Hymn by Isaac Watts

Alas! and did my Savior bleed?
  And did my Sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head
  For such a worm as I?

Was it for crimes that I have done
  He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity!  grace unknown!
  And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide
  And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker, died
  For man the creature's sin.

Thus might I hide my blushing face
  While his dear cross appears;
Dissolve, my heart, in thankfulness,
  And melt, mine eyes, to tears.

But drops of grief can ne'er repay
  The debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away--
  'Tis all that I can do.

              Isaac Watts (1707, public domain)

What Is Fellowship?

When believers get together, what should be the topic of conversation?  (Jesus, as much as possible!) Is it real fellowship when they just talk sports or the weather or news events?  [N.B. I am not referring to fellowship with the Father and the Son, but fellow brethren.] Genuine fellowship (from the Greek word koinonia which means having something in common: Christians have Christ, a mission, ministries, purposes, the Bible, etc. in common)  which is two fellows in the same ship, as it were facetiously, is when honesty, authenticity, and real sharing takes place in the name of the Lord ("For when two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them," reads Matthew 18:20).  Sometimes it involves confession or empathizing and/or sympathizing.   Consoling each other as an example is fellowship (we are comforted so that we can comfort others--2 Cor. 1:20), but that can even take place even among nonbelievers in a technical sense. 

There is fellowship, and then there is fellowship.  What we ought to have in common is not the weather or our team, but our Lord.  Is the Spirit of the Lord present is all that matters, and if you have discernment in the Spirit you should be able to tell if the Holy Spirit shows up or is a "no-show" to your fellowship.  Sometimes all it takes is the mention of His name because He is not far from each of us and is in us already.

But we stifle the Spirit and hamper His free expression and quench His presence by our conversation--we need to be sensitive to what is pleasing in His sight (cf. Psa. 19:14).  The Spirit does not lie, exaggerate, jest, or tease, etc., but is full of love and that is the key to His presence in essence--Christians love the brethren, and His Spirit bears witness with our Spirit that we are the Sons of God.  The believers will know if they had fellowship, but an outsider would not be able to judge or discern, for he is unaware of spiritual things and blind spiritually.

There is no limit as to how far we can go into the realm of the Spirit if we but open the door and be willing to confess Him before man and be open and free in our spirit ("Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,' says 2 Cor. 3:17). When we are having fellowship, we are equal in God's eyes and there is neither Greek nor barbarian, slave nor free,  male nor female, etc.  Rank has its privileges, but not in Christ--we kiss our social position goodbye.  There is often a so-called esprit de corps of the Holy Spirit, you might say.   The possibilities are limitless and sometimes even ecstasy and euphoria are possible, as well as the other extreme end of the spectrum which is grief--some people don't feel they are really friends till they have cried together, not laughed together.

In summation, we must differentiate between surface-level chitchat and real genuine fellowship, which is not a given, even among believers--they may be out of fellowship with God.  We must put Christ into it or be inspired or led by Him in our conversation.  We share our walk and can relate to each other as to how we are doing, which is also key; but NB:   There is no fellowship (in my interpretation of Scripture) with an unbeliever:  "For what does light have in common with darkness?  What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?"  (2 Cor. 6:14-15).  Soli Deo Gloria!

Why Live Today?

The problem with most people is that they don't know that the principle from Scripture (cf. Deut. 33:25) says that "as your days are, so shall your strength be."  We can get depressed by 3 states of mind:  dwelling on the past, misinterpreting the present, anticipating the future.  The well-known verse from Psalm 118:24  says, "This is the day that the LORD has made, let us be glad, and rejoice in it."  Tomorrow does not belong to you and is not guaranteed by God--He wants you to live each day to the fullest and "boast not [ourselves] of tomorrow" [cf. Prov. 27:1] for "tomorrow does not yet belong to us."

Each day when we arise we should gratefully thank God for a new day and new opportunity to walk with Him, asking Him if He might come that day.  Matthew Henry said that we should live each day as if it were our last.  We should always be prepared for our death, which can come at any time, and live each day as if it could be our last--and I mean to "occupy, purify, watch, and worship, (conduct main business as usual)" not to sell out and stop our affairs like quitting our jobs, and so forth.  The hedonist philosophy to "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die" is evil and presumptuous on God's mercy and grace (cf. Isa. 22:13; 1 Cor. 15:32).

 A real famous local pastor on TV in my youth used to start each sermon with the verse quoted above and it inspired me to be patient and live in the present:  "This is the day that the LORD has made...."  That verse is also the way many a church service is begun by tradition or custom. ( Focus on the now and you will be happier--God will take care of your tomorrows.  God will give the grace you need when the time comes.) Each day is a new beginning and a new chance to walk with our Lord, and we should be thankful as a state of mind for this opportunity.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Are We Faithful to Our Church?

The issue we must face sooner or later in our walk is, "Are we to remain faithful to our church, as opposed to our Lord and our personal faith?"  Here's a case in point:  After many years and many ties to a church,  one finds out that he doesn't agree with the church dogma and it is a compromise on his faith to cooperate, where he doesn't feel he can grow in Christ according to his faith, even though he may have the opportunity to serve in that church--what is most important?

To cite an example:  My grandmother, God bless her soul, stayed faithful to one church for most of her 96 years, seeing the coming and going of countless pastors, programs, and opportunities.  I don't know whether she knew it or not, but the church had become quite liberal, theologically speaking, and I don't think she realized it (she may have felt she was just too old to start over in another church and thought maybe she could influence them more than they her).

In my own walk, I am glad I'm not where I was when I was young and knew nothing of doctrine.  It seems like I was at a different stage at each church and God had a purpose for me being there, but then called me out to move on in a spiritual promotion, as I matured. Thank God I'm still not going to the Lutheran church of my youth where I would probably be a somebody by now, but the church would be nowhere.

The issue is whether one should be in a church where he can serve, or where one can grow.  One deserves accolades for faithfulness, but not if he disregards principle or his faith to do it--his primary concern should be to grow in the Lord, his priority in service.   I believe that, if you seek to grow, the serving will come naturally, and we shouldn't tend to promote ourselves or to presume on God that he has to put us into service--He will call us in is timing. 

In the early church, there was no alternate church to go to if one disagreed, for example; one had to stick it out through thick and thin.   We recall the carnal Corinthians who split into factions, and Paul labeled that a fruit of the flesh.  Sectarianism ("I am of Paul, I am of Peter, I am of Apollos, etc.) is a sin and not in God's original design for the local church.  The Bible does teach the local body's autonomy and independence from other churches, and the individual responsibility of the believer for his own faith--he cannot say that the church told him so, and pass the buck, so to speak.

It is good to downplay denomination quarrels and not be so dogmatic about doctrines that divide--we should seek unity and not division--avoiding the Bible-club mentality.  We all need to under authority and be accountable so that we don't go off on our own tangent and get flakey. The key to doing this is to remain in fellowship with other believers and know the basic doctrines of the Scriptures as a grounding in the truth to stabilize ourselves.

We don't want to leave a fellowship for petty differences or for minor doctrines (don't major on the minors), but leave room for some disagreement--we can disagree, without being disagreeable; just don't be divisive, argumentative, or quarrelsome in the body and known as a trouble maker--keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace as Eph. 4:3 exhorts.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Is There Political Theology?

I mean, is there a political litmus test of orthodoxy in theology?   Do our political "opinions" influence our theology?  Now, to be sure, we hold opinions, but convictions hold us.  There is something you believe, and then there is something you will die for.  For instance, in the Civil War, or the War between the States, families were often set against each other, brother against brother, and so forth.  This was such a strong political influence that people were willing to die for it and many volunteered for the war--the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry that was the first to volunteer when Pres. Lincoln called for regiments.  It should be obvious that our regional upbringing and background have a lot to do with what kind of politics we have--not many Minnesotans joined the South.

There were sincere people on both sides that believed in the same God, read the same Bible, and even belonged to the same church denomination who opposed each other.  God wasn't concerned about what so-called side they were on but the condition of their heart and whether they loved Him and their neighbors, to be specific.  He isn't going to ask us, "What side were you on in the War?" but "Did you love Me during the War?"

 It is unfortunate that in today's evangelical churches that stress is made on conservative politics, as if all Christians should be conservatives, to their definition.  You cannot put God in a box and label Him, how does one know what party God would be a member of?  Wouldn't that have to be a perfect party, since God is holy?  It is not the question asked, "Are you a Democrat or Republican? but "If you are a Democrat or Republican, do you love Republicans or Democrats?"

With all the bitterness and backbiting, and slander, libel, and insults, I really wonder if this is the case.  The point is, is that there are sincere believers on both sides, and it is just like a ballgame, in which we believe that God doesn't take sides in any way that we can figure out, but must leave the outcome to the providence of God. 

It is wrong to call a movement the "Evangelical Right" implying that this is the orthodox position and that there is a consensus here to be conservative among Christians.  Do you know that a lot of African-American Christian voters are Democrats and they are just as sincere in their faith as the White majority who vote Republican?   There ought to be a separation of church and state in the sense that churches ought to stay out of politics and stay with the main thing--the Great Commission, which is the only program they are to be converted to.  "Keep the main thing the main thing!"  I don't go to church to get propaganda about a pastor's political leanings.

 Let me apply the Bible as I see fit and leave room for disagreement in the body:  Remember Augustine's famous dictum, "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity." We are not to hate (and showing disrespect and dishonor is a form of it) our leaders who we elected in the providence of God is to be hypocritical to our faith--we should be trusting in God and praying for all in authority, even honoring the king, no matter who he is and how much we disagree.  Soli Deo Gloria!