Dec 6 2012

At Christmas We Remember God’s Eternal Plan

image

The most profound, the most mysterious, the most wonderful plan ever conceived has to do with God’s intra-Trinitarian counsel to create and redeem humanity. The incarnation, death and resurrection of God Himself into the person of Jesus to save believers onto His glory is the center of this plan.

This mystery of human redemption is so great that under the guidance of the Holy Spirit apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:12 that even angels “long to look” into this matter. These majestic, pure, and unfallen beings who live in the presence of God, long to observe the unraveling of this mystery, that is God’s redemptive plan for us.

Imagine the greatest movie ever produced, one that took many years to complete, the one with perfect ratings across the board, the one which everyone in the country awaits to see… That anticipation pales in comparison with the anticipation that heavenly creatures have in observing God’s redemption of humanity. That is why we, the subjects of this great salvation, must always keep in mind this eternal plan, especially when we celebrate Christ’s incarnation.

Before this world was corrupted by sin, before Satan and his angels fell, before the foundations of creation were laid, and before time became a dimension… in the greatest mystery ever conceived, God installed this plan of creation and redemption for His Glory. He knew that His beloved creation will fall and will need to be redeemed. In His omniscience, God foresaw this as revealed to the prophet Isaiah:

“The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him.” (Isaiah 59:15-16)

It is a special treat for believers to get a glimpse into God’s counsel as we observe past tense language used in this verse for a future event! Past, present, future… these are human considerations… God is not bound by time, therefore His counsel stands eternal.

Consider what Paul writes:

“7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:7-12)

As the born-again believer is faced with this realization, he or she is overcome by an awesome desire to worship the Redeemer, to give Him the all glory, to thank Him and to serve Him.

Let us remember God’s mysterious and eternal plan for us as we celebrate His incarnation this Christmas.

Dec 5 2012

“The Innkeeper” Reading by John Piper

Watching this 12 minute video is a time well spent.  It touched me profoundly.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the innkeeper who housed Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus in the manger?  John Piper reads his poem, The Innkeeper.

Dec 4 2012

Judeo-Christian-Islamic Tri-Faith Project Becomes Reality in Omaha

Those who practice counterfeit Christianity are once again drawing our attention by their deeds… This time it is a grandiose structure being built in Omaha, Nebraska which will house a Jewish Temple, an Episcopalian Church, and a Mosque.  This is billed as an unprecedented project of collaboration between the three “Abrahamic” religions.

The local news is enthusiastically reporting that “a unique vision for religious unity in Omaha is quickly becoming reality.”  This is just another example how syncretism (the combination of various religious beliefs) and ecumenism (the push for unification of all Christian branches) are becoming more popular today in a world where the Word of God is being diluted by apostasy.

How quickly do our Jewish friends forget the message found in the Mosaic books, Isaiah and other prophets with regard to separating their faith from the idolatrous religions of ancient Canaan.  What do they hope to accomplish by coming together under the same roof with those practicing Islam or Chrislam?  To prove that religious tolerance is possible by diluting their own theology?  Or to form a new “Abrahamic” religion?

With respect to the Christian Episcopalians who are involved in this enterprise, I have to remind them that religious unification is an anti-christic prelude to the ultimate reign of the Anti-Christ, the son of perdition who will eventually unify global economical and spiritual domains under his reign.  They need to understand that they are practicing a brand of counterfeit Christianity if they accept that Allah is the same God revealed in the Bible, because Jesus said  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The religion of Islam does not recognize Jesus as God and it teaches salvation by works, two fundamental elements against biblical truth.  Moreover, many factions within Islam use their scriptures to incite violence against Christians and Jews.

Apostle Paul has a clear message in 2 Corinthians 6 for those Christians seeking to unite with other faiths:

“14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?”

We are commanded to love our neighbors and evangelize them, NOT to unite with them in apostasy!

Dec 3 2012

Why Does God Allow Painful Loss of Life Among Believers?

image
photo source: public profile Facebook via Google search

This may be the most difficult question for the Christian believer to answer. Why does our loving God, the One who ransomed us with the life of His own Son, allow His much-loved children to undergo painful loss, such as in the case of the Saratoc family from Oradea, Romania?

A young Christian mother and her 1-year-old son died in a car accident last week, and their funeral brings this painful question to mind. The image of a lifeless infant lying in the arms of his breathless mommy broke the heart of the evangelical community in Romania and abroad. It is difficult to read about this or watch the video without being overcome by tears.

Why does God allow this much loss of life, in such a painful way?  The standard answer given by Christian apologists is to invoke the fall of man into sin, and explain the consequences of disobedience in the garden of Eden.  Even though we will never have a satisfactory answer, I will attempt to mention a few things to help us gain a biblical perspective.

First, it is imperative we understand that these precious lives are not lost to God the way the family and dear ones may see them for a time, as they are grieving.   From God’s perspective these lives are in His hands.  He alone is the Author of life, and He has full control over the life and eternal destiny of His children.  Jesus proclaims the eternal security of believers in John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”  Therefore, to Him these lives are not lost.

Apostle Paul also mentions that life is not lost in the way the world sees loss, but life actually continues after death.  In 2 Cor 5:6-8 he writes “we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord… …and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”  The children of God will be with the Lord when they leave this earthly realm, no matter what age they die.

Second, God uses these difficult events to make Himself manifest as the Comforter of his children.  In great loss, God makes Himself available to strengthen, comfort, and ultimately draw believers closer to Him by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in them.

The example of John Owen, the great man of God and theologian, stands out as I write this.  He and his wife had 11 children and 10 of them died while they were infants.  It is difficult to imagine so much loss in a family.  But despite these trials God strengthened and used Owen to write many theological masterpieces of the Puritan era, but specifically a series of works centered on the mortification of sin in the life of the Christian, which have stood as reference for us until now.

Ultimately we could resign like Solomon when he said in Eccl 8:17 “then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out.”

But I think a better approach is to accept the will of God in our life as in Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Therefore let us not be like the skeptics who stand on ungodly moral presuppositions and ask “God, how could you?” Let us accept the will of God for us, and understand the comfort and security that He provides through His Word and His Holy Spirit.

Dec 2 2012

Public Choral Act About the Birth of Jesus

This is an amazing clip of a “random” musical act in a public square in Romania.  The message is simple

“Praise to the One who was born in Bethlehem

Open your heart to find the miracle: The Messiah is born!”

Nov 30 2012

A Closer Look at Romans 1: the Nature of Human Relations

Rom 1:26 “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.  27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another.  Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.”

I will preface this article by saying that the Bible forbids us from hating any group of people.  We are commanded to love our neighbor, and at the same time to preach the truth about God’s love, and the repentance from any and all sin.

Whenever an in-depth look is undertaken into any Bible passage, one must use a word-for-word translation like the ESV or the NASB, and possibly look at the Hebrew or Greek text using tools such as Strong’s dictionary among others.  We will take a look at this passage and focus on the way apostle Paul uses the derivatives of the word “nature” in the context of homosexual relations.

One of the most important points of the gay agenda is to proclaim the idea that homosexual relations come naturally to the persons who subscribe to that orientation.  This has been implied even by some evangelical leaders like Rick Warren… but not in so many words.  A closer look in Romans 1 reveals that same-sex relations are not only sinful, but they are against nature the way God ordained it.

The context of Romans 1:18-32 is very important because it further solidifies this position.  The theme here is God’s wrath against the depravity of mankind, making the point that idolatry is unnatural.  It says that men committed an unnatural act in that they “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man. (verse 23)”  We see the contrast here between the natural and the unnatural, the glory of the immortal God and the images resembling mortal man, respectively.

Paul points to the transition between the natural worship of God, and the unnatural worship of man and idols.  He also points to how men unnaturally “exchanged the truth about God for a lie (verse 25).”

Continuing in the same pattern of natural vs unnatural, Paul gives an example of human depravity: homosexuality.  Just like the exchange of the “glory of the immortal God” for idolatry, and truth for lie was presented earlier, Paul now presents two more unnatural exchanges:

1. The phrase “their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones” references lesbianism as being unnatural, therefore against nature

2. The phrase “men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another” references homosexual relations among men and specifies that these men abandoned the natural state, that is the relationship ordained by God between man and woman in Gen 2:24.  Paul makes a clear case that an unnatural relationship is now taking place between members of the same sex.

The final analysis is the result of depravity: “the due penalty for their perversion” which is the result of God giving  “them up in the lusts of their hearts.”

Romans 1:26-27 is abundantly clear that homosexuality is not only sinful, but unnatural in the context of human relations ordained by God.  The argument that homosexual desires are natural, as any other sinful desire like lust, hate, anger, and greed directly contradicts Romans 1 Scripture.

Related click here: Can one repent of these unnatural desires?

Also: Biblical case against gay marriage

Nov 29 2012

Rick Warren on Homosexuality: “not everything natural is good…”

I do not dislike Rick Warren.  He is a big celebrity, a nice  guy, and almost everyone in this country seems to like him.  But there lies the problem… You cannot be a pastor who proclaims the Gospel, and at the same time make sinners feel good, because the Word of God is a two-edged sword that must convict the sinner and lead him to repentance.

Continuing his wildly successful book tour, Warren again presented false teaching on the issue of homosexuality while being interviewed by left-wing host Piers Morgan.

Morgan: “Do you personally believe that gay people are born gay? Or, do they become gay? Are they made gay?”

Warren:  “You know what — I think the jury’s still out on that. It wouldn’t bother me if there was a ‘gay gene’ found,” 

“Here’s what we know about life: I have all kinds of natural feelings in my life and it doesn’t necessarily mean that I should act on every feeling. Sometimes I get angry and I feel like punching a guy in the nose. It doesn’t mean I act on it. Sometimes I feel attracted to women who are not my wife. I don’t act on it,”

“Just because I have a feeling doesn’t make it right. Not everything natural is good for me.”

Going against biblical truth, Warren strongly implies that homosexuality is natural, which ultimately means it is furnished by the Creator.  This is the agenda that the gay community has been pushing for years in suppressing the truth found in the Word of God, and Rick Warren seems to be fanning their flame.

Let’s get back to the Bible to see what Paul really teaches about the natural vs unnatural aspect of homosexual relations in Romans 1:

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

The problem here is that Rick Warren knows this passage in the Bible.  He also knows that if he reads this passage on Piers Morgan’s show, his book will no longer $ell in that audience.

It is so difficult to serve both God and Mammon.

image credit

Nov 27 2012

Rick Warren and His Purpose Driven Gospel

Pastor Rick Warren appearing on CBS show 'This Morning' on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012.

Saddleback pastor Rick Warren was on the “CBS This Morning” show to promote the re-release of his extremely successful book “A Purpose Driven Life.”  Apparently 20% of Americans have read his book since it came out in 2002, a record for any devotional or spiritual non-fiction book.

Charlie Rose and Nora O’Donnell, as expected asked the tough questions… but the answers given by the pastor were not anchored in biblical truth.  He gave sound answers on the topic of abortion, but I was deeply disappointed in the way he addressed the issue of homosexuality, gay marriage and most importantly… Jesus!

He was asked why he opposes gay marriage.  He invoked the concept of tolerance and stated about gay marriage that “it is not a big issue to me.”  In the capacity of a pastor whose primary goal is to represent the Bible accurately, he could have very well said that the Bible states that a homosexual relationship is forbidden and that is why he opposes it.  A plethora of biblical text could easily back up such a statement.

However, this was point in the interview where correct biblical doctrine went out the window.  The pastor went ahead to define and discuss tolerance, emphasizing how one can tolerate sin without agreeing with it, and brought Jesus into the discussion stating that “Jesus accepted everybody no matter who they were.”  Leaving this statement out there without following up on Jesus’ firm condemnation of sin is a gross misrepresentation of Jesus’ teaching.  This statement is the basis of a watered-down, cheap gospel of acceptance which has made its way into the Anglican, Episcopalian, Lutheran and some evangelical churches.

In fact, the way Warren worded his answers led the Christian Post to draw the following conclusion in their article about the CBS interview: “The California mega church pastor said that according to the Bible, people need to be tolerant of all views, just like Jesus was – but that does not mean approving of all choices.”  

Despite the not “approving” comment that followed, if after you invoke the Bible and the teaching of Jesus, reporters are left with the idea that Jesus was “tolerant of all views,” you have succeeded in proclaiming a false gospel.  As a pastor, one cannot alter the gospel message based on who is in the audience; it does not matter if the it is the liberal CBS audience or the Sunday morning church membership;  the Gospel must be proclaimed accurately especially when the prompt has to do with human depravity!

The Gospel is the good news that there still is room at the foot of the cross for salvation for all who repent… including Rick Warren.

Nov 27 2012

The Triune God Revealed in the Old Testament (part 2)

continued from here

The book of Isaiah is considered by many to be the “Gospel” of the Old Testament (OT) because it portrays Jesus in His Messianic role as the servant send by God the Father under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  Isaiah 61:1-2 has strong trinitarian implications because it distinguishes the three persons of the Godhead and it shows their participation in the work of salvation of mankind:

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;”

The narrative here is spoken by Jesus, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and the opening of the passage “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me” encapsulates the Trinity.  The Hebrew word ruah is used to designate the Holy Spirit in the OT and it is used in this passage.  The words Lord God (Adonai and YHWY) represent God the Father, while the person speaking in this passage is Jesus, the messianic servant sent by the Father to accomplish the tasks listed in verses 1-3.

The fact that Jesus is the narrator cannot be contested due to the evidence found in Luke 4:16-30.  Jesus enters the Synagogue on Sabbath and reads aloud from the scroll the passage in Isaiah 61:1-2, and makes the astonishing claim:  “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  Jesus thus claims to be the Messiah, the narrator of Isaiah 61.

Therefore, Isaiah presents the Trinity – God the Father sending Jesus the Messiah, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit –  together doing the work of redemption.

Isaiah also pays special attention to the Holy Spirit and designates personal qualities to Him in Isaiah 63:10 “But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.”  Besides the terrifying claim that God Himself became the enemy of Israel and He fought against them, this verse reveals two important things about the Holy Spirit (ruah).

First, the Holy Spirit is a distinct entity (his Holy Spirit) from God the Father (LORD YHWH), and second, the Holy Spirit can be grieved, a personal and emotional quality.  We now have a clear presentation of two out of three persons in the Trinity, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 63:10.

A biblical demonstration of the divinity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit is beyond the scope of this article, but Isaiah 61:1-2 and 63:10 are clear in revealing the three separate persons of God: LORD YHWH the Father, Jesus the Messiah, and the Holy Spirit.

to be continued…

Nov 26 2012

War on Christmas (part 1)

One of the nativity scenes at Palisades Park on display last Christmas. City Council’s unanimous voted June 12 put an end to the nearly 60-year tradition.

After 60 years of nativity scenes being displayed on public ground in the beach city of Santa Monica, CA, it appears that the tradition of erecting a booth about Jesus’s birth in a city park is coming to a close.  After a prolonged battle in the courts, the lawyer for the group of churches who are fighting atheist plaintiffs to keep the tradition alive has said that the battle has been lost.

One of the nativity organizers said:

“It’s a very sad day when a small number of people with an axe to grind, people who do not like Christianity, and who do not like God, are able to prevail by manipulating rules to censor our message from the public place where it has been displayed for the enjoyment of millions of people for nearly 60 years”

“It’s even sadder that a city government would allow itself to go along with this effort to try to snuff out a message that a small group of people did not agree with”

I will post more examples of this war on Christianity before the upcoming holiday season in the hope that it will sound off an alarm for the Church that this is the beginning of legal persecution of against Christians.  Once again, the Church needs to wake up and realize this is happening and pursue all avenues to fight it.  It starts with prayer and showing love to our neighbor, but it can move into the political and legal arena where we must vote for Christian principles, and possibly fight atheist groups in the courts.

The biggest irony here is that a country that upholds freedom of speech, and religion and who preaches religious tolerance is now beginning to turn against the religion of most of its founding fathers.  George Washington himself said in a speech to Delaware Indians in 1779: “You do well to wish to learn our arts and our ways of life and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are. Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention.” 

If the president of the United States would say this today to any group of people there might be riots and looting in San Francisco and Berkley in response, and there would be calls to impeach him.  But he would never say it, because in a TV interview he said he does not believe that [the religion of] Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation.  Despite this statement, he claims to be a Christian.

As believers in biblical truth, we must understand the reasons for these attacks against Christianity.  The proclamation of gospel truth makes unrepentant sinners very uncomfortable.  The Church’s stand against depraved lifestyles and sin makes it seem accusatory in the eyes of unbelievers, and this is a natural progression of what Jesus stated in Matt 10:34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”  

The Word of God is a sword that cuts deep into the soul of the sinner.  There are only two possible outcomes: 1. the sinner is convicted by the Holy Spirit and will repent, or 2. he will be hardened and become an enemy of the Gospel and those who proclaim the Gospel.  The ones who remain ignorant, when pushed hard they will probably also hate Christians for teaching the truth about their depravity.  We are now seeing more and more the enemies of the Gospel fighting back against truth.

It is time for the Church to proclaim the Gospel boldly and continue to fight for its right to do so!