A Doctrinal Testimony

A testimony is to attest to a first-hand account and account for it--it is hard to argue, like a man saying, "I was blind, but now I see." In a testimony, we give the synopsis of our life before conversion, how we got converted, and life after the leap, so to speak. Before the conversion, there is unrest and perplexity, then there is a turning point or climax, then there is peace, fulfillment and rest in Christ according to Billy Graham. They all tell of the person's personal pilgrimage and usually don't spare the details, as some like to glorify the past. I will spare you the details; believe me, I was a bad boy and a prodigal son and went through the school of hard knocks and had to come to the end of myself before I would cry out to the Lord in saving faith. I was surely depraved and knew it; I had been there and done that!

Conversion is the act of repentance, faith, and regeneration all occurring together by an act of God ("Salvation is of the Lord.") We do the repenting and believing and God does the regenerating which is passive. Faith is a gift of God and repentance is just the flip side that occurs simultaneously; it is either believing repentance or penitent faith that saves.

 My first step was to admit my need; like they say the preacher has to get the lost before he can save them. I was at my wit's end and at the end of my rope! Confirmation in the Lutheran church had been to no avail and I had lost what faith I had in college. It was in the Army that I came to know the Lord. I was not a very good soldier and didn't think I was going to make it as the loner I was. I wasn't getting out of life what I wanted and was existential in my philosophy thinking there was no purpose in life but to party. But I don't want to give "too much info!"

Before I was saved my life was dominated by sin and pleasing myself; I had no peace of mind and was looking ours for Number One! There seemed to be pleasure in sin for a season as I went to the bar scenes and learned to drink. I was also looking for love in all the wrong places if you know what I mean. I was separated from God and there was a cleavage or chasm between us. My life was empty, void and seemed boring in a vacuum. I yearned to have a relationship with God, not just know that He exists,  and didn't know what I was searching for; however, I wanted to know the truth. As Pascal said, "There is a God-shaped vacuum in us that only God can fill." And Augustine said, "Our hearts are restless till they find their rest in Thee."

  We are made to know God and have a relationship with Him.     I like Psalm 107:2 which says, "Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story ("Let the redeemed of the Lord say so"); if you have been redeemed speak up, in other words! Now how I got saved listening to Billy Graham. I was listening to the sermon being translated into Korean and it was going so slow I got every point he made!   He was talking of repentance and that seemed the missing link in my life that I had never done; I had to renounce sin for good. First I realized my need: "Indeed it is the straightedge of the law that shows us how crooked we really are" (Rom. 3:20). Then I recognized that Christ was indeed God in the flesh who died on my behalf personally. I received Christ with saving faith, which is either called believing repentance or penitent faith as my personal Lord and Savior. Note that I realized that repentance was imperative or mandatory according to Acts 17:30, "Now He commands all men everywhere to repent." Acts 3:19 says, "Repent and turn to God that your sins may be blotted out and times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord."

I made a clear commitment that was a response to the wooing or tug of the Holy Spirit and I literally gave up, surrendered, and committed to following Christ. I went from the "gutter most to the uttermost."    The result is not that I am everything I ought to be, but thank God I'm not what I used to be!  I have peace with God, others, and myself ("Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God..."; "My peace I give unto you..."; "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace....")

I have an assurance that I am going to heaven because I am not ignorant of God's Word and take Him at His Word. "He that comes to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). This is my spiritual birth certificate you could say! As they say:  "God said it in His Word, I believe it in my heart, that settles it in my mind."    Most important I have an abundant and fulfilling life according to  His promise of abundant life with a capital L (in short purpose in living).  I am now learning to overcome sin, know His will and seek His kingdom. But faith is manifest only in obedience; it has legs and must be followed by action or it is dead (no fruit, no faith);we must turn our beliefs into deeds, for we are saved unto good works though not by them,  and we are His masterpiece (says Paul in Eph. 2:10).    Soli Deo Gloria!

Is Voting Your Duty?

According to Rom. 5:14 there was sin even before the Law was given and no explicit commandment existed--men should've known right and wrong. All wrongdoing is sin, e.g., budding in line or road-rage, to name two. We have a civic duty to fight evil in whatever way we can and as citizens, we should be "good" citizens and vote in my opinion; or else we forfeit the right to complain. The argument from silence is a ploy that tricks naive people that know they are a rationalization and defense mechanism. Our liberty is curtailed by our brother's conscience and we certainly aren't supposed to encourage others in our sin or questionable acts as citizens. A good rule of thumb for morality would be the following: What would happen if everyone did it?

We are to "render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's." We will have to give an account of ourselves as to what we did with evil and not voting is trying to be neutral and there is no neutral as far as God is concerned. Are we part of the problem or part of the solution?

As long as we are in an imperfect world before the Millennial Kingdom of Christ we will always be choosing between the lesser of two evils; no one is perfect! It is just as wrong to exalt someone as a hero and "savior" than it is to demonize. God is a jealous God and doesn't appreciate us thinking someone is the panacea for our societies woes. The choice will always be between the lesser of two evils until Christ comes--so don't be disillusioned or disenchanted! I want as little evil as possible, don't you?  Soli Deo Gloria!

Whom Shall We Choose?

Like Joshua said, "Choose this day whom you shall serve...." We are on a road with a fork in it and have to decide which way to go. Josiah was the only king of Judah that had been compared to David and followed in the ways of him all the days of his life, not turning to the left nor to the right (2 Cor. 34:2). In Proverbs, we learn that it is wise not to go to one or another extreme--this is what is happening in the gridlock of our government! We are losing the voice of compromise and everyone wants his way or the highway so to speak. Where are the moderates that don't think they are speaking for God in everything?

I do not believe, as my presupposition, that you can assume God is a member of a political party or that one party represents the Christian worldview or agenda, like saying the litmus test is being pro-life. I agree with George Washington that we shouldn't even have parties [to be like bullies in my opinion] and we must accept those who disagree with us politically and not be fanatics politically, but only fanatics for the gospel of Christ which is the Great Commission, no reforming the cosmos, in which the devil is the god of.

I recollect the first election that I voted in: 1972 in Nixon vs. McGovern. I just liked Nixon like they liked Ike and had no real political philosophy: I thought he was the man as it were. I have since found out that he was dishonest and corrupt and had a dirty tricks man named Chuck Colson. If I were to vote all over again today I would not vote for Nixon even if I didn't consider myself a liberal.  (I was loyal to him to the bitter end, however, if I had known Bible doctrine I would not have been hurt.) However, God's Providence overruled and despite our foolishness He had a reason for putting Nixon in there to end the war et al. do we vote for the better man or for the one who agrees with our agenda? I voted for Reagan because I deemed him the better man than Jimmy Carter; I wanted a real man in the White House. Martin Luther said that he would rather vote for a competent pagan than an incompetent Christian. I don't know that that is right; Hitler was very competent and lots of people thought he could turn the economy around.

I believe voting for a person is a choice and we must believe that God is in charge and can use anyone He desires according to His pleasure. I do not want to find myself voting for the devil in disguise or an antichrist or one who believes in "another Jesus." Actually, in summation, both agenda and character, as well as competence, are valid reasons to choose but sometimes we are forced to choose between them. One must decide which is his most important issue or one that he could live with and pray the most for God to use in His will. Let's pray, "May the better man win!" Let's not compromise our principles to vote for what seems convenient or expedient to us, but what is good for the country.     Soli Deo Gloria!

Must America Be Punished?

No nation has had the privilege that we have or the high standard of living for so many as America. We are indeed responsible to God for the way we vote and participate and pray for our nation as it is "under God." Israel was specifically known by God above all nations and therefore God chose to punish them (cf. Amos 3) and not let them get away with idolatry.

The captivity in Babylon cured them of that but they had the sign of hypocrisy and legalism to boot notwithstanding. The promises in Deuteronomy 28 refer to God's covenant with Israel and not the church. The Abrahamic covenant of blessing those who bless us is still in effect.

We are admonished to not give up on our leaders but to intercede for them. There's nothing endemically wrong with infidel leaders who are moral and competent. The promise in 2 Chron. 7:14 is valid and pertinent to the Gentile nations: "If My people, who are called by My name [Christians] shall humble themselves [and seek His face, etc.]" God shall "heal the land" That's a promise you can take to the bank! America will only be punished if His people fail our country en masse.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Can Controversy Be Good?

"Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:3).

John Stott authored the book Christ the Controversialist and I think he's onto something here: Avoiding controversy completely is avoiding Christ, as it were. There are foolish controversies or quarrels, and there are ones that are worth the fight and are "non-negotiables." We shouldn't quarrel about disputable matters, such as eating meat or a Sabbath, but everyone should obey his conscience and be fully convinced in his own mind (Rom. 14:1ff).   Some have an unhealthy craving for quarrels and meanings of words (1 Tim. 6:4,8). 

We are to avoid "foolish controversies" or dissensions according to Titus 3:9. In the book Patton's Principles: A Handbook for Managers Who Mean It he admonishes us not to argue over something that you have nothing or little to gain in winning--to pick our fights wisely.  You could lose a friend arguing about a trivial subject.    As St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo said, "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity."

There will be factions though we are not to have a factious spirit (a fruit of the flesh) because Christ said that he came not to "bring peace, but a sword (Matt. 10:34). But we are to beware of "deceptive philosophy and empty deceit.." cf/ Col. 2:8. So don't let anyone fool you with sophistry or "plausible arguments" and not according to the Word (Col. 2:4).   Soli Deo Gloria!

What Do We Know About Israel For Sure?

Defining Israel as the descendants of Jacob, not just of the tribe of Judah, of which the modern-day nation of Israel is composed.

There are a few facts that are clearly delineated in Scripture about present and future Israel: (1) Israel is presently blinded by God but even now the elect or remnant are being saved (Rom. 11:7-8); (2) in the last days "all Israel will be saved" (Rom. 11:26); (3) Israel "stumbled over the stumbling stone" (Christ) (Rom. 9:32); (4) they will "come" to the LORD in the last days (Hos. 3:5); (5) today's condition of Israel is prophesied as without king, prince, sacrifice, sacred stones, ephod or idol (Hos. 3:4); (6) it is prophesied that they shall be "wanderers among the nations" (Hos. 9:17) and in the last days they shall be planted again in their own land (Amos 9:15);(7) Israel is a source of blessing for "in Abraham shall all the nations be blessed" (Gen. 12:2-3); (8) at last God will" pour out His Spirit" on Israel and they shall believe in Christ "whom they pierced" (Zech. 12:10); (9) finally, the mystery of Christ is that the Gentiles and Israel are heirs together in one body and share in the promise of Christ (Eph. 2:6).  There will come a time when they will not miss the ark of the covenant.  Soli Deo Gloria!

The Divine Curriculum

"For it has been granted unto you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him but to suffer for his sake" (Phil. 1:29).  "We glory in our afflictions," (cf. Romans 5:3).   Let's not suffer as offensive Christians, but for the offense of the cross, okay?
Job proclaims: "Shall we receive good at the hand of God? and shall we not receive evil [trouble]?" (Job 2:10). The psalmist says, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous..." (Ps. 34:19)
Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, cried in Lam.3:1: "I am the man who hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath." But he also said: "He does not afflict willingly or grieve the children of men" (Lam. 3:33).

Suffering is the crucible that God uses as a change agent. A sculptor was asked how he could make a horse out of a rock of marble. He replied that he simply takes away everything that doesn't look like a horse! The psalmist said in Ps. 119:67, "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept thy word." "It is good that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes" (Ps. 119:71).

Suffering, whether it be an ordeal, punishment, discipline, trial, affliction, adversity, disaster, or troubles come to Christians as a given. They are part of Reality 101 and every student of Christ is enrolled in this school: consider it a joy to suffer for Christ's sake like the disciples did. Christ did not exempt himself from difficulty or pain of suffering. Paul shared that he wanted to obtain "the fellowship of sufferings" of Christ. Most of us have our "thorn in the flesh" like Paul and we all have our crosses to bear. Fortunately, our problems are "Father-filtered." Nothing happens apart from His providential guidance. Suffering is par for the course! It comes with the territory!

Adversity builds character and that is the good news. There is an upside of down, as it were. Suffering and success are correlated: Judson said that if you are suffering and not succeeding, it is so that others may succeed; if you are succeeding without suffering, it is so that others may succeed. So, lay out the welcome mat and welcome adversity and trials as friends and rejoice! They help us conform to the image of Christ. God sees the long-term result and the goal is Christ-likeness. If we let the world change us we are conformers if Christ changes us we are transformers. We have Christ's sympathy, for He did not exempt Himself from suffering.

Life is no bed of roses and God never promised us a rose garden. But we are not to get paranoid or develop a martyr's complex either, thinking the world is out to get us. "For it has been granted unto you not only to believe in Him but to suffer for His sake" (cf. Phil. 1:29). Christ learned obedience from what He suffered and was a "man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (cf. Isa. 53:3).

Grief or trouble makes us bitter or better. NB:  experience is not what happens to you but what happens in you.  The same sun melts the butter and hardens the clay. Christians are like tea bags that you don't know what they're like till their in hot water. We should refrain from pity parties and have the attitude of Viktor Frankl, Viennese psychiatrist captured by the Nazi's, that "this too shall pass." He said that man can survive any "what" if he has a "why." Our attitude cannot be taken from us and it determines our altitude.

When we see others suffer we are not to gloat or feel superior, but think, "There but for the grace of God, go I." Scripture says in Obadiah 12: "Do not gloat over your brother in the day of his misfortune." God wants to teach us by other's examples but may have to get our attention by other means. It has been said, "God whispers in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains." All suffering is to bring glory to God and conform us to His image that we may share in His holiness. God had said what great things Paul would suffer for the kingdom and some are mentioned in 2 Cor. 11:16ff such as shipwreck, stoning, exposure, scourging, et cetera. "When times are good to be happy; but when times are bad to consider: God has made the one as well as the other" (Eccl. 6:10).

Remember, that it only takes a night to make a mushroom, but many years to make an oak. A good summation would be as Job said: "The Lord knows the way that I take; when He has tried me I shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:10). Hebrews says not to despise the chastening of the Lord! Job said in Job 5:7 that "But man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward." And "Man, born of woman, is of few days and full of trouble" (cf. ob 14:1). So, why do bad things happen to good people? There are no good people in God's estimation and also, bad things happen to bad people, too.

Pertinent verses are as follows:  "He gets their attention through affliction, "(cf. Job 36:155).  "Many are the afflictions of the righteous..." (cf. Ps. 34:19). "I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction." But God's crucible is Father-filtered so that all things work together for our good (Rom. 8:28). What faith Job has: "Though He slay me I shall trust Him" (cf. Job 13:15). Soli Deo Gloria!

Are We Keeping In Touch?

I'm not talking about keeping in touch with family and friends, though this is vital to a healthy and fit spiritual life--for if we are awry in our human relationships we are ill at ease with God too. They can be distinguished but not separated; we need both the vertical and the horizontal relationship to be well spiritually. Many would assume that a long articulate prayer will automatically get results and since it impresses those in attendance, it expresses God's will more explicitly. We need not draw attention to ourselves; the best prayers get lost in the presence of God. Job said, "O that I might know where I might find him."

Prayer is like entering another dimension where we approach the throne room and God's gracious presence and the Holy Spirit just uses us as a channel or conduit of grace to pray on our behalf. "...The Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." [Better feelings without words, than words without feelings, it has been said.] And so God translates our prayers in spite of ourselves--no need to impress God with high sounding words or thinking that with many words we will be heard. Recall the publican who simply prayed, "God be merciful to me the sinner!"

Preachers tend to sermonize and preach in their prayers and think that it is the time for a doctrinal exposition or want to elaborate the best they know-how even if the average Joe gets lost in the shuffle. Some believers have a special anointing of prayer-works and are the exception to the rule; J. I. Packer says that his prayers are feeble as it were and nothing to brag about but they are his private matter.

The test of prayer is the result, not that we are expedient, but we must realize that it is done to us according to our faith. The Pharisees were very articulate and pompous in their prayers and Jesus called them hypocrites. Psalm 116:1-2 shows us that the psalmist prayed because he knew God heard him. This is my experience: the more I realize that God hears me, the more I pray. Psalm 119 is the longest prayer in the Bible and shows that prayer can be refined and polished and doesn't always have to be spontaneous, extemporaneous, or be an ad lib effort.

 Now the best players put the focus on God and not on ourselves; the more they dwell on Christ the closer we draw to the throne of grace. We are not to always be uttering prayers, but be in the attitude of prayer with the line open, as it were. Finally, it is important to "pray the Word" and by this, I mean utter the prayers of the Bible and personalize the text to your own life situation.   Soli Deo Gloria!

What Is Genuine Fellowship?

Our fellowship is with the Father and with the Son and with one another in Christ (1 John 1:3,7). "If we walk in the light as He is in the light we have fellowship with one another...." According to the Navigators, fellowship is on the "Wheel of Obedience" along with prayer, witnessing and Bible study. The early disciples devoted themselves to fellowship... (Acts 2:42). This is God's body-building program where we exercise our spiritual gifts. The Greek word is koinonia. By definition, fellowship is two fellows in the same ship. We must share something in common to have fellowship.  There is no fellowship with the unbeliever as light and darkness (2 Cor. 6:14).

Male bonding is not fellowship per se, but fellowship is a sort of bonding, nevertheless. "Let us endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:3). The hobby of the 17th-century gentleman was to talk theology or what is called "God-talk" (but even this is not necessarily true fellowship, but can be merely intellectual or academic). When two Christians get together ("Whenever two or three are gathered together in my name there I am") and talk about the weather or sports it is not necessarily true fellowship. This is faux fellowship. We don't need a neutral subject to share with one another. In Malachi, the fellowship was with those who feared the Lord and spoke often with one another (Mal. 3:16).

There are some who think they are spiritual lone rangers or lone wolves. Like the Simon and Garfunkel song "I Am A Rock." It says: "I have no need for friendship, friendship causes pain" and "A rock feels no pain and an island never cries...." I like the Beatles' lyrics better: "I get by with a little help from my friends." We are all in this thing together and need each other as one part of the body needs another.

The purpose of fellowship is manifold: to edify the body, share honesty, touch base, have good company, keep in touch, be accountable, be a companion, share burdens, have someone to talk to in time of need; we are not to have a bed of roses or a rose garden and not to be comfortable, but be comforters (2 Cor. 1:4).

In sum, we are social creatures and should always strive to reach the "rock higher than [us]." "For iron sharpens iron: so a man the countenance of his friend"(Prov. 27:17).  Soli Deo Gloria!

Why Is Evolution Untenable?

They say they have found the missing link; actually, there are thousands of missing links and of the 11 million forms of life on earth there are none--no half pig and half sheep or half horse and a half cow or half ape half human. I say that the missing ling link between great ape and man is one who is building a chapel because animals are oblivious to God and don't have the necessary equipment to know Him or worship Him. They simply don't have the mind to know Him, the will to obey nor the affections to love Him.

I'm not saying animals don't have intellect, will or feelings--I'm saying only on a limited scale. Man is the crown of God's creation in His image and the only one of the creatures that God said He breathed into him the breath of life and he became a living being. Some apes and chimps are smarter than the dumbest humans intellectually (so this cannot be the distinguishing trait), but they still aren't able to know God and have eternal life and worship God in Spirit and Truth. There are things that distinguish man from beast: thinking in the abstract and imagination, ability to analyze and criticize self, self-consciousness, and embarrassment, knowing good and evil, desire to know God, loss of innocence, awareness of eternity and death, and a conscience to guide instead of instinct.

We can adduce what man has that animals don't by a sort of algorithm. The point of this is that if we say a man is an animal then it logically follows that it is morally right to experiment on humans like the Nazis did; if we say animals are people too, then we must extend rights to them and not eat them or experiment on them.

BUT NOTE:  Animals are not capable of sinning or of worshiping God so this is what separates man who alone is bad enough to need salvation since he defies God and does not obey in his rebellion and stubbornness. ANIMALS ARE OBLIVIOUS TO GOD; NO ANIMAL EVER BUILT A CHAPEL OR PRAYED.

The Achilles' heel of evolution is that they cannot explain the precise origin of life.  Experiments of life fail to succeed without rigging the system in a way it couldn't have been in primordial times.   They presume a primordial soup that gave rise to simple life but doesn't know where it came from.   Soli Deo Gloria!