It is not my normal practice to post a lengthy excerpt from another man’s writing.  However, I recently read the book “Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream,” by David Platt.  It is an incredible book that would challenge any believer in the realm of evangelism and world missions.  As with any book, there are parts that may be discussed and/or debated.  However, the thesis is well-stated.

In chapter four of the book, Platt deals with the subject of “The Great Why of God.”  Here is a excerpt that is worth reading. . .

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If you were to ask the average Christian sitting in a worship service on Sunday morning to summarize the message of Christianity, you would most likely hear something along the lines of “The message of Christianity is that God loves me.”  Or someone might say, “The message of Christianity is that God loves me enough to send his Son, Jesus, to die for me.”

As wonderful as this sentiment sounds, is it biblical?  Isn’t it incomplete, based on what we have seen in the Bible?  ”God loves me” is not the essence of biblical Christianity.  Because if “God loves me” is the message of Christianity, then who is the object of Christianity?

God loves me.
Me.
Christianity’s object is me.

Therefore, when I look for a church, I look for the music that best fits me and the programs that best cater to me and my family.  When I make plans for my life and career, it is about what works best for me and my family.  When I consider the house I will live in, the car I will drive, the clothes I will wear, the way I will live, I will choose according to what is best for me.  This is the version of Christianity that largely prevails in our culture.

But it is not biblical Christianity.

The message of biblical Christianity is not “God love me, period,” as if we were the object of our own faith.  The message of biblical Christianity is “God loves me so that I might make Him ––His ways, His salvation, His glory, and His greatness–– known among all nations.”  Now God is the object of our faith, and Christianity centers around Him.  We are not the end of the gospel; God is.

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Now that is powerful!

“We don’t support single missionaries, so please call me back when you are married.”  That is the statement often heard by those whom God has called to the mission field and, yet, are still unmarried.

It is not the purpose of this article to cause offense concerning this issue.  Rather, after several days of contemplation, I believe it would be good to biblically examine such a position.  For those men who hold the position of not supporting a single missionary, please note that your position is between you and the Lord.  It is not my desire to attack your position.  However, it is my belief that it is always correct to reexamine one’s position in light of God’s Word, for the purpose of either validating the position or modifying it to fit within biblical parameters.

Our convictions, standards, positions, etc., must be firmly fixed in the Word of God.  While the Bible does not address every issue of life with a “Thou shalt” or a “Thou shalt not,”  there are biblical principles that govern all issues.  That is the reason Moses was instructed to teach the “commandments, the statutes, and the judgments” (Deuteronomy 6:1).  The “commandments” are the Law of God (i.e., the “thou shalts” and “thou shalt nots”).  The “statutes” are the principles of God’s Word.  The “judgments” are the consequences from God (i.e., for violating the commandments and statutes).  Thus, I would ask. . .Where is either the commandment or the statute for omitting single missionaries from mission support?  How is this position biblically justified?

Concerning this issue, it would be best to examine the Scriptures to see what God’s thoughts are on this matter.  The first example that comes to my mind is the Apostle Paul.  He was a single missionary.  It should also be noted that Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote “For I would that all men were even as I myself” (1 Corinthians 7:7a).  He also wrote, “But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband” (I Corinthians 7:32-34, emphasis added).  In other words, the unmarried can serve the Lord with less difficulty, (more…)

I have added a “Book Review” section to this site.  The link is located under the “Books” tab on the menu bar.  I will adding a review of books read, as time permits to write the review.  No review should be construed as an endorsement of any book, unless specifically stated. Neither is it my desire to be a critic of any author.  Any review of a book will simply be my opinion.  Of course, my opinion and two bucks will buy you a cup of coffee at Waffle House.

If you have a special request, please feel free to ask.  If you have comments or opinions to add, please feel free to do so.

The first book to be reviewed is a book by Dr. Louis Arnold entitled, “When Will the Tribulation Begin?” Brother Arnold’s thesis is that there is a period of at least forty years between the rapture of the church and the beginning of the Tribulation.  My review is meant to be a kind, but pointed critique of his deductions.

Where is the power of the modern-day church?  Why are souls not being saved?  Why are churches being splintered by pettiness and carnality?  Could it be that the majority of professing believers have never truly been born again?

The day in which we live is a day when conviction has been replaced by pragmatism.  Biblical truths have been exchanged for societal fables (cf. II Timothy 4:4).  Conversions have been declared, even when there has been no conviction.  The demand for conviction does not counteract the fact that salvation is by faith alone.  However, why would a person place their trust in Christ, without being convicted that they were wrong in their prior belief?  Thus, saving faith is always preceded by conviction.  As someone has said, without conviction. . .there is no conversion.

When genuine conversion takes place, there will be evidence of that conversion.  There will be a changed life (II Corinthians 5:17).  Yet, so many today claim to have trusted Christ, and there is no changing of their lives.  There is no forsaking of known sin, there is no desire to walk with God, there is no hunger for the things of God.  Such a profession is foreign to genuine, biblical conversion.  A.W. Tozer, in his book The Pursuit of God, summarizes this issues very well.  He writes. . .

The doctrine of justification by faith–a Biblical truth, and a blessed relief from sterile legalism and unavailing self-effort–has in our time fallen into evil company and been interpreted by many in such manner as actually to bar men from the knowledge of God.  The whole transaction of religious conversion has been made mechanical and spiritless.  Faith may now be exercised without a jar to the moral life and without embarrassment to the Adamic ego.  Christ may be “received” without creating any special love for Him in the soul of the receiver.  The man is “saved,” but he is not hungry nor thirsty after God.  In fact he is specifically taught to be satisfied and encouraged to be content with little.

How tragic and true!  May our churches return to preaching the Gospel that convicts and coverts a man!

Does saying a prayer produce salvation?  If I say, “Lord, I know I am a sinner and I believe you died for my sins, and I want you to save me,” does that save me?  I realize that I am treading upon ground that can be very volatile and, yet, this is an issue that must be addressed among those who care about the souls of men.

It is my belief that my early ministry left many people more lost than I found them.  As I would go out door-knocking, I would apply the principles I had been taught in soul-winning class.  You know the drill. . .Knock the door. . .slide your foot into the door opening so they could not close it again. . .lead them down the Roman’s Road. . .and, ultimately, lead them in the Sinner’s Prayer.  The number of people that I lead through the “Sinner’s Prayer” is many.  Yet, they did not experience the changed life that Second Corinthians 5:17 speaks of.  They never darkened the door of the church.  They never forsook their wicked lifestyles.  Yet, if you asked them today if they were saved, they would probably say, “Yes I am. . .I prayed a prayer years ago when a preacher came by.”  Thus, they were left more lost than I had found them.

I know a man that had such an experience.  Yet, his lifestyle of drunkenness and immorality are clear evidences that he has not be saved.  However, he insist that he has “done all I know to do!”  He is depending on a day when, after hearing J. Harold Smith preach “God’s Three Deadlines,” he went forward and said a prayer.  Like so many, he is depending on a day when he “said a prayer.”  Oh, that he would realize that saying a sentence of words is not salvation.  How many people, who “said a prayer,” will find themselves being sentenced to eternal damnation?  Oh, that people would realize that one must come to Christ, by faith alone.  Too many have made the “Sinner’s Prayer” nothing more that the Baptist Rosary.  If praying prayers saved a person, then a faithful Catholic person would assuredly be saved.  Yet, it is not mere mouth confession that produces salvation (James 2:17-18).  Salvation begins within the heart, and then proceeds to the confession of the mouth (Romans 10:10).  I pray for this man’s salvation.

The problem is that the “Sinner’s Prayer” has become nothing more than a Baptist Rosary.  To have a sinner “pray,” when there has been no conviction, is unbiblical.  Salvation is not merely an mental acceptance of the facts of salvation (cf. James 2:19).  Satan believes that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He died and rose again.  Satan was there when it all happened.  Yet, Satan will not ever be saved, even though he mentally agrees with the facts.  There must be a conviction of one’s lost and sinful condition, before they will ever believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, we must get back to presenting the gospel of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, as Paul set forth in First Corinthians 15:1-6.  It is this gospel that will produce conviction in the hearts of sinful men, and then genuine confession and conversion will take place.  When the man who is convicted of his sinful state prays,  it will be his prayer to God, and not a rote “Sinner’s Prayer.”  It will be from his heart and not merely his mouth.

In a few days, our church will be hosting the annual Spring Revival. This year, our theme is “Breaking Up the Fallow Ground” (Hos. 10:12). As we approach these days, I wonder “Will this be a revival, or simply a revival meeting?”

Revival meetings have been around for generations. The annual Spring or Fall revival, at one time, was a regular event on the church calendar. Such meetings once commanded the attention of the surrounding community. School events, work schedules and such all fell subservient to the church calendar. There were no such things as ball games during church times. Work schedules were planned around the church events. During my youth, this was the atmosphere of the communities wherein I grew up. These were times when families stayed together. Most children had a Dad and Mom who lived in the same house with their children. Doors could be left unlocked at all times, because parents had instilled the values of honesty and integrity into the character base of their children. Neighbors knew each other on a first-name basis and helped each other. The worse problems at the public school was talking in class, chewing gum in class, or the ruffian boys smoking outside behind the gym. These were the days when the community planned on being at the local-church revival meeting. Yes, I remember those days when the aisles and altars were full at the invitation time. The revival meetings were often extended for another week, or two, or three. Lives were changed, and drunkards got saved and were made sober.

Of course, those days have long gone. The church calendar is barely an honorable mention on the agenda of most people today. The work schedule reigns supreme, with school activities following as a close second. The church has become little more than another social network like MySpace or Facebook to many professing Christians. If the event at church is convenient (more…)

While reading through Genesis chapter 49, I remembered a message that I heard Dr. John Phillips preach a number of years ago. It was at a Pastor’s Conference in Jacksonville, Florida where about 3,000 pastors were in attendance. He stood behind the pulpit that morning and in his accented speech announced, “I am going to speak to you this morning on the subject of the judgment seat of Christ.” Immediately, the sound of Bible pages turning to one of the New Testament passages on the subject could be heard. After a long pause, Phillips said, “Turn with me to the forty-ninth chapter of the book of Genesis.” A stunned silence fell over the congregation that morning. Yet, the message that followed was nothing short of fresh water from the well of God’s Word. It was obvious that the picture-perfect “type” of the judgment seat of Christ had been missed by most in attendance. By the time the message was concluded, we were all wondering how we had missed such a clear picture up to that time. The following notes are a summary of that incredible picture. . .The Judgment Seat of Christ as seen through the picture of the patriarch, Jacob.

The opening of the forty-ninth chapter of Genesis reveals a solemn occasion. It is a time when that which has seemingly been hidden will be brought to light. It is a time when each of the sons (more…)