Category: Commentaries on life and faith

Rob Bell should try to save people from hell, not from the fear of it

Rob Bell calls it loving to tell those lost in sin they need not fear hell. But real love for God and people preaches the truth, so that they might escape hell.

Atheist or “militant atheist”

An atheist is like someone who has never seen the ocean denying it is there; a militant atheist is like someone who hasn’t seen the ocean demanding that the billions of people who HAVE seen it stop making the ridiculous claim that it is there.

Sexual Purity and Love

Tonight’s Bible study from 1 Thessalonians 4 looked at the touchy issue of God’s standards for our sex lives when we become followers of Christ. The audio recording of the study, which was taught to 16 single young adults who were in our home this evening, is available for your listening here, in English and Romanian.

Life is a self-evident right


The right to life is indeed self-evident–meaning that it is simply not possible for anyone to fail to understand that abortion is wrong. Abortion must be stopped, and America must cease to listen to all the voices that defend this indefensible act.

Church online?

An ad showing up on my facebook page lately offers the chance to “experience church online” at their site “without ever having to leave your home.” I know there are some things about church that can be experienced via technology, and readers of this blog know I seek to take advantage of those things. But actually experience church online? Are you kidding? To “forsake the gathering of ourselves together, as some are in the habit are doing,” is something Christians are biblically exhorted against, even more now in this techno-world we find ourselves in, as we see the day of the Lord approaching. You may hear a sermon online, but you can’t experience the move of God’s Spirit in the body of His people from your home. You may pray simultaneously with someone who is on your computer screen, but you can’t grow close to them and love them with the love of the Lord (or receive that love in return). You may sing along with a band on your computer, but you will not experience the Lord’s presence as He inhabits the praises of His people along with those present. And when the service is over, you will neither receive, nor pass on to others, the encouragement, exhortation, building up, bearing one another’s burdens, and joining together to fulfill the Great Commission that requires you to be present with the assembly. And you will be missing a lot by missing these things, as well as failing to play your role in the body of Christ. You will have no evangelistic outreach and no church to take people to if you limit your worship to online activity.
I know how draining spiritually not having a church to join with can be. Our first 8 months on the mission field, we were only evangelists, sowing new seed in new territory, and having no fellow believers present to fellowship with and worship the Lord with during that time. It was the most difficult time of our ministry, with nothing like it before or since. And we were watching and participating as much as possible with American churches online at the time. I’m thankful that for people in that situation, and for shut-ins that can’t go out, that churches put their services on tv or the web, even though it doesn’t fill the whole gap for those people. But this ad is kind of annoying me, because they are not even marketing their online church experience to those people in need. They are falsely advertising something that they cannot provide: real church assembly without actually having to be there. And the people who believe their ad will be spiritually harmed by it more than they suppose.

Who are the real skeptics?

The belief that this universe and all that is in it came about by an unplanned, unguided, unintended explosion of absolutely nothing is the most irrational of superstitions out there. And those who believe it, despite the lack of a scintilla of evidence that it could have happened, have no right to don the label of “skeptic,” as today’s agnostics and atheists are so fond of doing. They are the most gullible of people.
If I were to tell my 5-year-old that everything in the world came out of nothing at all, and that no one made it happen, even she would have enough skepticism in her innocent little mind to not only doubt my words, but completely disbelieve them. Atheists aren’t skeptics. They are people who put their skepticism to death on the altar of desire to be free from sensing any accountability to God.

What’s new in the new year?

For most people, despite all the celebration of a year ending and another beginning, the turning of the calendar doesn’t really bring anything new. After the champagne buzz fades, they find themselves still facing the same problems, struggles, and difficulties they did last week. Even if they’ve resolved to change for the better (I’ll stop smoking, stop yelling at the kids, eat better, and exercise more), they soon find that nothing in them has changed. And if left to themselves and dependent on their own willpower and best effort, nothing ever will. The desire for a fresh, new start, and the peace and relief it should bring is universal in the human experience—that’s why there was such boisterous celebration around the world Friday night. But almost as universal is the letdown of realizing that peace and newness eluded you for yet another holiday season.
Is there anything that can give us the fresh start and deliverance from past aches, mistakes, and broken hearts that we all seek? Is there anything that can truly change us from the inside out, while also improving the circumstances of our life and surroundings?
There is one and only one. And thankfully, it is not dependent on the time of the year. Coming into a right relationship with God is something He offers to you every day, every moment, including now. You may have heard that being saved or born again will let you go to heaven instead of hell. That’s true, but that isn’t all of the benefit you’ll get from trusting Christ as your Savior. When you become a follower of Christ, you immediately receive a right relationship with the God who made you. All of your sins are erased forever. And the complete healing of every pain the sins of others have caused you begins. A new life of blessing begins. Your prayers will from then on be heard, so that you’re not just talking to a God who doesn’t really seem to be there. And He begins to guide your life, so that everything in the here and now goes better than it did before. Trials and tragedies decrease; and when they do come, you have a strength within you from God’s presence there that helps you endure and thrive in spite of the hardships that previously would have destroyed you. See for yourself—He makes all things new. And your celebration won’t just last for an evening, but for an eternity.
Christ died for your sins, and rose from the dead. That means the debt you owe God for your rebellion against Him has already been paid. And trusting in Him now, you can receive complete forgiveness and newness of life that will never be taken away. The all-powerful Creator and Controller of the universe will be your father, your friend, your provider, your guide, your protector, and your helper, from now on and forever.
Happy New Year? Not merely that. Happy New Always!

Heaven’s Gate Closed to Smokers? Crazy but popular false teaching

Should we replace the cross with this as a symbol of our faith?

This evening I was shown a publication from yet another religious group in Romania that asserted that someone could not be a Christian “if there is a cigarette in his mouth.”
That anyone would assert stopping smoking is a condition of salvation is too sad for words. (The same teachers don’t even say stopping real sins will save you. I’ve never heard them say, stop sleeping with people you’re not married to and you’ll be saved. It’s always smoking with these guys.) The teaching that stopping smoking makes you a true follower of Christ isn’t anything like the gospel. It isn’t even a distant relative of the gospel message. It’s “another gospel which is really not another.” It is blatantly contrary to the gospel message. And while someone’s smoking habit won’t make me question his salvation, I certainly do doubt that these teachers are saved.
What’s worse is that this crazy false teaching is most prevalent in churches of the Baptist/Pentecostal/Evangelical persuasion–the people who are supposed to be preaching the gospel of salvation through faith in Christ, not through works. And the good work they require for recognition as a believer isn’t really even an issue of sin and righteousness to begin with. And they do make it the test of being a believer. Dozens of churches will not baptize a smoker or let a smoker become a member of the church. Someone’s smoking or not is often the ONLY arbiter of whether they are to be baptized.
I’m not promoting smoking. I have never smoked and I find it quite unpleasant to be surrounded by people who are smoking in the air I want to breathe. But the fact that “quitting smoking is necessary for being born again” is a false teaching should go without saying. Unfortunately, as a pastor I find myself having to say it to someone almost every week. And many of them don’t believe me.

God is better

The reason we will be so abundantly blessed and filled with joy in eternity in heaven is because our whole existence will be centered around worship of Christ and enjoying His presence. The more we can allow our lives on earth to be like that, the more enjoyment of life we will have.
Problem is, we get so bogged down by other things that we think will be equally or more satisfying than fellowship with God. The biggest lesson I have learned in my own spiritual walk this year is how important in the fight against temptation to sin in our actions or our thought life is our realization that God is better. Fellowship with God really is better than wealth. It really is better than health. It really is better than comfort. It really is better than success. It really is better than others’ acceptance or honor. It really is better than the best foods, the most comfortable home, the most fun and exciting vacations, the most fulfilling jobs. It is better than being in charge. It is better than being talented or respected. Fellowship with God really is better than relief from pain and stress.
Fellowship with God is better than feeling good. It is better than satisfaction of sexual or other cravings. It is better than the joys we will receive, or believe we will receive, from taking any action of rebellion against Him or independence of Him.
Anything we do that decreases the closeness of our fellowship with God ultimately makes us less happy.
Because God is better.
Better than anything.
Better than everything.
Constantly reminding myself of that fact for the past month has actually made me more holy in my thoughts, words, and actions. The depths of my heart and mind are being transformed more into the likeness of Himself.
Because when I remember this truth, sin just isn’t nearly as tempting anymore.
God is better.
Glory to His Name!