The solution is the person and work of Jesus.  When people reject Jesus they are telling God that He is cosmically insignificant in their lives, that He isn’t interesting; that He’s underwhelming.  They are telling God that Jesus wasn’t really Truth incarnate, that He didn’t come to set the captives free, that He didn’t come to free us from the willing and voluntary enslavement to our own evil passions.  No, they are actually doing worse than this; they are telling Jesus to shove off.  Wow.  Can you imagine telling this Jesus to shove off?

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.  (Colossians 1:15-17 NAU)

• Verse 15 says that if you want a visible picture of what the invisible God looks like look at Jesus.  And we tell that Jesus to shove off.
• Verse 16 says that Jesus created everything, and we tell that Jesus to shove off.
• Verse 17 tells us that everything is held together by Jesus, including our own beings, yet we tell that Jesus to shove off.

Imagine being a soldier in the military, and your commander-in-chief gives you a direct order and your obedience to that order involves the fate of the entire nation, and instead of being obedient to the order you tell him to go take a jump in the lake.  The order doesn’t involve causing harm to anyone.  It merely involves refraining from doing something, namely, from thinking that you know better than the commander-in-chief.  But lets make the situation more dicey than that.  Let’s say that you betray that confidence of your commander in chief to his chief enemy after telling him to take a long walk off of a short cliff.  Not only would you be subject to charges of treason; you would likely be hanged or subject to execution by a firing squad in many countries.  Now I ask, given the heinous nature of this crime as committed against a human commander-in-chief, how much more heinous and aggravated would it be with the Ultimate Commander-in-Chief?  Can you imagine any greater example of heinous arrogance than that which involves essentially telling the transcendent Creator that He’s irrelevant, uninteresting, and vapid?  Such is the deceitfulness of sin. 

This same lie was there at the beginning with the first human beings God ever created.  God told them not to eat and the deceiver told them to, thus, a direct contradiction.  What was the motive for disobedience that Satan gave to the first people?  Very simple:  “God is holding out on you.  God isn’t looking out for your best interests but only His own interests.  God’s agenda is to destroy you, but I have come that you might have the knowledge of both good and evil and have it abundantly.  So if you’re weary, heavy-laden, and ignorant because of the heavy yoke of obedience to God’s law, then cast off that heavy yoke and take and eat your fill of the knowledge of good and evil!”  And so they did.  As a result of that act of disobedience the entire universe has been thrown into a cataclysmic storm of hurt and sin ever since (Romans 8:20-22).

But there’s more:  God is deceitfully put forth to you as a hate-monger; as One who takes joy in your hurt.  You see, that’s the most cruel part of the lie; for what God intends for our good Satan twists as an intention for our hurt and we buy into that masterful deception, hook, line, and sinker, just like Adam and Eve.  In the end, apart from Christ, we too are left joining in chorus with Satan, “Did God really say? . . . .” (Genesis 3:1)  Such is the history of Western philosophy and all other modes of thinking that seek to determine truth and reality apart from reference to God.

However, in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3).  Wisdom and knowledge can’t be had with autonomous skepticism, for skepticism is self-defeating since to be consistently skeptical we’d have to be skeptical of skepticism.  Only people locked up in padded rooms really live that way, while the rest of us show by the way that we live that we really believe in our heart of hearts that the Creator is there and that we can’t escape His presence.  We expect uniformity, regularity, and consistency in nature, yet the best that secularism can do to explain those things is to appeal to irrationality[5], while Jesus has told us all along that He’s responsible for holding everything together and sustaining it by His power (Genesis 8:22; Colossians 1:17).  Barring disease and drug use, we expect people to be reasonable and rational, but we can’t make sense out of that either without an appeal to irrationality[6], while Jesus has told us all along that He’s created our minds to function in such a way that we can reason with Him, know Him, and love Him (Isaiah 1:18; Matthew 22:37-40).  When repentance and faith comes, so comes an enhancement of the image of God in the new believer.  The image of God for the believer is defined in Scripture as “righteousness and holiness of the truth” and “a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him” (Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10).  I take that to mean that over and against the knowledge that the deceiver offered and the world now offers in its many varied forms, this knowledge is God’s knowledge found in His written word, the Bible, and most importantly, in His incarnated word, Jesus.  This written and incarnate form of knowledge counters the false knowledge of the world, which offers itself to us in both written and incarnate forms.  The world offers its autonomous skepticism in the gift-wrapping of hedonistic, incarnated, bodily pleasure, whereas Christ offers escape from the shackles of that deception and provides us the true light; i.e., the true interpretation of reality as well as the concomitant spiritual effects that go along with it, viz., being a God-lover, full of the joy of the Holy spirit as well as being eternally grateful for Jesus’ sacrificial provision and redeeming, transforming love.  

IN CONCLUSION, if you are in Generation Z and find yourself skeptical of traditional and institutional expressions of Christianity, then get in line.  I do too.  However, don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater, for Jesus died for messes like that, just like he died for messes like yours.  What I mean by “mess” isn’t a “boo-boo”, but sin.  Sin is the breaking of God’s law, and it occurs when we determine that we are going to take up arms against the God of heaven and earth (1 John 3:4).  Our first parents did it, we’ve all done it, and it’s evident in all of us.  The mess that they created in their rebellion feeds into us today in its many and varied forms.  We all like to defy God in our sin, but Christ has come to set us free from that Satanic “Kool-Aid” that wants to bring us under bondage and a heavy yoke of despair.  This is why He says,

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. ³⁰ "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30 NAU)

---

[1] Naturalism is the belief that only the natural world exists; i.e., that there is no supernatural, otherworldly realm. 

[2] The “ecumenical movement” was/is a movement within Christianity that seeks to promote unity among professing Christians that deny essential doctrines of the Christian faith.  These beliefs would include things like the absolute necessity of repentance and faith in Christ as the only means of salvation, the Bible as the only inspired and infallible word from God, the literal, physical, resurrection of Jesus, the literal, bodily second coming of Jesus, the virgin birth, and the existence of the supernatural.  According to 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, false unity is no unity at all.

[3] http://www.ondoctrine.com/10grahab.htm

[4] The “internet information fog” was a phrase coined by Dr. James White.  It occurs when someone is overwhelmed by too much information about a particular subject such that they can’t decide what to think about it. 

[5] This is what philosophers have called “The problem of induction”.  The problem of induction says, “How do we know that the future is going to be like the past without appealing to past instances of the future being like the past?”  The problem is that when the skeptic responds with, “Well, we don’t know it with absolute certainty, but we have a high degree of probability that the future will be like the past because its always been that way in the past” then they are committing the informal logical fallacy of begging the question because they’re assuming the very thing they’re trying to prove.  This is a basic problem in philosophy that can’t be solved by appeals to secular solutions.  For an extensive treatment of this, see Dr. James Anderson’s paper here: http://www.proginosko.com/docs/induction.html

[6] How does one who believes in naturalism and evolution know that the deliverances of their mind are giving them a true picture of the world when the very brain that produces those thoughts is itself the product of mere time, chance, and natural processes?  Natural selection doesn’t answer this problem because it would only guarantee that our supposed evolutionary hominid ancestors that had beliefs that produced survival value would be passed on to succeeding generations, not that those beliefs themselves give us a true depiction of the world.  Thus, beliefs that produce survival value don’t necessarily equal true beliefs.  They could just as easily be false yet produce survival value.  This is what is known as the Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism.  See here: http://philofreligion.homestead.com/files/alspaper.htm

Open Air Preaching at UNC-Chapel Hill

INTRODUCTION:  Today was a great day of outreach at UNC-Chapel Hill.  We were in "The Pit", which is the usual stomping grounds for many "shock-and-awe" preachers, but as usual, we came with a different tact.  It was hard to get a crowd going at first because there were many Satanic distractions with people singing loudly and dancing in the Pit a la "flash mob" style.  In almost predictable fashion, these distractions started as soon as we huddled up in a group and prayed before the preaching and witnessing.  All of this was just what you'd expect on a typical run-of-the-mill secular campus.

It was very difficult to get anyone to pay attention at first due to the distractions.

Once the loud music, singing, and flash-mob dancing stopped, we got some interested listeners.

A little crowd formed after answering questions and reasoning with people from the Scriptures.

Then the crowd really started growing:

 

Then the crowd got large, ranging at times between 80-100 students.  At one point there were so many students standing and listening that it seemed to cause some foot traffic congestion.

At one point there were actually more students than this standing around listening.

IN CONCLUSION, what I love about doing outreaches like this is that when get decent-sized crowds, we get them for the "right" reasons; i.e., we are fielding questions, grappling with the various theological, philosophical, and scientific issues and objections that the students raise and we strive to answer their questions with Scripture and reason while being mindful to finish with the gospel.  In other words, the crowds are drawn with the truth, and not flashy showmanship, shock-and-awe condemnatory preaching, or any other kooky antics.  Our desire is to expose them to the embodiment of the truth, namely, Christ Jesus Himself.  We never cut corners when it comes to discussing God's justice, wrath, and the sinfulness of sin, but we exalt Christ and seek to make much of Him while making little of ourselves.  Our desire is to make Jesus famous for the great Savior that He is and the response we get from students is often very encouraging.  As has happened many times before, both believing and unbelieving students came up and thanked us for our approach, our genteel spirit and disposition, and our desire to lovingly proclaim Christ's glorious gospel message in a spiritually dark environment.  May we thank our Majestic Triune God for the opportunity to have a small part in the great work of harvesting souls.