Thoughts for Preachers to Ponder

A few meaningful quotes on proclaiming the gospel, from the writings of Christmas Evans, an early 19th century Welsh preacher:
“Reading, prayer, and temptation are necessary to strengthen, and to purify the talents of a minister…. Remember this, that you cannot commit some loved sin in private, and perform the work of the ministry in public, with facility and acceptance.”
“The gospel, as a glass, should be kept clean and clear in the pulpit, that the hearers may see the glory of Christ and be changed to the same image…. Preach the gospel of the grace of God intelligently, affectionately, and without shame…. Let the preacher influence himself; let him reach his own heart, if he would reach the hearts of others; if he would have others feel, he must feel himself.”
And finally, the best one:
“Life is the only cure for death, not the prescriptions of duty, not the threats of punishment and damnation, not the arts and refinements of education, but new, spiritual, Divine Life.”

This is an emergency!

If you’re moved to act, particularly for the people of Asia, you can do something today to support the work of Gospel for Asia. Visit them at www.gfa.org

The perfect book you just gotta read

The Bible is the perfect book–correct in its every claim, authoritative in its every demand, helpful for every worthy pursuit, relevant for every generation and culture, necessary for every individual, accurate in its historical accounts, flawless in its prophecies of things to come, boundless in its ability to make God known, trustworthy in its every promise, consistent and cohesive in all its passages, and reliable and complete as a resource for meeting every spiritual need. It speaks to the intellect, and to the heart. It gives wisdom, and knowledge.
It has stood the test of time, proving itself unlimited in its power to withstand scrutiny of the honest seeker, and even the assault of disingenuous attacks thrust upon it by those of hard hearts who distort what it says or who are just unwilling to read it with an open mind.

What’s more, the Bible is God’s personal message for you. It applies to all of humanity as a whole, but it also speaks to you personally as an individual. It was written with you in mind.
It contains information you must understand if you want to go to heaven. God requires you to know Him, and He will judge you when you die based on your response to what He has revealed in the Bible, whether you’ve chosen to read it or not. God loves you and wants fellowship with you; and He wrote this book so that through it, He could establish a relationship with you, that will begin in this life, and grow, and last forever. You were created in God’s image, so you will never cease to be. You will exist somewhere forever. And whether your eternal state is one of infinite joy or unspeakable suffering is entirely dependent upon whether or not you come in this life to know God personally as He has presented Himself in the Bible. There is no other source of information that can replace the Bible as a guide on the road to heaven. No human teacher of any religion or faith can speak truth apart from what God has said in this book. No religious tradition can help you, if you follow it, instead of the decrees of the Bible.
And the Bible has answers, help, and comfort for every problem or issue you are facing today. If you live to be 110, you will never face any trial or tragedy outside the bounds of the Bible’s ability to help. It contains the answer to grief, to pain, to sorrow, to rejection, to every form of problem in human relationships, to loneliness, to depression, to anger, to violence, to hunger, to guilt, to sins you’ve committed, to sins committed against you, to family problems, to work problems, to money problems, to health problems, to ignorance, to bigotry, to war, to poverty, to terrorism, to fear, to death, to loss, to how to pray effectively, and to every other thing.
Don’t miss out. Read it. Believe it. Study it. Learn it. Find life in Christ through it. Share it with others.

The same message in Romanian:
Biblia este cartea perfectă – corectă în fiecare din afirmațiile ei, cu autoritate în toate cerințele ei, de ajutor pentru orice căutare valoroasă, relevantă pentru orice generație și cultură, necesară pentru fiecare persoană, corectă în înregistrările ei istorice, ireproșabilă în proorociile lucrurilor viitoare, nelimitată în abilitatea de a-L face cunoscut pe Dumnezeu, demnă de încredere în fiecare promisiune, consistentă și coezivă în toate pasajele ei, completă și de încredere ca și resursă de împlinire a fiecărei nevoie spirituală.  Vorbește intelectului și inimii. Dă înțelepciune și cunoaștere. A rezistat probei timpului, dovedindu-se nelimitată în puterea sa de a sta în picioare în fața cercetării celui ce caută din toată inima și chiar asaltului atacurilor viclene aruncate asupra ei de cei cu inimi întărite care deformează mesajul ei sau care nu vor să o citească cu o minte deschisă.
Și mai mult, Biblia este mesajul lui Dumnezeu pentru tine. Se aplică întregii umanități ca un întreg, dar de asemenea îți vorbește în mod personal ca și individ. A fost scrisă cu tine în minte. Conține informații pe care trebuie să le înțelegi dacă vrei să ajungi în rai.  Dumnezeu îți cere să-L cunoști, și El te va judeca după ce vei muri bazat pe răspunsul tău referitor la ceea ce a fost revelat  în Biblie, dacă ai ales să-l citești sau nu. Dumnezeu te iubește și vrea să aibă părtășie cu tine; El a scris această carte ca prin ea să poată stabili o relație cu tine, care va începe în această viață, va crește și va dura o veșnicie. Ai fost creat după chipul și asemănarea lui Dumnezeu, astfel că nu vei înceta niciodată să exiști. Vei exista undeva pentru totdeauna.  Iar statutul tău etern va fi ori unul de o fericire infinită ori unul de o durere de nerostit– depinde întru totul de tine – dacă vei ajunge în această viață să-L cunoști în mod personal pe Dumnezeu așa cum s-a prezentat El Însuși în Biblie. Nu există nici o altă sursă de informație ce poate înlocui Biblia ca ghid spre drumul către rai. Nici un om învățător al unei alte religii sau credințe nu poate vorbi adevărul fără ceea ce a spus Dumnezeu în această carte. Nici o tradiție religioasă nu te poate ajuta dacă o urmezi, în locul regulilor Bibliei. Iar Biblia are răspunsuri, ajutor și mângâiere pentru orice problemă cu care te confrunți astăzi. Dacă trăiești până la 110 ani, nu te vei confrunta cu nici o încercare sau tragedie ce nu-și va putea găsi ajutorul în Biblie. Conține răspunsul pentru supărare, durere, necaz, respingere, pentru orice formă a problemelor în relațiile umane, pentru singurătate, deprimare, mânie, violență, foame, vinovăție, pentru păcatele pe care le-ai făcut, pentru păcatele comise împotriva ta, pentru problemele familiale, problemele legate de lucru, de bani, de sănătate, pentru ignoranță, bigotism, război, sărăcie, terorism, teamă, moarte, pierdere, cum să te rogi într-un mod eficient și pentru fiecare alt lucru.

It Is Written

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”
–Matthew 4:4

How wonderful and reliable is the written Word of God! Here in this passage, even the Author of the Scriptures repeatedly turns to them in the midst of a war of words with Satan. And with those Scriptures, He utterly conquers the enemy.
Jesus IS God, so every word that came from Him was proceeding forth out of the mouth of God. Yet He did not rely only on His words and thoughts of the moment to combat the devil, but recalled the permanent, eternal words that He had inspired men to write down over the centuries.
How much more, then, should we as His people turn not to our own wits or our own words to combat the forces of evil, but turn to these precious words of life found in the Holy Scriptures. The tempter is powerless over the man who knows the Word and commits in his heart to obeying it.
No battle, not even a battle against Satan’s temptations, is unwinable if your chief weapon is the Sword of the Spirit. Satan can’t win a debate against the words of God, because they aren’t like words spoken by men. God’s words are inhabited by His infinite power, so the devil fails to deceive those who know them.
If we’re armed with the Bible, we learn to be victorious in the Christian life. His Spirit within us uses the Word to help us say “no” to the carnal things this world lives on, even though our flesh still craves them. As we walk with Him and grow in maturity of faith, day by day we see our spiritual hunger for the Word grow stronger than the desires of our flesh.
Is your main focus in life seeking to meet your physical desires and needs? If so, you are in danger, because the enemy stands ready to exploit every physical desire and every selfish impulse in ways that will defile and destroy you. However, if you hunger most greatly for the “bread” of God’s Word, you will truly live the abundant life. “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”
Oh, Father, we plead with You: Increase our hunger for Your beautiful word, that we may feed on it and live.

Mourning what God mourns

They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
–Nehemiah 1:3-4


Nehemiah was taken by surprise that day when he asked how things were in the home country of Israel.
Things are bad, was the report. Very bad. The capital city had suffered disgrace, and its people were very insecure because there was no gate to protect them from further trouble and harm. They had turned their backs on God and forgotten His covenant with them. So God had lifted His hand of protection from them for a time. Now they had begun to repent and return to the land, but the consequences of their sins lingered, and they were feeling vulnerable, humiliated, and defenseless.
Nehemiah was not personally affected. In fact, he lived in peace, safety, and extravagance as a servant and possibly a confidant of a powerful foreign king. But that didn’t matter now. Because Nehemiah loved his country, and more importantly, he loved the God who had formed his country and blessed it greatly with His presence, provision and protection in generations past. So this dire report shook Nehemiah’s soul.
At first, all he could do was cry. Just sit down and weep tears that welled up from a pain deep in his bones. This pain wouldn’t fade quickly. It would take several days.
Several days of mourning.
Several days of fasting.
Several days of crying out to the God of Israel and the God of heaven for His restoring hand to be upon His people once again.
Can you identify?
Do you mourn over the condition of your country, or your church, or your family? Are you in a situation where the people and places you care most about are in turmoil that rots your life with sadness while comfort seems to be so slow in coming?
If that’s the case, take heart. Because God uses a person who mourns what He mourns. God blesses the one who weeps when He weeps.
Nehemiah was such a man. So God had a plan for him. He would use Nehemiah to do some amazing things and bring about a level of restoration that seemed impossible in that moment when the bad news came.
For a time, Nehemiah would weep, and mourn, and fast, and pray. Then God would turn Nehemiah’s grief into dogged determination and utter reliance upon Him, and He would use Nehemiah as His instrument to rebuild a wall around the Holy City. Nehemiah’s resulting walk of faith would give him one of the most impressive testimonies in Bible history.
If the walls have come down for you, this book will be one you’ll enjoy studying. It will bring you hope, and give you guidance on how to be used of God to rebuild the walls once again.
If you’re grieving today over the news that has come your way, then God is already taking you on the first step of a journey of rebuilding. Now is the time for you to follow Nehemiah’s example on how to handle grief: When everything falls apart, take your tears to the Lord. In heartfelt prayer and an attitude of recognizing just how deeply you need Him, pray. Then today’s tears can become the seeds of tomorrow’s joy, because they will build your resolve and fortify your trust in a God who never disappoints those whose desire to serve Him does not wane and whose trust in Him does not waver.

What you are, & what you’re not

You are not homo sapiens.  You are not a primate.  You are not a species in an animal kingdom.  You are not related to any animals, nor are you descended from any animals. You did not evolve into what you are.

You are a special creation, made in the image and likeness of the all-knowing God by whom all things, including you, were made.  You, therefore, have an eternal soul and will exist somewhere forever.  You are accountable to the God who made you.  You were designed to be in a good and lovely relationship with Him that would be established in this life on earth and last forever.

But you are a sinner, which simply means that you were born living in rebellion against Him, with a nature bent toward seeking what you want instead of what pleases your Maker.  To have a relationship with Him does not require religiousness; it requires faith and trust in Him, and in what He has done for you to bring you to Himself.  He became a man like you, the man Christ Jesus.  He bore your sins as He died on the cross, absorbing all of the punishment your sins have earned.  Then He came alive again and still lives today.  By belief and trust in Him, you can be saved, your sins can be forgiven, and you can receive His everlasting love forever.

That’s who you are, and who you were made to be.

Creation vs evolution

Earlier this summer, we did a four-part series at the church on Genesis 1-2, looking at Creation and how the Bible stands strong, being backed up even by the scientific evidence, which is conspicuously lacking in the evolutionary atheist camp.  It was probably the most well-received Bible study series I’ve taught in the past year.  You can listen to the series here, also followed by a link to a gospel study from Genesis 3-4.

Genesis 1a– Creation and the big bang

Genesis 1b-Creation of life

Genesis 2a-Creation of humanity, a closer look

Genesis 2b–Creation of marriage and family

Genesis 3-4 “The first family and sin”

The entire series is in English and Romanian.

“Never be afraid to defend it”

“My friends,

When we study the Scriptures, we hear God speaking directly to us. The word of God, the truth of God, is more important than the words or opinions of men. All human thought must be subservient to God’s word. As long as His word is with us, He is with us. It is our continual protection. So, seek His word. Seek His wisdom. Seek His truth. And never be afraid to defend it, for ‘the truth shall make you free.’”

–The simple words of John Hus, updated to today’s language from 1414. Hus was persecuted and burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic church for being a priest who stood for the true gospel even before the days of Martin Luther, who in a way followed in his footsteps to lead a great reformation.

Tonight’s home fellowship Bible study, Lord-willing, will look deeply at the topic of “preparing for persecution,” as we are instructed to in 1 Peter 4:12-19.  Look for the audio recording of the study to be posted here afterward.

The Good Shepherd that does WHAT?!?

So last week, as we were in the village of Timpa and Lili was sharing the gospel with a 22-year-old woman in front of her house, my mind started to wander because of a flock of sheep that was behind us.  I live in a city of near half a million people, so I don’t see sheep every day.  And for half an hour or so, I was just noticing things about sheep: 1) All they really ever do is stand around eating; 2) They aren’t very attractive; 3) They don’t keep clean and they smell almost as bad as pigs; 4) They’re pretty easily scared and not that bright.  A motorcycle goes by and hearing the sound they run in a panic in every direction, including toward it.

Then, suddenly, the Holy Spirit brought to my mind the verse from John 10.  The one where Jesus identified Himself as “the Good Shepherd, Who lays down His life for the sheep.”  I had never realized what a radically shocking statement that was before.  When you just look at the verse with the Sunday school flannelgraphs of cute little lambs and a smiling, bearded shepherd, you think, “So Jesus gave His life for us.  Good.”

But when you’re standing there looking at sheep, and that verse comes to mind, it jars you.  You think to yourself, “the good shepherd who did WHAT?  If I were ever to suffer the misfortune of having to live my life taking care of this flock of dumb animals, and a wolf or lion wanted to make lunch of them, I wouldn’t even for a moment consider sacrificing myself to save these worthless bags of wool.”

The thing is, that’s how the people Jesus was speaking to must have responded.  And really, if anything, He was understating His love for us.  The difference between me and a sheep is tiny compared to the difference between my Savior and me.  And yet, He really did it.  He gave His life for the sheep.

Indescribable.  Unbelieveable.  Inconceivable, this gospel message is.  And yet totally true.  I stand amazed.  And hope you do, too.

Are you good enough to escape hell & go to heaven?

If you’re like most people, you would look at your life and say, “I’m a basically good person. A lot of people I know do bad things that I don’t do, and most of the things I do are good and decent. I’ve been baptized and I go to church, so I’m a Christian. And I believe that God should let me into heaven, instead of sending me to hell to suffer forever.”

If God let people who were “more good than bad” into heaven, and sent only the most violent, wicked people to hell, then you might be right to think such things. But God’s standard is much different. And it’s what He thinks of you, not what you think of yourself, that will matter on judgment day.

You see, God isn’t just “basically good.” He is perfect. He is holy. The Bible says, “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” He is completely without sin, so He requires of you absolute, perfect sinlessness. And God says you haven’t lived a good enough life to make it. No one has. “There is no one righteous,” says the Lord, “no, not one.” That’s how the perfect and just God evaluates us in His word. “All we like sheep have gone astray, turning, every one, to his own way,” according to the Bible. That means that none of us lives the way of righteousness and pleasing God. That’s bad news to hear. But better that you hear it now, while you can do something about it, than to wait until your life is over and it’s forever too late.

Finding the solution

God is holy, and must punish all of your sins. But even though you are unworthy as a sinner, God loves you. So He made a way to punish your sins and still let you escape hell. “The Lord has laid on Him (Jesus Christ) the iniquity of us all,” the Bible says. When Jesus was on the cross, He was dying for every sin you have ever done. Your sin was laid on Him, and He absorbed all of the punishment of hell in your place. Then He rose from the grave, showing that His sacrifice was enough to pay the price for all of your sins against God.

God cannot lie, and He keeps every promise He makes. And today He promises you that if you will trust not in yourself or your religion, but only in what Jesus did for you by dying in your place on the cross, you will be forgiven of all your sins. You can have that forgiveness of sins and receive eternal life in heaven as a free gift from God right now.

If you believe these things God has said, you can tell Him so now in prayer. Tell Him, “Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. But I believe You love me and died on the cross to be punished for my sins in my place. Thank You for sacrificing Yourself, so that I could live with You forever in heaven, instead of facing the punishment my life has earned. I’m trusting You now to cleanse me and forgive all my sins, because You promised You would if I asked You in faith. Thank You for making me a child of God and assuring me salvation forever. Help me now to live the rest of my life as an offering of thanks to You. Amen”

Considering it?

Considering a short-term mission trip, but just praying and praying and praying while you wait for a voice from heaven telling you that you should go?  You may be waiting for a voice you’re never going to hear.  But don’t think you have to wait for it.  God isn’t going to get angry with you for stepping out in faith in obedience to the Great Commission.

You don’t wait to “hear” from Him before you plan a vacation.  If you were unemployed, you wouldn’t wait to “hear” from Him before you accepted the offer of your dream job.  So don’t require Him to give you a special word of confirmation that you should go on mission with Him when you’re presented with the opportunity.  You already know He wants His people to share the gospel with all nations.  If He who opens a door no one can close, and closes a door no one can open, is opening, rather than closing, a door for you to give a week or a month of your time to proclaim Him to people who don’t already have what He gave you, then just do it.  If it turns out to be in opposition to His plan for your life, He will let you know somehow.